114 ACCOUNTS, ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



written by Mr. E. W. Gates is being revised and completed 

 by Captain S. G. Reid. The second volume of this important 

 work has now been issued, the third is in the press, and the 

 fourth and fifth are in an advanced condition. 



Skeletons of the Accipitres, Anseres, Steganopodes, and 

 Ciconice have been transferred to new glass-topped boxes, 

 and placed in cabinets ; those of the Gwls and Cuckoos have 

 been determined, arranged, and catalogued. A series of 

 illustrations of the structural differences of the Struthious 

 birds has been prepared for exhibition in the Public 

 Gallery. 



The number of specimens registered, labelled, and incor- 

 porated during the year is 5,593. 



Mr. Robert Reid, who for some years past has been a 

 voluntary assistant in the Museum, and has done the entire 

 registering and labelling of the accessions, has been obliged 

 to discontinue his services ; the loss of his valuable help is a 

 serious one to the officers of the Bird section. 



Reptilia, Batrachia, and Pisces. — The overcrowded state 

 of the spirit building, to which attention has been drav/n in 

 previous reports, still continues, and causes considerable 

 inconvenience in the arrangement of the collections. 



Considerable progress has been made during the latter half 

 of the year in re-arranging the specimens in the Reptile 

 Gallery, a start has also been made with the labelling, and 

 numerous duplicates have been transferred to the reserve 

 collection. The four sections of the Gallery have been 

 assigned to the Crocodilia, Chelonia, Lacertilia, and Ophidia 

 respectively, whilst four small cases adjacent to the lateral 

 doors have been used for exterior groups and the Rhyncho- 

 cephalia. The exhibited specimens of Crocodiles have been 

 cleaned and placed on fresh stands, although the arrange- 

 ment is only temporary. In the British Saloon considerable 

 progress has been made with the series of British Freshwater 

 Fishes, numerous new specimens having been placed in posi- 

 tion, and descriptive labels written and printed. 



Mollusca. — A large collection of Mollusca obtained by 

 Mr. Stanley Gardiner, at the Maldive Islands, consisting of 

 many hundred specimens has been examined and described. 

 The account of the land and freshwater forms has already 

 been issued, and the report upon the marine section is now 

 ready. A collection of land and freshwater shells sent by 

 Dr. Schonland from S. Africa has also been named. The 

 Halolimnic series of shells from Lake Tanganyika with a 

 corresponding series of Jurassic forms has been removed 

 from the entrance hall, remounted, and placed on exhibition 

 in the shell Gallery. Part of the Pyramidellidoi and ail the 

 acquisitions obtained during the year have been mounted in 

 glass-topped boxes excepting the selection mounted on tablets 



