60 The Official G uide to the 
charge of the Curator, and special application to him 
will have to be made by those who desire to use them 
for the purpose of study. 
Ascending the spiral staircase in the Skin Room a 
gallery will be reached containing a number of cabinets 
devoted to the | 
Collections of Insects. 
These comprise the collections purchased from Mr. 
Sparshall and Mr. Simon Wilkin, which were arranged 
and added to by the Rev. William Kirby. Of late 
years the British Lepzdoplera have been re-arranged 
by Mr. C. G. Barrett, who made large additions, 
Lord Walsingham also contributed. The cabinets of 
Hymenoptera and Coleoptera have also been entirely 
re-arranged and enriched, the former by Mr. J. B. 
Bridgman and the latter by Mr. James Edwards. 
There is also a large cabinet of Exotic Insects. 
An important recent addition has been made in this 
department by the generous gift of his entire collection 
of Hymenopterous insects by Mr. Bridgman, as well as 
of 32 volumes of books, and several manuscripts 
devoted to the same subject. The collection is a 
very extensive one; it is contained in two cabinets of 
thirteen drawers each, and six boxes; the insects are 
beautifully set, and a large number of them of great 
rarity ; they represent the labour of many years in a 
department of Entomology in which Mr. Bridgman is 
a recognised authority. 
Leaving the Skin Room and continuing along the 
corridor to the right—the Birds of Prey in the wall 
case having already been described—we pass on the 
left two table cases and three small glass wall cases 
devoted to the Nests and Eggs of Foreign Birds, of 
which at present there is not a very extensive collec- 
4 
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