32 
CENTRAL HALL, 
Marten, Polecat, Weasel, and Stoat or Ermine, which only 
occasionally (as in a beautiful example shown) assumes the 
white colour in England, though this change is the rule in 
countries with severer winter climates. The Eodents are 
represented by the Common and the Variable or Mountain 
Hare, which turns white in winter in the Highlands of Scotland, 
and by the Eabbit. Of the Euminants, a specimen of the wild 
White Bull of Chillingham Park, Northumberland, stands be- 
tween the cases, and there are stuffed specimens and antlers 
(above the cases) of the Eed, Eoe, and Fallow Deer ; the latter^ 
however, an introduced species, now naturalised in our parks. 
The smaller mammals are exhibited in two square cases 
standing out in the body of the room, that on the left containing 
the Eodents (Squirrel, Dormouse, Yoles, Mice, and Eats), and 
that on the right, the Insectivora (Hedgehog, Mole and Shrews) 
and the Bats. 
Nearer the middle of the room is a larger case, divided into 
an upper and a lower compartment, the former containing the 
Amphibia (Frogs, Toads, and Newts) in spirit, the latter the 
few species of Eep tiles (Snakes and Lizards) found in our 
islands. The distinctive characters of the three snakes, the 
Common or Einged Snake {Tropidonaius natrix), and the 
Smooth Snake {Coronella austriaca), both harmless, and the 
venomous Yiper (Vipera herus), can be made out from the 
specimens, although the vividness of their natural colours is 
very difficult to preserve when long exposed to the light. 
The far more numerous birds and fishes occupy the two sides 
of the series of upright cases, which fill the west and east ends 
of the room, and project on each side so as to make a partial 
division across it. Among the birds will be seen a specimen of 
the extinct Great Auk (Alca impennis), of which the Museum 
possesses a second example in the Bird Gallery (p. 34). The 
largest specimens of fishes are placed on stands out of the cases^ 
near the middle of the room being a Greenland Shark [Lcemargus 
Ic/realis), fifteen feet long, which was captured near Anstruther, 
on the east coast of Scotland, May 18th, 1878. Next to this 
in size are the Porbeagle (Lamna cornuhica) and the Fox 
Sliark or Thresher (Alopecias vulpes). 
The cases occupying the northern section of the room (near 
