BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY) 17 



view in the Central Hall. The exhibit illustrating minerals under ultra- 

 violet rays was rearranged and the insides of wall cases at the Gallery 

 entrance were dismantled and replaced by new fittings designed to 

 accommodate the following exhibits — mineral inclusions, remarkable 

 crystals, recent acquisitions, the Clarke-Thornhill and the Church 

 Collections of precious stones, a selection from the Sir Hans Sloane 

 Collection, and a temporary exhibit of large specimens. 



In the Department of Botany no alteration was made in the exhibition 

 series. The cleaning and painting of the exhibition cases was continued. 



Study Collections. 



The usual work of naming, labelhng, registering, and incorporating 

 accessions continued in all Departments. As in previous years, the 

 Trustees are much indebted to numerous workers who gave their services 

 voluntarily, many of whom worked continuously throughout the year. 

 Research workers were given access to the collections in all Departments, 

 and were assisted in their investigations. 



The collection of Rhinoceros skulls was removed from the Upper 

 Mammal Gallery to the Osteological Room. After the removal of the bird 

 collection to the new Western Block, the old Bird Room and adjacent 

 studies were prepared to house the collection of Mollusca. which was 

 removed from the Shell Gallery and is being rearranged. Much research, 

 revisionary work, and consequent rearrangement were done in most 

 sections of the Department of Zoology. 



In the Department of Entomology the usual routine work went 

 forward steadily. In the Diptera considerable progress was made in the 

 Chironomidae, Tipuhdae, Bombyliidae, Asihdse, and Tabanidae. In the 

 Hymenoptera work was principally concerned with the sawflies, parasitic 

 wasps, and ants. In the Coleoptera good progress was made with the 

 rearrangement of the Cicindehdae, Carabidse, and Dytiscidse. In the 

 Lepidoptera monographic work on the Hesperiidge was continued, also 

 general work on the other famiUes. In the Neuropterous series the 

 British caddis-flies were completely rearranged and the whole collection 

 brought up to date, while the ant-hons were given more space and re- 

 arranged. In Orthoptera attention was devoted chiefly to the Acridiidae, 

 Tettigoniidse, and Blattidse. In the Hemiptera certain sections of the 

 Nabidse, Capsidse, and Cicadida? were rearranged. Considerable progress 

 was made with the reorganisation of the collection of White Ants. A 

 great part of the time of the staff, as in former years, has been taken up 

 with the identification of material communicated by other scientific 

 institutions and speciaHsts in various countries largely for " economic " 

 purposes ; and several large special collections, such as those made by the 

 Edwards Taylor expedition to East Africa, Miss Cheesman's expeditions to 

 New Guinea, and the Lake Rudolf Rift Valley expedition, have been to 

 some extent worked out. 



In the Department of Geology much work has been done on Pleistocene 

 Mammals from East Africa, Carboniferous, Eocene, and OHgocene 

 Gastropoda from Britain, Triassic Insects from Australia, Jurassic 

 Brachiopoda from Britain, and Eocene Plants from Grinnell Land. 

 243 thin sections of various fossils and 20 plant cuticle preparations were 

 made for purposes of study. 



In the Department of Mineralogy X-ray and spectographic work was 

 carried out on a new mineral from Castle an Dinas mine, Cornwall, as weU 

 as on a large number of bismuth minerals in the collections. Tyrosine 



