No. 381.] MWOTES ON SOME EUROPEAN MUSEUMS. 703 
letter in the upper left-hand corner of the card on which the 
shell is mounted. Only a synoptic collection of the shells is on 
exhibition, — a very few examples of each species and not many 
species under each genus. In this museum again the upper 
shelves in the upright cases are much too high for the exhibi- 
tion of anything but very large specimens which do not require 
close examination. The fossil shells are placed as near as 
possible to the groups of recent shells to which they are 
related. 
Paris. Jardin des Plantes. Mineralogy. — The mineral 
collection is divided into three parts: the general collection; 
several special collections; some large specimens out of series. 
The classification recently proposed by Prof. P. Groth, of 
Munich, is followed in the general collection, with some modifi- 
cations in minor details. The installation is not modern, the 
cases being narrow flat-topped table cases surmounted by 
shallow upright cases, and fully one-fourth of the collection 
being on shelves too high to be seen with any degree of satis- 
faction; if at all. Since, however, plans for a new building 
have already been drawn, it is not worth while to go into an 
extended criticism of what will soon be discarded. The system 
of labeling is very complete, each label bearing the name of the 
species or variety, with one or more synonyms, the chemical 
formula, the system of crystallization, the mode of occurrence, 
the locality, and the donor. The peculiar feature about the 
labels is the statement as to the mode of occurrence, and it is 
a good one. I quote a sample label from the printed visitor's 
guide to the collection : 
THORITE. 
Synonymes : Zhorine silicatée. 
Variétés : Orangite, Uranothorite. 
Formule Chimique : 
Th St Op 
Systéme Cristallin : 
Quadratique. 
Nature des Gisements : 
Pegmatites, Syénites néphélinigues. 
