424 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIV. No. 614. 



to Pleistocene are superior, though they 

 seem to lack effectiveness from their irregu- 

 lar distribution in various halls; thus in 

 the hall of fossil fish there is a fine collec- 

 tion of living fishes, sponges and grapto- 

 lites. Many of the invertebrate fossils are 

 grouped with the living shells, not of 

 course at all confusedly, but in the same 

 hall in wall cases. Noticeable in one group 

 is an interesting collection of fossil foot- 

 prints from the new Red Sandstone of Corn- 

 cockle Muir, Dumfriesshire, formed by the 

 late Sir Wm. Gardine, Bart, and contain- 

 ing the specimens described and figured by 

 him in his 'Ichnology of Annandale.' 



The Devonian fossil fish easily take pre- 

 cedence amongst the fossil collections, and 

 they possess an unmistakable distinction. 

 They make up a wonderful collection. 

 Here are the Devonian genera, Astero- 

 lepis, Bothriolepis, Cephalaspis, Coccosteus, 

 Cyroptychius, Diplopterus, Dipierus, Dre- 

 panaspis, Eusthenopteron, Holoptychms 

 —a superb slab, three feet long, shows a 

 group of one species of this genvis—Glyp- 

 tolepis, Homosteus, Osteolepis, Phanero- 

 pluron, Pieraspis, Ptericlitliys, Thrusius, 

 Trisiicliopterus. The carboniferous Juras- 

 sic and Tertiary fishes are also of unusual 

 value. 



Amongst the fossil invertebrates attention 

 may be justly called to the collection of 

 specimens in the Carboniferous (especially 

 instructive cephalopoda) and Jurassic sec- 

 tions, the interesting hippuritidce,, of the 

 chalk, and one splendid example of Ue- 

 quienia {R. ammonia, Goldfuss) from the 

 Meocomian of France. The Jurassic and 

 Triassic Cephalopoda are superior in indi- 

 vidual excellence, though the collection 

 does not seem very large. The polished 

 Triassic Ammonoidea are certainly hand- 

 some. The Paleozoic fossils are naturally 

 of great interest, but incomparably poorer 

 in quality and numbers than the exhibition 



of similar material from the same horizons 

 in New York. 



The fossils are mounted on buff boards 

 with printed divisions, printed and written 

 labels, and are somewhat incongruously 

 associated with a collection of comparative 

 craniology in the glass-fronted cases be- 

 neath them. In this same room is a col- 

 lection of shells, evidently intended for 

 comparative or morphological study, as it 

 is far from being very extensive in num- 

 bers or in species. Models of Arion and 

 Limax were noticed and apparently a 

 cleverly mounted skin of L. agrestis, L. 

 The fossil and living Crustacea in this hall, 

 in wall cases, were excellent, and the 

 Eurypterida decidedly valuable. 



A very excellent instance of an industrial 

 exhibit may be profitably quoted as sug- 

 gestive at least to curators contemplating 

 similar objects. It is the care devoted to 

 an instruction in the making of Wedge- 

 wood ware. Here under raw materials 

 are placed boulder flint, gravesend flint, 

 calcined flint, limestone, chertstone, com- 

 pact gypsum, flint dried and ground to a 

 firm mass as used in the glazes, raw Swed- 

 ish feldspar, Swedish feldspar fired in the 

 biscuit oven, gray marl, seggar clay, a mix- 

 ture of gray, black and red marls passed 

 through a couple of rollers, blue ball or 

 poole clay. Blue clay fired in the biscuit 

 oven, black clay, another kind of ball clay, 

 china clay, Cornish clay or kaolin (a fine 

 white clay obtained from the decomposed 

 feldspar which is washed out of certain 

 Cornish granites), china clay with sand 

 washed out, china clay fired in the biscuit 

 oven, native china clay before being 

 washed, hard Cornish stone fired in the 

 highest heat of the biscuit oven, china clay 

 fired in the highest heat of the biscuit oven, 

 blue clay fired in the highest heat of the 

 biscuit oven, black clay, gray marl, red 

 marl, all fired in the biscuit oven, calcined 

 flint broken or stamped, flint knockings — 



