338 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[June 8, l»b3. 



attractive ; tUey lia%c been bred from the original stock 

 intioducrcl into this country in 1852 by Mr. Berney, of 

 !Morton Hall, Norfolk. 



The Eastern terraces, with their enclosed pond, crossed 

 by a Chinese bridge, are now inhabited by fish-eating birds 

 lent by the Zoological Society out of their collection in 

 Regent's Park. The pelican of the wilderness and the 

 curious fbiniingo are conspicuous amongst these ; whilst at 

 the e.xtreme end of an aviary a dejected cormorant sits, 

 deploring the fate which transported him from his birth- 

 place in the Society's Gardens to the less congenial corner 

 of a box in Soutii Kensington. 



The Chinese bridge, with its inconvenient steps, leads to 

 a pagoda on its eastern side, and from thence a pathway 

 directs us to the covered building assigned to China. 

 Everything here is Chinese, from the carefully-e.xecuted 

 drawings which deck the walls, and of some of which it 

 may be appropriate to say, "These are fishes !" in a breath 

 with the renowned artist of old who entitled his smear 

 with the inscription, " This is a cow." Heterogeneity, 

 rather than variety, seems to have been the aim of the 

 Celestial curator whose pickled iish surround the pedestal, 

 whii-h is surmounted by a dilapidated boat containing a 

 model Chinaman within and cormorants strewed without. 

 The model serves its purpose, however, in conveying some idea 

 of a novel mode of fishing which is even still employed by 

 our Chinese lirethren. The specimens of shells, ic, are chiefly 

 confined to some of the commoner tropical forms, arranged 

 anyhow and named somehow. In Chi'na it is a prevalent 

 custom to make use of some of the larger turbinated shells 

 (notably Turbo olearms) as hanging tlower-pots; the outer 

 layers of the shell are scraped away and reveal the beauti- 

 ful nacreous lustre of the mother-of-pearl ; a few of these 

 may be seen in this department, and the work of M. P. 

 Dabry de Thiersant* may be observed, safely locked in a 

 glass-case. The roof which shelters China also protects 

 the interests of India, the Straits Settlements, Japan, Chili, 

 Hawaii, Tasmania, and New South Wales. 



Although the exhibits of India are derived for the most 

 part from the Government museums of that Empire, they 

 seem to be a direct contradiction of the great law of evo- 

 lution, the survival of the M?ifittest Nothing short of the 

 nio~t unqualified reproach can be bestowed upon collections 

 which we had hoped would vie with even those of Great 

 Britain ; but our disappointment is counterbalanced by the 

 e.xquisite collection of Indian fishes, with illustrations from 

 his valuable work, which stands out like a gem amidst a 

 heap of rubbish ; it is the property of a gentleman now 

 resident in this country, and well known as a distinguished 

 ichthyologist ; we refer to Dr. Francis Day. The natural 

 history collections from the Straits Settlements consist of 

 a medley of the commoner forms of tropical corals, shells, 

 and some unnamed fish in bottles of spirit. 



The Asiatic exhibits come to a close with the Japanese 

 division. On a central table there may be seen a box, 

 exhibited by Messrs. Atkins and Nisbet, containing bundles 

 of a whitish, semi-transparent, dried sea weed ; this is the 

 famous Ft'ci's cnr/Uar/inosus of the Chinese and Japanese, 

 which, when boiled with water and sugar, and allowed to 

 cool in a mould, aflbrds an alimentary substance somewhat 

 like calf's-foot jelly in colour and consistency, but vastly 

 different in taste. 



Chili and Hawaii are not yet adequately represented, 

 and the next exhibits of interest are those of Tasmania and 

 New South Wales. These sections contain several hand- 

 some museum cabinets with well prepared stu fled specimens 

 of fish and mammals, a choice selection of oyster shells 



• " La Pisciculture et la Pfiohe en Chine.' 



(Oiti-cra f/lomerata), and the food fishes of Australia in spirit 

 This brings us to the end of the gallery from whence a 

 short pathway leads to a narrow elongated building 

 apportioned to Spain. We will not linger here, saveto glance 

 at a few specimens of wood perforated by the so-called ship 

 worm [Teredo), whose true molluscous nature was first 

 explained in an elaborate Latin memoir by G. Sellius. 



The Spanish gallery terminates in the large central 

 promenade of the Exhibition buildings, from which access 

 may be successively gained (in respective order) to the seal 

 and otter ponds, the buildings delegated to Norway, 

 Sweden, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the United States 

 of America, Canada, Denmark, and Newfoundland. To 

 the west of the Canadian department there is a pond for 

 beavers. Lastly, Russia is located — or rather not located 

 — in a gallery corresponding on the west to that occupied 

 by Spain on the east ; and the building which here takes 

 the position of the Australasian departments on the east is 

 termed the Foreign Gallery, and lodges the chief Con- 

 tinental exhibits of Europe, those of the West Indies and 

 Bahamas, and the Isle of Man. 



We cannot do more here than merely indicate a very 

 few of the interesting exhibits in each of the above-named 

 departments. In the Norwegian section may be noticed a 

 series of copied drawings from the originals of Professor 

 Sars' work on the development of the cod, and also some 

 of the plates taken from the reports of the Norske 

 Nordhaiis Expedition. 



The Swedish section is richer in its natural history 

 specimens ; there may be seen some good skeletons of 

 Cetaceans, lent by the Gothenburg Museum ; several beau- 

 tiful paintings in water colours, by W. von Wright, of the 

 fishes of Sweden ; and the collection made by Baron 

 Nordenskjold during the Veya expedition. 



The United States of America have already arranged a 

 large and well-chosen collection of specimens in their 

 portion of the buildings, amongst which we may draw- 

 special attention to the cases of insects which serve as food 

 for fishes, the collection of oyster (Osiraa virginica) and 

 other shells, and a number of literary productions on fish 

 and fish culture, conspicuous amongst which is an elaborate 

 treatise on the game fish of the LTnited States. 



The Canadian dominion is fairly well represented ; one 

 of the chief attractions is a case containing specimens of 

 fish caught in June and July, 1882, which even now seem 

 to be comparative!}- fresh, decay having been arrested 

 through a well-constructed freezing apparatus. 



Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands are also well 

 represented, although there seems to be a general lack 

 amongst them of natural history specimens. The New- 

 foundland cod-fisheries find a small place in several beau- 

 tiful commercial examples in bottles of spirits. 



In the Foreign Gallery, Greece and Italy are rendered 

 attractive through their corals and cameos. In one cabinet 

 a large number of cameo-shells (chiefly of the genus Cassis), 

 are arranged to show the progressive stages of the carv- 

 ing. Amongst other things in this gallery we may draw 

 special attention to a very fine collection of bath sponges 

 and pink pearls from the Bahamas, and to the only con- 

 tribution which has as yet arrived from Austria, — a series 

 of parasitic crustaceans found on Adriatic fishes, and 

 described by Signor Antonio Valle.* The Foreign Gallery 

 merges into the British departments allotted to pisciculture, 

 through which we passed on a former occasion. 



Lastly, in the south-eastern corner of the E.xhibition 

 buildings, a small shed is appropriated by the native Guano 

 Company, and serves well to illustrate how a very far- 



' " Crostacei Pai-assiti dei Pesci del Mare Adriatico. Trieste, 1880. 



