L'38 On Collections and Museums. 



" Thirdly. We have a similar collection made by the late Dr. Finl ay- 

 son in Siam and in the Indian Archipelago. 



" Fourthly. We have a nearly complete series of Mammalia and Birds 

 collected by Colonel Sykes in the Dekun, of the importance and extent 

 of which you can judge by the respective catalogues contained in the 

 Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1831 and 1832. 



" Fifthly. We have a few specimens from China, Nepal, and the Up- 

 per Provinces of Bengal, but these are imperfect and fragmentary. 



" To these has now been added a series, almost complete, of the Mam- 

 malia and Birds collected by yourself in Assam, which have been mounted, 

 and form a valuable addition to the specimens exhibited in our Museum. 



"All these separate Faunas are neatly arranged in our natural 

 history department, which consists of a large room well lighted, and 

 provided with excellent cabinets for the preservation of the subjects. 



" This Museum I may say is established on a modest scale, and with- 

 out the pretension to extent or elegance of the national collections 

 (such as the British or Hunterian, or even the Zoological Societies) but 

 our specimens are generally good, being prepared by the best London 

 artists, and my endeavour is to have them correctly labelled. 



" Our collection consists mainly of Quadrupeds and Birds ; but we 

 have also a small collection of Fishes, Reptiles, and Serpents, which 

 have recently been examined by Dr. Cantor, who has prepared a list 

 of them, agreeably to which they are arranged. 



" It is my intention as soon as possible to prepare a general list of 

 the Mammalia and Birds which are arranged in our Museum for trans- 

 mission to you, so that you may form an accurate idea of what we have, 

 and be enabled to judge of what we want. 



" I have no doubt the nature and importance of natural history is 

 more considered and appreciated now, than it was in former times ; and 

 I cherish the hope that the countenance and support of Government 

 will ere long be extended to it in an effectual way ; but this I can at 

 present only allude to as a wish or expectation. Meanwhile I may 

 enumerate some of the subjects which would be particularly desirable. 

 We want, for instance, many of the birds of Bengal. All the rarer 

 species, and some of the more common (of these I hope soon to send 

 you a provisional list) ; we want generally the Birds of Sylhet, the 

 Garrow Hills, Tenasserim, Arracan, Burmah, &c. &c, and duplicates 

 of the new, and of all the rarer species discovered by you in Assam. 



" We want a complete series of the Birds of Nepal, also Mammalia ; 

 the smaller species would suit our purpose best, as we can more easily 

 accommodate them. But above all, and especially, we want a large, 

 full, and complete collection of all the Vespertilionida;, or Bats of India. 

 This is the most important family, as it has never been sought after ; 

 and I beg and entreat you to have a large collection made generally 

 throughout all India ; and I need not point out to you the localities 

 where these animals are most likelv to be met with." 



