THE JOUKNEY TO INDIA. 5 



scientific sharp, the chances are he cannot name a Hving species of 

 any except the lowest forms of animal life which cannot be found 

 represented there in some form. It may be a skin, a mounted 

 specimen, a skeleton, a skull, a preparation in alcohol, or perhaps 

 only a pair of horns ; anyhow, it will be there, somewhere, although 

 it may not be on exhibition by any means. Of many species there 

 are dozens of specimens of various ages, from various localities, all 

 valuable as showing the variations in size, color, and texture of cov- 

 ering. The best of it all is, that this wonderful storehouse of 

 science is open on equal tei'ms to all, and, be you ever so humble a 

 student, an assistant is always at your service to hunt up and show 

 you at once the specimens you desire to examine. Even before I 

 had intimated a desire for a closer examination of the tortoises on 

 exhibition, a vigilant attendant noticed my interest in the group 

 and immediately came forward, with au offer to unlock the cases 

 and take out any specimens I wished to examine closely. When I 

 protested that I did not Avish to give him so much trouble, he re- 

 plied that he was there for that very purpose. No introduction, 

 no unwinding of red tape was necessary ; that I had been found 

 studying those sj^ecimens as well as I could through the glass was 

 enough. Again, when I wished to see a particular crocodile skull 

 described by Gray as Molinia Americana, Dr. Gunther immediately 

 sent an assistant with me, who went into the basement with a lan- 

 tern and found it directly. When I wished to see Seba's figure 

 and description of " the American crocodile," published so many 

 years ago, the distinguished keeper of zoology sent another assist- 

 ant to the library, who found the volume and the plate for me at 

 once. This, and much more, was done to assist the inquiries of a 

 mere nobody. 



It is in this great institution that the naturalist will find the type 

 specimens of so many thousand species, and the array of objects 

 from which those extremely valuable but far too costly contribu- 

 tions to science, known as the British Museum Catalogues, have 

 been made up. Each catalogue is in reality a handbook of classi- 

 fication, but the trouble is, the volumes are so expensive as to be 

 beyond the reach of the average impecunious student who would 

 gladly inform himself from them. What a boon to poor naturalists 

 it would be if these catalogues and monographs were pubhshed 

 and issued upon the same generous plan as that pursued by the 

 Government of the United States in the issue of similar works. 

 We have not as yet a British Museum, but we have a Government 



