Miscellaneous. 263 



must have handled the book, though he misspells the name, 

 ' Humphredianum.' 



The reference to Fox and subsequent recovery of the tract I owe 

 to Dr. David Murray, whose excellent book on ' Museums,' pub- 

 lished in 1904, I eagerly perused on its appearance as likely to 

 give me a clue. A letter from Dr. Murray further assisted me, and 

 I found the Catalogue still preserved in the Hancock Museum, 

 Newcastle-on-Tyne. It was no doubt the copy marked by George 

 Allan himself when purchasing from Humphrey's Museum, as there 

 are lines in the margin as mentioned by Mr. Fox. 



I much regret that I had not found Fox's reference to this 

 Catalogue before, as the ' Mus. Humf.' has been my " old man of 

 the sea " for fifteen years, and I. am exceedingly thankful to be able 

 to shake him off. It is also a somewhat remarkable circumstance 

 that no one has informed me of the existence of this copy at New- 

 castle, more especially as I advertised every week for nearly three 

 years for the loan of a copy in a publication which is, or should be, 

 in every library or museum of importance. 



Considering that I could not see this tract before publishing my 

 ' Index Animalium,' it now gives me peculiar satisfaction to 

 announce to zoologists that the ' Museum Humfredianum ' has no 

 zoological value whatsoever. It is merely an auction sale-catalogue 

 of a general collection of curiosities, without systematic arrange- 

 ment of the zoological portion, and without generic headings or 

 bim^minal nomenclature of any sort or description. 



Indeed, it is now certain that George Humphrey did not employ 

 definite terms in print until he published his ' Museum Calonnianum ' 

 in 1797, and this fact alone will account for the rarity of the ' Mus. 

 Humf.' and the comparative abundance of the ' Mus. Calotin.' The 

 former was useless the day after the sale, the latter, being full of 

 new names, became at once a book of reference. 



As the Catalogue has never been properly described, I give the 

 following as the full text of the title : — 



(Xo. 9, 1779.) I MusEiTM Humfredianum: | [a line] | A i 

 CATALOGUE ] Of the large and valuable | MUSEUM | of | 

 Mr. George Humphrey; | AVhich is presumed to be the most 

 capital of the kind | ever offered to public Sale in this King- 

 dom : I Comprehending many Thousand curious Subjects in 

 NATURAL I history, Collected with great Judgment and Ex])ence, 

 from most | Parts of the known World, during a Course of upwards 

 of thirty | Years : particularly Shells, Corals, and other beautiful 

 Marine Pro- [ ductions; Reptiles, Insects, and other Animals, both 

 dried and in | Spirits; most of the Species in the Fossil Kingdom ; 

 among them | many rare and elegant Spars, Crystals (some of them 

 matchless) | Marbles, Agates, and otlier Stones ; Ores and Minerals; 

 a great | Variety of uncommon Petrcfactions of Animals and 

 Vegetables ; | some elegant Compositions in Shell-work, consisting 

 of Vases with | Flowers, Temples, &c. the best and most extensive 

 Collection of tlie | Cloths, Garments, Ornaments, Weapons of War, 



