titanates, the tantalates, and niobates, and these combined with silicates Div. IV. zirconates, and stannates, thus link the silicates to the molybdates Cases 51 and tungstates, and these, in turn, are followed by the class of and 52. chromates and the sulphates. The suite of specimens of Perofskite from Siberia, the crystals of Eudyalite, of Columbite, of Fergusonite, and the specimens of Tscheffkinite, are especially observable for their excellence or their rarity.

Among the anhydrous species in the sulphates, attention may be Cases 53 to called to the specimens of Celestine (strontium sulphate) from near 55. Bristol, and to the Anglesite (lead sulphate) from Pennsylvania and from Monte Poni. Gypsum, or Selenite, the hydrated calcium sulphate, is an important mineral as yielding Plaster of Paris by the expulsion of its water. A magnificent specimen of this mineral, as remarkable for its size as for the grouping of its crystals, presented by His Royal Highness the late Prince Consort, ornaments a window in Room II. It was found at Reinhard's-brunn, Saxe-Coburg.

rest.

Adjoining these are a few minerals of the greatest rarity and inte- Case 57. The crystals of Linarite are unique, and the specimens of Caledonite and Lanarkite, of Leadhillite, an oxy-sulphate of lead, and of the rare mineral Conuellite, are among the finest known of these British species.

The borates and the class of nitrates occupy part of Case 56; and Cases 56 to thence to Case 60, the Cases are occupied by the class which includes 60. the phosphates and arsenates, in which the isomorphism of the corresponding compounds of the arsenoid element Phosphorus, and of Arsenic, is so complete that the salts of their acids cannot be well classified apart from each other. With these also the Vanadates find their place, as being isomorphous with them.

Here may be seen fine crystals of Erythrine, the beautiful cobalt arsenate; specimens of Haidingerite (Case 57), and of Erinite (Case 57); crystals of Lazulite (Case 58); very fine suites of Uranite (phosphate of Copper and Uranium), and of Autunite; the beautiful blue Cornish mineral Liroconite; and splendid specimens of Apatite, Mimetesite. and Pyromorphite.

Division V., occupying two half Table-Cases in Room I, is consti- Div. tuted by certain organic compounds, which as occurring in the earth with Case 60. constant and definite characters, independent of organic structure, find their place in a Mineral Collection. Among these, Amber, in ancient times ranking in value with the gems, is here exhibited in a large series of specimens.

In Room II. will be seen two half Table-Cases adjoining the wall, in which is arranged an extensive and instructive series of pseudomorphous minerals forming Division VI. They illustrate the decomposing influences to which many minerals have been subjected, and they throw valuable light on the order of succession in which, and the conditions under which, particular minerals have been formed and deposited.

NEVIL STORY-MASKELYNE.

DIV. VI.

DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY.

THE series of specimens selected from the Botanical Collections for exhibition consists chiefly of fruits, stems, and such vegetable structures as cannot from their size and texture be incorporated with the Herbarium (or collection of dried and mounted specimens), but are capable of being advantageously exhibited. They are arranged in two rooms on the upper floor of the Museum (Nos. 17 and 18 on the plan) which are entered by a doorway on the Eastern side of the Central Zoological Saloon.

The specimens exhibited are arranged, as far as possible, in accordance with their natural affinities, beginning with the most lowly organised members.

A small collection placed in the Table Cases of the central avenue of the First Room exhibits by specimens the principal characters which distinguish the great divisions of the vegetable kingdom, and at the same time supplies a key to the main body of the collection. The Cases on the left side of the avenue (A to D) are devoted to the Cryptogams or Flowerless Plants. The Fungi occupy the first Case next the entrance, and are followed in succession by the Sea-weeds (Algae), Lichens, Mosses, Liverworts (Hepatica), Ferns, Clubmosses, and Horsetails. The Cases on the right side (E to H) illustrate the Phanerogams or Flowering Plants, which are divided into Monocotyledons, Gymnosperms, and Dicotyledons. Each case contains a reference to the Wall or Table Cases where the more extensive series of specimens are exhibited.

