MATURE 389 
o 
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1870 
THE MUSEUMS AND SCIENTIFIC INSTI- 
TUTIONS OF LIVERPOOL 
OR the third time since the founding of the British 
Association for the Advancement of Science, its 
annual meeting is being held in Liverpool. Those who, 
from former visits, are conversant with the town and its 
multitudinous attractions, will have every inducement to 
attract them thither once more; but as there are many 
who are paying Liverpool a visit for the first time, it may 
not be superfluous to direct special attention to those 
points which come more especially under the notice of all 
who are interested in scientific objects and pursuits, the 
more especially as during the meeting of the Association 
time is limited, or fully occupied during the chief portion 
of the day. 
In Liverpool, then, first and foremost stands the Derby 
Free Public Museum, which is for once to belie its 
name by being closed to the general public during the 
meeting of the British Association, being only open to the 
members. As the reception-room occupies the central 
hall of this building, it will be of necessity much visited, 
and we have not the slightest doubt that its fine collec- 
tions will be duly appreciated and admired. Visited 
yearly by upwards of half a million people of all classes 
it may be said without prejudice to other and much older 
country museums, to be the finest museum out of London. 
It took its rise in the zoological collection presented to the 
town by the late Earl of Derby some twenty years ago. 
The munificence and philanthropy of the late Sir William 
Brown induced him to erect the handsome building in 
which the Museum and Free Library are now placed, 
entirely at his own cost (about 35,000/.), on land given by 
the Corporation for that purpose. Since that time the 
museum has acquired by special gifts some extremely 
valuable and large collections, to be hereafter noticed 
more particularly, and is in daily receipt of specimens 
and contributions from its many admirers. Owing to the 
great maritime trade of Liverpool, the Museum is being 
constantly supplied with valuable specimens, collected by 
ships’ officers and seamen all over the world ; and as these 
gifts are acknowledged in the local papers each week, 
every inducement is held out for others to follow such good 
examples. The Museum, which is under the able curator- 
ship of Mr. T. J. Moore, aims at being a Zoological 
Museum, and, moreover, essentially a practical and 
working one. For this purpose the specimens are 
arranged as far as possible in open table-cases, and pro- 
ceed in order from the lowest animal forms, the Pro- 
tozoa, through all the Invertebrata, to the Reptilia, Aves, 
and Mammalia. 
Beginning in the room labelled Bird-room No. 1, the 
table-cases are filled with fine specimens of Protozoa, 
Corals, &c., and as the general arrangement in the cases 
throughout the Museum is pretty much the same, its 
completeness and perfection will be gathered if we des- 
cribe one case more particularly in detail. We will 
take the large class of Spongida. In the centre of 
the case is placed a card about the size of a page of 
q 
an octavo book, on which are legibly printed the chief 
characteristics, and an accurate description of the class 
of animals which are represented in the case. In the 
Spongida and many others, these descriptions are taken 
from Professor Huxley’s work on the Classification -of 
Animals. Around this card are arranged the mounted speci- 
mens, each accurately named and its locality given. 
British species are marked by distinctive labels, and 
the case is completed by the introduction of fossil speci- 
mens. Thus at a glance there is given an accurate de- 
scription which can be soon copied out, and around it are 
placed the recent and fossil specimens of the class .of 
object described. In short, upright, cases above these 
are arranged any more conspicuous and showy objects of 
the same class. The simplicity and thorough usefulness 
of the Museum may be easily imagined when it is under- 
stood that this system is pursued throughout, and that, in 
the large classes of Insecta and Crustacea, all the sub- 
classes and distinctive genera are similarly treated. 
Before leaving this room we cannot but notice a mag- 
nificent specimen of the rare coral /s?s Hippuris, from 
Port Elizabeth (?), and the fine collection of the elegant 
Venus’ flower-baskets (Zu/ecte//a), in reality a sponge, 
from the Philippine Islands. In Bird-room No, 2 we pro- 
ceed, through the classes of Polyzoa and Molluscoida 
and Ascidia, to the Mollusca proper. There is a fine 
case of Zerebratule, which deserves notice, as the recent 
specimens are very numerous, and are contrasted with 
good fossil specimens. A hasty glance showed us recent 
specimens from New Zealand, the Moluccas, China, 
Philippine Islands, South Australia, America, Sandwich 
Islands, Japan, Sicily, North Britain, Peru, Norway, 
Panama, Singapore, California, the Mediterranean, &c. &c., 
—surely not so bad for one case of rare shells in a local 
museum. 
In the next rooms, Bird-rooms Nos. 3 and 4, the Bivalve 
shells are followed by the Gasteropoda and Cephalopoda, 
proceeding onward to the Crustacea and Insecta, of which 
there are—especially in the latter class—very fine and well- 
arranged collections. In the collection of Mollusca and 
Gasteropoda is incorporated a valuable typical collection 
presented to the Museum in December 1869 by Mr. S. 
Smith. All around the three rooms we have described 
are arranged large upright wall-cases filled with stuffed 
specimens, chiefly birds, whilst in Room 5 are arranged 
the collection of fish and reptilian remains. There is a 
fine skeleton of the Dodo, from Mauritius, which was pre- 
sented by Mr. Higginson, and is only excelled by the 
slightly more perfect ones in the British Museum and the 
Cambridge Anatomical Museum. 
The collection of stuffed animal remains is arranged 
in the basement of the building, and is chiefly remarkable 
for the fine specimens of the Gorilla which are there 
exhibited. It is under process of re-arrangement, and 
so does not show to much advantage. The British col- 
lection is excessively poor, especially in birds, and there 
is every opportunity to any one who has a collection of 
British birds to present them to the Museum, where they 
will be much appreciated, and certainly properly utilised. 
In a room below the basement is a small but almost 
unique collection, which we cannot but think will be largely 
visited this week, We allude to the collection of aquaria, 
where many of the rarest and most interesting marine 
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