THE NATURAL SCIENCE JOURNAL. 
17 
coral attached and there is a Pinna 
nearly two feet long. On the whole it 
makes a very pretty display and it’s 
chief deficiency seems to be in native 
shells, and a want of enough duplicates. 
The Taber collection has an advan¬ 
tage over the others in point of display. 
It is for the most part unlabelled but is 
exhibited in a large case with glass doors 
reaching from floor to ceiling. The 
shells are divided very accurately into 
species and arranged in lines accoi*ding 
to size or in geometrical figures. This 
has a very beautiful effect but is not very 
convenient for handling. The Cyprmas 
are placed by themselves in a separate 
case and are especially attractive. Some 
of the duplicates from this collecdon have 
been given to the Y. M. C. A., and are 
very prettily arranged in two cases in 
the reading-room. They are somewhat 
crowded however. 
The Hall collection is the only one of 
the six still on the increase. This from 
the beginning was collected scientifically. 
It is thoroughly labelled and arranged by 
families, geneora, and species in the 
draws of a large case. The upper half 
of the case is fitted with shelves and glass 
doors, and here are displayed the larger 
specimens and many other curios from 
tropic shores — the best specimen of 
mushroom coral I have ever seen, a Nep¬ 
tune’s Cup, and a Venus’ flower-basket 
(Euplectella speciosa). The various 
species in the draws are separated in 
shallow boxes, and the sub-genera in larger 
box-covers. The collection is particul¬ 
arly strong in duplicates, and conse¬ 
quently in variation of forms shown. It 
shows the general tendency of particular 
attention paid to the marine univalves 
but is not so difficult in other depart¬ 
ments as some of the others. It excels 
the others is being lacking in almost no 
family of marine univalves with the ex¬ 
ception of the Chitons. 
To mention some of the specimens 
which drew my attention, there is a 
Argonanta or Paper Nautilus what is all 
pink. I found one of the same kind in 
the Doane collection of a deep brown 
color. Among the Murices which ap¬ 
peared to me the most attractive was the 
Murex tennispina. This has not as much 
color as many others but is, I think, by 
far the most delicate. There is a Triton 
tritonis sixteen inches long by nine wide. 
It is remarkably perfect for so large a 
specimen, and has a beautiful deep red 
aperture six inches wdde. A Fasciolaria 
gigantea seems the largest shell in the 
collection, but it is not, lacking half an 
inch the length of the Triton. Its nar¬ 
rowness increases its apparent length. 
If space permitted I might speak of many 
others — a large but light Cassis cornuta, 
a fine specimen of Strombus laciniatus, 
and an orange cowry. But no one can 
conceive the beauties of such shells with¬ 
out seeing them. 
In conclusion, let me say I think in no 
other city in the United States, certainly 
in none of its size, have so many fine 
collections arisen, and the thought came 
to me that if what are left could be com¬ 
bined in one large public collection, and 
a proper person put in charge, with ade¬ 
quate powers to contract exchanges. New' 
Bedford w'ould soon have a museum riv¬ 
alling the best in this respect. It can be 
done. Would that there were enough 
persons interested so that it should be 
done. New' Bedford w'ould then rise to 
that prominence in science which it en¬ 
joyed when Agassiz kept school at Peni- 
kese, and John Tliomson and Thomas 
Green were living. R. E. Bkiggs. 
