190 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 
such splendid style in the hall of the New Natural History 
Museum at South Kensington. Very like it indeed, but not 
exactly the same; for, according to my ideas, classification 
ought to be a stronger feature in the type collection than it 
is at Cromwell Road, and should, I think, go as far at least 
as the orders. I hope you will not consider me egotistic 
in referring once more to what is being at present done in 
the Edinburgh Museum under my superintendence. For the 
type collection, the space we have to work upon is the upper 
gallery of a rectangular hall lighted from the roof, and this 
provides for one very necessary thing in the educational 
collection, namely, plenty of light by which to see the 
specimens. Round the walls are placed upright cases of 
moderate height and depth, in which are being arranged 
representatives of the various orders, with anatomical pre- 
parations and embryological models, illustrative of the reason 
why animals are so classified. The parapet of the gallery is 
occupied by desk-cases, destined for the preparations to 
illustrate technical terms, and these will be arranged as 
nearly as possible in positions opposite the wall-cases con- 
taining the classes and orders of animals to which they 
specially refer. For example, in the case of birds, the desk- 
cases contain illustrations of the topography of a bird’s body, 
of the structure of feathers, of the various kinds of feathers, of 
the various types of palatal structure, of the different forms of 
sterna, bills, feet, tails, etc., all labelled with the technical terms 
applied to each modification in ornithological works. On the 
opposite wall-case a few selected examples of each order 
of birds are placed, along with skulls, showing the particular 
type of palatal structure characteristic of that order, and to 
which other preparations will be added as time and oppor- 
tunity allow. But the getting together of such a collection 
in any degree of completeness is naturally an extremely 
difficult one, and it may yet be several years before all the 
great classes of animals are illustrated in the manner they 
should be. 
Time will not permit me to enter into the subject of 
the Mineralogical and Geological collections which should 
form integral parts of a large Natural History museum or 
