PROGRESS IN CENTRAL HALL 141 



if simple fact, if not generally known, was never 

 omitted, as, for instance, by raising the feathers of 

 the head to show that a bird has an external ear. 



After the conception came the enormous prac- 

 tical difficulty of carrying it out, by obtaining 

 the specimens, of selection, of continuity, and of 

 setting the objects out in the best way, that the 

 whole might be clear and unmistakable and tell 

 its own story. This was his personal occupation 

 for years. The results compel the admiration of 

 every foreign zoologist who visits the Museum, 

 and delight hundreds of thousands of his fellow- 

 countrymen and country-women of all ages annually. 

 They have been copied all over the world, and are 

 still unequalled. 



It should be mentioned that he himself designed 

 the cases for the bays in the Great Hall. By 1886 

 he was able to report that the first bay, containing 

 the series showing the osteology and dentition of 

 the Mammalia, was practically complete. In the 

 second bay the series showing the modifications of 

 the outer covering, such as skin, hair, horns like 

 those of the rhinoceros, nails, claws, and horny plates 

 as in the armadillos, was also completed. It will be 

 noticed that his promise to illustrate the character- 

 istics of "classes" was faithfully observed. The 

 two first bays gave the complete story of the inner 

 and outer skeleton of the Class " Mammals," with 

 their teeth, and showed also their order of classi- 

 fication. The next bay was devoted to the Class 



