BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY). 127 



Purchases. 



Among the more important purchases made during the 

 year, special attention may be drawn to the following : — 



The fourth and final instalment of the George Lewis collec- 

 tion of Coleoptera from Japan and Ceylon, consisting of 

 11,000 specimens from Japan ; the third instalment of the 

 Distant collection of insects, namely, 5,000 specimens of Rhyn- 

 chota and Hy menoptera, including 250 types ; the first half of the 

 Koch collection of Arachnida, comprising 1,246 species of 

 named Myriopoda, Isopoda, Argiopidse, and other Arachnida, 

 and 973 tubes of unnamed species ; human and other remains of 

 pre-Inca times, from Peru, collected by Dr. H. O. Forbes; 

 important collections of birds made by Mr. W. Goodfellow in 

 New Guinea and Formosa, by Mr. G. W. Bury in Yemen, 

 Arabia, by Mr. D. A. Bannerman in the Canary Islands, and 

 by Mr. J. D. La Touche in China ; reptiles and fishes from the 

 Cameroons, collected by Mr. G. L. Bates , moths from New 

 Guinea and Formosa ; 760 fossil fishes, chiefly Carboniferous 

 and Devonian, selected from the collection of the late Dr. R. H. 

 Traquair, F.R.S. ; mammalian remains and bird-bones obtained 

 by Miss D. M. A. Bate from Pleistocene deposits in the caverns 

 of Majorca ; an important series of fossil reptiles and fishes 

 from the Chalk of Kansas ; rare crinoids from the Middle 

 Devonian of Gerolstein, Eifel ; a collection of about 1,500 fossils 

 from the Carboniferous Limestone of Ireland, including 16 types 

 and 73 figured specimens ; also collections of Cretaceous fossils 

 and Post-Pliocene shells from Ireland ; 1,280 tubes of Microzoa, 

 comprising several thousand specimens from the Jurassic, 

 Cretaceous, and Tertiary formations of Russia ; native gold 

 from California ; a very fine specimen of a faceted pink beryl, 

 from Madagascar ; three meteoric stones from the fal] on 

 June 28, 1911, at El Nakhla el Boharia, Egypt; a fragment 

 of the meteoric stone which fell on July 12, 1910, at St. 

 Michel, Finland ; a slice of a meteoric iron found 60 miles 

 east of Ahumada, Chihuahua, Mexico ; a polished and etched 

 slice of the meteoric iron found January 4, 1902, at Chinautla, 

 Guatemala ; the Braithwaite Herbarium of British mosses, con- 

 sisting of about 5,300 specimens, representing 600 species ; and 

 collections of plants from San Domingo, Natal, Uganda, North 

 Africa, Bolivia, and Paraguay. 



Exchanges and Gifts of Dujjlicates. 



Exchanges of duplicate specimens have been made with 

 various institutions and individuals. 



The Zoological Museum of Sheffield University has been 

 placed on the list of institutions to receive grants of duplicate 

 specimens. 



Stuff'ed specimens (duplicates) of five Antarctic animals (a 

 seal, two penguins, a skua, and a petrel) Avere lent for 



