ACCOUNTS, &C. OF BRITISH MUSEUM. 



Care has been taken to direct attention to the improvement of the great Oryctognostic 

 Collection, which has accordingly been enriched with various new and" rare Mineral Sub- 

 stances, desiderata in the collection, or else exstant in indifferent or imperfect specimens 

 only. 



Among those accessions are the mass of Meteoric Iron from Lockport, New York, and 

 three very instructive varieties of that discovered in 184.3 at Arva, in Huniiary ; the Thorite, 

 in which the new metal called Thorium was discovered by Berzelius ; also several new 

 mineral species, lately described and named ; besides fine groups of scarce modifications of 

 Fluoride of Lime, of Haytorite, from Devonshire, and of Apophyllite and I'oonahlite from 

 Hindostan ; superior specimens of Karpholite from Bohemia, and of Herschehte, from 

 Aci Reale, near Catania; the unique rose-coloured Phosphate of Lime from St. 

 Gothard, etc. 



Very considerable accessions have been made to the Palaeontological collections during the 

 past year. That of Fossil Fishes, for the reception of which four extensive wall-cases and 

 several table-cases have been appropriated in one of the rooms, is in a state of advanced 

 arrangement, adapted both to systematic and Geological Ichthyology. It has been enriched 

 this year by purchases made in England and abroad, among which may be particularized 

 that of a series of Fishes from the Old Red Sandstone formation of Scotland and of Russia ; of 

 fine and rare specimens, chiefly of the order of Placoids, from the Lias of Wirtemberoj, etc. 



Great additions also have been made to the collection of Mammalian Osseous remains. 

 Captain Cautley's remaining portion of Sub-Himalayan ossiferous rocks has furnished 

 various instructive additional specimens, illustrative especially of the remains of Pachyder- 

 mata, which are, however, surpassed in interest by two newly acquired crania from the same 

 locality ; the one, that of Elephas insignis, presented by Dr. Falconer of the Bengal medical 

 service ; the other, belonging to an apparently new species of the genus Mastodon, presented 

 by Captain Willaim Erskine Baker of the Bengal Artillery; this splendid head is furnished 

 with tusks about ten feet in length. Also from the Tertiary Strata of England and Germany 

 Mammalian remains have been obtained, among which, besides bones of Elephants and 

 Mastodons, are those of Deinotherium of several species of Rhinoceros, Bears and Humi- 

 nants. 



As a most important acquisition is to be recorded the extensive series of peculiar 

 Mammalian remains from the diluvial depositions of Buenos Ayres; they are mostly refer- 

 able to the extinct genera. Megatherium, Mylodon, Glyptodon, Toxodon and Mastodon. 

 Besides the most characteristic bones of the skeleton of Megatherium (including a skull 

 with lower jaw), the collection contains two entire tails and other bones belonging to a 

 gigantic Armadillo, the dimensions of which appear to indicate a carapace of no less than 

 ten feet in length. From the same locality was obtained at the same time a complete cra- 

 nium, with tusks and lower jaw quite perfect, of Cuvier's Mastodon AndJum; a species 

 heretofore very imperfectly known, but which is now most satisfactorily illustrated by this 

 superb specimen. 



As another interesting assemblage of bones, may be mentioned that of the remains of 

 gigantic Birds from New Zealand, purchased of Mr. P. Earle ; they belong to a genus of 

 the Ostrich group, to which Professor Owen has given the name Dinornis, and comprise no 

 less than seven distinct species, among which are several of those of which casts were pre- 

 sented by the Royal College of Surgeons. 



Among the valuable donations, besides those above recorded, are a series of miscellaneous 

 Minerals and Fossils, among which are several interesting specimens of Ichthyolites, of 

 Elephantine osseous remains, and a small series of rock specimens from the Himalayan 

 Mountains, presented by the Earl of Aylesford. 



A collection of rock specimens from South Australia, with the locality added to each, 

 presented by Governor Captain Grey. 



An interesting specimen of an unknown fossil, doubtfully referred to the Fishes by 

 M. Agassis, as Pterygotus Anglicus, from the Old Red Sandstone of Forfarshire, presented 

 by Charles Lyell, Esq. 



Two fine polished slabs of shell marble from Chudleigh, and from Petworth, respectively, 

 presented by the Marquess of Northampton, and George Thornton, Esq., have been framed 

 and formed into tables, and placed in one of the Mineralogical rooms. 



The Books purchased by a special grant for the department, have all been catalogued 

 and bound, with a distinctive ornamental mark on each volume. 



Zoological Branch, 



The greater part of the Keeper's time, and of that of his Assistants, has been devoted, I 



during the last year, to the cataloguing and naming of the Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles, j 



Lepidopterous Insects, Crustacea and Shells, with the idea that the so concentrating his ' 



own attention and that of each of his assistants to a few branches of the Collection at a 

 time, is the best manner of bringing the whole into the most perfect state, though the i 



increase which has been made in the other parts of the Collection will show that they have | 



not been neglected. 



The specimens of the species of the various classes of animals which have been acquired 

 during the year, have all been arranged in their proper systematic places in the general |i 



collection. r 



AH the sj)ecimens have been regularly entered in the Manuscript Catalogue of Accessions. 



Numerous 



