ACCOUNTS, Sec. OF BRITISH MUSEUM. 



The greater portion of the Osseous Remains in Room II. have also been re-arranged 

 chiefly with a view to the introduction of five or six Crania of Elephants and Mastodons, 

 and some other Pachydermata, now on their way from the East Indies, for which 

 appropriate space is left. In other respects, this room is finished. 



The collection of Emydosaurians has been proceeded with, most of the specimens of 

 which it consists, having been entered in the Catalogues. 



Mr. Hawkins's second collection of Saurians, purchased by Parliament, has been removed 

 with great care and labour from the localities where the specimens were placed. The most 

 important and fragile of those specimens have been repaired, and having been imbedded in 

 plaster are rendered fit to be placed in a vertical, or nearly vertical, position. 



Considerable progress is made in the fixing of the larger objects: numerous small objects 

 are still under examination preparatory to their incorporation with the general collection of 

 Saurian remains, and to their entries in the Catalogue. 



Too many of the Saurians lately acquired from Mr. T. Hawkins deserve notice to admit 

 of specification : among acquisitions in the same line from other quarters, may be particularized 

 the two specimens of Ichthyosaurus Longipinnis and Ichthyosaurus Longirostris from Whitby, 

 and the remains of a new and very large species of the genus Plesiosaurus from Granby, 

 which latter is now under repair and preparation for the public view : it is the donation of 

 his Grace the Duke of Rutland, by whom was also lately presented a magnificent table, the 

 slab of which is composed of a calcareous stalagmitical deposition, which was found 

 investing the interior of a square wooden pipe in Blithe lead mine, Derbyshire. 



Of other acquisitions of value made during last year by purchase and by presents, may 

 be mentioned the large specimens of branched and crystallized native silver; meteoric iron 

 and meteoric stones ; a large slab of Malachite of great beauty ; superb Ichthyolites, such 

 as the Holoptychus nobilissimus, in old red sandstone ; and the large slab, containing a 

 group of Semionotus gregarius, from Coburg ; also the splendid slab composed of aggre- 

 gated iridescent ammonites. 



Upwards of 300 specimens of Minerals and Fossils have been entered in the Manuscript 

 Catalogue of accessions, and the last acquisitions are in progress of being numbered and 

 catalogued. 



The lists of the accessions for 1836, 37, 38 and 39, have been extracted from the 

 Manuscript Catalogues, and are, with the exception of two or thi^ee of the concludino" 

 pages for 1839, in the hands of the printer. 



Zoological Branch. 



Since Christmas 1839, the Quadrumanous Mammalia have been removed from the 

 Saloon in the old building, and arranged in the cases which formerly contained the British 

 Birds. The Carnivorous Mammalifi have been moved, and roughly arranged in the cases 

 formerly occupied by the general collection of Raptorial and Passerine Birds, until the 

 shelves shall be provided for their permanent arrangement. The Passerine, Gallinaceous, 

 and the greater part of the Wading Birds, have been removed and arranged in the new 

 cases, in the northern half of the eastern Zoological Gallery, which was opened to the 

 public last September. The cases are nearly prepared for the remaining orders of Birds in 

 the so)ith end of the same gallery, and it is expected that this part of the collection will be 

 opened to the public by Easter in this year. 



A very large number of the specimens arranged in this gallery have been placed on new 

 stands. 



The univalve Shells have been removed, and arranged in a preliminary manner in the 

 table-cases in the northern part of the eastern Zoological Gallery, and are open to the inspec- 

 tion of visitors. 



A series of casts of the internal cavities of Shells, to facilitate the determination of Fossil 

 species, a number of Fossil tertiary shells, and a large collection of the casts of the type 

 specimens of Ecliinida, described by M. Agassiz and other authors, have been added to the 

 collection, and arranged with their recent allies, to facilitate the researches of students of 

 Fossil zoology and the geologist. 



The Insects and radiated animals exhibited in the northern Zoological Gallery have been 

 systematically arranged, and the Star-fish have been named, and a description of them pre- 

 pared. The Insect cabinets in the Entomological room have been put in regular series. 

 The Hymenopterous, Dipterous, and Neuropterous Insects have been arranged in systematic 

 order, and a very large number of the Insects of different orders, which have been recently 

 acquired, have been inserted in their proper places in the arranged cabinets. 



In the year ending the 25th December 1840, 21,976 specimens of various classes of 

 animals have been added to the collection, and all of them (except a part of the Insects) 

 have been arranged in their places in the general collection, and exhibited. 



The lists of additions made to the zoological collections in the years 1836, 1837 and 1838, 

 have been revised and printed. 



C:. The 



