THE PEABODY MUSEUM. 401 



Marsupials and Monotremata : such as the opossum, kangaroo, duck bill, 

 (ornithorhynchus). 



Birds: land, water land struthious ; the last including the ostrich, emu, 

 rhea, cassowary and apteryx. 



Keptiles : crocodiles, lizards, snakes, turtles. 



Batrachians : frogs, toads, salamanders. 



Fishes : survivals of old forms, such as the gar-pike, amia, sturgeon ; also 

 the shark tribe and Teleosts or modern fishes. 



Thus by a series of existing animals, none of the extinct races being here 

 introduced, the student may see something of the relationships of structure 

 all the way from fish to man. All the quarters of the earth have contribu- 

 ted to fill this series, and neither pains nor cost have been stinted to obtain 

 the rarer tj^pes that complete the intervals. These specimens are jjeculiarly 

 valuable to investigators who are tracing the order of descent of man. With 

 this view^ the case of Primates contains a series of pre-natal skeletons of the 

 human species, which have already occupied a popular designation of the 

 Museum as the "Infant Class;" and in general the younger forms of ani- 

 mals have been liberally provided, as these throw great light on the theory 

 of descent from ancient types. The series of the existing horse family is 

 fully presented ; this is aTso true of the rhinoceros and of other grouj)s. Of 

 course such complete results throughout the range of Natural History have 

 only been obtained by sharp and prompt competition with foreign museums, 

 as to purchase; and also, by employing collectors in the ends of the earth 

 and on every continent. There are so many curiosities worthy of separate 

 mention that they cannot be even referred to here ; but the visitor is not 

 likely to miss the elephant's tusks cut so as to show where bullets had been 

 imbedded and afterwards overgrown with ivory; a large elephant's skull 

 sawn in two parts, showing how small a proportion of it was occupied by 

 brains ; or the "Baby Elephant," which was born in Barnum's menaferie • 

 and it would be difficult to overlook the Eocky Mountain goats, old and 

 young; or the gigantic salamander of Japan, which is fully a yard long. 

 Several of the specimens, indeed, require more room than can be furnished 

 under glass, and occuj)y the centre of the room — among these are the great 

 walrus from Alaska, and some of the larger bones of a whale. Here two 

 horse skeletons afford a remarkable contrast. ^ One Avas the diminutive Shet- 

 land pony that spent the greater part of a long life in giving brief happiness 

 to thousands of children at Barnum's exhibitions. The other illustrates the 

 highest development of the horse, showing even in the skeleton the noble 

 quality that was bred in the bone. This animal was the famous Arabian 

 mare Esnea, imported along with Saida. When Mr. John W. Garrett, pres. 

 ident of the Baltimore & Ohio Eailroad, purchased her, he had to outbid 

 Louis Napoleon. The Arab keeper, to whom she was accustomed in Syria, 

 accompanied her to this country. She died a few months ago of a lung fever 

 when 27 years old ; her offspring are numbered at thirty-nine or forty. Mr. 

 Garret- very recently presented tlie skeleton to the Museum. 



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