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



■vvhicb, for future reference, the name of the collector, ihe exact locality in which the 

 specimens were collected, the mode of their acqiiisition, and any other valuable informa- 

 tion regarding them are. entered. Many of the ucav and more interesting species have 

 been described and figured by the officers of the Department. 



The past year was remarkable for the number of valuable donations, by which the 

 zoological collection has been enriched. 



The most important were the following : — 



1. The collections made by the Naturalists accompanying the " Transit of Venus " Ex- 

 peditions to Rodriguez (Messrs. H. H. Slater and G. Gulliver,) and Kerguelen Land 

 (Rev. A. E. Eaton). These collections being at the disposal of the Royal Society (at 

 whose recommendation the Naturalists were appointed), were offered by the President 

 and Council of the Royal Society to the Trustees of the British Museum, under the 

 condition that a complete set should be retained for the National Collection, and the 

 duplicates distributed among the following five institutions : the Museum of Science and 

 Art, Edinburgh; the Natural History Museum, Dublin; the Royal College of Surgeons; 

 the Zoological Museums of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Tliese collections 

 containing animals of nearly all classes will be hereafter referred to in detail. 



2. Rear Admiral the Hon. A. A. Cochrane, late commander on the Pacific Station, 

 having been apprised of the interest attached to the Fauna of the Galapagos Islands, 

 directed Commander W. E. Cookson, who was about to visit that archipelago in H.M.S. 

 " Peterel," to obtain, if possible, some of the Tortoises from which these islands have 

 derived their name. In this Commander Cookson Avas eminently successful ; and, 

 besides, with the assistance of Mr. R. L. Bett, Staff Surgeon, E.N., collected many other 

 objects of interest, all of which were, by direction of Rear Admiral Cochrane, deposited 

 in the National Collection. 



3. From Mr. W. "VVykeham Perry, the last collections made during the command of 

 the late Commodore James G. Goodenough (as mentioned in last year's Report) were 

 received. They consisted chiefly of anthropological and entomological specimens. 



4. By the direction of the Foreign Secretary, Major D. R. Cameron, e.a., H.M. 

 North American Boundarj- Commissioner, presented a valuable series of Mammals and 

 Birds collected in the vicinity of the 49th parallel. 



5. The second best set of the conchyliologlcal and entomological collections made by the 

 late Dr. F. Welwitsch, in Angola, Avas delivered to the British Museum by the executors 

 of Dr. Welwitsch, as from the King of Portugal, in accordance with the decree of the 

 High Court of Judicature, d. Nov. 17th, 1875. 



6. Of private donations, the magnificent gifts of Birds and Lepldoptera from various 

 parts of India, by Capt. Stackhouse Pinwill, and of 'Coleoptera from the Azores, by 

 F. Godman, Esq., require to be specially mentioned. 



Others of the most important additions have been obtained by means of exchange with 

 the Colonial Museum of Wellington, New Zealand, and the Museums of Warsaw and 

 Genoa, as will be mentioned in the following more detailed list. 



Mammalia.^— The additions to this class have been .325 in number, of which the most 

 noteworthy are the following : — 



Human crania from Mallicollo, Ambrym and Vanicoro Islands, collected by W. 

 Wykeham Perry, Esq., during the cruise of H.M.S. " Peaid." 



A series of skins and skeletons of the Irish Hare, to illustrate the seasonal changes, 

 and osteological variations ; presented by the Hon. B. E. B. Fitz-Patrick. 



Specimens of a black variety of the Roe-deer, from Westphalia; purchased. 



A series of Mammals fi'om Sarepta, among which skins and skeletons of Saiga tai'farica; 

 purchased. 



A specimen of the Caucasian Ibex ; purchased. 



A series of skeletons of the Wild Goat and Sheep, Cat, Badger, Otter, Marten, Jackal, 

 and Hare, from the Cillcinn Taurus ; collected by C. G. Danford, Esq. 



A magnificent specimen of the Wild Goat of Mount Ararat ; obtained by Commander 

 Teller. 



Fifteen skins and twelve skeletons of North American Mammals ; the former collected 

 by the North American Boundary Commission ; the latter purchased. 



A further consignment of Abyssinian Mammals, obtained on the Atbara, and in the 

 neighbourhood of Kassala, among whicli skins and skeletons of lihinocerds kntloa, Kohtts 

 shigsinfi, Lijico.'on vennticus, Orycteropus, etc. 



Additional specimens and skulls of the lately discovered large species of Golden 

 Mole ( Chrysochloris trevelyani) from British Caffraria ; yjresented by Herbert 

 Trevelyan, Esq. 



A small collection from the Philippine Islands; made by Dr. Steere. 



An important collection of forty-four Mammals made in North Western Borneo, by 

 H. Low, Esq., and containing several new forms ; for instance, two Porcupines, an Otter, 

 etc. ; described in " Proc. Zool. Society." 



A small 



