Cxiv PROCEEDINGS-PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
Bros., I expected to find a little naturalist’s shop in a back street. 
Arriving at the shop, I was conducted through premises as large as the 
Perth Academy, and where over 50 people are employed in receiving, 
preparing, and sending off all kinds of natural history objects, except 
insects. Skins and skeletons of such large mammals as the elephant, 
the camel, the giraffe, the hippopotamus, the rhinoceros, the whale, 
and of other large vertebrates, are to be seen packed away in the 
rough, and these may be had mounted and delivered on the shortest 
notice. 
An enormous business is done in shells, which are imported by 
the ton in the rough from all parts of the world. They are cleaned 
and sold by the lb. or doz. This explains why it is that sailors often 
bring home East Indian shells from the West Indies ! In the work¬ 
room I saw the largest gorilla which has ever been brought to Europe. 
It was mounted; the stuffed skin in one case and the skeleton in 
another. Two days afterwards these cases were purchased by the 
Hon. L. W. Rothschild for his museum at Tring. 
Carel Hagenbeck, dealer in live animals, was next visited. His 
establishment is, I understand, the largest in the world, and covers 
an extensive area. He had in stock a handsome collection of lions, 
tigers, bears, etc., indeed the finest we saw. 
To Berlin by express occupies 4 hrs. The country passed 
through is flat, and for the most part uninteresting. Life in Germany 
is very pleasant. It is wonderful how very like ourselves the people 
are. Our insular idea of the average German, somehow, is founded 
on pork butchers and brass bands. The Berliner is always polite, 
and ever ready to assist and direct a stranger. 
The Fifth International Zoological Congress was held in Berlin 
this year. It is a triennial gathering. The meetings were held in 
the Reichstagsgebude, or Parliament House, a fact which clearly 
shows the German regard for science. The first meeting was a full 
dress affair, and was held at 9 a.m., a most extraordinary time of day 
to turn out in evening dress. After the formal remarks by the 
President, Prof. Mobius, Director of Zoological Museum, Berlin, the 
first paper was given by Prof. Grassi, Rome, well known for his 
researches into the causes of malaria. His subject was, “ Malaria 
from a Zoological point of view,” and he gave an interesting account 
of the diseases caused by insect stings, and emphasised the importance 
of their study. Papers of general zoological importance were read 
before the whole Congress, whilst those of more restricted scope were 
read to the separate sections. 
Arranged in the corridors of the Reichstagsgebude were numerous 
exhibits by natural history dealers, many of which were most tempting. 
A series of Type vertebrates and invertebrates injected to show the 
arterial and venous systems in red and blue, was extremely beautiful. 
There were also large and showy insects, specimens arranged to show 
life-histories of various insects, insect pests, etc. 
Prof. Ijima of Tokyo, to illustrate his paper on the Hexactinellid 
sponges (Glass-sponges), exhibited a most beautiful collection of these 
from Japan. 
The Berlin Zoological Museum .—This museum is contempor- 
