292 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



surroundings, within forty yards of a turn in a track up the 

 gorge, certainly never a much-frequented one, and probably this 

 late season not in use at all at the time when the birds made 

 their choice, but still quite within the " bounds of civilisation," 

 and within sight, and almost within hearing, of the stir and 

 bustle of Zermatt down below. 



THE NATUEAL HISTORY MUSEUM AT CARLISLE. 

 By Rev. H. A. Macpherson, M.A. 



My friend Mr. J. H. Gurney has suggested that a brief notice 

 of the Carlisle Museum might fitly follow his article on the 

 Norwich Museum (p. 81). For my part, I am not fond of com- 

 paring great things with small ; the Norwich Museum is a fait 

 accompli, while the Carlisle Museum is only gasping for its first 

 breath. A few years ago Mr. Charles Ferguson, of Carlisle, the 

 eminent architect, brother of Chancellor Ferguson, F.S.A., a 

 well-known authority on the archaeology of North-west England, 

 persuaded the public to purchase a large house in Carlisle (called 

 "Tullie House," after a former owner of that name), with the 

 view of converting the same into a Museum of Antiquities and a 

 School of Art. The late Bishop Goodwin warmly espoused the 

 cause, as did many local gentlemen. The building was secured 

 and presented to the Corporation of Carlisle. It then occurred 

 to my late friend, Mr. J. W. Harris, of Broughton, Cockermouth, 

 to offer the Corporation his collection of mounted British birds, 

 to be exhibited in Tullie House on certain conditions. The 

 Corporation did me the honour of requesting my advice on the 

 subject. In association with the late Messrs. T. Duckworth, 

 John Sinclair, and other genuine working men, I had been 

 struggling for years to persuade the local public of the need of 

 a local Natural History Museum worthy of the name. It was 

 therefore a great pleasure to be able to advise the Corporation, 

 that if they were willing to regard the Harris collection as only a 

 nucleus, and to mount the rarer skins in my own collection, 

 which I was willing to place unreservedly at the service of the 

 public, I felt convinced that within a few years we could bring 

 together a really useful collection of British birds, chiefly local, 



