PREFACE. 



The Osteological specimens which were formerly con- 

 tained in the British Museum were transferred to the College 

 of Surgeons shortly after the Government purchased the 

 Hunterian Museum and the establishment of that collection. 



My predecessor, friend, and first teacher in Zoology, Dr. 

 W. E. Leach, collected and exhibited the skulls, sterna, 

 and tracheae of some British Mammalia and Birds, and also 

 the skulls of a few exotic Bats, which he described in the 

 'Linnean Transactions/ for the purpose of showing the cha- 

 racters of the genera and species. Since he left the Museum, 

 a few skeletons and skulls, which have been kindly presented 

 by various donors, have been added to the collection. About 

 two years ago, when Mr. B. H. Hodgson returned from Nepal 

 with his very extensive collection of Indian animals, he 

 offered them to the Museum, on condition that the Osteologi- 

 cal specimens should be received with the skins, &c. 



