ACCOUNTS, ESTIMATES, &C. OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 4.5 



inscriptions in Arabic characters. The>e have been thought by Joseph von Hammer to 

 relate to a secret Gnostic worship preserved during- the Middle Ages among certain sects, 

 and have been nublisiifd by hini, " Meinoire sur deux CofFrets Gnostiques du Moyen Age," 

 Paris, l8;5-2. ^ 



iS. Birch. 

 C, T. Newton. 

 TV. S. W. Vaux. 

 A. W. Franks. 

 C. Rieu. 



Departments of Natural History. 



Continued hope in the ultimate acquisition of adequate space for the Natural History 

 Collections has supported endeavours to secure for them every attainable specimen which 

 possessed (lie qualities whereon a recommendation to purchase could be founded. 



There have been added, in the year 1866, to the Departments of Natural History, 

 96,751 specimens. 



Of these, upwards of 14,000 have been recorded in the MS. Registers of Accession-, with 

 a note of the native locality of each of the species, and the circumstances under which it 

 has been acquired by the British Museum. 



The conditions of restricted space, as stated in " Annual Reports," from the years 1857 to 

 1865 inclusive, compel the application of the time and work of the staff m a proportionate 

 degree to the labours of safe stowage and conservation of the sp< cimens, with the view to 

 their fitness for exhibition and scientific applications when the requited space may be 

 obtained. 



The stuffed specimens of the class Mammalia have been kept in a state of preserva- 

 tion without, for the most part, other deterioration than is inevitable in regard to the 

 portion of the exhibited specimens for which there is not accommodation in the glazed 

 cabinets. 



Specimens in which such deterioration has reached a certain degree, have been removed, 

 and replaced by new or better examples of the same species. 



The unstuffed skins of the Mammalia in store are in such a state of preservation as to 

 subserve the purposes of scientific examination and comparison; and most of them are in 

 a state fit for future preparation and exhibition. 



The portion of the collection of Bird skins and skeletons mounted and exhibited in 

 systematic order, is in a good state of preservation. Some of the cabinets in the public 

 gallery are now more crowded than is consistent with the desirable facility of comparison 

 and study, or with easy access to the specimens. 



The remainder of the collection of Bird skins, unmounted, in storage, preserved in boxes 

 and cupboards in the basement vaults, is in a state of preservation, available for the put- 

 poses of study of characters and of comparison, but in a certain proportion not readily 

 accessible for such uses. 



The portion of the collection of Reptiles and Fishes preserved and displayed is in a 

 good state of preservation and of- instructive arrangement. The greater portion of this 

 collection, including the bulk of the specimens of Fishes, is stored in the basement, in 

 a space now so crowded as to oppose some difficulties and obstruction to their scientific 

 study and comparison. Such stored specimens are preserved in alcohol, and their locality 

 occasions rapid evaporation and deterioration of the preserving liqtior. The preservation 

 of the specimens under these circumstances is costly. 



The portion of the series of the shells of the Molluscous animals, arranged and exhibited 

 in the public gallery, is in a good state of preservation, well placed, displayed, and labelled, 

 for instruction and reference. 



This seiies includes an epitome of Conchology, and models of the molluscous animals are 

 subjoined to illustrate the characters of the leading families. The classes, ordeis, and families 

 of the shell-less moUusca are pieserved in spirits, and stored in the basement vaults, on 

 ^helves, now so ciowded that access to any not in the first row is difficult or haziirdous, and the 

 scientific utility of this part of the collection continues to be gravely restricted. 



The small portion of the class Insecta, publicly displayed, is in a good state of pre- 

 ,servatioii, and instructively arranged and labelled. The very large portion of the class 

 in the Basement Entomological Store-room is in a good state of preservation, and sc 

 arranged in drawers as to be accessible for study and comparison. 



The loss of time and hazard to specimens, through the necessity of displacing and 

 repacking those, now already crowded in such repositories, in order to find room lor 

 additional rarities, is a subject of special notice in the "Report from the depaitmenl of 

 Zoology," in which also it is remarked that the s|)ace which can be allotted to the collection 

 of Insects, in drawers, has become so crowded as to render it difficult for the student and 

 woiking entomologist to " follow the arrangement," or study the characters on which "the 

 distribution of species " is founded. 



24g. G 2 Incorporation 



