30 ACCOUNIS, &C., OF TUB BRITISH MUSEUM. 



Mr. E. A. Smith ; " On the Crustaceans from Franz-Joseph's land, collected by 

 B. Lei^h Smith, Esq.;" "The Crustacea collected by Capt. A. H. Markham in the 

 Polar Seas ; " " On a collection of Crustacea made by Baron Maltzan in Senegambia ; " 

 "A Kevision of the IdoteidcE^—hj Mr. E. J. Miers ; "Descriptions of the Coleopterous 

 Insects belonging to the families Hispida and Lamellicoriiia collected by Mr. Buckley in 

 Ecuador" — by Mr, C. O. Waterhouse ; "Report on the Lepidoptera received from 

 Japan;" "On a collection of Lepidoptei'a from the Hawaiian Islands;" "On the 

 Geometrltes of the River Amazons " — by Mr. A. G. Butler ; "On the species of the genus 

 Asterias " — by Prof. E. J, Bell ; " On the Polyzoa, CcElenterata and Sponges of Franz- 

 Joseph's Land ;" " On the genus Plocamia " — by Mr. S. O. Ridley. 



IV. — Cvnservation. 



The following specimens have been mounted for exhibition : — 



The Antelopes acquired from the African traveller, Mr. F. C. Selous ; a specimen of 

 the lately discovered Nanotragns kirhi ; a Budorcas bull ; a Himalayan Ibex ; a speci- 

 men of the White Rocky Mountain (jodii {Mazama americana); a fine example of the 

 four-horned sheep of India; two wild Reindeer (male and female), and a white variety of 

 the domestic breed ; specimens of CeriJt/s macrot.is {malQ and female) from Montana, Cervus 

 chilensis from Chili, and Cervus kopschi from Formosa ; two specimens of Beccari's Casso- 

 wary from the "Challenger" ExjDeditlon ; thi-ee Sharks from Mauritius and Karachi 

 {Carcharias and Notidanus) , and two Salmon. Further, skeletons of the Borneau 

 fresh-water Turtle {Pfilocheli/s cuiituris) and of the M&iSiUi&tai. {Chelysjimhriata); of the 

 Sea-devil {Lophrus piscatorius). 



A large number of mounted sj)ecimens of the smaller Carnivora and liodentia, and of 

 the stuifed birds of the former India Museum, have been withdrawn from exhibition and 

 placed as skins in the study series. 



Of the numerous skeletons which were prepared for the study series, but not mounted, 

 those of the Wild Fallow-deer and of the Leopard of Asia Minor may be mentioned. 



Owing to the excessive dryness of the atmosphere during the great cold in February, 

 the skin of the large Shark (Selache maxima) shrunk so much as to crack in several places. 

 The rents were mended, and precautionary measures taken to preserve this specimen, 

 one of the most striking objects in the collection, from further injury from a similar cause. 



The systematic transference of the skins of Passerine Birds into the cabinets which will 

 be used in the Bird-Room of the New Museum (as described in the Reports of preceding 

 years) has been continued. 



The exhibited part of the Gould Collection of Humming Birds, consisting of 66 cases, 

 has been placed on four-leg^ied mahogany tables, the pedestals on which they were placed 

 by their former possessor being too unsafe for use in a gallery open to the public. 



Further progress has been made in the formation of a series of groujss of British Birds, 

 illustrative of their nesting habits. 'I'iie following have been added : — Chaffinch, Tree- 

 creeper, Sparrow-hawk (two groups), and Reed-warbler. 



The Avork of renewing the spirits in the bottles containing wet preparations has been 

 continued whenever time could be spared for it ; thus the bottles containing Batrachians, 

 those of two wall-cases of Fishes and of a part of the Echinoderms and Nematoids, were 

 filled with fresh spirit. Also the whole of the " Challenger" and "Alert" collections 

 received during the year, which almost entirely consist of spirit-preparations, were placed 

 in separate bottles and labelled. 



The store-boxes, in which a part of the bird-skins are arranged, were provided with 

 camphor ; and the methodical re-camphoring of the Insect-cabinets is still in progress. 



Of the Sponge and Coral collections, the most instructive and remarkable specimens 

 have been put aside for mounting and exhibition in the New Building. The other dry 

 sponges of the Bowerbankian and Johnstonian collections, as Avell as the more fragile and 

 valuable specimens of the Alcyonarian Coelenterata, have been placed in glass-top boxes. 



The collection of microscopic elides has been arranged in 111 suitable mahogany 

 cabinets. 



V. — Registration. 



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

 their acquisition, and a separate number correspondmg 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. — Departmental Library. 



A small number of works, not exceeding 1,500, had been gradually acquired for the 

 special use of the Department, partly by purchase from the annual grant (25 /.), partly by 

 donations, and partly by exchange for the zoological publications of the Museum. An alpha- 

 betical manuscript catalogue of these works has been kept for many years, and was printed 

 last year chiefly with the view of serving as a basis and guide in making such additions to 

 the Zoological Libi-ary as the sum granted by Parliament for the formation of a Natural 



History 



