12 
THE INDIAN MUSEUM: 1814-1914. 
Asiatic Society of Bengal, mainly under the guidance of their 
energetic and devoted curator Edward Blyth. These possess 
an exceptional value as the original documents on which the 
descriptions of a very large number of Indian animals were 
based. 
In the second place, we have the collections made 
by the Surgeon-Naturalists on board the Royal Indian 
Marine Survey Ship ^ Investigator,’ the zoological work 
whereof was initiated at the instance of the Asiatic Society 
of Bengal in 1875. ' 
The first Surgeon-Naturalist was Dr. Armstrong who 
held the post from 1875-79, when he was succeeded by 
Dr. Giles. The latter was followed in 1888 by that distin¬ 
guished scientist, Colonel Alcock, who subsequently became 
Superintendent of the Indian Museum. The ' Investigator ’ 
collection is of unique importance, as we have here speci¬ 
mens of the Abyssal Fauna of the Indian Seas, the majority 
of which come from depths varying from 100 to 1900 
fathoms. 
In the third place, we have the invaluable collections 
made in connection with official frontier expeditions. These 
include specimens obtained on most of the important 
military and political expeditions that have taken place 
during the last forty years on the Northern and Eastern 
frontiers of the Indian Empire, from the Persian Boun¬ 
dary Commission of 1870 to the Abor Expedition of 
1911. On most of these expeditions, a medical man was 
specially instructed to collect zoological specimens, and, with 
the exception of the Lassa Expedition (euphemistically 
called the Tibet Frontier Commission of 1903), the majority 
of the specimens collected have been deposited in the Indian 
Museum. It is a hopeful sign that on the occasion of the 
Abor Expedition, a zoologist was officially deputed to collect 
specimens and information regarding the fauna and anthro¬ 
pology of the country traversed. 
In the fourth place, private donors, too numerous to be 
individually mentioned, have ungrudgingly enriched our 
collections ; but I cannot allow the present occasion to pass 
without special mention of the names of two distinguished 
