— sa- 

 il. Tlio Council is iuformcd tliat tlio work al- 

 luded to in the second paragraph of Your Excellency's 

 letter, viz. : tlie numbering and labelling of specimens, 

 lias been partially carried out by tlie present Curator, 

 especially as regards shells and birds, but the want of 

 necessary books for reference rendered this work very 

 difficult and unsatisfactory. The number of species now 

 existing in the Museum is hardly sufficient to justify 

 the expense of printing the catalogue. 



III. Two principal objects must be kept in view, 

 among the numerous requirements to which a well con- 

 ducted Museum must satisfy, first of all, it must exhi- 

 bit the complete Fauna and Flora of the country, and 

 secondly must furnish the public in general, with an 

 accurate idea of the several forms of life and of their 

 arrangement according to the natural system : This 

 plan is perhaps too extensive to be completely carried 

 out in Mauritius ; the Council therefore recommends 

 that the action of Government should be chiefly ap- 

 plied to the creation of a Museum fully representing 

 the natural production of the Mascavene Grroup, Ma- 

 dagascar and the adjacent islands. Sufficient room 

 might be also provided for the general collections, of 

 which the present Museum would form the nucleus j 

 this to be principally increased by means of exchanges 

 Avith other Museums, and with the products of the 

 sale of duplicate specimens, reserving for the local 

 collections, the funds granted by Government. A 

 special room might be set apart, us Your Excellency 



