ACCOUNTS, ESTIMATES, &C. OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. I9 



accumulation of unexhibited or store-specimens in the localities assigned for their reception 

 had become so great, and the condition of those localiiies was >uch, as lo. call for a Keport 

 and repiesentation as to the unsafe state of the specimens from the Keeper of the Zoology, 

 dated 16th January 1854. Additional space, if not for exhibition, yet suitable by dryness 

 and ventilation for the better preservation of ciie store-specimens, was asked for. 



From that date to the present, circumstances have prevented the acquisitioa of the 

 required additional space; nevertheless thi-re has been an annual, and, in most years, 

 augraentinii' addition of choice rarities to the vaults and recesses assigned for storage. 



The arrangements made, after ihe Repoit of 1854, for heatin<2; and ventilation, have, in a 

 oreat degree, prevented tl^e effl cts of damp ; but the degree of heat for this purpose in- 

 juriously aifecis the specimens preserved in spirits of wine, by acceleiating its decomposition 

 and evaporation. 



Each successive year of such storage increases the difficulty of keeping the specimens in 

 a good state, and concentrates the time and labour of the staff on works of preservation, 

 tothe arrest of those of progress and improvement. The tickets, also, of the specimens 

 rapidly perish or become effaced in the .-itmosphere of the vaults; they are as often 

 renewed ; but during the past year painied labels have been progressively substituted for 

 the written records attached to the store specimens. 



ify these labours, uiiinterniptedly attended to, the stored and unexhibited specimens, 

 many thousands in number, maybe- reported in the following condition: — 



The unstuffed specimens of Mammalia are in a state fit for the purposes of scientifit 

 examination and comparison, and most of ihem in a state fit for future preparation and 

 exhibition. 



The Biid Skins in boxes are in a good condition. Some of those kept in cupboards in 

 the vaults begin to show tlie effects of damp ; but not, as vet, to the detriment of their 

 utility for purposes of comparison : they are not easily accessible for study. 



The very large proportion of the class Insecta, preserved in drawers, and the dried speci- 

 mens of Arac/niida and Crustacea, similarly stored, are in a good state of preservation, and 

 are more easily accessible for study or reference. 



The collection of Osteologv is in a state of preservation, but the conditions of its present 

 storage in the basement vaults detract greatly fiom its scientific use, through difficulty of 

 access to the specimens and to the lighi requisite lor examining them. 



The specimens of the class Mammalia, Rtplili't, and Pisces, preserved in spirits, and the 

 specimens of invertebrate animals similarly preserved, have been kept by great expenditure 

 of the antiseptic fljiid in their present state of preservation. 



The classes of Tunicata, Acalephce, Annelida, and Entozoa; the orders Nudibrancliiata, 

 Iiiferohiaiichiata ; the families ZiV«atvc?(^, Oncl.diadce, and JFirolidce, and most of the class 

 Cephalopoda, are preserved in spirits, and stored in the vaults, where they crowd so closely 

 the space allotted to them, that access to tlie specimens not in the front row is difficult and 

 hazardous, and the utility of this part of the zoology is greatly abridged. These specimens 

 of invertebrate classes and subordinate groups are in a state of preservation suitable for 

 exhibition when the galleries may be acquired. 



In the public galleries the proportion of the stuffed mammalia standing on the floor and 

 attached to the wall shows only the degree of detriment which is inevitable from exposure 

 with the utmost amount of care. The specimens of this class in the glazed wall cabinets 

 are in a state of preservation ; but being divided amongst different rooms and compartments, 

 the purpose of serial exhibition of the class cannot be fulfilled, and they are so crowded as 

 to cause inconvenience and loss of time to the conservator, as well as the scientific examiner 

 of particular specimens. 



The exhibited series of Birds is in a good state of preservation, and is arranged so as 

 to give a serial illustration of the modifications of the class, and to afford facility of exami- 

 nation of individual specimens. 



The exhibited series of Reptiles, Fishes, Invertebrate Animals, Nests and nidaraental 

 structures. Horns, Antlers, and the British Natural History are severally in a good state 

 of preservation. 



The space respectively allotted to each class of the Zoology is now so filled as to lead 

 to ihe necessity, often referred to in the reports from that department, of removing and 

 rearranging a proportion of the exhibited series, in order to make room for some additional 

 specimen, the larity or other quality of which may enforce its claim to public exhibition. 



The specimens of Fossil Remains exhibited and in store are in a good state of preservation. 

 The exhibited specimens are instructively an-anged, and, in most instances, of easy access 

 lor sciemific examination and comparison. Those which are stored in drawers, or in parts 

 of the IMuseum not accessible to the public, are well arranged for study by scientific 

 visitors. 



The series of the Mineralogy is in a good state of preservation, and in an improved 

 state of arrangement, display, and classification. 



The additions in the year 1862 to the Department of Zoology are 13.129 in number, 

 and some of the more interesting specimens are noticed in the report from that department. 

 The Troglodytes vellerosus, Ciray, discovered by C:iptain Burton in the Cameroon Moun- 

 tains of W. Tropical Africa, is a specimen of the adult male, and forms an instructive 

 addition to the present rich series of the Anthropoid apes. 



Amongst the additions to the class Reptilia is a new tortoise, Cyclemys Mouhotii, 

 discovered by M. Mouhot in the Lao Mountains of Cochin China. 



0.3. C 2 The 



