83 



THE HUMMING BIRD. 



[October i, 1891 



A Visit to the British Museum. 

 Natural History Department. 



Continued from page 69. 



There are no reasons whatever why the Public 

 Collections of Insects should not be as important as 

 the others, especially so when so many thousands of 

 duplicates, quite useless to the students, are stored 

 in the cabinets in the Insect Room, to no purpose 

 whatever. Even if they are to be lost by exposure, 

 which is not the case, it would be very easy to 

 renovate them from time to time at a very small cost. 



When it is considered that Insects are represented 

 in nature by hundreds of thousands of species, and 

 their great importance in agriculture, it is my opinion 

 that they ought to be even more fully represented 

 in the public galleries than any of the other sections. 



I am certain that extensive collections of all the 

 insects, useful, neutral or injurious to agriculture, 

 would draw a large number of visitors, and what 

 could possibly be more instructive and interesting 

 than such a collection? 



Also fine series of as many species of Insects 

 Coleoptera (Beetles), Lepidoptera (Butterflies and 

 Moths), Neuroptera (Dragon-flies), Orthoptera Grass- 

 hoppers, Crickets, etc.), Hymenoptera (Bees, Wasps, 

 etc.), Diptera (Flies), and all other orders, would be a 

 great attraction for the public. 



In the last Paris International Exhibition, 1889, 

 I exhibited in the Pavilion of Guatemala a collection 

 of about 8,000 species of American Coleoptera 

 (Beetles), and a few cases of rare and fine species of 

 Butterflies, and, during all the time of the exhibition, 

 thousands of visitors came daily to admire the said 

 collection, and asking me no end of questions about 

 the insects exhibited, showing the interest it had for 

 them. 



From this I can conjecture that a really good col- 

 lection from all parts of the world, including as many 

 of the principal types and fine species as possible of 

 all the orders of insects, should obtain an immense 

 success, providing that the specimens exhibited 

 should be the best of their kind. 



It is quite erroneous to believe that the public do 

 not appreciate what is really fine, it is just the 

 reverse. 



Actually what is exhibited is really very poor, and it 

 is impossible to have any idea of what insects are with 

 such an exhibition. 



During this year I have had the visit of several 

 Entomologists from S. Africa, West Indies, India 

 and other countries, and the first question asked was : 

 " Where is the Public Collection of Insects of the 

 British Museum?" They could riot believe that 

 what they saw was the Public Collection. 



Of course, I told them that the Scientific Collec- 

 tions were stored in the Insect Room and how they 

 could get an entrance, but that did not satisfy 

 them. 



It is a fact that many visitors will delight to go in 

 a public museum where the entrance is free to all, 

 but when it comes to ask for a favour, which they 



may or may not obtain, they do not like to run that 

 risk, and it happens that they return to their coun- 

 tries with a very false impression of what really are 

 the collections of the British Museum. 



REPTILE GALLERY. 



In this gallery can be seen a fine collection of 

 stuffed specimens and skeletons of Reptiles, including 

 Crocodiles, Lizards, Snakes and Tortoises. It con- 

 tains examples of all the forms of general interest. 



The series of Crocodilians (cases 1 to 10) is a very 

 good one, it contains nearly all the species known. 

 The true Crocodiles are represented by the African, 

 Indian, Asiatic and Australian species, and the Alli- 

 gators (with the exception of one species found in 

 China) which are from America. 



Case 10 contains a series of Skulls. 



Case n contains the Order Rhvncocephalia, of 

 which only one species has survived to our period. 

 It is the Tatuera of the Maoris or Hatteria of 

 Naturalists. 



It is the largest of the reptiles inhabiting New 

 Zealand, but scarcely attains to a length of two feet. 

 It is restricted to a few small islands of the Bay of 

 Plenty, where it lives in holes, feeding on other small 

 animals. An example of this interesting reptile with 

 skeleton and skulls is exhibited. 



The Order Lacertilia, or Lizards, comprises over 

 1600 species, many of which are exhibited in cases 

 11 — 22, beginning with the Geckonidce, or Geckos, 

 found in almost every part of the globe, between and 

 near the tropics, frequenting houses, rocks and trees. 

 In Vera Cruz, " Mexico " they affect particularly the 

 lamp-posts, on which I have collected many at 

 night. 



With few exceptions they are nocturnal, and feed 

 largely on insects. They possess the faculty of 

 ascending smooth surfaces, even glass. For this 

 purpose the lower surface of their toes is provided 

 with a series of moveable plates or discs, by the aid 

 ot which they adhere to the surface over which they 

 pass. 



In cases 11 — 17 are exhibited the Varanidae or 

 Water- Lizards. A few Vara?zusgriseus, etc. are terrestrial, 

 but the majority are semi-aquatic. The principal 

 species exhibited are Varanus giganteus from N. 

 Australia ; Varanus salvator from the Indian Archi- 

 pelago ; Varanus bengalensis from India and Varanus 

 niloticus from tropical Africa. 



Case 18 contains the remarkable Heloderma horri- 

 dum from Western Mexico. It is the only lizard 

 whose bite is poisonous. Its teeth are fang-like pro- 

 vided with a deep groove as in some snakes, and the 

 submaxillary gland is enormously developed and 

 secretes the poisonous fluid. Another species Helo- 

 derma suspectum has been discovered a few years ago. 

 In the same case are exhibited several other rare 

 species of lizards, Tupinambis teguexim and nigro- 

 punctatus, attaining to a length of four feet ; the rare 

 Dracaena guianensis from Guiana ; several specimens 

 of Amphisbenidae, worm-like reptiles, Lacertidae, 

 lizards proper, Anguidea or Blindworms ; the Pseudopus 

 pallasii or Glass-Snake and many others. 



(To be continued.} 



