ACCOUNTS, &C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 37 



With the shells of existing Cephalopods are shown, in a top-lit Gallery of the west 

 wing, the numerous and varied kinds of shells of the lower classes of the MoUusca. 



To the class of Fishes are appropriated two of the top-lit Galleries, one in the east, 

 the other in the west wing. In the former (Gallery A.) may be seen the numerous and 

 varied forms of the " ganoid " or enamelled-scaled order, fragmentarily represented in the 

 existing series by the nilotic Polypterus and the ohiotic Lcpidosteus, v/hich are shown in 

 the west wing. Plere, though the " placoid " groups of Sharks and Rays are less scantily 

 exemplified, the magnitude, variety, and formidable armature of these fishes can only be 

 appreciated by the rich series of fossil forms, of palaeozoic and mesozoic periods, in the 

 Collections of Fossil Fi?hes, accumulated by the Earl of Enniskillex and the late 

 Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, which are now combined, systematically, 

 with the like Collections and Specimens previously acquired by the British Museum. 



In a top-lit Gallery of the west wing are arranged the stuffed or dried specimens of 

 the class ReptlUa, such existing kinds exemplifying the Orders Crocodilia, Clielonia, 

 Lacertilia, Oph'dia ; and with these are shown similar specimens of the class Amphibia, 

 represented by salamanders, frogs, toads, newts, and sirenoids. Other specimens of both 

 classes are shown in the Spirit-building. 



How fragmentary a proportion of the cold-blooded air-breathing Vertebrates are, as 

 above exemplified, may be comjjrehended by visiting the top-lit Gallery, contiguous to 

 and parallel with the ground-floor one of the east wing. Here may be studied the older 

 (mesozoic) forms of Crocodiles, with modified vertebrae suitable to marine life, represent- 

 ing the extinct genera Teleosaurus, Steneosaurus, Plesiosuchus. Here, also, are the fossils 

 of the gigantic terrestrial Reptiles, Iguanodon, Mfgalosaurus, Omosanrus, Pareiasaurus, 

 Tapinocephalus, Scelidosaui us, representing the extinct order Dinosauria. Another, also 

 extinct, order of the class is exemplified by genera and species of Theriodontia, from triassic 

 deposits of South Africa. The same deposits have yielded evidences of the distinct 

 Order ylnomodontia, here exemplified by specimens of Dicynodun, Ptijchognnthus, and 

 Oudenodont genera and species. 



Amongst the petrified evidences indicating near affinity to the existing order Lacertilia, 

 the most remarkable is the great horned Lizard of Australia {Mcgalunia priscd), of which 

 the acquired parts of the fossil skeleton are made intelligible by a pictorial restoration. 

 Near these are shown the remains of the extinct volant Order of Reptiles, called 

 " Pterosanria," the membranous wings of which were supported, as in bats, on long and 

 slender digital joints, but developed only in a single pair, one for each wing. The 

 Reptiles, which, of old, existed under modifications specially adapting them ibr marine 

 life, are repi-esented by a type of the order Mosopterygia, and by the more numerous and 

 varied genera (^Pliosauriis and Plesiosaurus) of the order Sauropterygia ; the latter genus 

 is remarkable for the length of the neck and number of its vertebrfe. Contrasted with 

 the Plesiusauri, are the numerous and commonly well-preserved fossil skeletons of the 

 fish-like, neck-less, Ichthyopterygia, represented by the species of Ichthyosaurus. In no 

 localities of the present Museum Is the contrast between existing and extinct members 

 of the same class more strikingly manifested than In the Galleries respectively 

 devoted to the display of the recent and fossil Reptilia, and of the recent and fossil 

 Cephalopoda. 



Rising to the warm-blooded, quick-breathing animals, the proportions are reversed. 

 The whole ot the ground-floor Gallery with its terminal Saloon, in the west wing, does 

 not exhaust, though well filled with the representatives of the genera and species of the 

 class AvES. It is, however, usefully supplemented by the Collection of unstuffed skins 

 of Birds, systematically arranged in the drawers of cabinets occupying a contiguous top-lit 

 Gallery. Specimens of the extinct members of the feathered class, arranged In the 

 terminal Saloon of the Gallery of Geology (east wing), may be studied in the toothed and 

 long-tailed mesozoic form of Archeopteryx. Remains of dentigerous Birds (^Odoniopteryx) 

 from eocene deposits may likewise here be seen. But the most numerous avian fossils 

 exemplify the huge, extinct, wingless birds of New Zealand (^DinoruithidcB). 



Existing generic and specific forms of the class Mammalia, are arranged in the first 

 floor Gallery and Saloon of the west wing, a compartment of the basement floor being 

 devoted to the Cetacea. The bony and horny characters of the rest of the class may be 

 studied in the upper Gallery, west Aving. Here the human Skeleton may be compared 

 with that of the Gorilla, the Chimpanzee, the Orarig, and the Gibbon. 



Cranial evidences of early members of mankind, with primitive tools and weapons, are 

 exhibited in the Gallery of Geology, east wing. The main part of this Gallery displays the 

 evidences of the extinct members of the class Mammalia. The existing kinds of elephant 

 shown in the west Gallery are now restricted to the warmer latitudes of Asia and Africa; but 

 the fossil evidences are of kinds which roamed over Australia, South and North Amei'ica, 

 and the temperate and northern latitudes of Asia and Europe, including our own island. 

 Extinct predecessors of existing Solidungulates here exemplify the development of the 

 aborted digits called "splint bones" of the horse, ass, and zebra, into hoo(-clad loes ; 

 other and older tertiary forms lead to the primajval pentadactyle ungulates. The huge 

 extinct forms of Antelopes, Deer, Bisons, and Bovines, are also here displayed. 



The Mammalian Orders which are represented by few and small species at the present 

 period, but by numerous, more diversified and larger kinds In tertiary times, are the Edentata 

 and Marsupiatin. The fossil evidences exemplified by the Megatherium, the Glyptodon, 

 the iNototherium, the Diprotodon, and the Thylacoleo, &c., are to be seen, Avith the 



0.63. E 3 extinct 



