108 ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BlllTISIl MUSEUM. 



The printing of the Catalogue v/as proceeded with and the 

 work at the end of the year scood as follows : — 



No. of sheets passed for press (A — Montp.) - - 168 



No. of title slips set up in type (A — Murray) - - 39,820 



The number of visits paid to the Library during the year 



by students and others (irrespective of the staff and persons to 



whom the use of a key is granted) was 2,101. 



Index Museum and Morphological Collections. 



All the dissections exhibited in the Entrance Hall have been 

 examined during the course of the year ; thirty-two glass 

 vessels have been refilled with alcohol, and nine dissections 

 and eleven preparations have been remounted. 



The series of Eolithic flint implements presented by Dr. H. P. 

 Blackmore, exhibited in Bay VI., has been transferred from the 

 Hall to the Geological Department. The large series of Mol- 

 luscan shells and dissections, 403 in number, exhibited in the 

 wall-cases of Bay VII., has been transferred to wall-cases at 

 the South end of the Shell Gallery. The two cases of speci- 

 mens illustrating the characters of the eggs of birds have been 

 brought back into the Hall, and are now set up against the 

 sides of the arch at the entrance of Bay III. 



Progress has been made with the specimens illustrating the 

 adaptation of animals for movement through the air (flying 

 and scudding), and the series will probably be ready for 

 exhibition during the coming year. 



A collection of 156 Currant Moths, presented by Mr. L. 

 Doncaster, m.a., in illustration of his experiments in cross- 

 breeding to show the limitation of certain characters to one 

 sex, has been added to the Mendelian exhibit in Bay VI. 



In commemoration of the centenary of the birth of Charles 

 Darwin, and of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of 

 " The Origin of Species," an exhibition was arranged during 

 the summer to illustrate the life and work of that naturalist. 

 The collection is contained in 25 cases situated in the Entrance 

 Hall, and consists of photographs, letters, note-books, micro- 

 scopes, and other relics lent by members of the Darwin family ; 

 a number of bones of extinct mammals collected by Darwin in 

 South America, lent by the Council of the Royal College of 

 Surgeons; and many specimens belonging to the Museum, some 

 of them previously on exhibition, now brought together because 

 of their interest in relation with Darwin's life and work. The 

 series comprises 251 items, which are explained in a special 

 Guide-book entitled " Memorials of Charles Darwin," a pamphlet 

 of 50 pages, published on August 16th, 1909, the date on which 

 the exhibition was opened to the public. 



L. Fletcher, 



Director. 

 British Museum (Natural History), 

 28 February. 1910. 



