BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY). 101 



Index Museum and Morphological Preparations. 



Of the additions made during the past year to the 

 -exhibits in the Entrance Hall, the most noteworthy are a 

 aeries of models of the eggs, larvae, and pupse of the Common 

 Gnat and of the Anopheles Mosquito, enlarged to the same 

 degree as the models of the adult insects already on exhibi- 

 tion, and a similar series of models of the larva, pupa, and 

 adult of the Common Midge or Black Gnat. 



In the '■' Tsetse Case " have been added new specimens of 

 the Tsetse-fly and its larval and pupal forms, and enlarged 

 drawings of species of the blood-parasite Trypanosoma other 

 than that which occasions the " Tsetse Disease." 



The specimens of fishes in alcohol presented in November 

 by H.M. the King of Portugal have been temporarily placed 

 on exhibition prior to their incorporation in the general 

 collection, and a considerable amount of work has been 

 done in the way of remounting and re-spiriting such of the 

 anatomical preparations in the Entrance Hall as were in need 

 of attention. 



Experiments have been made, and are still in progress, 

 to ascertain the most suitable method of presenting to 

 the public notice the structural peculiarities of a form of 

 Cephalodiscus recently discovered in the Antarctic Seas. 

 Numerous microscopic dissections have been made, and serial 

 sections cut, and an enlarged model has been constructed by 

 cementing together wax plates cut to the pattern of the 

 several sections of one of the specimens. 



Seventy specimens of fishes have been restored and 

 coloured according to published coloured figures and descrip- 

 tions, in continuation of the work begun last year. One-half 

 of the wall-cases in the Fish Gallery have been fitted with 

 sloping backgrounds, and on the west side the specimens of 

 sharks and rays selected for exhibition have been placed in 

 position, with temporary copies of labels, 150 in number, 

 giving, where possible, the various local names of the fishes, 

 their generic and specific peculiarities, their habits, and their 

 geographical range. The planning out of the specimens in 

 the corresponding cases on the east side has been begun. 



A specimen of the Basking Shark, presented by the 

 Hon. Walter Kothschild, M.P., has been suspended from the 

 roof of the Gallery, in place of the dilapidated specimen from 

 Shanklin, the head and pelvic fins of which will, after being 

 restored, be placed upon the fioor by the side of the cast of 

 the skeleton of the Basking Shark. 



The large specimen of the Devil Ray ( Dicer ohatis), 

 formerly standing on Wall-case 43, has been renovated, and 

 is now suspended from the roof in the middle of the Gallery, 

 where it is seen to greater advantage than before ; and two 

 iron rods have been placed along the Gallery, suspended by 



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