ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 27 



A large proportion of the class is preserved in spirit, in a state fit for study and com- 

 parison, in the basement store-rooms. 



The portion of the class Echinodermata (Starfish, Sea-urchins, Trepang, &c.), exhibited 

 in the dried state, and displayed, systematically arranged, in thefrlazed cabinets, as well as 

 the dried specimens stored in drawers and boxes, are in a good state of preservation. The 

 Holothurice and allied forms stored and kept in alcohol are in a state of preservation. 

 The corals and hard parts of other zoophytes, including the framework of sponges, 

 JEuplectella, e.g., which occupy detached glazed cases in the Mammalian Galleiy, are in 

 a good state of preservation. The major part of the Radiata are well preserved in drawers, 

 accessible for study and comparison. 



The great bulk of the collection of Osteological specimens, stored in the basement 

 vaults, is kept in good preservation ; and, as regards the entire framework of the animal, 

 many specimens are in a state fit for future articulation and exhibition in an Osteological 

 Gallery. Of the latter class of skeletons there have been selected for articulation and 

 exhibition, the following : — A wild Giraffe, the Koodoo Antelope, an Antelope new to 

 Bcience {Alce/aphus torn), a Whale from New Zealand {^Macleuyus Australis). These are 

 placed or suspended in the ]Mammalian Gallery. A skeleton of the Emeu {Dromaius 

 novce Hollaiidice) is jjlaced in the Bird Gallery. 



The exhibited series of Nests, Nidamental structures, and Eggs, those of Horns and 

 Antlers, and the sub-department of British Natural History, are severally in a good 

 state of preservation. All the specimens are labelled, and the serial and systematic 

 arrangements are cai'ried out to the extent which the conditions of exhibition space 

 permit. 



The specimens of Geology and Fossil Remains, both exhibited and in store, are in a 

 good state of preservation. The exhibited specimens are systematically arranged, so far 

 as conditions of present space jiermit ; they are instructively labelled, and, for the most 

 part, of easy access for scientific examination and comparison. Those which are stored 

 in drawers or in wall-cases of rooms or recesses not accessible to the public, are well 

 arranged for study by scientific visitors. 



The series of Mineralogy is in "a good state of preservation, instructively arranged, 

 displayed, and classified. 



Among the more notable additions received during the year 1873, may be cited the 

 original specimens and highly finnshed drawings engraved in the notable Monograph by 

 Bojanus, entitled " Anatome Testudinis Europceje," fol. 1819. These, by the author's 

 desire, were transmitted, after his demise, to the reporter, and were by him presented to 

 the Trustees. 



The most important addition to the Zoological Collections Avas the collection of 

 Mr. Wallace's Malayan Birds, which will be more fully noticed in the Report of the 

 Keeper of that Department. 



Specimens of the large Ganoid Fish from the Yantsekiang (Psephurus gladius). 



Specimens illustrative of the metamorphoses and commercial productions of the Silk- 

 moths of Japan ; presented by the Japanese Commissioners of the International Exhibition 

 of 1873. 



The type specimen of a " New form of Marine Polyzoon " {Hippuraria), from Bear- 

 haven, Ireland ; presented by the discoverer. Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, 

 Bart., M.p. 



The Elephantine fossils from Malta, obtained by purchase from their discoverer, 

 Leith Adams, Esq., m.d., f.r.s., represent a species of Proboscidian Mammal, of which 

 the full-grown animal did not exceed the Tapir in size. Another kind of extinct Elephant, 

 from the same collection and locality, may also be termed diminutive, as it did not exceed 

 6 or 7 feet in height. Among the evidences of these pigmy elephants are series of 

 the successive grinding teeth, from the first small and simple deciduous molar to the last 

 great persistent molar. 



An ornitholite from the " London Clay," of Sheppey, obtained by purchase, proved, 

 on removal of the matrix, to be the skull of a bird, with well-developed tooth-like processes 

 from the alveolar borders of the upper and lower mandibles. It has been described and 

 figured by the reporter in the " Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 

 for November 1873," under the name of Odontopteryx toliapica. 



Of the fossil remains of the more gigantic forms of extinct marsupial animals in 

 Australia, briefly referred to in a former " Report," specimens greatly extending our 

 knowledge of such, have been received in the past year through the liberal donations of Dr. 

 George Bennett, of Sydney, New South Wales. Others obtained in the exploration of 

 Caves, carried on by aid of a grant of money from the Local Legislature, have been 

 transmitted by the Trustees of the Australian Museum of Sydney, New South Wales. 

 These, and previously received specimens have formed the subjects of a series of Illus- 

 trated Papers in the " Philosophical Transactions," in which the fossils are named, 

 described, and figured. 



A rich and valuable series of fossil evidences of strange and gigantic extinct Reptilia, 

 from Triassic formations in South Africa, have been added to the Department of Geology 

 by the liberal donation of Dr. Atherstone, of Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope. 



Valuable collections of organic fossils and of minerals, have been liberally presented by 

 Benjamin Bright, Esq., of Crawley House, AVinchester. • These collections had been 

 made by his father and grandfather. The choice series of fossils includes the bone from 



121. E 3 New 



