INTRODUCTORY COLLECTION. 
23 
trated by choice examples of the best marked breeds of Pigeons, 
all of which have been derived by careful selection from the 
wild Eock Dove {Golumba livia), specimens of which are shown 
at the top of the case. 
The bays or alcoves round the hall, five on each side, are Bays or 
devoted to the Introductory or Elementary Morphological Col- ^all^^^^ 
lection, designed to teach the most important points in the 
structure of the principal types of animal and plant life, and 
the terms used in describing them, all which should be known 
before the systematic portion of the collection can be studied 
with advantage. This has been called the " Index Museum," 
as it was thought at one time that it would form a sort of 
epitome or index of the main collections in the galleries ; but 
the name does not exactly express what it has developed into. 
It is really more like the general introduction, which almost 
always precedes the systematic portion of treatises on any 
branch of natural history. As mentioned before (p. 17), this 
collection is at present far from complete ; in fact, only in its 
infancy ; and as nothing exactly like it has been exhibited in 
any public museum before, it may, as its formation goes on, be 
subject to much modification and improvement ; but it is hoped 
that it may ultimately serve as a guide for the formation of 
educational biological museums elsewhere. The space being 
strictly limited, the number of illustrative specimens is neces- 
sarily restricted, probably to the advantage of the student, at 
all events in the earlier part of his career. In examining this 
collection the visitor should follow each case in the usual order 
of reading a book, from left to right, and should carefully study 
all the printed explanatory labels, to which the specimens are 
intended to serve as illustrations. 
The bays on the w^est side (left-hand on entering the liall) are 
devoted to the Vertebrated Animals, or those possessing a 
" backbone." In Nos. 1. and II. are shown the characters of 
the Mammalian modifications of this type. The wall-cases of 
No. I. are already nearly filled with specimens showing the 
bony framework (internal skeleton) of Mammals. 
In the first case (south side of the recess) will be seen a Bay I. 
complete skeleton of a good example of tlie class — a large skeleton of 
monkey, with all the bones separated, laid out on a tablet, and 
