Zoological Museum at Haslar Hospital. 3613 



When crossing the Channel in a vessel, between St. Margaret's Bay 

 and Calais, we fell in with a remarkable number of insects, which had 

 evidently endeavoured to migrate to England from France, or vice 

 versa, and were driven into the sea by an adverse gale. They consisted 

 chiefly of the common house-fly, but I noticed other species, and one 

 yellow and one white butterfly. They lay floating on the surface of 

 the sea, and all were quite dead. On either side of the vessel, whilst 

 it sailed for more than a mile, as far as I could see, these insects lay 

 thickly strewed. This circumstance occurred about three or four miles 

 from Calais. It appeared to me as if thousands of six or seven species 

 of flies had congregated together, as swallows do in autumn, and in 

 a vain attempt to cross the sea in a body, had perished in the effort. 



St. Margaret's Bay furnishes the botanist with many interesting 

 plants, amongst which the various species of Orchis stand most con- 

 spicuous. 



John Joseph Briggs. 



King's Newton, Swarkeston, Derbyshire, 

 August, 1852. 



Some Account of the Zoological Museum at Haslar Hospital. 

 By Dr. Balfour Baikie. 



Allow me, through the medium of your pages, to direct attention 

 to a zoological museum, which is, I think, at present, less generally 

 known than it deserves to be. I allude to the one in connexion with 

 Haslar Hospital, which was first established by Sir Wm. Burnett, 

 Director-general of the Medical Department of the Navy, in 1827, 

 and has ever since been with him an object of unceasing care. For 

 the last fourteen years it has been under the immediate direction of 

 Sir John Richardson, by whose able and active superintendance it 

 has gradually attained to its present condition. It is particularly rich 

 in its osteological collection, and the various specimens prepared by 

 the present and late Curators, the Messrs. Barron, father and son, are, 

 besides their intrinsic value and importance, most beautifully and ar- 

 tistically executed. 



The number of human skeletons is eight, among which are one 

 Benguelian, two Peruvian, and one Australian. 



The human skulls amount to nearly 150, among which may be noted 

 that of a Dyak, and several of Australian and ancient Peruvian races. 



