[905- \V:elcii.— A A\"cO /ris/i Museum. if 



II. — Botanical Exhibits. 



The Botanical Section (arranged by Miss Helen Kidd), is 

 not as complete as most of the others, but it is hoped — with 

 the assistance and co-operation of local botanists — that it will 

 before long possess a good representative collection of the 

 different divisions of the vegetable kingdom. The collection 

 presented by Mr. Gulbransen is of special interest, and con- 

 sists of about 800 mounted specimens : in addition to this he 

 also gave a large number of flowers, dried by his own method, 

 which preserves their natural form and colour. Most of the 

 latter are exhibited in the case, which also contains some very 

 attractive illustrations of nature's methods of enabling certain 

 plants to secure the distribution of their seeds, and several 

 examples showing types of wind and insect fertilized flowers. 

 Carnivorous plants are represented by some pitcher plants 

 and our own common Sundew ; the parasitic group by the 

 Dodder and Toothwort. Various specimens of seed vessels 

 and fruits are shown — teazel and poppy-heads, pomegranates, 

 cocoa-nuts, &c., and two models, lent b}^ Queen's College, 

 show the different parts of the flower-heads of Dandelion and 

 Daisy on a much enlarged scale. On the wall is a series 

 of botanical photographs lent b}* R. Welch ; and several cases 

 showing the life-historj^ of various trees, and specimens of 

 plants poisonous to cattle, have been lent by the Museum, 

 Dublin. Two wall-frames presented by Canon I^ett, show 

 peat-forming Sphagnums and illustrations of the various 

 mosses obtained at different altitudes. 



iil—Geological Exhibits. 



Two cases were allotted to the geological collection in the 

 Museum, one of which has been used for palaeontology, the 

 other for the minerals and rocks. As one would expect, a 

 very variable set of specimens was sent in, contributed by 

 man}' donors, and naturally a great number of the common 

 fossils and minerals of the district are duplicated. With one 

 or two notable exceptions, the specimens sent were unnamed 

 and without locality, a fact which greatly added to the diffi- 

 culty in arranging them. The fossils are arranged in their 

 natural orders, as it was found impossible to arrange them 



