104 ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



The " Discovery " Antarctic Expedition Report. 



Early in the year a circular was issued showing that the 

 work had been divided into 50 subjects, which have been 

 distributed among 43 specialists. 



Dr. Wilson and Mr. Ferrar, two of the members of the 

 scientific staff of the Expedition, have nearly completed their 

 reports, and the manuscripts will shortly be sent to the 

 printers. 



Mr. Hodgson, also of the scientific staff, has been largely 

 occupied in separating out the contents of the collections 

 of Animal Plankton ; this work was completed early in 1906 ; 

 and the specimens will now be distributed among various 

 specialists. 



New System of Drainage. 



Provision has been made in Class I. of the Estimates for 

 a new drainage system for the entire building, and the work 

 is being carried out under the supervision of the Office of 

 Works. 



Purchases. 



Among the more important acquisitions made by purchase 

 during the year, special mention may be made of the 

 following : — Selections from the late Mr. R. F. Tomes's 

 collections of natural history, including 8,853 English fossils 

 and about 800 specimens of mammals (30 being types) ; the 

 first portion of Dr. D. Sharp's extensive collection of coleop- 

 terous insects, this instalment, consisting of about 22,000 

 specimens of Dytiscidce, or water-beetles, about 500 being 

 types ; a series of about 5,000 specimens of Coleoptera of the 

 family Gassididce, selected from the collection of the late 

 Dr. Baly, and including 192 types ; an extensive collection 

 of birds, eggs, and insects obtained by Mr. W. Foster in 

 the interior of Paraguay ; three skeletons of natives of the 

 Andaman Islands ; 2,615 Jurassic fossils selected from the 

 collection of the late Mr. E. Witchell, including type and 

 figured specimens, and many rare species ; a selected series of 

 vertebrate fossil remains from the Oxford Clay of Peter- 

 borough ; three meteoric stones from Wavbreccan, Central 

 Queensland, the only known representatives of the fall ; and 

 a selected series of fossils from the carboniferous limestone 

 of Belgium, comprising 400 forms, of which 300 are new to 

 the Museum. 



Bequests. 



The late Mr. Alexander Fry, of Norwood, bequeathed 

 to the Museum his magnificent collection of coleopterous 

 insects, the catalogue thereof, and his entomological library. 



