36 LIFE OF FLOWER 



the different orders of the Mammalia. As regards 

 the osteological series, he expressed himself in the 

 above-mentioned address of 1 88 1 in the following 

 words : 



" On this head we claim to be somewhat in advance 

 of other museums, on account of the improvements 

 which have been made of late years in preparing and 

 articulating dried skeletons, and in displaying portions 

 of the bony framework in an instructive manner. 

 Formerly all the bones were rigidly fixed together, so 

 that their articular surfaces, if not actually destroyed, 

 were completely concealed, and no bone could possibly 

 be removed and separately examined. The aim of a 

 series of changes in the method of mounting skeletons 

 introduced here, and n9w adopted, more or less com- 

 pletely, in many other museums, has been to obviate all 

 these difficulties, and to make each bone, as far as 

 possible, independent of all the rest, whilst preserving 

 the general aspect and form of the entire skeleton. 



" Another improvement in the osteological series in- 

 troduced within the last twenty years has been the forma- 

 tion of a special collection designed to show the principal 

 modifications of each individual skeleton throughout 

 the vertebrate classes, by the placing the homologous 

 bones of a number of different animals in juxta-posi- 

 tion. For convenience of comparison, the specimens 

 of this series are all placed in corresponding positions, 

 mounted on separate stands, and to each is attached a 

 label bearing the name of the bone and the animal to 

 which it belongs. This series is especially instructive 

 to the students of elementary osteology, and forms an 

 introduction to the general series." 



