ESTIMATES, &C. OF BRITISH MUSEUM. 



5. The total number of articles received is 26,454, of which 11,506 are complete works 

 Of the complete works 839 were presented, 6,221 purchased, and 4,446 were obtained by 

 copyright. 



6. Each article acquired has been stamped. The number of stamps impressed is 71,437. 



Department of Natural History. 



Mineralogical and Geological Branch. 



Since the last annual Report, the arrangement of the specimens in the Gallery devoted 

 to the Minerals and Fossils has considerably progressed. In almost every branch im- 

 portant additions have been made to the collections exhibited to the public. These 

 additions consist of specimens which have been presented during the year, and of selections 

 which have been made from the extensive suites (chiefly of Fossils) which have been 

 acquired by purchase, and which are hereafter enumerated. As the objects in question 

 all require to be labelled and catalogued, as well as to be carefully examined before 

 they can be arranged, much time has necessarily been consumed in this branch of the 

 labours attached to the department. Thus, the number of specimens belonging to the Ver- 

 tebrate classes, which have been examined and catalogued, and which, in many cases, have 

 had to be cleaned and disengaged from the rock in which they were enclosed, amounts to 

 1,048; and of the Invertebrate classes, 900 have been catalogued. 



Besides the additions of specimens recently procured, a large number have been 

 selected for exhibition, and have been arranged in the Gallery cases ; the most important 

 amonost these, form the extensive series of Tertiary Shells exhibited in the cases of 

 Room^VJ. 



To specify more particularly the nature and extent of the acquisitions made to the Depart- 

 ment since the last annual Report, the following may be noticed as the most important. 



Among the Donations may be particularized : a very extensive series of Palaeozoic 

 Fossils from Canada, presented by IJr. Bigsby; several Oxford-clay Ammonites from 

 Wiltshire, and Specimens of Diceras, Sphserulites, &c. from France, presented by 

 S. P. Pratt, Esq. ; a scapula of the Megalosaurus, from the Stonefield Slate, presented 

 by Mrs. Town^end, and a series of Silurian Fossils from Cincinnati, presented by 

 J. N, Pearson, Esq. 



The Donations of Minerals include a specimen of Native Silver Ore in Native Copper, 

 from Lake Superior, presented by J. T. Hodge, Esq. ; a fine specimen of Brucite, from 

 Hoboken, United States, presented by Dr. N. F. Moore; a series of specimens of Nickel 

 Ore, from St. Juan Evangelista Mine, near Malaga, presented by W. Penrose Mark, Esq., 

 Her Majesty's Consul at Malaga ; a mass of Red Copper Ore, and specimens of Native 

 Copper from the Burra Burra mines. South Australia, presented by Richard Hallet, Esq. ; 

 the specimens of Copper Ore are from the Great Exhibition, as is also a large mass of 

 Lead Ore, weighing about eight cwt., the latter presented by the Proprietors of the Laxey 

 Mines, in the Isle of Man. 



The purchases include a very extensive collection of Mammalian remains from Vaucluse 

 and other parts of France ; a series of Fossil Fishes from the Department of Loiret ; upwards 

 of 1,000 specimens of Fossils from various parts, purchased at an auction ; some interesting 

 Mammalian remains from Mayence; a large suite of Fossils from the Oolites of Wiltshire, 

 and also from Havre ; and a series of Fossils from the Upper Greensand and Devonian rocks 

 of Devonshire. 



Among the numerous purchases of Minerals may be noticed a fine mass of Native GoF 

 from California ; two specimens of Thuillite, a fine specimen of Molybdate of Lead, an° 

 another of Calcedony ; a Fulgurite or Sand-tube, 16 feet in length, discovered near Dresden* 

 by Dr. K. G. Fiedler. 



Zoological Branch. 



The new Cases in the Mammalia-Saloon having been completed, the Collection of 

 Mammalia have been re-arranged to insert the Glirine Animals in their proper places in the 

 System. 



The whole of the Collection of stuffed Animals have been cleaned and re-arranged. 



The unstuffed Skins of Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles and Fish have been arranged in sys- 

 tematic order in the new Rooms in the basement, for easy reference. 



The registering and cataloguing of the Zoological Collection have been regularly pro- 

 ceeded with. 



The 20,742 Specimens of various classes of Animals which have been acquired during the 

 year, have all been regularly marked and described in the Manuscript Register of Accessions, 

 and they have all been arranged in their proper systematic places in the general Collec- 

 tion, and properly labelled. 



The 



