DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY.. 97 



materials for five volumes of the Catalogue being simul- 

 taneously arranged and catalogued. Also the additions to 

 volumes 3, 4, and 5, received since the publication of these 

 volumes in the years 1877-81, have been incorporated and 

 distributed in their proper places in the cabinets, necessitating 

 an expansion of this part of the collection. On account of 

 their great number it was found impracticable to enter them 

 in manuscript in the interleaved copy of the " Catalogue." 



(3.) The collections of Reptiles and Fishes continue in a 

 perfect state of arrangement, with the exception of the 

 Snakes. The systematic re-arrangement of the latter group, 

 which was begun last year, has made much progress con- 

 comitant with the preparation of a second edition of the 

 " Catalogue." All the other additions to these collec- 

 tions have been incorporated, and entered in the printed 

 Catalogues, as soon as the specimens were examined and 

 named. With regard to the Fish collection, eiforts are made 

 to fill up the numerous gaps created by the rapid advance of 

 Ichthyology in the course of the last 30 years. 



(4.) Also the collection of Mollusca is in a good state of 

 arrangement. Beside numerous minor additions, two large 

 collections from St. Helena and Ascension, and another from 

 Lake Tanganyika, have been worked out and incorporated. 



(5.) Crustacea, Myriopoda, and Arachnida. The time of 

 the assistant at work on these collections has been chiefly 

 occupied with the examination and description of additions 

 to the Myriopods which had been presented to the museum 

 with the understanding that their examination should be 

 undertaken immediately ; and, with the preservation of the 

 Keyserling collection, which likewise required immediate 

 attention. Under these circumstances the manuscript list of 

 Myriopods, which has been in course of preparation for the 

 last two years, has not made much progress, but includes 

 now the families Polydesmidce and Olomeridm. It is 

 expected to be completed in the current year, and to be 

 followed by the arrangement of the Arachnids. 



(6.) The arrangement of the immense collection of Coleoptera 

 has made steady progress. The ScarahoiidcB were proceeded 

 with, the Cerambycidw and Prionidm completed, and the 

 Phytoijhaga commenced. Still, with the arrears dating back 

 so many years, and with the continuous influx of new collec- 

 tions, the provision of additional help at no distant date 

 becomes more and more urgent. 



(7.) Considerable progress has been made in the arrangement 

 of the collection of Lepidoptera. A number of genera, the 

 specimens of which had become so crowded in the drawers as 

 to seriously impede their study, have been expanded ; the 

 sub-family Morpldnce has been worked out and re-arranged ; 

 the re-arrangement of the Hesperidw has been commenced with 



0.81. G identifying 



