142 SIR WILLIAM FLOWER chap. 



" Aves " or birds, the next to the Class " Fish," and 

 the next to the Class " Reptiles." 



By 1886 the cases showing the beaks, feathers, 

 tails, and limbs of birds was nearly finished, and the 

 bay devoted to fish was begun. On the opposite 

 side of the hall a commencement was made of the 

 exhibition of the morphological characters of the 

 great groups of the vegetable kingdom. 



In 1887 it was noted that the collections of 

 zoology had increased in four years by 270,000 

 specimens. In that year the splendid collection 

 of the metamorphosis of the British Lepidoptera 

 formed by Lord Walsingham was presented by 

 him to the Museum. The series introductory 

 to the Mammalia in the Great Hall was increased 

 by a complete set of the antlers of a stag, showing 

 the horns which it had shed every year of its life ; 

 it was presented by Mr. W. H. St. Quintin. In 

 the Bird series the anatomy of birds and the 

 leading characteristics of the Class " Aves " were 

 begun. In their completed form they occupy one 

 bay of the hall, and are perhaps as good an example 

 as could be found of Flower's " selective " methods 

 of graphic exhibition. The problem was to give a 

 connected idea of the general meaning of the word 

 " bird," and of the kinds of birds and the organs of 

 birds, so that a person, even coming from another 

 planet, might learn as much about them as possible 

 in a small space and in a short time. 



At the back of the bay, and in the centre, is a 



