FLOOR.] 
MAMMALIA SALOON. 
9 
which have large cheek pouches, wherein they store their food to carry 
it to their burrows. 
On the tops of the Cases and suspended on the walls, are arranged 
specimens of Seals, of Porpoises and Dolphins, and of the Manatees 
of Jamaica and Western Africa : most of these mammalia live in the sea; 
a few in estuaries or rivers. Some of the Seals are much valued for 
their skins and oil. Among the Dolphin family may De noticed the 
curious Platanista, or long-beaked Dolphin of the Ganges (on the top 
of Case 79). 
The General Collection of Corals is exemplified by selections 
arranged in the Table Cases. Tables 1-20 contain the various kinds 
of Madrepores or Star Corals, as the Sea Mushroom ; the Erainstone; 
the Clove Coral ; the Millepore. On the floor is a large mass of one 
of the corals which forms reefs in the sea, so dangerous to ships. 
Tables 20-31. The Barbed Corals; the Ked Coral of commerce ; the 
Gorgonia or Sea Fans; the Sea-pens, some of which emit a bright 
phosphorescent light. 
A large square glass-shade* in the middle passage of the room 
contains a series of " Barbed Corals," selected on account of the exqui- 
site delicacy of their structure, most closely resembling the growth of 
various trees and shrubs. 
Some of ihe most interesting Sponges are exhibited in upright 
cases at the top of the table-cases. What is preserved of these 
creatures, is a kind of skeleton formed by a network of siliceous fila- 
ments or spicules. The soft substance of the Sponge, which is spread 
over this skeleton, is generally lost ; or, if preserved, shrunk into a 
very thin layer or bark. Case M, over Table-Case 25, contains a 
series of the so called " Glass-rope-coral," from Japan and the Coast of 
Portugal (Hyalonema), a Sponge which emits from its bottom part a 
long bundle of siliceous fibres twisted like a rope ; with the aid of this 
rope it retains its hold in the soft mud at the bottom of the ocean, as 
with a root. The Japanese detach this rope from the Sponge, and 
manufacture spurious specimens of natural history, examples of which 
are also exhibited. 
Case D over Table-Case 8, contains specimens of the most beautiful 
Sponges known at present (Euplectella and Meyerina). Their skeleton 
consists of a network delicate like lace, and the name " Venus Flower 
Baskets " has been given to them. They are found in the neighbour- 
hood of Cebu, an island in the Philippine Archipelago. Examples of 
the " Birds'-nest Sponges" {Holtenia and Crateromorpha), from the 
Atlantic and Indian Oceans, are also exhibited in this Case. 
Opposite to this case, a magnificent specimen of a fibrous sponge, 
called "Neptune's Trumpet" [Lujf'aria archeri), more than five feet 
in length, is exhibited. It was discovered at Ambergris Island on 
the coast of Yucatan, and presented to the British IMuseum by 
Surgeon-Major Samuel Archer. 
* It is placed behind the marble bust of Dr. John Edward Gray, for many 
years Keeper of the Zoological Department. 
