66 REMINISCENCES OF 



geological phenomena of the district. Men previously 

 hostile now gradually became personal friends, and 

 work progressed smoothly for some time. My first 

 business in each department was to separate the 

 British from the foreign collections. The birds, of 

 which we had for that period a large number, were 

 the objects to which I first turned my attention. 

 They were, when I took charge of the museum, 

 arranged in ornamental groups, without any con- 

 sideration for their scientific relationships. The 

 plan which I adopted with the arboreal birds showed 

 the student at once which belonged to the same 

 genera. The glazed cases in which they were 

 preserved were fitted with artificial branches made 

 of wire and tow and coated with a wash of coloured 

 size. If I had a bird which was a genus in itself, 

 it was supported on a single twig fastened to the 

 woodwork of the case. If, on the other hand, I 

 was dealing with a genus that contained two or 

 more species, a tree was made for them, having as 

 many twigs as there were birds to be placed upon 

 them ; so the boundaries of each genus were seen at 

 a glance. 



As I have already indicated, there were amongst 

 us two or three men whose science was of the 

 shallowest type, and upon whom the wags of the 

 town sometimes played sad tricks. On one occasion 

 a pseudo-ornithologist was thus "taken in." The 

 humourist, who had extensive gardens around his 

 house, called upon our amateur friend and announced 



