4 Department of Zoology. 



1856-1861. raised the collection to such a high level in the comparatively 

 short period of about twenty years. But the exhibition itself 

 was, or soon became, only a secondary consideration in Dr. Gray's 

 aims ; the instruction, or rather the amusement (an expression 

 constantly occurring in the evidence before the Select Committee 

 of 1860), of the public occupied his care much less than the direct 

 advancement of science. In the " Guide " which he prepared for 

 the public he was content with giving very elementary and 

 fragmentary information, while he concentrated his efforts on the 

 preparation of nominal or descriptive systematic catalogues, and 

 in the formation of separate study collections. 



The condition of these study-series about this period was as 

 follows : 



1. The unmounted Mammalian skins formed about one-fourth 

 of the whole collection (mounted and unmounted) ; they were 

 kept in the basement in rough cupboards, each of which would 

 hold about two or three skins of animals the size of a donkey, 

 smaller specimens being arranged on open trays. 



.2. Much more extensive and of greater intrinsic value was 

 the collection of skulls and skeletons ; it was entirely the creation 

 of Gray, who, without accurate anatomical knowledge, was one 

 of the first systematists to utilise osteological characters for 

 distinction of the species and genera of living forms. This 

 collection occupied a room in the basement, 65 feet by 35 

 feet, fitted with wall- and table-cases. No ray of the sun ever 

 penetrated into this locality, and a fire had to be kept in it all 

 the year round to preserve the bones from damp and mould. No 

 more unsuitable locality could be imagined for an osteological 

 collection, yet it was the only room in the building available 

 for the purpose. Nearly all the skeletons were kept dis- 

 articulated in boxes, thus requiring but little space, and being 

 conveniently arranged for study. One or two of the "Cases were 

 occupied by bones of birds, reptiles, and some fishes. The 

 whole collection was, from the beginning, in excellent order of 

 arrangement, the specimens being carefully named and labelled ; 

 it was throughout under the special care of the chief Attendant 

 of the Department, Mr. Edward Gerrard, who prepared a nominal 

 list of the collection in 1862. 



3. The collection of Birds was, with regard to numbers, about 

 equally divided between the mounted and unmounted series. 

 As in Mammalia, the size of a specimen frequently decided its 

 reference to either of the 'two series. The skins were kept 

 in wooden boxes of a convenient size, each being capable of 



