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



Three gold coins of the Pandyan dynasty in South India ; rare gold coins of Vijaya- 

 nagar and other places in the same district. 



Presentation hy the late S^r Walter Elliot, K.C.S.l. A syjlendid collection of coins of 

 Southei-n India in various metals, to the number of 315. These are the specimens figured 

 by Sir Walter Elliot in his recent work on coins of Southern India, with other specimens 

 not there figured. This is the only extensive collection of coins of the district in exist- 

 ence. 



III. — Catalogues. 



1. Greek Series: — 



The Catalogue of the coins of Crete and the Aegean Islands, by W. "Wroth, has been 

 published. 



The Catalogue of the coins of Peloponnesus, by P. Gardner, is in the press. 



2. English Series : — 



The Catalogue of English Coins, Anglo-Saxon Series. Vol. I., comprising the whole 

 of the early Anglo-Saxon Coinage except that of Wessex, by C. F. Keary, is in the 

 press and is just ready for publication. 



3. Oriental S-^ries : — 



The Catalogue of Persian Coins by R. S. Poole is in the press. 



The Catalogue of Chinese Coins, Vol. I., by Terrien de la Couperie, is in the press. 

 A Supplement to the Catalogue of Oriental Coins (Arab Series), by S. Lane-Poole, 

 is in the press. 



The number of Visitors to the Medal Room during 1886, was 2,013. 



The number of Visitors to the Gold Ornament Room during 1886 was 15,367. 



Reginald Stuart Poole. 



NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, 



General Progress. 



The Gallery devoted to the group of ^r^zcw/a/a, or Invertebrated Animals with jointed 

 limbs, as Insects, Spiders, Myriopods, and Crustaceans, was sufl^dently advanced in 

 arrangement to be opened to the public in March. Selected examples of the different 

 groups are exhibited in systematic order in the table cases, so as to give the visitor who 

 studies them a good general idea of all the most interesting forms and of their classifica- 

 tion. It is unfortunately impossible to exhibit many of the most beautiful and rare 

 species, owing to the deteriorating effects of continued exposure to light upon their 

 colours. In the wall-cases of the Gallery are shown many curious examples of nests of 

 insects and spiders, specimens illustrating the ravages of destructive insects, and also 

 some of the principal economic products derived from them. 



Another gallery has been opened, situated at the north end of the Central Hall, behind 

 the grand staircase, containing a special collection of animals of all classes which are, or 

 have been in recent times, found in the British Isles, either as permanent residents, or 

 as regular migrants or occasional visitors. The collection is in some departments far 

 from perfect at present, but the deficiencies are gradually being supplied as occasion 

 offers. 



The introductory collection in the Hall has made considerable progi'ess. Bay I, con- 

 taining the Osteology and Dentition of Mammals, is complete, with the exception of minor 

 alterations and improvements which may from time to time be necessary. In Bay II, 

 one wall-case is filled with the illustrations of the modifications of the outer covering or 

 integument of the class of Mammals. Bay III, containing the osteology of Birds, and 

 the principal modifications of the characters of the beak, feathers, tail and limbs of the 

 members of the class, is nearly complete. In Bay V, a very fine skeleton of the Great 

 Blue Shark (Corcharodon rondeletii) from New Zealand, prepared by Professor Jeffrey 

 Parker, of the Otago University, and exhibited in the late Colonial and Indian Exhibi- 

 tion, is placed to show the characters of the skeleton of the Selachian fishes. On the 

 other side of the Hall, a commencement has been made of the exhibition of the morpho- 

 logical characters of the great groups of the Vegetable Kingdom. The progress of the 

 arrangement of the various galleries is detailed in the reports of the keepers of Depart- 

 ments. 



The marble statue of Sir Joseph Banks, by Chantrey, which was presented to the 

 Trustees by the subscribers, and which has since 1832 stood in the entrance hall of the 

 Museum at Bloomsbury, has been transferred to the Natural History Museum, and 

 placed in the centre of the upper landing of the hall, facing the statue of Darwin, and 

 adjoining the entrance to the Botanical Gallery, in which the Banksian botanical collec- 

 tions are preserved. 



The 



