ACCOUNTS, ESTIMATES, &C. OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 15 



To the Oriental Series the most valuable additions have been, in the Phcenician Class, a 

 Tetradrachm'of Azbaal, King of Gebal or Byblus ; in the Sub-Parthian, a Tetradrachm of 

 Kamnaskires and his Queen Anzaze, and a Urachm of the same, both of great rarity and 

 beauty. In the Bactrian, two Tetradrachnis of Euthydemus I., and one ofHeliocles. Many 

 beautiful Coins of the Mohammadan Princes of India have also been acquired. 



'I'he additions to the Mediaeval and Modern Series conipiise a large number of Gold 

 Coins of the highest importance. The following must be particularised : — A Ten Ducat 

 Piece of Berne; a Fifty Sequin Piece of Liiit^i Mocenigo Il.j Doge of Venice, and a 

 Twenty-five Sequin Piece of Paolo Reniero; a Caiiino d'oro of Charles II. of Anjou, King 

 of Naples ; and a large Series of Gold Coins of Hungary, in the finest preservation, and of 

 great rarity. 



The number of visitors to the Medal Room has been 2,002. 



The eleventh volume of the "Description of Ancient Marbles in the British Museum " 

 will shortly be sent to press. 



Ediuard Haivkns. 



Departments of Natural History. 



The Superintendent having in former Annual Reports adverted to the circumstances, still 

 operating, and not under the control of the Keepers, which prevent the due development, 

 display, and instructive application of the Collections of Natural History, the present Report 

 will be limited to its prescribed subject- the condition of those Collections. 



During the past year the state of preservation and general good condition of the specimens 

 of Zoology have been fully maintained. 



In the class Mammalia, 45 specimens have been mounted and added to the arranged series 

 in the Gallery. These include a specimen — the first which lias reached England from 

 Africa — of a nearly full grown male Gorilla {Troylodytes dorilla), which, added to the 

 skeleton of the same species acquired in 1857, satis/actorily illustrates the Zoological 

 characters of this last-discovered and most remaikable of the group of Anthropoid Apes. 

 The additions to the series of Stuffed specimens also includes an immature example of the 

 rare Two-horned Rhinoceros of Sumatra {Rh. Sumatranus, Cuv.) It exhibits the same 

 character whicii Bishop Heber has noted in the young of the Indian Elephant, viz. a 

 covering of hair, which is more or less lost in the mature animal. This transitory character 

 in a living species of Rhinoreros is the more interesting since the c\iscovery, in the frozen soil 

 of Siberia, of the carcase of the great extinct Two-horn* d Rhinoceros {Rh. ticJiorrldnus) of 

 Noi thern Asia, which shows that the hairy covering was retained throughout life in that species. 



To the order Cheiroptera a new form of Pteropine Bat {Protopteryx, Gray) has been 

 added, from the Fiji Islands, which shows transitional characters, as in the femoral mem- 

 brane and tail, connecting the frugivorous with tlie insectivorous divisions of the order. 



In the Gallery of Birds, some of the recent additions, by their rarity, beauty, and artistic 

 setting up, hare attracted much attention. Most remarkable for its size and peculiar form 

 of head is the specimen of the Abyssinian Boat-billed Crane { Balceniceps Rex.) ; it is, how- 

 ever, immature, and illustrations of tiie full-size and sexual plumage of this species are still 

 desiderata. 147 specimens of Birds have been mounted and incoiporated vvith the arranged 

 series in the Gallery. 



The Classes of Kepdles and Fishes have receivt d rare and interesting accessions. Some, 

 from the Andes of Ecuador, have afforded the character of a new genus of Lizard {Lepo- 

 rinus); other specimens have exemplified a new genus of Serpent (Conopsis) ; and some 

 new Ophidian species, e.g. Rhubdosomu elaps, Cyclophis major, Dromicus rufidorsatus. 

 A new genus of Batrachian {Pelodryas), peculiar to New Holland, with some new species, 

 e.g. Rariu occipitalis, Hufo tuherosus, Hyla Uchenosa, are also among the additions. In the 

 Class of Fishes, the added specimens have included two new species — {^Arges brachycephalus), 

 from the Andes of Ecuador, belonging to the family Siluridce, and Leporinus Millleri, 

 belonging to the family Salmonida. 20 specimens of Reptiles and 30 specimens of Fishes 

 have been added to the niounted series displayed in the Museum. The total number of 

 additions to the Vertebra ted Animals during 1858 has been 6,180. The majority of these 

 specimens are preserved with the unstuffed skins, or in spirit, in the Basement Apaitments, 

 where they are accessible, for study and comparison, to the naturaHst, the requisite informa- 

 tion, as to the derivation and locality of the specimens, being given in the register of such 

 acquisitions. 



The Osteological collection has been increased by a numerous series of skulls of the 

 various tribes of the Human race inhabiting Nepaul, an accession much valued by Ethno- 

 logists, the donation bv the late resident, Bryan H. Hodgson, Esq, Amongsi the skeletons 

 obtained by purchase, that of the African Elephant supplies a desideratum long felt in 

 relation tocomparisons of Mastodontal and Elephantine fos-ils. 177 sktletons and skulls of 

 Vertebrated Animals have been added to the series exhibited in the Galleries of the Museum. 



The additions to the Molluscous and Radiated classes amount to 7,812 in number. The 

 Valuta Mamilla in the former series shows the large emi)ryo-shell, which gives the charac- 

 teristic form to the summit of the spire of the rare adult shell. Amongst the newly acquired 

 Radiata, the specimen of large, still existing, Pentacrine (Pentacri^ms caput ntedusoe) is of 

 peculiar interest in relation to the extensive family of pedunculate Echinoderms which 

 have become extinct. Very few examples of the species, now living in West Indian 

 Seas, have reached Europe since the period of its first description by Guettard and Ellis in 

 1761. 



36 — Sess. 2. B 4 Among 



