68 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



CASE 48. 

 Fishes, Paraguay Expedition. 



CASE 49. 



Birds from Sandwich Islands, Tierra del Fuego, Chili, &c... The Oyster-Catcher. ..Noddy.,. 

 Wandering Albatross... Stormy Petrels, or Mother Carey's Chickens. 



CASE 50. 



Serpents and Reptiles. 



CASE 51. 

 The Ibis. 



The red bird is the Scarlet Ibis, worshipped by the Egyptians, one of the most celebrated birds of antiquity. 

 New Holland Crane. ..Brazilian Cranes... Tookaroo, a rare species of Crane. 



CASE 52. 

 Reptiles from Brazil, and from the Paris Museum. 



Between Cases 52 and 53. The identical dress worn by Dr. E. K. KANE, the celebrated 

 American Arctic Explorer, and brought by him to this Museum. We quote the following 

 from the account of his travels : 



"The clothing or personal outfit demands the nicest study of experience. Rightly clad, ha is a lump of de- 

 formity, waddling over the ice, unpicturesque, uncouth, and seemingly helpless. The fox-skin jumper, or kape- 

 tah, is a closed shirt, fitting very loosely to the person, but adapted to the head and neck by an almost air-tight 

 hood, the nessak. Underneath the kapetah is a similar garment, but destitute of the hood, which is a shirt. It is 

 made of bird skins, chewed in the mouth by the women until they are perfectly soft, and it is worn with this 

 unequalled down next the body. More than 500 auks have been known to contribute to a garment of this de- 

 scription. The lower extremities are guarded by a pair of bear-skin breeches, the nannooke. The foot gear con- 

 sists of a bird-skin sock, with a padding of grass over the sole. Outside of this is a bear skin leg. 



In this dress, a man will sleep upon his sledge with the atmosphere at 93 below our freezing point. The only 

 additional articles of dress are, a fox's tail held between the teeth to protect the nose in a wind, and mitts of 

 seal-skin well wadded with sledge straw." 



Dr. Kane, however, had to add to the dress described " furs and woolens, layer upon layer, inside, like the 

 shards of an artichoke, till he was rounded into absolute obesity." 



CASE 53. 

 No. 18, Big Horn, or Mountain Sheep. 



Found on rocky sierras and other places where the want of water forbids the existence of every other 

 ruminant. 



No. 19, Mountain Sheep, from Fort Tejon, Cal...No. 20, Kangaroo, U. S. Exploring Ex- 

 pedition. ..No. 21, Guanaco or Llama a young one of No. 25. ..No. 22, Virginia Deer, from 

 Medicine Bow. ..No. 23, Black-tailed Deer, from California. ..No. 24, Black-tailed Deer, from 

 Oregon. ..No. 25, Guanaco or Llama. ..No. 26, Black-tailed Deer, from California. ..No. 27, 

 Prong-horn Antelope, from Yellowstone River. ..No. 28, A young Elk...Nos. 29 and 30, Vir- 

 ginia Deer. ..No. 31, Patagonia Deer...Nos. 32, 33, 34, 35, Musk Deer, from New Holland... 

 No. 36, Kangaroo. ..No. 37, Antelope, from Cape of Good Hope...Nos. 38, 39, 40, Musk Deer. 



CASE 54. 



Serpents and Reptiles from South America, Central America, and the North Pacific. 



Next examine the large table case in the middle of the west end of the room, in which is 

 a fine collection of Sea-esgs and Star-fishes. Notice particularly the specimens at the 

 east end with their curious teeth... Echinidse, or Sea Urchins or Sea Eggs. 



These are found generally on sandy shores, and prefer quiet and secluded pools. Some make excavations in 

 solid rock. Their food consists of sea-weeds and small crustace*. 



The Star-fishes. 



Their structure is that of a number of tough, leathery rays diverging from a central disk. In this disk is the 

 mouth, which opens into a stomach filling the disk and branching off into the raya. The various forms are innu- 

 merable. They are found in every climate. 



The most interesting, however, are the comatula. or sea-wigs, They have a branch-like structure, like that of 

 a gorgon's head; but what makes them peculiarly interesting is, that they ere the recent representatives of a 

 tribe of sea-animals now all but extinct, although found in immense abundance in a fossil state. These curious 

 animals of a former era are called crinoideae, and they were so numerous that Prof. Forbes says the remains of 

 their skeletons constitute great tracts of the dry land as it now appears. 



The structure of the shell of the echinus, which consists of a number of pentagonal pieces fitting together, the 

 method by which it is increased by a calcareous secretion from the body of the animal, and the mechanism by 

 which the spines are attached, are subjects of great admiration among naturalists. The interior structure is 



