ACCOUNTS, Sec, OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 25 



labelling all the stands of tlie exhibited series of Birds is steadily progressing. The 

 spirits in the bottles containing the Eadiata and Crustaceans, and the camphor in most 

 of the Insect Cabinets, have been renewed. 



III. Acquisitions. 



During the last year 30,699 specimens have been added to the several parts of the 

 collection, namely : — - 



Vertebrata -------- 6,008 



Mollusca - - 13,977 



Annulosa -------- 10,466 



Radiata (and Vermes) ------ 248 



Total - - - 30,699 



All these specimens have been marked with the date of their acquisition, and a 

 separate number corresponding to an entry in the manuscript registers of accessions, in 

 which, for future reference, the name of the collector, the country in which the specimens 

 were collected, the mode of their acquisition, and any other interesting infoi-mation regard- 

 ing them are entered. 



With the exception of those specimens which proved to be duplicates, and the acquisi- 

 tion of Avhich could not be avoided on account of their forming i)art of donations, and 

 which may hereafter be utilized by way of exchange, the objects acquired during the past 

 year have been incorporated with .the general collections ; and many of them have been 

 described and figured by the officers of the department, in the catalogues published by 

 oi'der of the Trustees and mentioned hereafter, or in the best kno'\vn scientific periodicals. 



Mammalia. — The additions to this class have been 241 in number, the majority being 

 either entire animals preserved in spirits, or skeletons. 



In the acquisition hj purchase of the latter, particular care has been taken that they 

 should be those of animals captured in a wild state, the skeletons of Mammals (and Birds) 

 which have been brought up, or have lived for some time in menageries, showing rarely, 

 if ever, a perfect development of the osseous system. Scarcely less caution is required in 

 admitting specimens of this kind into the collection for the sake of their skins. 



The most noteworthy additions are the following: — 



A series of nine skins and skeletons of large Quadrupeds from Southern Abyssinia, 

 supplementary to the collection purchased last year, viz., the skeleton of a male Griraffe, 

 the skins and skeletons of both sexes of a wild Buffalo {Buhalus centralis), the skins and 

 skulls of a variety of Water-buck i^Kobus sing-sing), and of a smaller Antelope {Trage- 

 laphus decula), and skeletons of an adult Rhinoceros bicornis and Hippopotamus. 



Skulls of the African Elephant and Hippopotamus ; presented by Sir Samuel Baker. 



A series of skulls of a Dwai-f Antelope {Nesotragns moschatus), and of several varieties 

 of the Domestic Goat, and other Mammals from East Africa ; presented by Dr. Kirk, 

 H. M. Political Agent at Zanzibar. 



The skin and skull of a River-hog from Madagascar {^Polamochoerus edwardsii) ; pur- 

 chased. 



A set of thirty- one species of Mammals collected in Persia by W. T. Blanford, Esq., 

 Deputy Superintendent of the Geological Survey of India, and described by him in his 

 forthcoming work on the Natural History of that country ; obtained by exchange. 



A skeleton of the very rare freshwater Dolphin of the Indus (^Plalanista indi) ; pre- 

 sented by Sir W. Merewether, C.B., K.C.S.i. 



A skeleton of the freshwater Dolphin of the Ganges {Platanista gangetica); purchased.. 



A small collection of skins from Daouria ; obtained by exchange from the Warsaw 

 Museum. 



Twenty-three specimens from Northern China ; collected by R. Swinhoe, Esq., r.z.s. 



A series of twenty -four skins of Rodents from the United States ; presented by the 

 Smithsonian Institution. 



Eleven specimens of Flying Foxes {Pteropus) from various parts of Polynesia ; pur- 

 chased of the Godeffroy Museum. 



The skin of a new species of Kangaroo {Halmaturus apicalis) from Nortli-eastern 

 Australia ; purchased. 



A perfect skeleton of a young New Zealand Fin-Whale ( Balanoptera novce-zelundicR), 

 16 feet long ; obtained by exchange from the Otago Museum. 



The skull of a new species of Dolphin (^Feresa atttnuata) ; purchased of the Godeffroy 

 Museum. 



Specimens of the Spanish Lynx and Otter; presented by Lord Lilford. 



Birds. — In acquiring specimens of this class by purchase, special care has been taken 

 to fill up deficiencies in the series of the Birds of Prey, which is in such a perfect state of 

 arrangement as noticed in the last annual Report. Numerous other desiderata, however, 

 were acquired by the same means, and they, together with valuable donations of tlie cor- 

 respondents of the department, swell the total number of accessions to this part of the 

 collections to 2,609. 



148. D The 



