THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES. DECADE IV. VOL. V. 



No. X.— OCTOBEE, 1898. 



OTiXGrXlSTJi^JL JLI2.TIOLES. 



I. — The Directorship of the Natural History Museum. 



THE retirement of Sir A¥illiam Flower from the office of Director 

 of the British Museum of Natural History, which took place oa 

 September 30, after fourteen years of extremely efficient and active 

 service, will be viewed with regret by the great majority of 

 naturalists throughout the country. That he achieved the completion 

 of all his plans would be to claim too much in so limited a period of 

 time, but that he succeeded in illustrating how a Natural History 

 Museum may be rendered attractive to the general public and may 

 also be a place of instruction to the student, no one will deny. 



The cases illustrating structures in the skeleton and dermal 

 covering of mammals, birds, reptiles, and fishes, along the western 

 side of the Great Hall, and those of insects, mollusks, sponges, and 

 plants, u]3on the eastern side, convey an admirable idea how 

 a teaching series should be arranged ; whilst the groups of mammals, 

 birds, and insects in the glazed cases on the floor of the Hall 

 illustrate how the general public may be attracted and interested in 

 Natural History. 



For the arrangement of the beautiful series of nesting birds, 

 with eggs and young, in their natural surroundings, so liberallj'- 

 presented to the nation by Lord Walsingham and other donors, the 

 public is indebted to Dr. Giinther, F.E.S., for so many years the 

 able Keeper of the Zoological Department, aided by Dr. R. Bowdler 

 Sharpe and other members of the staff. Sir William Flower had 

 undertaken the reorganization and rearrangement of the entire 

 exhibited collection of mammals and birds, the former of which, 

 with the aid of Mr. R. Lydekker, F.R.S., he had largely carried 

 through, but of the latter only a small portion has as yet been 

 accomplished. Sir William Flower's last efforts were devoted to 

 complete the exhibition of Cetacea in the new Whale Room, in 

 which models of right whales and toothed whales are shown with 

 their skeletons, giving an admirable idea of both the exterior and 

 the bony framework of these huge marine mammals such as has 

 never before been displayed in this country, although previously 

 initiated in America. 



Writing on behalf of the Trustees, Lord Dillon, Chairman of the 

 Standing Committee, said " they wished 'to record their high 

 appreciation of his services, and of the rare combination of wide 



DECADE IV. VOL. Y. NO. X. 28 