The main series is arranged in order along the Wall Cases, beginning with that on the left on entering the First Room, continued along the left side of both rooms, and returning along the right side. This order is indicated by the numbers painted on the Cases. With one or two exceptions, the Table Cases are supplementary to the Wall Cases, the specimens in

the one further illustrating the groups in that to which they are opposite.

FUNGI. This class of cellular cryptogams is illustrated in Cases 1 to 4 by a series of models principally prepared by James Sowerby while engaged in the publication of his "Figures of English Fungi, and representing for the most part the identical subjects depicted in that work. They are arranged and named according to Cooke's "Handbook of British Fungi." The first two Cases contain the gillbearing forms (Agaricini), to which the common mushroom belongs; the third Case is chiefly filled with the Polyporei, the fruiting surface of which is composed of pores or tubes; among these may be noted the edible Boletus edulis, and the dry-rot, Merulius lacrymans; the shelves of the lower division contain Clavarias and gelatinous Tremellas; on the upper shelves of the fourth Case are placed specimens of the stinking Phalloidei, star-shaped Geasters, and puff-balls or Lycoperdons; some of the smaller sporidiiferous fungi are placed on the other shelves of this Case, among which the 'Truffles (Tuber) may be noted.

ALGE. The most remarkable sea-weed exhibited in Case 5 is the large tree-like Lessonia, which forms extensive submarine forests in the Patagonian seas. The stem increases in thickness by the addition of external concentric layers, giving it to the eye the appearance of exogenous wood. The Durvillea, placed near it, is an inhabitant of the same seas; it has rope-like stems from 500 to 1,500 feet long, and its fronds are composed of enormous honeycomb-like cells. From the Cape of Good Hope come the inflated stems of the huge Ecklonia buccinalis. Some large stony coralline sea-weeds are placed on the

shelves.

LICHENS. On the shelves are placed specimens of Cladonia rangiferina, the reindeer moss, Rocella tinctoria, the Orchella-weed, from which important dyes are obtained, Gyrophora umbilicaria, the Tripede-roche of Arctic voyagers, and other interesting forms.

MOSSES. Some of the larger forms of this class are exhibited on the shelves; but the small size of the Mosses and Lichens are better fitted for the closer inspection obtained in the Table Cases, where a larger series is exhibited.

The VASCULAR CRYPTOGAMS are placed in Case 5. The Clubmosses (LYCOPODIACEE) are represented by some of the larger forms, and the Horse-tails (EQUISETACEE) by fine specimens of the underground rhizomes and stems of Equisetum maximum, the largest of the British species. The Ferns (FILICES) are the most important of the vascular cryptogams. The back of the Case contains specimens of the fronds of Alsophila pinnata from Chili, and of Thyrsopteris elegans, the fertile portions of which are so constricted as to bear the globose fructification on the midrib. The longitudinal and transverse sections of fern stems placed here and in the Table Cases (3 and 4) opposite show that the stem is composed of a central cellu

lar substance surrounded by the vascular structures, which form a close cylinder perforated at regular intervals by narrow meshes, from the out-turned edges of which the vascular bundles are given off to the fronds. The sections of the common male fern (Lastrea Filixmas), show that its humbler stem has a similar structure to the arborescent forms beside it. A large series of fern-stems occupy the eastern wall of the inner room.

The Wall Cases on the left-hand side of the next room are devoted to Monocotyledonous plants.

