ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 25 



The unstuffed skins preserved in drawers and boxes are in a good state of preservation, 

 available for the purposes of study and comparison. 



The proportion of the collections of Keptiles and Fishes displayed in the public galleries 

 is in a good state of preservation and arrangement. The stored specimens are in the same 

 good condition, and available for scientific work. 



The nomenclature and synonyms of the specimens, both exhibited and stored, of the 

 above classes of Vertebrate animals have been verified and corrected, and the specimens 

 labelled accordingly. 



Of the Invertebrate classes, the specimens of the MoUusca, preserved in spirits, with 

 the shell, or removed from the shell, and the species of the shell-less orders and families, 

 similarly preserved, have received due attention, and are in a state of preservation, fit for 

 the needful applications of anatomical research, or for comparison with the fossil casts of 

 the cavity of the shells of extinct species. 



The arranged and exhibited series of shells, and that of the models of their molluscous 

 fabricators, are in a good state of preservation, and have been rendered more instructive and 

 attractive by the substitution of better specimens, or of fresher ones, in the place of those 

 the colours of which had been affected by exposure to light. 



The small proportion of the class Iiisecta, publicly displayed and exemplifying cha- 

 racters of the larger groups of the class, is in a good state of preservation, and has been 

 improved by both additions of rare or remarkable examples, and bythe interchano-e of 

 new for old specimens, as in the series of shells. 



The large proportion of Insecta in the Entomological Room is in a good state of preser- 

 vation, and is so arranged in drawers, as to be conveniently accessible for study and 

 comparison. 



The classeo Crustacea and Arachnida and their orders are exemplified by representative 

 species or types, in the pubic gallery, by well-preserved and prepared specimens. 



The more numerous specimens, dried or in spirits, of species of these Arthropoda, 

 are in a good state of preservation. 



The same good condition can be reported of the specimens of the classes Annelida and 

 Entozoa, which are preserved in spirit. 



The larger proportion of the Ecliinodermata, systematically arranged and exhibited in 

 the public galleries, together with the specimens, both dried and in spirits, kept in the 

 store-vaults, are in a good state of preservation. 



The corals and other Radiata exhibited and in store, are in a good state of preserva- 

 tian. The polype-constructors of type-families are exemplified by enlarged coloured 

 models. Many of the species of Anthozoa, which have no calcareous support, such as 

 the Actiniadce, are represented by coloured models of the natural size ; these are, at 

 present, displayed in one of the Mammalian galleries. There also may be seen the 

 singular and beautiful examples of the siliceous sponges, of the genera Meyerma, Holtenia, 

 Crateromorpha, and Euplectella. Some of the forms of the microscopic Polycystinea are 

 represented by magnified models of the siliceous skeleton. 



The series of Osteological specimens, those of the Horns and Antlers, and of the Nests 

 and nidamental structures, are well preserved. Skeletons of the adult Gorilla, Chim- 

 panzee, and Orang-outan, are now placed in contiguity for ready comparison with the 

 stuifed and mounted specimens of the full-grown males of these genera of Anthropoid 

 Apes, in the new cabinet provided for them in the Central Mammalian Saloon. 



The systematically arranged and exhibited series of specimens, with nests and eggs, 

 illustrative of the Zoology of the British Isles, is in a good state of preservation, arranged 

 and labelled so as to afford the requisite facilities for study and comparison. The 

 notable addition to the Fishes of the British Isles (^Selache maxima) is exhibited in another 

 gallery, by reason of its vast size. 



The exhibited series of Fossils, as well as the more numerous remains and petrifactions 

 in store, are in a good state of preservation. 



All the specimens of Minerals, displayed and in store, are in a good state of preservation. 



The great numerical increase of specimens, determined and registered in the Zoological 

 and Geological Departments during the year reported upon, exemplifies the influence of 

 the extension of colonies and commerce in opening out new fields of observation and 

 acquisitions of the subjects of these departments, exemplified more especially in the 

 subsequent notices of the rarer specimens which have been received from the Cape of 

 Good Hope, Yokohama, the Fiji and Samoan Islands, the JNew Hebrides and "New 

 Guinea. Amongst the names of donors and contributors to the Department of Zoology, 

 that of Commodore James G. Goodenough, R.N., C.b., merits special mention, with 

 expression of deep regret at the untimely loss of so exemplary an officer. The additions 

 due to his encouragement of observations and collections of Natural History by the 

 officers of H.M.S. " Pearl " are noted in the Departmental Report. 



Besides the augmented value and utility of the Department of Zoology, through the 

 acquisition of the types of new species, unexpected and suggestive facts become known 

 through this extension of the field of research, with which that of Geology is equally 

 concerned. Extinct species, determined by fossil remains, and exemplifying generic 

 characters before unknown, are found to have allies still living in some island or tract of 

 land contiguous to that from which the fossils were obtained. Thus the larger 

 extinct kinds of Thylacinus and Sarcophilus, revealed by remains from the drift-beds in 

 Australia, are represented by smaller species of these genera still living, though verging 



177- I) to 



