30 ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUSf. 



mounted and provided with labels, and many of such as had been imperfectly prepared 

 have been re-set. 



Towards the end of the year the regular work of the department was interrupted by 

 the removal of the Zoological studies and study-collections into rooms vacated by the 

 Geological Department. As by this removal all the collections lodged in the north- 

 western part of the building were disturbed, advantage was taken to collect into the same 

 locality the study-collections of Mammalia and Birds which had been deposited in various 

 distant and unsuitable rooms in the vaults ; and, further, to place in cupboards a great 

 number of spirit preparations which had been crowding the tables and table-cases of the 

 spirit-room. 



V. — Registration. 



All the specimens obtained during the past year have been marked with the date of 

 their acquisition, and a separate number corresponding with an entry in the manuscript 

 register of accessions ; in this, for future reference, the name of the collector, the exact 

 locality in which the specimens were collected, the mode of their acquisition, and any 

 other valuable information regarding them, are entered. 



VI. — Acquisitions, 



During the last year 24,283 specimens have been added to the several parts of the 

 collection :— 



Vertebrata 4,718 • 



MoUusca ----- 2,220 



Annulosa ----- 15,359 

 Radiata (and Vermes) - - - 1,986 



Total - - - 24,283, as compared with 



45,881 in the year 1879. 



20,960 „ 1878. 



24,184 „ 1877. 



24,685 „ 1876. 



25,340 „ 1875. 



30,699 „ 1874. 



10,644 „ 1873 



7,524 „ 1872. 



10,577 „ 1871. 



The most important acquisitions were the following : — 



1. The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury having ordered that complete 

 study sets of the collections made during the voyage of H.M.S. " Challenger " should be 

 deposited in the British Museum, the following sets have been received in the course of 

 last year : — 



(a.) Seven specimens of Terrestrial Mammalia. (Of the Marine Mammalia and their 

 remains, dredged from the bottom of the sea, as reported in the first volume of the 

 " Challenger " reports, nothing has been received yet). 



(6.) 795 skins and 226 eggs of birds ; this series contained the types of 12 new species, 

 and 31 species not previously represented in the British Museum. 



(c.) The study-set of Ostracoda, consisting of 153 species and 832 specimens. 



(d.) The complete study-set upon which Mr. Moseley's reports on deep-sea corals are 

 based; it consists of 115 species and 944 specimens; not less than 13 genera, and 56 

 species new to science, are represented in this most interesting portion of the collection. 



(e.) 38 species of Pennatulids represented by 160 examples; this series does not yet 

 contain all the specimens described by the Reporter. 



2. A second most valuable collection of animals of all orders obtained by Dr. Coppinger 

 in the Straits of Magellan during- the survey of H.M.S. "Alert," and presented by the 

 Lords of the Admiralty. 



3. A portion of the celebrated collection of Phytophaga formed by J. S. Baly, Esq., 

 M.B. ; this first instalment consists of 5,696 specimens, with numerous types of the species 

 described by Mr. Baly and others. 



4. A series of 476 Micro-Lepidoptera from North America, including the types of" 118 

 species described in the fourth part of the "Illustrations of Lepidoptera Heterocera;" 

 presented by Lord "Walsingham. 



5. A set of 209 typical specimens illustrative of species of Fishes described by the late 

 Dr. Bleeker ; also a selected series of 244 specimens of Marine Crustaceans collected by 

 the same Naturalist ; this series contained the nearly complete study-set of the Fish- 

 parasites 



