of the districts; the Black-necked Swan of Chili, acclimatized in Europe. Cases 142-148. The Ducks: some of these, as the Sea Ducks, Cases 146–148, have a fin to the hind toe; the spinous-tailed Ducks are found in the warmer parts of the world; the pink-headed is a rare and curious species. Case 149. The Mergansers, natives of the arctic regions, feeding on fish. Cases 150, 151. The Divers, so named from their powers of diving, greatly owing to the backward position of their legs; the Grebes have often curious tufts of feathers about their heads. Cases 151-154. The Auks, oceanic birds, found within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, where they dive after fish and crustaceans on which they feed; they use their scaly wings as oars the Great Auk (Alca impennis) now extinct. The skeleton of this bird on the adjoining Table Case was obtained from a guanomound in a small island near Newfoundland. Case 154. The Sea Parrots and Guillemots, building on the ledges of precipices overhanging the sea. The Penguins, as the "Emperor," from the Antarctic Regions, and the "King" from the Falkland Islands, both of which are noticeable as being the largest and most singular of the aquatic birds. Cases 155-159. The Petrels and Gulls, marine birds, feeding on fish and other marine creatures; the Albatross has the greatest extent of wing of any bird, and the most wonderful powers of sustained flight. The Stormy Petrels seem to run on the water, and often feed in the wake of ships. Case 160. The Terns or Sea Swallows, birds of great powers of wing; the Skimmers have curious razor-like bills, the upper mandible being the shortest. Case 161. The Tropic Birds, so called from their presence being a sure sign to the sailor that he has passed the tropics. The Darters or Snake Birds have small heads and long necks; they dart into rivers, and spear fish with their sharp bills. Cases 162-166. The Pelicans, Cormorants, and Frigate Birds, some of which have large pouches under their beaks, in which they hold the fish which they catch.

The SHELLS of MOLLUSCOUS ANIMALS are placed in the larger Table Cases across the sides of the room.*

Tables 1-20. The Gastropods, like the Whelk and Snail, which creep by means of a fleshy surface projecting from the under part of the body and called the foot, and have comb-like gills. Some of the more marked are the Cones, such as the rare " Glory of the Sea," from the Philippine Islands; the animals of these kill their food by means of poisonous teeth implanted in their beak. Tables 3-13. The Trunk-bearing Mollusca, which, with the hard teeth in their long proboscis, make perforations in other shells and extract their contents; the Olives, Harps, Persian Carpets, Turnip shells, Mitres, Volutes, and Date shells; the Helmet shells, used in making artificial Cameos; the Wentletrap or Staircase shells, once celebrated among collectors for their rarity. The Violet shells, which float on the ocean and, like the Murices, emit a purple fluid which has been used as a dye. Tables 14-20. The Rostrum-bearing Mollusca, with a long muzzle with ten* Models of the animals of most of the families are arranged in the Cases along with the shells.

tacles on the sides; as the Apple Snails, which live in ponds in warm climates; the Cowries-one kind is extensively used in place of small coin in Africa and Asia. These all crawl on a broad expanded foot. In Tables 19, 20 are the Strombs and Carrier-shells, which have a compressed foot for leaping. The Carrier-shell has the peculiarity of attaching to the outer surface, as it increases in size, stones, fragments of other shells, coral and other marine substances, and has been called "the Conchologist" and "the Mineralogist," according as shells or minerals preponderated.

Tables 21-25. The Scutibranchous Mollusca, the gills of which consist of lamellæ, forming one or two series on the back of the neck or on the under edge of the mantle round the foot; such as the Trochidæ, the Haliotidæ or Earshells with their pearly lustre; the Fissurellæ or Keyhole limpets; the Limpets with their simple conical shells, and the many-valved Chitons, which have a series of eight shelly pieces or "valves" down the back of the animal.

Tables 25-30. The Heterobranchous Gastropods, with variouslyformed respiratory organs. The Bullidæ are placed here, with their curious strong gizzards; the Bubble shells, the Aplysia or Sea Hare, which feeds on sea-weeds and discharges a deep purple fluid when danger approaches; the Helicidæ, or Snails and other allied families, which live on land and have cylindrical retractile tentacles.

