SIR HANS SLOANE. 



THE GREAT MUSEUMS OF BRITAIN. 



SIR HANS SLOANE, 



AMONG those aids which are indispensable to the general 

 progress of natural history may be reckoned the forma- 

 tion of extensive and well-appointed collections of animals. 

 In this respect few countries occupy a more enviable 

 position than our own, the British Museum and the 

 Hunterian Museum being two of the largest and best 

 ordered collections in existence. It is therefore instruc- 

 tive to glance briefly at the origin of these great and 

 national institutions, each of which owes its inception 

 to the genius of a single individual in the former case, 



