3^ ACCOUNTS, &C., OP THE BRITISH MUSRU 



M. 



The unexhibited collections, both of Vertebirata and Invertebrata, occupying a laro-e 

 number of vaults in the basement, were all carefully cleaned and packed, a task which 

 occuiDied three months (April to June). The wall-cases in the Supplemental Room con- 

 taining the Cephalopoda, Crustacea, Echinodermata, Corals, &c., were next cleared and 

 their contents packed. The Exhibition Galleries, commencing with Rooms I., 11. 

 and III. (which were closed to the public on 5th July), followed next, and their exhi- 

 bited series of Fossil Plants, Fossil Fishes, Rejstilia, and Birds Avere packed and made 

 ready for removal. In August, Rooms IV., V., and VI., were closed to the public, and 

 the exhibited fossils removed from the wall and table-cases and packed up. The 

 removal lasted from 14th June to 30th September, and from 11th to the 16th of October, 

 during which time 289 loads were sent off and received; apart of the staff, assisted by 

 extra labourers and carpenters, being occupied in packing and dispatching the van-loads of 

 fossils; and the other part, similarly assisted by extra labourers, being occupied in receiv- 

 ing and storing the collections in the new building. 



The task of unpacking and re-arranging the Invertebrata in the new Museum com- 

 menced on 20th September, the Vertebrata on 17th October, by which date all the staff, 

 as well the entire collections, had been transferred to the new building. 



Galleries A. and C. not having as yet (31st December) been cased, the work of arrano-- 

 ing the Invertebrata has been mainly carried on in Gallery " B," and in Reserve Gal- 

 lery No. 2, in 48 Table-cases and drawers thereunder. No use has as yet been made of the 

 Wall-cases in Gallery " B," from Avant of fittings for the same. In Gallery "D"the 

 large series of Enaliosauria {Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri) have been nearly all fixed up, 

 and occupy altogether a linear extent of Wall-case on the southern side of more than 

 200 feet. In the S. E. Gallery but little progress has been made in arranging objects in 

 the wall and pier-cases, from the want of fittings. These have now been obtained, and 

 the task of arranging the Prohoscidea, Carnivora, and Ruminantia is commenced. 



The larger objects, such as the skeletons of the Mastodon ohioticus and the Cervus 

 megaceros (male and female) ; the skulls and tusks of Elephas ganesa, Elephas 'primigeniusy 

 Mastodon andium, and Dinotherium giganteuni, have been mounted upon their stands and 

 placed in series down the centre of this room. 



The cast of the skeleton of the great extinct Ground-Sloth, Megatherium americanum, 

 has been fixed upon its stand in the Eastern Pavilion, in which room are also placed the 

 skeletons of Dinornis maximus and D. elejjhantopus with other remains of Fossil Birds, and 

 a large series of Edentata from South America. 



In Reserve Gallery, No. 2, sixteen Table-cases, with Cabinets of drawers 

 beneath them, have been placed. In these are arranged the " William Smith," the 

 " Sowerby," and the "Gilbertson" collections, occupying two Cabinets; the collection 

 of Fossil Corals, in three Cabinets ; the collection of Brachiopoda, in four Cabinets ; the 

 collection of Cephalopoda, occupying seven Cabinets. Along the walls on either side are 

 temporary shelves, filled with the larger specimens belonging to these collections. 



In Gallery B. thirty-two Table-cases (with drawers beneath them) have been placed 

 in order ; and considerable progress has been made in cleaning, sorting, and arranging the 

 British Fossil i>io//?<sc/^/, Polyzoa, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, he, in the table-tops and 

 drawers beneath. In Reserve Gallery, No. 3, the five Cabinets containing the " Edwards' 

 collection of Eocene Mollusca" have been placed; also five Table-cases on stands, in 

 in which are temporarily arranged the Foraminifera, and a part of the Protozoa. 



In Gallery C, (which is at present without Wall-cases) twelve Table-cases with Cabinets 

 beneath them, and 32 Table-cases on stands, have been placed, in which are temporarily 

 arranged on one side the Fossil, Fishes, and Reptilia; on the other, the foreign Mollusca, 

 Crustacea, Echinodermata, and Protozoa. 



In Reserve Gallery, No. 4., placed on a series of shelves along the wall on either side, 

 are the entire collection of Fossil Plants (for which no cases have as yet been provided), 

 and a large series of fossil Mammalia, Aves, and Reptilia awaiting arrangement in Gal- 

 lery D, and elsewhere. 



In the South East Gallery 13 full-sized and 10 half Table-cases, with Cabinets of drawers 

 beneath them, have been placed in the several recesses between the Pier-cases in which 

 the smaller fossil Mammalian remains have been temporarily arranged. 



In the Pavilion six glazed Table-cases, with Cabinets beneath them, have been devoted 

 to the reception of Fossil Edentata and Marsupialia, and the remains of Fossil Birds from 

 New Zealand, &c., &c. 



Specimens 



