GROUND FLOOR. 
37 
for an account of which the visitor is referred to the special 
guide.* 
The fine and unique series of Gigantic Land Tortoises which 
are either extinct or doomed to speedy extermination ; the 
interesting skeleton of the Leathery Turtle {Sioliargis) in which 
the carapace is separated from the true skeleton; the large 
stuffed examples of the Fish-eating Gharial and of the dangerous 
Crocodiles of Africa, India and Australia ; the Snake-eating 
Snake (Ophiophagus), the largest of poisonous snakes ; and the 
great stuffed Anaconda (Boa murina) at the end of the room — • 
are the objects which will most attract the attention of the 
visitors to this gallery. 
IVc A small gallery is called the Star-fish Gallery from being star-fish 
specially devoted to Star-fishes and their allies — the Echino- ^^^^^y* 
DERMATA ; these are arranged systematically in table-cases 1-6, 
and in case 7 tliere are specimens ilhistrating the anatomy 
of the skeleton, and models and figures descriptive of the 
remarkable changes undergone by these animals in the course of 
their development. As magnificent examples the visitor should 
not fail to notice in 1 D Pycnopoclia heliantlioides, and in 2 B and 
C the fine series of Linckia, and in 2 D-F and 3 A the extensive 
collection of Oreastev, in 3 E are two remarkable specimens 
of Astropeden; in 4 C an almost complete example of the 
brittlestar (Ophiomastix annulosa) should be noticed, and on the 
tops of cases 5 and 6 are good examples of Diadema and 
Echinus. The most beautiful and remarkable specimens in the 
gallery are the stalked Crinoids, which were collected by the 
" Challenger," and one found attached to an old telegraph wire 
which was taken up in the Caribbean Sea. These deep-sea 
forms, so abundant in earlier periods of the world's history, 
are exhibited on tables in the corners of the gallery, by case 7.t 
The wall-cases contain types of the very various and different 
groups which are put together as Worms or Vermes. Case 1 con- 
tains the Tape-worms or Cestoda, and the Flukes or Trematoda, 
the life history of a type of each being illustrated by specimens, 
figures, and models ; in case 2 the Eound- worms are illustrated 
* * Guide to the Pieptiles and Fishes.' Price sixpence, 
t * Guide to the Shell and !S tar-fish Galleries (i\Iollusca, Echinodermata, 
Vermes). Price fourpcnce. 
