November 28, 1884.] 



SCIENCE 



497 



the complete known data of every specimen received, 

 the number 100,000 has been passed. 



This collection is by far the most complete of any, 

 in the representation of North-American birds and 

 those of the West Indies ; while, of South and Cen- 

 tral American birds, only two collections — those of 

 Dr. P. L. Sclater and Messrs. Salvin and Godman in 

 England — excel it. These are superior in the num- 

 ber of species represented, but are decidedly inferior 

 as regards the number of specimens ; the aim of the 

 museum being to acquire series which will illustrate 

 the important subjects of geographical distribution 

 and variation, thus furnishing material for those in- 

 vestigating the higher branches of the science. In 

 Australian, Japanese, and European birds the col- 

 lection is also tolerably complete; but of African, 

 Asiatic, Indo-Malayan, and Polynesian species, there 

 are still many important deficiencies. These, how- 

 ever, are being rapidly filled by exchange and other- 

 wise, so that a fair collection of old-world birds is 

 only a question of time. It may be explained, with 

 regard to exotic birds, that the chief aim of the mu- 

 seum is to acquire representatives of, first, the higher 

 groups not represented in the American fauna; sec- 

 ond, genera and species allied to American forms; 

 and, third, typical species of the more distinct gen- 

 era within each family. 



The extensive and unique collection of birds now 

 possessed by the museum has grown from the private 

 collection of Professor Baird, consisting of three 

 thousand six hundred and ninety-six specimens, 

 mostly collected, prepared, and lahelled by Professor 

 Baird and his brother, William M. Baird, from 1839 

 to 1851, but embracing also many, if not most, of 

 the types of Audubon's works, presented to Professor 

 Baird by Mr. Audubon. The catalogue of this col- 

 lection, in Professor Baird' s handwriting, forms vol- 

 ume i. of the museum registers of the bird-collection, 

 which now comprises eighteen volumes, containing a 

 full record of every specimen. In the case of speci- 

 mens which are the parents of eggs collected, the 

 museum register number of the latter is given in a 

 particular column; while in the egg register the num- 

 ber of the parent, if in the collection, is given in a 

 corresponding place. 



The great bulk of this collection is in the form of 

 unmounted skins, arranged in insect-tight drawers, 

 the contents of which are, as far as practicable, 

 marked on the outside; the arrangement being so 

 systematic that any specimen in the entire collection 

 can be readily found within five minutes of the 

 time it is called for. The number of specimens 

 in the mounted or exhibition collection is, for several 

 reasons, necessarily small. In the first place, the 

 cases available for their exhibition are in every way 

 unsuitable, being old and badly constructed, admit- 

 ting freely both dust and insects, thus rendering 

 it a great risk to put valuable specimens inside of 

 them. Were suitable cases provided, the number 

 of specimens which the public could view might 

 easily be increased from six thousand (the number, 

 approximately, now on exhibition) to fifteen thousand 

 or more, without materially weakening the ' study 



series,' or putting in the cases specimens of no inter- 

 est to the general public. 



Labels designed with special reference to the 

 needs of the non-scientific public are being prepared 

 for the mounted specimens, and will be attached to 

 them as soon as possible. 



Ornithologists will rejoice that Professor Baird has 

 lived to see the gradual development of a grand 

 national collection from the humble nucleus upon 

 which it was built. The pleasant associations which 

 his memory, no doubt, recalls, must be no less a source 

 of happiness to him than the opportunity of witness- 

 ing the important and far-reaching results of his 

 boyhood studies. All wish for him the satisfaction 

 of realizing the consummation of the plans conceived 

 during his maturer years, not the least of which, 

 perhaps, may be the perfection of a national estab- 

 lishment for the study of natural history, which 

 shall be alike attractive and instructive to the general 

 public, and accessible to the special investigator, 

 under the auspices of a government which should 

 take pride in fostering and maintaining a natural - 

 history museum such as no other country can boast. 



As being more than any living person entitled to 

 the privilege, specimens numbered 100,000 closing 

 the first century of thousand, and 100,001 com- 

 mencing the second, are entered as donations from 

 Professor Baird. They were collected in 1850, and 

 presented to Professor Baird by Mr. George N. Law- 

 rence of New- York City, to whom belongs the honor 

 of being the oldest active American ornithologist, 

 and an associate of Professor Baird in his classical 

 work on North- American birds published in 1858. 



Robert Ridgway. 



OVER-PRESSURE IN SCHOOLS. 



The subject of over-pressure in schools is being 

 seriously agitated in many European states. In 

 England the discussion just now is related to the 

 report of Dr. Crichton-Browne upon over-pressure in 

 the Board schools of London. This gentleman was 

 invited by Mr. Mundella to examine the schools from 

 his stand-point as a medical expert, and report his 

 observations and conclusions as to the effect of the 

 system upon the health of the scholars. As eventu- 

 ally issued by the education department, the report 

 is accompanied by a memorandum from the pen of 

 Mr. F. G. Fitch (one of her Majesty's inspectors), 

 who severely criticises Dr. Browne's method of inves- 

 tigation, his arguments and conclusions. The press 

 has entered upon the controversy with considerable 

 ardor, so that over-pressure and Dr. Crichton-Browne 

 are topics of the day. 



The characteristic features of the English Board 

 school system, the rigid arrangement of su bjects and 

 standards,- the government inspection, the compli- 

 cated scheme of examinations, and the payment by 

 results, are unlike any thing that is known, or that 

 would be tolerated, in America; nevertheless, the 

 two systems have certain tendencies in common. In 

 both, the animating impulse of the schools is derived 



