12 BBITISH MTTSEOM. 



Prominent among the studies undertaken during the year was the 

 analysis, still in progress, of the shoal of False Killer Whales stranded in 

 the Dornoch Firth at the end of 1927. Among other groups of mammals 

 to which special attention was given were monkeys, carnivores and 

 ungulates. Numerous groups of birds, fishes, and invertebrates, 

 including insects, were similarly studied. Plesiosaurs, and the dinosaur 

 rernains from East Africa occupied much time in the Department of 

 Geology ; and in the Department of Minerals a rearrangement and 

 investigation of the Felspars was commenced. Groups of plants 

 receiving special study were West Indian ferns, the genus Combretum, 

 and African species of the family Leguminosae. 



Advisory and Economic Activities. 

 Sir Sidney Harmer, K.B.E., F.R.S., continued during the year to 

 represent the Museum on the Colonial Office committee responsible for 

 the investigations carried out by the "Discovery" Expedition ; and 

 facilities and accommodation were given throughout the year for the 

 working out at the Museum of the "Discovery" collections by the 

 scientific staff of the Expedition. Mr. P. R. Lowe, O.B.E., continued 

 to serve on the Advisory Committee appointed by the Home Secretary 

 under the Wild Birds' Protection Acts. 



Mr. N. D. Riley and Mr. F. W. Edwards represented the Museum at 

 the Fourth International Congress of Entomology held at Ithaca, 

 U.S.A., in August, Mr. Riley being also one of the official representatives 

 of His Majesty's Government. Mr. W. E. Swinton represented the 

 Museum at the Annual Conference of the Museums' Association at Glas- 

 gow in July ; Mr. B. H. Soulsby represented the Museum at the Annual 

 Conference of the Library Association held at Blackpool in September, 

 and at the Centenary Celebrations of the Ashrnolean Natural History 

 Society at Oxford, in June. Mr. G. Tandy accompanied the Great 

 Barrier Reef Expedition to study and collect seaweeds, and the services 

 of Mr. A. T. Hopwood were lent to the Government of India for a period 

 to work out the collection of fossil Proboscidea at Calcutta. 



Advice has been given to the Egyptian Government in connexion with 

 the establishment of a Natural History Museum at Cairo. 



Questions connected with the protection of the native fauna of many 

 parts of the Empire were studied, and advice given to the Colonial 

 Office for the information of the Governments concerned. The Museum, 

 in general, continued to be consulted by public Departments requiring 

 expert assistance in relation to various problems. 



In relation to economic matters specimens were named for a great 

 number of enquirers and in many instances advice was given. Research 

 students were given access to the collections and assisted in their investi- 

 gations in all Departments throughout the year. 



Among the more interesting of the questions upon which advice was 

 given from the Departments of Zoology and Botany during the year 

 were problems connected with the fur trade and with the admmistration 

 of the Plumage Act, the infestation of buildings and of stored products 

 by mites, occurrences of parasitic worms in man and domestic and other 

 animals, and cases of disease or economic damage caused by fungi. In 

 the Entomological Department work was done in relation to insects 

 causing or transmittmg disease, pests of stored products, wood-boring 

 insects, and farm and garden pests. 