Tables 31-18. The Bivalve shells or Conchifera; the animal of these is enclosed between two shelly valves, united by a ligament. Tables 31-38 contain the Siphonophora, which have the mantle closed behind, and furnished with two apertures, the lower for the admission, and the upper for the emission, of the water from the mantle cavity. Some of these, as the Veneridæ and other families, crawl on a compressed foot, while the Cockles have an elongated foot, angularly bent in the middle, and fitted for leaping. Near these, but with a small rudimentary byssiferous foot, are the Tridacne, one of which (the T. gigas), when full grown, is the largest and heaviest of shells, some of them weighing more than 300 pounds. The Pholadacea, or Boring shells, live sunk perpendicularly in holes in rocks, or in sand. Tables 39-48 contain the Asiphonophora, which have the mantle-leaves free, and sometimes a separate single siphonal opening, for the emission of the water, as the Mussels and Oysters, many of which secrete pearls; the brightly-coloured Spondyli, or "Thorny Oysters," with their rough, foliated or spiny shells, and the thin Placunæ, or "Cake-Oysters," which are semi-transparent.

In Table 49-50 are shells of the Mollusca which have no distinct foot on the under side of the body, and which either live attached to marine bodies (Brachiopoda), or float on the surface of the sea (Pteropoda), or walk on their heads (Cephalopoda). The Pteropoda have an expanded fin on each side of the small foot, and float on the surface of the sea, especially in the evening. Of these the Limacina and Clio are so abundant in the Arctic Seas as to form a great part of the food of the whale. The animals of Cephalopods (of which the Cuttlefish is an example) have eight, ten, or many strong and elongated

arms round the mouth of their large and distinct head, on which they crawl the mouth is armed with large beak-like jaws. Their eyes are large, and their back is generally supported with a horny blade, sometimes strengthened with a shelly coat, as the cuttle bone. They have a secretion of a deep black colour, which they emit when in danger, and thus conceal themselves. They are very voracious creatures. The female of the Paper Nautilus (Argonauta) fabricates a delicate symmetrical shell, in which she lays her eggs, and thus protects them. Both sexes of the Pearly Nautilus form a shell for their protection, one portion of which is divided into chambers. Some of the extinct chambered shells, as the Ammonite, are placed with the Nautilus Shell in Table 50.

In some of the side Table Cases there are a series of specimens exhibiting the structures, diseases, deformities, and reparations of shells, such as the distorted variety of the common Garden Snail, described as Helix cornucopia; a series of the eggs and egg-cases of Molluscs; a series of specimens exhibiting the shells used for commercial purposes, such as the cameos, mother-of-pearl, gloves made from the byssus of the Pinna, the Chank shells carved by the natives of India and used in their temples. In another Case are specimens of the various kinds of Sea Slugs (Holothuria); in China and the East Indian Archipelago they are sold as articles of food, under the name of Trepang.

Some of the rarest examples of small quadrupeds are exhibited on the Table Cases. The stuffed specimen of the Aye-aye of Madagascar shows its large ears, the slender middle finger of the fore-hand, and the thick thumb of the hind-hand. The skeleton of the same animal shows the strong curved chisel-shaped front teeth: with these the Aye-aye gnaws down to the burrows of wood-eating grubs, and with its slender hooked finger extracts them. It is nocturnal, arboreal, and is guided to its favourite food by its acute sense of hearing. Also the curious Chlamydophorus and its singularly formed skeleton from Chili, and various specimens of Propithecus from Madagascar.

THE NORTHERN ZOOLOGICAL GALLERY.

FIRST ROOM.

The WALL CASES 1-8 contain a collection of Nests of Wasps and Bees; some are constructed of clay, or of sand, while others are of paper, made of an admixture of the scrapings of wood and vegetable fibre. Specimens of the various insect fabricators of these structures are in many instances attached to the nests. Case 6 contains the remains of the square lintel of a door of one of the government offices in St. Helena, showing the destruction caused by a species of White Ant. In Case 8, a series of the different stages of development, and of the products of the Japanese Silk-moths, prepared and set up in Japan, is exhibited. Cases 9-16 contain a collection of the Nests of Birds; among the more noticeable are the playing avenues of the Australian Bower Birds, the pendulous nests of the American Orioles, and the

gelatinous nests of the Esculent Swallow; and that of the San Geronimo Swallow, which is a long pendulous tube formed entirely of the seed of a plant, secured together by the saliva of the bird; the hollow for the eggs is at the top, inside the tube; the bird has placed a false entrance on the side to deceive its enemies. Various nests of Humming Birds, Honeyeaters, Tailor Bird and Lyre-tailed Menura, are also shown. The Table Cases 1-8 contain specimens illustrative of the various changes of Insects, their nests and structures; the cocoon of the gigantic Goliath Beetle of Western Africa, the clay nests of various species of White Ants, the various Vegetable Galls, and a series of the nests of Spiders; among these the nests of the Trap-door Spider, and a remarkable flat web, constructed by an Australian species, are shown here. On the walls are suspended some of the larger specimens of Reptiles.

SECOND ROOM.

The WALL CASES contain the stuffed exotic REPTILES and BATRACHIA; in the Table Cases are contained the hard parts of the RADIATED ANIMALS, including the SEA-EGGS, SEA-STARS, and ENCRINITES.

