ACCOUNTS, Sec, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 2$ 



in the Plans of the New Museum of Natural History, are noted under the head of 

 Botany. 



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

 specimens of Zoology, Geology, and Mineralogy, have been maintained. 



Those stuffed and mounted specimens of the class Mammdlia, which, from their large size, 

 or the limits of wall space, stand on the floor, or are suspended above the cases in the 

 Mammalian Gallery, have continued to receive the care and treatment necessary to prevent 

 or diminish the effects of such exposure ; the few found requisite to be removed have 

 been replaced by other specimens. 



The unstuffed skins of the Mammalia are in a good state of preservation, applicable to 

 the purposes of scientific examination and comparison, and many of them retain the con- 

 ditions suitable for future mounting and exhibition. 



The stuffed and mounted skins of the class Aves are in a state of preservation. Due 

 care has been bestowed on the now very extensive collection of unstuffed skins of 

 birds preserved in boxes ; they are in a good state of preservation, available for the 

 purposes of study and comparison, and have contributed to the instructiveness and com- 

 pleteness of the Catalogues of Species and Varieties of Age, Sex, and Colour in Birds, as 

 well as to some valuable Monagraphs of limited groups of the class. 



The proportion of the collection of the Replilia stuffed, mounted, and exhibited, is in a 

 good state of preservation. Most of these specimens occupy glazed wall-cases. The 

 larger specimens suspended above the cabinets have received the same attention as the 

 exposed stuH'ed specimens of the larger Mammalia. 



The proportion of the class Pisce.s, similarly prepared or preserved in spirits, and displayed 

 in systematic order in the glazed cabinets of the G allery, is, under present conditions and 

 allotments of space, necessarily small. These specimens are in good condition, and through 

 typical selection, afford elementary instruction. 



The greater proportion of this class available for advance of knowledge in Ichthyology, 

 preserved in alcohol, and stored in the basement vaults, is in a state of preservation, 

 care being taken to keep the localities at as low a temperature as possible. 



The larger proportion of the series of Shells of the Molluscn, arranged and exhibited in 

 the glazed cases of the public Gallerj^, is in a good state of preservation ; and by the 

 systematic classification and labels of names and localities, this series lends most useful 

 aid in comparison of specimens and in the study of Conchology. The unexhibited shells, 

 preserved in the drawers of cabinets, are in a state of perfect preservation, and available, 

 like those exhibited for purposes of study and comparison, to scientific visitors and 

 students. 



The animal constructors of the shells, and the shell-less Mollusca, preserved in spirits, 

 and stored in the basement vaults, have received continuous care, by change and renewal 

 of the spirit, so as to maintain the state of preservation fit for applications of anatomical 

 research needful for determining the affinities of their shells, and for comparison Avith the 

 fossil casts of the interior of shells of extinct species. 



The small portion of the class of /wspcto, publicly displayed, is in a state of preservation, 

 and is instructively arranged and labelled. The large portion of the class in the drawers 

 of the cabinets in the Entomological Room is in a good state of preservation, and its 

 ap2)licability to purposes of comparison and study is attested by the number of visitors 

 specially admitted for such work. 



The portion of the class Crustacea, exhibited and systematically arranged, and the 

 larger portion stored in drawers, are in a good state of preservation ; these have under- 

 gone taxidermal pr6cesses for conservation in the dried state. The large proportion of 

 the class preserved in spirits is in a good state of preservation. 



Of the class Arachnida (Scorpions, Spiders, Mites), a few only of the larger kinds are 

 exposed to view, stuffed or dried, in the glazed cabinets : both these and the larger 

 number of similarly preserved specimens arranged in drawers are in good condition. 

 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), exhibited 

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

 as the dried specimens stored in drawei's and boxes, are in a good state of pi-eserva- 

 tion. The Holothurice and allied forms stored and kept in alcohol are in a state of jjre- 

 servation. 



The corals and hard parts of zoophytes, including the framework of sponges, Euj^Iectella, 

 e.g., which now occupy detached glazed cases in the Mammalian and Avian Galleries, 

 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 a state of 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. 



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

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

 in a good state of preservation. All the specimens are labelled, and the sei'ial and syste- 

 matic arrangements are carried out to the extent which the conditions of exhibition space 

 permit. 



148. C 4 • The 



