552 



NA TURE 



\_April 14, 1 88 1 



division forming the door. A "cell" inside, inclosed by 

 curtains, gives access to the specimens ; by this contriv- 

 ance it is hoped that the dust will be excluded to a great 

 extent. 



Accommodation for large specimens, as, for example, 

 portions of stems and sections of various kinds of wood, 

 such as oak, walnut, pine, cedar, and other dicotyledons, 

 and trunks of palms, cycads, tree-ferns, bamboos, and 

 other striking examples of the vegetable kingdom, is pro- 

 vided for by three tall metal and glass cases 14 feet high, 

 occupving the floor-space in the centre of the gallery. 



One-half of the main gallery is partitioned off from the 

 public room, and fitted up with cabinets for the reception 

 of the Herl'wiuin, the nucleus of which was obtained by 

 Sir Joseph Banks and Solander in their voyage round the 

 world with Captain Cook. This first series of cabinets is 

 entirely occupied with the flowering plants, which are all 

 fastened on single sheets of paper. The Pavilion contains 

 similar cabinets for the reception of the British-plants and 

 Filicinae, whilst the room above in the tower is intended 

 for the Cryptogamia. Down the centre of the large room 

 are cabinets fitted to receive the great collection of fruits 

 and seeds, each being placed near its appropriate family 

 in the Herbarium on either side. These inner rooms, 

 with the valuable librar)- attached to them, are of course 

 only available for purposes of study, but are always 

 accessible to the botanical student and worker. 



On the south-west side of the Index Museum, the gal- 

 lery on the second floor which corresponds with that 

 appropriated to Botany is designed to contain the great 

 collection of Recent Osteology ; that on the first floor is 

 to be devoted to stuffed animals, and the front ground- 

 floor gallery to birds. The eight galleries in rear of the 

 main building on the west side will be appropriated to 

 the Reptilia, Fishes, and Invertebrata. The collections 

 preserved in spirits are to be placed in a special building 

 at the north end of these galleries. The basement on 

 the west side contains sixteen studies and work-rooms 

 and a large open space well fitted for workshops and 

 stores. 



The Assistant-Secretary (Mr. J. T. Taylor) is provided 

 with offices adjoining the Board Room on the first floor 

 above the British Zoological Hall. The Superintendent, 

 Prof. Owen, C.B., and the Keepers of Geology (Dr. H. 

 Woodward, F.R.S.), of Mineralogy (Mr, L, Fletcher, M,A., 

 F.G.S.), and of Botany (Mr. W. Carruthers, F.R.S.), have 

 each a study in the central towers on either side the 

 entrance. 



There are a few scientific men who still strongly protest 

 against the removal of the Natural History Collections from 

 the old to the new building, on the ground that the locality 

 is inconveniently far west, and that they are thereby pre- 

 cluded from using the Collections so freely as heretofore. 

 One of the strong grounds for protesting against the 

 removal has been the serious inconvenience arising from 

 the separation of the collections from the great National 

 Library. This injury will however be gradually removed 

 by the formation of a new Natural History Library in the 

 present building, a vote for which has been already taken. 

 The comparatively small band of scientific men who 

 use the Natural History Museum for purposes of special 

 work and study, would always do so wherever the collec- 

 tions happened to be located. 



.So too the holiday-makers, who come to the Museum 

 merely to be amused, will as willingly travel to South 

 Kensington as to the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens, 

 or to the Crystal Palace, " 



Undoubtedly the highest aim and use of our great 

 National Natural Historical Collections should be to 

 impart instruction to the young and rising generation, 

 and afford every facility for the advancement of our 

 scientific students, and the question whether they are now 

 conveniently placed is mainly for them to answer. If in 

 the future South Kensington is to become a great centre 

 of scientific instruction, then, and not otherwise, the 

 Natural History Collections have been placed in their 

 most suitable position. 



We cannot conclude this hasty notice without stating 

 that the old restrictions as to days of admission have all 

 been swept away, and the collections will from and after 

 the i8th be open daily to the public, save on Sundays, 

 Christmas Day, and Good Friday, and other public fast 

 days, &c. ; good and cheap guide-books are also to be 

 ready for the i8th. 



For this and other concessions the public are mainly 

 indebted to the untiring energy and determination of the 

 present principal Librarian, Mr, Edward A, Bond, LL,D., 

 who has also been the means of introducing many neces- 

 saiy and useful reforms into the old building ; not the least 

 being the electric light, which it may be hoped will ere long 

 cast its beams over the collections in the Natural History 

 Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington. 



TEXT-BOOK OF MECHANICS 

 A Text-Book of Elementary Mechanics, for the Use oj 

 Colleges and Schools. By Edward S, Dana, Assistant 

 Professor of Natural Philosophy in Yale College, (New 

 York : John Wiley and Sons, 1S81.) 



THIS is a small-sized book of 290 pages printed in 

 fairly clear type, and bound in an unpleasant- 

 looking cover, and we learn from the preface that it 

 has been prepared to meet the special wants of Yale 

 College instruction. An endeavour has been made to 

 dwell more fully than usual on the principles of the sub- 

 ject, at the same time illustrating these principles in their 

 practical bearings by descriptions of various machines 

 and appliances, while no mathematical knowledge beyond 

 the rudiments of algebra and trigonometry is required. 

 From this it may be presumed that the book is intended 

 for a very elementary class of students, at a lower stage, 

 if possible, than " Poll " men at Cambridge, or else that 

 it aims at assisting self-education by supplying the place 

 of a tutor. An undoubtedly good feature in the book is 

 the collection of examples, some of which are interspersed 

 in the text, and others collected in a body at the end, 

 where the answers are given. The metrical and ordinary 

 units are both employed. These examples are perhaps 

 the only part of the book which would be of any value to 

 teachers in this country. With regard to the main 

 subject matter of the book. Dynamics is placed first, and 

 Statics follows, with a chapter on the Pendulum at the 

 end. The definitions and the explanation of the prin- 

 ciples of the subject, though aiming at fulness and clear- 

 ness, are not always so satisfactory as might be wished. 

 A tendency to looseness of expression sometimes counter- 