The Wall Cases 1-8 contain the LIZARDS; exemplified by the Monitors or Varanus of Africa, India, and Australia; the Heloderms of Mexico, which have grooves in the back of the teeth like the poison-fangs. of serpents; the Safeguards, large lizards of the tropical parts of America. The Tuatera (Hatteria), the largest reptile of New Zealand, nearly extinct. The Scincs (Case 5), generally small, and polished: some have distinct and strong legs, and others only traces of them; in the Blind Worms the bones of the legs are hid under the skin. Case 6, 7. The Guanas, many of which are highly esteemed as food, are natives of America, and, like the Chameleons, have the power of changing their colour with great quickness; the large lizards from the Galapogos Islands, one of which feeds on sea-weeds; the diminutive Dragons of India, with the skin of their sides expanded upon long slender ribs, in the form of wings, which spread out and. support the creatures as they leap from branch to branch. In Case 8 is the Moloch of Australia, covered with large spines. The Chlamydosaurus, or frilled Lizard of North Australia, with a large folded frill round its neck, like a Queen Elizabeth's ruff, which it can elevate when excited. The Chameleons of Africa and India, celebrated for the rapidity with which they change their colours; they feed on insects, which they catch by protruding their long tongue; only a small part of the eye is visible, the rest being covered with skin; the eyes move independently of each other.

Cases 9-13. SNAKES or SERPENTS. Case 9. The Poisonous Serpents, such as the Rattle-snakes of the New World, which have a rattle at the end of the tail; this rattle is formed of a series of hard horny joints, fitting loosely one into another, which the animal can shake at pleasure; the Vipers, such as the Adder, the only venomous reptile of the British Islands; the Puff-adders of Africa, so named

C

from their power of inflating their bodies when irritated. Cases 10, 11. The Boas, with rudiments of legs; they are not venomous, and kill their prey by constriction, twisting the end of their prehensile tail round a tree, and thus increasing their power over the animal when encircled by the folds of their body; their gape is enormous. Case 13. The Colubrine Snakes, many of which have poison-fangs, such as the Sea-snakes found in the seas of Asia and Australia; the Coral Snakes, banded with black and red rings; the Cobra Snakes, which can dilate the skin of the neck so as to form a kind of hood behind the head; they are the snakes used by the Indian jugglers, who carefully extract the poison-fangs before using them in the performances. The Tree Snakes called, from the great length of their bodies, the Coachwhip Snakes; one kind has the nose much produced.

Cases 14-22. The TORTOISES and TURTLES. Cases 14, 15. The Land Tortoises live on vegetable substances; the gigantic, so called, Indian Tortoises were formerly common in the Mascarene and Galapagos islands, whence sailors procured them for food. Cases 16-19. The Fresh-water Tortoises live on animal food; some of these cannot withdraw their heads into the cavity of the shell like the other Tortoises. Cases 20-22. The Three-clawed Terrapins live in the rivers of Africa, Asia, and America; they are carnivorous, and eat their food in the water. The Marine Turtles live in the ocean, feeding chiefly on sea-weeds and shell-fish; these include the Green Turtle, the fat of which is so much relished by the gourmand; the imbricated Turtle, which furnishes the "tortoise shell."

Cases 22-25. The CROCODILES and AMPHISBÆNAS. The Crocodiles and Alligators drown their prey before devouring it; the Alligators are only found in America; the Crocodiles in Australia, India, Africa, and America; the Gavial, or long-beaked Crocodile, is peculiar to India, and feeds chiefly on fishes, for taking which its long and slender snout and sharp teeth are well adapted. The Amphisbænas are so called from both ends being nearly equally blunt, which has led to the idea that they could move backwards or forwards with equal ease.

Case 26. The BATRACHIA, such as the Toads, Frogs, and Efts; the Tree-frogs can walk on polished surfaces, and over the smoothest leaves; the Bull-frogs of America, so called from their loud bellowing noise; the horned Frogs of Brazil; the Pipa of Brazil, which transfers the eggs into cells on the back of the female, where they are hatched, passing through the form of the tadpole, and escaping as a perfect animal after a certain period; the great Salamander from Japan, the Siren of Carolina, which looks like an eel, with front legs-it is a truly amphibious animal, with lungs and gills; as is the Proteus of the caves of Carniola, which is here further exemplified by a wax model, to show its appearance when alive; the coralcoloured appendages to the head are the gills.

The Table Cases (1 to 10) contain the Echini, or Sea-eggs, such as the Club-spined Echinus and the Tessellated Echinus; the spines readily fall off when the animal is dead. Tables 7, 8. Sea-Pancakes,