NOTES ON ZOOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONS. 283 



rooms Nos. 2 and 3 on the ground floor, and Nos. 16 to 19 on 

 the first floor. 



In room No. 2 is a case containing two Cranes {Grus cinerea), 

 shot at Knowle, in Warwickshire, Dec. let, 1903, and mounted 

 by Mr. E. F. Spicer, of Birmingham. 



A ' Handbook to the Collection of British Birds in Aston 

 Hall,' written by Prof. T. W. Bridge, F.R.S., was published in 

 1908, on page 12, of which we read : — " The British birds here 

 exhibited originally formed part of the Natural History Museum 

 of the Queen's College, but were presented to the City by the 

 Council of that Institution, Unfortunately there exists no 

 accurate record of the precise locality from which the specimens 

 have been obtained, and hence it cannot be positively affirmed 

 in all cases that they are really British." 



2. Brighton, England. 

 (i) Aquarium. 



When visiting Europe in 1905 and 1907, to see the principal 

 zoological gardens and aquariums,* I proposed going to Brighton 

 to inspect the aquarium, which I had not seen since about 1883, 

 but was assured by several zoologists that this once famous 

 institution was a thing of the past. '* There is nothing to see 

 there now," was the refrain. 



However, in October, 1909, I went for a short holiday to 

 Brighton, and was delighted to find that the Aquarium con- 

 tained a large and most interesting collection ; only excelled in 

 Europe by that of Amsterdam. The following list gives a 

 comparative idea of the size of the Brighton collection of fish 

 compared to other important European aquariums that I have 

 visited during the last four years : — 



Amsterdam ... ... ... 80 species of fish seen. 



Brighton ... ... ... ... 54 



Berlin 52 



Naples 40 to 47 



Stibbington Hall (Capt. Vipan's)... 44 

 Blackpool ... ... ... ... 34 



Hamburg about 30 



* See ' Report on Mission to Europe, 1905,' and ' Notes on Zoological 

 Collections visited in Europe, 1907,' both published by the Egyptian Govern- 

 ment Zoological Gardens. 



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