76 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



safe-conduct through the galleries by officers of the house ; it 

 was not until the year 1810 that the Museum was freely accessible 

 to the general public, and then only for three days in the week, 

 from ten to four o'clock. Since then progress has been con- 

 tinuous ; the fine building in Bloomsbury was completed in 

 1845, its reading-room in 1857, and the present great Nature's 

 temple at South Kensington was constructed and handed over to 

 the trustees in 1880. 



Vol. I. is devoted to the Libraries, and the departments of 

 Botany, Geology, and Minerals. The collection of books, manu- 

 scripts, and drawings relating to natural history is certainly the 

 finest and most complete in the world. Botany and mineralogy 

 are outside the purview of ' The Zoologist,' but geology is not, 

 and paleontology is rapidly becoming an equipment necessary to 

 every well-informed zoologist. We can trace the evolution of 

 the paleontological collection. In 1767 we read of the acquisition 

 of some remains of Mastodon americanus, and a molar tooth of 

 M. humboldti ; then each year's acquisitions become more im- 

 portant, and reflect the steady progress of the science. In 

 1880, 50,000 non-British fossils were received from the Museum 

 of Practical Geology in Jermyn Street. In that year the total 

 number of acquisitions numbered 55,496. 



Vol. II. refers to the various zoological departments, and 

 here our interest centres, but our space contracts. In " Mam- 

 mals " we are glad to see a well-deserved tribute to Dr. J. E. 

 Gray, apart from the question of his taxonomical views. " To 

 his indomitable energy and enthusiasm, in the face of much 

 opposition and discouragement from officials more interested in 

 the Library and Antiquities than in natural history, the early 

 growth and position of the mammal collection is mainly due." 

 We may add that it is not likely to suffer from an absence 

 of these personal qualities under the direction of Mr. Oldfield, 

 Thomas. In the section devoted to Birds, Dr. Bowdler Sharpe 

 has contributed at length, and his pages are of the greatest 

 interest to ornithologists. The specimens procured during 

 Captain Cook's voyages have perished; they were inadequately 

 prepared, and " were always mounted." There is, however, 

 apparently one relic — a Tree- Starling (Aplonis ulietensis). From 

 similar causes much destruction has ensued to the Montagu 



