30 ACCOUNTS, &C,, OF THE BEITISH MUSEUM, 



of the specimens lias become " typical," with the further advantage of notes of precise 

 localities. 



The same lemark applies to the purchased collection of the Lepidoptcra of the Island 

 of St. Helena, which Includes the types of the species described by Mrs. Vernon 

 Wollaston. 



Among the specimens acquired by exchange may be noticed the species of Fishes 

 obtained by the Naturalists attached to the Russian Expeditions into Central Asia. As 

 evidence of success In acclimatization, the reception of a specimen of Trout from the 

 Derwent River, Tasmania, also merits special remark. 



The specimens selected from the Zoological Collections of the Indian Museum, trans- 

 ferred to the British Museum by Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India, add much 

 to th value and utility of the several classes of animals with which they have been 

 incorporated. The necessity of the Naturalists' and Students' visits to two localities, 

 with concomitant obstacles to required comparisons, has thus been obviated and Is duly 

 appreciated, 



Richard Owen. 



Depaetment of Zoology, 

 I. — Arrangement. 



The additions to the Collections of Mammals, Reptiles, and Fishes have been entered 

 into the printed Catalogues. 



The exhibited series of Chiioptera has been re-examined with the object of with- 

 drawing from the public galleries the majority of the specimens as being useless for 

 exhibition. A similar re-examination of the exhibited series of Rumlnantia has been 

 commenced ; but this series will always occupy a large amount of wall space, as the 

 majority of the examples have to be mounted on account of their large size, which renders 

 them unsuitable for being preserved as skins. 



A manuscript List of the species and specimens of Carnivora has been prepared, and a 

 similar one of the Rodentia commenced. 



The re-arrangement of the Passerine Birds, which was commenced in the year 1876, 

 has been continued 



The systematic List of all the species of Fishes described since the publication of the 

 " Catalogue of Fishes " has proceeded as far as the fifth volume. 



Mr. E. A. Smith, the Conchyllologlst of the Department, has prepared reports on collec- 

 tions of shells received from Japan and the Straits of Magellan, also monographs of the 

 genus Scutus and of the Australian species of Linnaa. 



The manuscript List of the Crustacea lirachyura is in progress, and the arrangement 

 of the Maioids has been completed. Also the exhibited series of Exotic Crustaceans has 

 been re-arranged and re-labelled. During the progress of this woi'k, Mr. E. Miers has 

 prepared, besides, an account of the Podophthalmia from the Corean and .Japanese 

 Seas. 



The greater part of the time of the Entomologists of the Department has been occupied 

 in selecting and arranging accessions. The ucm' species of Insects described during the 

 year amount in all to 1,244, the descriptions hiiving been prepared by Messrs. F. Smith, 

 A. G. Butler, and C. O. VVaterhouse, and published either in the catalogues of the 

 Museum or in papers which have appeared In vai-Ious journals. 



The systematic arrangement of the Lepidopterous families CydimoniidcE, Calpidce, 

 HemiceridcB, and part of the Lasiocampidec, has been completed, and considerable progress 

 has been made in the preparation of a complete list of the known species of Hymenoptera, 

 as a basis for the re-arrangement of such parts of the collsction as require revision. 

 The tabulation and arrangement of the Asterida and Anmlida are In pi'ogress. 

 The Schmidt collection of Sponges has been arranged and labelled, and the examination 

 of Johnston's collection of British Sponges is in progress. 



The arrangement o^ Fordminifem, Cculenlerata, and Folyzoa has been commenced. 

 All specimens which during the work of arranging the collections are found to be 

 duplicates, are set aside either for distribution among the other national history museums 

 in the United Kingdom, or for purposes of exchange. Up to the present, 1,187 have 

 been distributed among other institutions. However, the number of duplicates is very 

 small, as the acquisition of superfluous specimens has always been avoided; and the 

 specimens eliminated as duplicates are chiefly such as had to be replaced by others In a 

 better state of preservation. 



XL — Catahiguing. 



The following Catalogues have been printed during the year 1879: — 

 " Catalogue of Birds," Vol. IV., by R. B. Sharpe, 8vo. (pp. 494, with 14 plates). 

 " Illustrations of typical specimens of Coleoptera in the collection of the British 

 Museum. Part I. Lyddce:' By C O. Waterhouse, 8vo. (pp. 93, with 18 plates). 



" New 



