398 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [No. 4. 



History collections, their first care was to provide for matters of 

 immediate necessity, and the recommendations which they made on 

 these subjects have already met with the ready approval of the 

 Society. 



They now propose to enter more fully on the larger question of 

 the future disposal of the Natural History collections generally. 



The Committee have had several meetings, and have enquired 

 carefully into the condition of the specimens, the accommodation 

 available in the Society's house, and the efficiency of the Curator's 

 staff. 



The Zoological collections are very extensive and valuable, they 

 have been found on the whole in a fair state of preservation, though 

 they have certainly not received that amount of care of which they 

 are deserving. The Society's collection of Indian Birds is believed 

 to be the largest and most complete of any that exists in any 

 Museum in the world, and the series of Quadrupeds is very rich. 



The Committee would here beg to bring prominently to notice, as 

 a result of their present investigations, that the generally satisfactory 

 condition in which the specimens in the Museum have been found, 

 notwithstanding the insufficient care which has been bestowed upon 

 them, distinctly shows that the idea, believed to be prevalent, of the 

 climate of Bengal being necessarily destructive to Natural History 

 collections is altogether erroneous. Zoological specimens are un- 

 doubtedly perishable objects, but those precautions which will 

 preserve them in the Cabinets of a European Museum, for 

 precautions are every where necessary, will certainly be found equally 

 efficacious in this country also. Any objections therefore to the 

 maintenance of such collections, based upon the special difficulties 

 of preserving them in the climate of Calcutta, must be held to be 

 fallacious. 



The Society's collection of Fossils is also very valuable, especially 

 those of Tertiary age from the Sewalik range, Ava and Perim 

 Island. 



With reference to the House, we would observe that the interior 

 arrangements are generally ill-adapted for the purposes of a Museum. 

 The ground floor is particularly objectionable. The upper story 

 alone can be considered available for the arrangement and exhibition 



