July ii, 1918] 



NATURE 



369 



shown in the museum, since stress is laid on the 

 magnificent colours of the birds themselves and 

 of the flowers which blossom in the desert after 

 the spring rains. The last case (Fig. 4) which can 

 be noticed contains a group of black bears {Vrsus 

 atnericanus), represented by a rocky scene, con- 

 taining the entrance to a den occupied by an adult 

 and its cubs, mounted in singularly life-like atti- 

 -ttides. 



Without in the least seeking to take away from 

 the American museums the credit which belongs 

 to them for their successful representations of 

 Nature, it may not be out of place to point out 

 that the system adopted by them is merely the 

 amplification of one which has for many years 



illustration of the nesting habits of a species of 

 bird. 



The essential features of the natural history of a 

 species are really as well brought out in the rela- 

 tively small cases employed at the Natural History 

 Museum as in the larger exhibits of the American 

 museums, although they do not aim at represent- 

 ing an entire landscape. It may readily be con- 

 ceded that both systems have their advantages. 

 But while the selection of a smaller case permits 

 of the illustration of the natural history of a large 

 number of species, it is obvious that the limit in 

 number must soon be reached in a museum, even 

 one of the largest size, which mounts its exhibits 

 on the scale adopted in the American museums. 



Fig. 6.— Peregrine V3.\con (Fak« peregrinus). British Museum (Natural History). 



been in use in this country, particularly in the 

 Natural History Branch of the British Museum. 

 By permission of the trustees of the museum, two 

 figures illustrating the nesting groups so familiar 

 to visitors to the bird gallery in the museum at 

 South Kensington are here reproduced, for com- 

 parison with the American exhibits. The group of 

 Kentish plovers {Aegialitis alexandrina) (Fig. 5) 

 shows adulfs, nestlings, and eggs among the 

 stones where the species breeds. It requires some 

 care to discover the nestlings (to the left of the 

 case) or the eggs (on the right side), so closely do 

 they resemble the stones among which they were 

 found. The case of the peregrine falcon (Falco 

 peregrimis) (Fig. 6) is another very successful 

 NO. 2541, VOL. lOl] 



The question of cost is, moreover, one which 

 cannot be ignored by any institution which is not 

 provided with the most ample funds, and one 

 would like to have been informed what has been 

 spent in the production of the beautiful exhibits 

 described by Dr. Evermann. It is unfortunately 

 probable that economy in administration will be 

 imposed on museums even after the conclusion 

 of the war. Should it be suggested that it is the 

 duty of museums in this country to imitate the 

 American example, it must be remembered that 

 the expenditure of large sums of money in this 

 way would divert funds from other purposes 

 which might be of more pressing importance. 



S. F. Harmer. 



