140 On Collections and Museums. 



pecting the geography of living tenlacea and Indian tertiary shells, and 

 if furnished with duplicates from the Museum of the Asiatic Society, 

 proposes in return to supply the Society with fossil and recent shells in 

 exchange. 



The Society, it is to be regretted, has few fossil shells from Indian 

 beds, and a very imperfect collection of recent species. Indeed the little 

 attention that has been paid to these important subjects in India, seems 

 to have induced collectors to send their contributions elsewhere. Seve- 

 ral friends, and others interested in the advancement of science, are 

 most favourably placed on the Malay coast, at various points from 

 Chittagong to Mergui, and we may look, I trust, with confidence for 

 large collections from this quarter in the peculiar department alluded to. 

 I have myself been already indebted for a miscellaneous collection of 

 shells from Dr. Helfer, and slight contributions have been made to our 

 Museum, from time to time by different individuals ; but I question if 

 we have as yet a tenth part of the species of the Bay, while we are 

 altogether without the corals, polypes, and radiata, so abundant in 

 all the Eastern seas. 



Mr. A. P. Phayre, assistant to the commissioner of Arracan, kindly 

 sent me some time since a few interesting specimens of the rocks in the 

 vicinity of Akyab, which are perforated to the height of six feet 

 above the greatest elevation of spring tides, the same as beneath the 

 level of the water, by a species of Pholas. Mr. Phayre justly 

 ascribes this to a change of level in the rocks composing this part of the 

 coast, and regards the perforations as identical to those which have been 

 observed in the sandstone at Cherra Ponji. With regard to the Cherra 

 Ponji rocks, I am indebted to Mr. H. Walker for an observation of 

 very great importance when observing the number of Echinidce in my 

 collection from that quarter ; he suggested the probability of the elon- 

 gated moulds contained in what seemed to be perforations, being no- 

 thing more than the spines of a Cidaris, a species of Echinus. On this 

 subject, as w r ell as the Echinidce generally, which I find to be very 

 abundant in the Cherra beds, I hope soon to have a communication to 

 make, being now employed in an examination of the Indian species, 

 particularly those which I have found fossil. 



These departments of the animal kingdom are of the more import- 

 ance to our collections, as we can hardly advance a single step in geo- 

 logy until our cabinets are complete, or nearly so, in recent species. 



Mr. Phayre has liberally undertaken to collect for us at Akyab, 

 but we require equally zealous correspondents at Chittagong, Kyuk 

 Phyu, Sandoway, Moulmein, Mergui, and at all the different stations 

 along the coast, before our Museum can be considered in a progres- 

 sive state. 



"With regard to fossil species, our collection is equally defective ; 

 indeed so long as we are without a complete collection of recent shells, 

 fossil species would be of little interest in our Museum. As proof 



