NATURE STUDY IN THE EAST END 67 
are apt to, that having been bred amongst birds and game he 
ought to know best. He does not kill owls, and pointed out to 
me where an otter had been, which he promised not to slay. 
But he has bloodthirsty designs on a kestrel, often to be seen 
hovering over the decoy, presumably in quest of young water- 
rats or some such small deer. This bird belongs to the church 
tower and breeds there ; and the key belongs to me. There is 
not very much to complain of in a keeper whose education goes 
as far as this. When he gets a little higher in the class he will 
spare the life of that useful hawk, the kestrel. 
Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
Southacre , S waff ham, Nov folk. 
NATURE STUDY IN THE EAST END. 
By Amy Astbury. 
O see Nature Study in its true sense carried on under 
the most successful conditions possible, one should 
visit the Nature Study Branch of the Stepney Borough 
Museum, where the exhibits are by no means confined 
to dead creatures. The collection of living animals flourishes in 
the building which was once the public mortuary of St. George- 
in-the-East. Until recently it was locally known as the “dead 
’ouse,” but it is gratifying to learn that this name is no longer 
applied. It was opened for its present purpose in June, 1904. 
The building stands in the south-east corner of St. George’s 
Recreation Ground — once the churchyard. Along its north wall 
runs a wide border, where seventy children from a neighbouring 
Council School spend one day a week gardening, under the 
directions of Miss Hall, the Curator. The work of organising 
the efforts of seventy small and enthusiastic gardeners, in a com- 
paratively small piece of ground, is no easy task. At present the 
most exciting result is the coming up of the crocuses. Inside, 
the Museum is devoted entirely to living animals. The salt- 
water aquaria were specially interesting. Anemones, star-fish, 
sea-urchins, cup corals, limpets, periwinkles, &c., were in capital 
condition. Indeed, it would be difficult to imagine them more 
beautiful, even in their most favourable natural surroundings. 
The anemones were particularly delightful, the shades of the 
various species forming quite a feast of colour. There were 
several colonies of young in one tank. All the tanks are aerated 
by means of an electric pump. 
A fine specimen of a salamander, an Italian toad, which 
enjoyed being taken out of the cage and petted, and a beautiful 
lizard which crawled affectionately over the Curator’s arm, were 
perhaps the most interesting of all. The fresh-water tanks 
