ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 2g 



The specimens of Tnn'icata, of Acalephcc, and of other soft-bodied Invertebrates, snch as 

 the Annelidous and Gephyrean Worms, Holothurians and Entozoal parasites, are stored 

 and kept in spirits ; but as regards the, at present, only available locality, under similarly- 

 deteriorating conditions as are noted in connection with the Vertebrate specimens in 

 spirits. 



The Corals and other Radiata and Protozoa, exhibited in the Public Galleries, occupy 

 detached glazed cases of such size and in such spaces as occasion least obstruction to the 

 gangways left for the passage of visitors. Consequently the serial juxtaposition exem- 

 plifying, as in the series of Ornithology and Conchology, the order of progressive affinities, 

 cannot be carried out. 



The collection of the Osieological specimens, human and compai-ative, is in a state of 

 preservation. The additions to this series continue to be numerous; but, in the restricted 

 basement space available for storing this collection, the obstacles to its application, in the 

 comparison of fossil and recent bones, have annually increased. All the specimens are 

 in a condition fit for future systematic arrangement ; and, as regards the entire skeletons, 

 for articulation and display in the Ga-Ueries of Osteology in the New Museum. 



The exhibited series of Eggs, Nests, and Nidamental Structures, and the specimens 

 illustrative of the Natural History of the British Isles, ai'e severally in a good state of 

 preservation and arrangement. Additions illustrative of the nidificatory instincts of the 

 Pheasant, Land Eail, Reed Wren, and Linnet, have been made in the present year, and 

 are exhibited. 



The extensive series of the Horns and Antlers of the Mammalia is in good condition ; 

 but these weopens continue, as to exhibition space, to be shown apart from the stuffed 

 specimens of the S2)ecies to -which they belong or are allied. 



The portion of the series of the Fossil remains which is exhibited, is well aiTanged and 

 instructively labelled. The portion kej^t in store is partly arranged in glazed cases 

 placed in a gallery-recess to which the public have not access, partly in drawers or cup- 

 boards in basement vaults; but for the most part accessible to the student and scientific 

 visitor. 



Further progress has been made in the determination and display of the Mammalian 

 Fossils from tertiary rocks of the Sewalik Hills. The exposition, by removal of the 

 quartzose matrix, of the Fossil Reptilian remains from the Cape of Good Hope, has 

 progressed with little intermission, and with the exposition of characters of new species 

 and of additional elements towards the reconstruction of species already determined and 

 described. The entire collection of Fossil Fishes has been subjected to careful re- 

 examination ; the specimens have been cleaned and repaired where requisite ; species 

 have been verified or determined, and labelled accordingly. Wherever space could be 

 gained in the compartment of the Gallery of Geology devoted to this class, additional 

 Ichthyolites, mounted on tablets, have been placed for exhibition. 



The examination of the Invertebrate Fossils, the revision of the nomenclature of the 

 species, and a re-arrangement of a considerable proportion of the specimens in the new 

 drawers, preparatory to the removal, have been cai-ried out. 



Space has also been made for reception of an additional table-case in the present 

 Gallery, in which the subjects of the valuable Monograph by Dr. Lycett, on the Fossil 

 Trigonia, have been displayed. 



Considerable additions have been made to the collections of Fossil Plants, and their 

 instructiveness much increased through determination and naming of species by Baron 

 von Ettinghausen and Mr. J. S. Gardner. 



The large proportion of the series of Mineralogy, publicly exhibited, is so arranged, with 

 illustrative models and indices, and with generic and specific labelling, as greatly to 

 facilitate its study and scientific applications. The instructiveness of the general series 

 of Minerals has been increased by the addition of rock-specimens and metalliferous ores. 

 Of the former, the hand specimens and microscopic slides, presented by Henry Ludlam, 

 Esq., illustrative of the mineral structure of the Vosges, Haute Loire, and Puy de Dome, 

 merit sj)ecial notice. 



All the Minerals, displayed and in store, are in- a perfect state of preservation. 



Of the additions by bequest or donation, that of the Collections of the late William 

 Chapman Hewitson, Esq., r.R S., L.S., etc., calls for the first place in special notice. 

 The conditions under which the Entomological Series has been thus enriched are given in 

 the Report from the Department of Zoology. 



The specimen of the adult male of the Large Orang-ntan (^Shnia Sayrus) from Borneo, 

 obtained by purchase, is exhibited in the case devoted to the Anthropoid Apes. Among 

 other additions to the Mammalian class, also mounted and exhibited, may be noted a 

 male of the I'wo-horued Malayan Rhinoceros {Rh. nigcr), and specimens of Wild Sheep, 

 the probable originals of primitive breeds of the domestic races. Two specimens of dwarf 

 Antelopes, new to science, Neotragus KirJdi, of East Africa, and Ncotragus damarensis, 

 from Damara land, form rare and interesting additions to the exhibited Mammalian Series. 

 For the latter donation the Museum is indebted to the accomplished Secretary of the 

 Zoological Society of London, Philip L. Sclater, F.R.S. 



The value of the rich donation to the Ornithological Series by Frederic Du Cane 

 Godman, Esq., F.L.S., and Osbert Salvin, Esq., f.r.s., is much enhanced by the pub- 

 lished iklemoira by these eminent Ornithologists, through which a large proportion 

 207 — Sess. 2. E 2 oi 



