Pi-iO JOURNAL, BOMBAI NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol.XXril. 



readied and instructed. In New York City the combined attendance at the 

 Schools and Colleges during 1919 was 875,327 as compared with 10,654,881 people 

 who attended the Museums, PubUc Library, ScientilGLc Park and Aquaria. 

 Commenting on these figures President Osborn says: " Every one who comes, 

 learns something. Some persons learn a great deal, their thoughts, their 

 imagination take new and better channels ; thoroughly democratic these insti- 

 tutions are open at all times to people of aU classes ; they are planned on a 

 scale commensurate with a city destined to be the leading city of the world." 



The sooner it is reahsed that a Natural History Museum is not merely a store- 

 house of curiosities, but is actually a fundamental part of the educational system 

 of the country, the sooner wiU it be imderstood that the adequate support of 

 such an institution is not a civic luxury but a paramount necessity. If the 

 Museums in India are at all to achieve the purpose for which they are intended 

 they must receive the ungrudging support of the administration, failure in this 

 would by restricting their activities lessen their utility as is graphically instanced 

 by the statement by Dr. Annandale quoted above. 



The Trustees of the British Museum express their best thanks to the Society 

 for a donation of 26 small mammals from Upper Burma, including the types 

 of five new forms collected by Messrs. F. Kingdom Ward and P. M. Leonard, 

 descriptions of which appears elsewhere in this niimber. 



In addition to the above, the types of a new tortoise (T. buxtoni) which was 

 obtained by Mr. P. A. Buxton on the south coast of the Caspian Sea ; and a 

 new snake {Zamenis hotsoni) which was collected by Col. J. E. B. Hotson in 

 Shiraz were also presented to the National collection. 



In connection with the Society's gift of large series of Mammal Skins to the 

 British Museum, Mr. Oldfield Thomas writes, " you will, I think, understand 

 that our abihty to name and work out depends on our not only being able to 

 see but to keep material for further work, unless we are allowed to keep quite 

 good sets of specimens the progress of the survey will be continually hindered. 

 The keeping of, say, 2 or 4 specimens, out of a series of 40 which has been worked 

 out gives no opportunity for a later checking of the original paper. We want 

 to take a number of specimens, which may appear greedy but is reaUy only 

 based on experience as to what is wanted for better and more detailed work 

 in later collections." 



The thanks of the Society are due to Col. J. E. B. Hotson for his many yeart, 

 of active help and for the valuable collections obtained by him in Mekran and 

 Persia. Besides a large number of mammals his coUeotions included birds' 

 sldns, insects and a large assortment of pressed plants. Throughout this 

 period Col. Hotson bore half the expenses in connection with the collecting 

 work, and, as stated before, the thanks of all our members are due to him for his 

 generosity and for the valuable work he has done for the Society. Col. Hotson 

 is now on leave in England where we wish him every enjoyment of a long delayed 

 and hard earned rest. Members wiU be interested to hear that, through the 

 instrumentahty of Sir Percy Cox, arrangements are being made for one of the 

 Society's Assistants to collect and make observations in connection with 

 Bird Migration on the Light-house Islands of the Persian GuU , and Sir Percy has 

 verj^ kindly offered to pay the salary during the period. As most of our readers 

 must akeady be aware. Sir Percy is a very keen naturahst and during the war 

 contributed, together with Major R. E. Cheesman, a large number of specimens 

 collected in Mesopotamia, which collection wiU be found referred to as the Cox- 

 Cheesman Collection in the Reports of the Fauna of Mesopotamia. Major 

 R. E. Cheesman is back in Mesopotamia and will, we hope, be able to fiiid 

 time for Natural History work once more. 



At a recent Committee meeting a letter from Mr. W. W. A. Phillips of Ceylon 

 offering to collect for the Society was read. The Committee considered Mr. 