The GLUMACEE, comprising the grasses and sedges, are represented in Case 7. Specimens of the principal grain-producing Graminea are exhibited; among them is placed the so-called mummy-wheat (Triticum turgidum), erroneously supposed to have been obtained from grains found in a mummy-case, which retained their vitality. The most authentic instance of old seeds germinating is to be seen in Wall Case 22, where are exhibited the seeds of Nelumbium speciosum, from the herbarium of Sir Hans Sloane, which were germinated by Robert Brown in 1850, when they were 150 years old. Several species of Sorghum and Panicum, extensively cultivated in tropical regions as sources of food, are exhibited, as well as a large series of the cobs of Maize (Zea Mays), and a complete plant grown at Fulham with three perfect cobs below, and the terminal staminal (male) flowers above. On the floor of the Case is placed the fantastic, branching underground stem of the Bamboo, marked with the linear scars of the leaf-scales, the large round scars in opposite rows of the bases of the aerial stems, and the smaller ones of the roots. Similar creeping stems of Arundo Donax and Carex paniculata are placed beside it. Some stems of the Bamboo are seen on the back of the Case, among them two with short triangular joints; additional specimens, some of enormous size, are placed at the west end of the room, one of which, grown at Chatsworth, attained a height of forty feet in six weeks, being at the rate of a foot a day. Some seeds of Bamboo are placed in the Wall Case, and the curious fleshy and pear-shaped fruit of a species from Arracan (Melocanna bambusoides). Specimens of Arundinaria Schomburgkii, the reed through which the small arrows dipped in the virulent Woorali poison are blown by the native Indians of Guiana; the smooth and straight joints attain a length of sixteen or seventeen feet. The sides of the Case contain specimens of the light and elegant inflorescence of two species of Gynerium,-G. saccharoides, from Equinoctial America, and G. argenteum, the Pampas grass of Brazil. The Cyperaceae are represented by large specimens of the Egyptian Paper-reed (Papyrus antiquorum), placed against the back of, the Case, and a smaller specimen from Sicily. The triangular cellular stem of this plant was cut into thin slices; and these slices, after being beaten together and pressed, formed the famous paper of the ancients. Specimens of suffrutescent Eriocaulons from Brazil are placed on the sides of this Case.

In Case 8 are some specimens of arborescent JUNCACEE. Kingia australis, from Western Australia, is a tall, palm-like tree, the stem of

which is covered with the permanent bases of the leaves, and bears at its summit a tuft of long grass-like leaves, and numerous leafy peduncles terminating in dense globose heads of flowers. A tall stem of this plant is placed against the Western Wall of this room. It is cut longitudinally, so as to exhibit the remarkable structure of its interior. Specimens of the nearly allied Dasypogon Hookeri, also from Western Australia, are placed in this Case, as well as the remarkable South African plants, Prionium Palmita, great woody rushes which grow in beds of rivers, often increasing to such an extent as to choke them. The stem attains a height of ten feet; it is covered by the wiry fibres of the bases of the old leaves, which are so strong as to be made into brushes. The lower part and back of the Case are occupied by specimens of Xanthorrhea, the Black-boys or Grass-gum trees of Australia. The stems are generally simple, sometimes branched, as in one of the specimens. The permanent båses of the leaves form a thick covering round the stems, protecting them from destruction by the fires that blacken their exterior, whence the origin of the colonial name of Black-boy. A resinous secretion occupies the space between the trunk and the leaves, and connects the leaves together. The stem is crowned with a tuft of long wiry grass-like leaves, from the centre of which rises the flower stalk, with its great cylindrical spike of flowers, several specimens of which are in the Case. One of the most remarkable species of arborescent Liliacea is illustrated in Case 9, viz., the Dragon Tree of Teneriffe (Dracana Draco). Several branches are shown, and some longitudinal and transverse sections exhibit the internal structure. At first and for many years the trunk is simple, but in course of time it branches, and increases in diameter by external additions. A small portion of the famous tree of Orotava, which perished a few years ago, is placed on one of the shelves. This endogenous tree was seventy-nine feet in circumference at the base, and innumerable branches sprang from the summit of its huge trunk. The small order VELLOZIACEE is represented by a fine series of arborescent Vellozias. They are natives of dry mountainous regions especially in Brazil, to the vegetation of which they give a special character. A fine large specimen occupies the body of the Case, and several smaller forms, some cut longitudinally and transversely to show their internal structure, are placed on the shelves, as well as two allied species from Tropical Africa, presented by their discoverer, the late Dr. Welwitsch. The stems of these plants are small; the diameter is increased by the imbrication of the long clasping leaf bases, and by the development towards the base of roots descending between the stem and the leaf bases. Specimens of the tuber-stem of the Elephant's-foot (Testudinaria elephantipes), from South Africa, and a large Orchid stem (Dendrobium taurinum), are also placed here. To the back of the Case are attached specimens of the infloresence and fruit of Urania speciosa, the Traveller's tree of Madagascar, so called from its leaves when cut yielding an abundant and refreshing clear drink to the thirsty traveller.

The order PALMACEE occupies the four Cases 10-13, which follow.