378 Miscellaneous. 



as a basis for the monograph in which he has described them. Of 

 other groups, as, for instance, of Pigeons, Parrots, and Owls, the 

 specimens are scarcely less numerous. 



II. Birds' Nests and Eggs. — Seventy-seven nests of European 

 Birds, with lo97eggs; seventy-five nests of non-European Birds, 

 with 769 eggs. 



III. Insects. — This division contains nearly 23,000 species, with 

 70,000 specimens, and is perhaps the largest private collection in 

 Germany. The order of Beetles, of which there are 1 6,640 specimens, 

 is the most richly represented. Besides the Beetles there are also 

 numerous specimens of the following orders, viz. : 



Hymenoptera 2193 in number. 



Neuroptera 186 ,, 



Lepidoptera (non-European) . . 413 ,, 



Lepidoptera (European) 800 „ 



Diptera 1038 



Hemiptera 1439 „ 



Spiders 368 ,, 



Scorpions 68 „ 



Myriapoda 40 „ 



IV. Terrestrial, Fluviatile, and Marine Shells. — Land and Fresh- 

 water Shells, 13,000 specimens; Marine Shells, 2500 specimens. 



This division may be also considered to be one of the richest of its 

 kind, and it contains many original specimens discovered by Say, 

 Adams, and other scientific men. A large number of wax models of 

 Land-Snails, prepared from nature by the late Dr. Fr. Sturm, deserves 

 particular mention, as no similar collection of models is perhaps to 

 be found elsewhere. Of almost all classes of the animal kingdom 

 there are specimens enough to form a good nucleus for anyone 

 wishing to commence a collection. 



This collection has been made use of for a long time in the com- 

 pilation of several works, and it has enjoyed a high degree of favour 

 because it contains the new and rare specimens described and illus- 

 trated in the works of Dr. Sturm himself. On this account, as well 

 as on account of its extent, Prof. Burmeister has pronounced it to 

 be "a very first-rate scientific collection.'" Prof. Leiblein in Wurz- 

 burg, Prof, von Siebold in Munich, and Dr. Will in Erlangen, may 

 be quoted as University Professors who have also expressed them- 

 selves in the very highest terms of the worth of the collection. 



Should there be no purchaser for the whole collection, each divi- 

 sion of the same will be sold separately. 



On the Existence of Liquid and Solid Matters in the Trachean 

 Vessels of Plants. By M. T. Lestiboudois. 



As facts in opposition to the arguments adduced in support of the 

 opinion that the trachean vessels of plants are aeriferous, the author 

 indicates that vessels may appear empty because the liquids contained 

 in them are perfectly limpid, or they may lose their fluids by age, 



