the New Hebrides and Fiji Islands, and pottery from the latter. Middle Shelf, clubs, pottery, and a head-rest from the Fiji Islands. Lower Shelf, tapa cloth, grass dresses and wooden vessels from the Fiji Islands. Cases 64, 65. Upper Shelf, bows and arrows and wooden vessel from the Salomon Islands. Middle Shelf, implements of jade, combs, clubs, and ornaments from New Caledonia. Lower Shelf, drums from New Guinea. Cases 66-71. Collections from New Guinea and Darnley Island, many of them obtained by Capt. Owen Stanley during the voyage of H. M. S. Rattlesnake. Upper Shelf, spears from New Guinea and Australia, and baskets. Middle Shelf, shield, axes and adzes of stone and shell, head-rests, model of boat, personal ornaments, wigs, and masks. Lower shelf, bows and arrows, fishing apparatus, and portions of carved canoes.

Cases 72-74. AUSTRALIA.-Upper Shelf, boomerangs, clubs, and shields. Middle Shelf, throwing-sticks, shields, hatchets of stone set in gum, and personal ornaments. Lower Shelf, grass dresses and bows and arrows from the Islands in Torres Straits.

An extensive collection of Prehistoric Antiquities and Ethnography, formed by the late Henry Christy, Esq., was presented to the Museum in 1866, and the Ethnographical portion is temporarily deposited at 103, Victoria Street, Westminster. It may be visited on Fridays from 10 to 4 o'clock, by tickets, issued in the Hall of the British Museum. The Prehistoric section has been removed to the British Museum, but cannot at present be exhibited.

PREHISTORIC ROOM.

This Room has been newly built, and is intended to receive Prehistoric antiquities, including a portion of the Christy Collection.

As, however, it has been found difficult to arrange the collections in question until the wall-cases are completed, which cannot be done before the removal of the Zoological Department, it has been thought better to postpone the arrangement of the Prehistoric collections for the present, and temporarily to display in the Room two recent acquisitions of importance, the Meyrick and Henderson Collections, which could not be incorporated in the general collections without considerable displacement and overcrowding.

MEYRICK COLLECTION.

This Collection was presented by Major-General Augustus Meyrick in 1878, and comprises the remainder of the famous Meyrick Collection, formed by the late Sir Samuel Meyrick at Goodrich Court. A large portion of the collection, including the whole of the European armour, has been disposed of, but among the specimens which remained in the possession of General Meyrick, and which he has now given to the Museum, may be found many objects of interest. The Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities, which were included in the gift, have been transferred to the Departments to which they belong. Some valuable playing cards have passed into the Print Room, and a portion of them is exhibited in the King's Library. The collection occupies the wall-cases 1-18 on the West side of the Room, as well as two adjoining table-cases.

The arrangements being in progress, the exact position of the specimens cannot be indicated. It will be sufficient to state that the collection embraces carvings in ivory and wood, among which may be noticed a very fine Italian casket of the 15th century, and a beautiful wooden casket, said to have belonged to Margaret, Queen of Scotland; enamels of the 13th century, including four basins for washing hands at meals, objects of some rarity; three painted enamels, various objects of domestic use, and very varied character, a large collection of Oriental arms and armour, and some ethnographical specimens.

HENDERSON COLLECTION.

This collection forms part of the very valuable bequests to the nation made by the late John Henderson, Esq., F.S.A., who died on the 20th November, 1878. The remainder consists of a series of choice drawings bequeathed to the Museum and temporarily exhibited in the King's Library, and of drawings and pictures bequeathed to the National Gallery. The collection is placed in wall-cases, Nos. 33-50, and in four table-cases. The contents of the cases are indicated by general labels.

The ORIENTAL ARMS, in two table-cases, and wall-cases Nos. 33-34, are remarkable for their costly and ornate character. Among them

may be noticed a very fine series of daggers inlaid with gold, and with handles of jade and other precious materials. Helmets, shields, and arm-pieces of Persian work, among which may be remarked the helmet and arm-piece of Shah Abbas, dated 1625-26, and a very fine arm-piece of the 14th century, made for a sultan.

The ORIENTAL METAL WORK occupies a portion of a table-case and wall-cases Nos. 35-37. It includes specimens ranging in date from the 13th to the 16th centuries, some produced in Mesopotamia, others in Syria and Egypt, others by Oriental workmen in Venice. Some fine engraved dishes are of Venetian origin, and the skill of the Persians in working and inlaying is fully illustrated.

In the same table-case are the snuffers of Cardinal Bainbridge, ambassador from Henry VIII. to the pope, who died at Rome in 1514, and some fine specimens of Russian silver work and enamels.

PERSIAN POTTERY may be found in wall-cases Nos. 38, 39. The older specimens are wall tiles of the 13th and 14th centuries, taken from ancient buildings; the others are vases in a kind of porcelain or in silicious pottery, chiefly decorated in blue, and frequently enriched with metallic lustres. There are among them some beautiful bowls with ornaments pierced and filled in with glaze, which were known in the last century under the name Gombroon ware.

DAMASCUS AND RHODIAN POTTERY.-Wall-cases Nos. 40–43. These cognate wares are represented by an unrivalled series. The Damascus ware is remarkable for the beauty of its designs, the richness of the blue, and the presence of a peculiar lilac. The Rhodian ware has bold floral decoration, portions of which are coloured and slightly in relief. This ware was probably made in the 16th century, as specimens exist in old English mountings of that date. There are likewise a few examples of the later pottery made in Anatolia.

In one of the table-cases, and in wall-cases Nos. 44-46, are numerous specimens of ITALIAN MAJOLICA, among them several plates by Maestro Giorgio Andreoli of Gubbio, a large plate by Niccola da Urbino, and other remarkable examples, among which may be noticed the Death of the Virgin, after Martin Schoen, the subject of Mucius Scævola, the Saviour in the tomb, made at Faenza, &c.

SPANISH AND SICILIAN MAJOLICA.-Wall-cases Nos. 47, 48. These are chiefly decorated in metallic lustre, from the golden hue of the earlier specimens to the coppery tint of the later. The art of making these wares was probably introduced into Spain with the Arabs, and it will be seen that there is some analogy between these productions and those of Persia.

GLASS.-Wall-cases 49-50. Besides some of the variegated bottles, which are believed to be Phoenician, there is an extraordinary collection of specimens of the Roman period, chiefly found in Cyprus, and covered with iridescence exhibiting every hue of the rainbow. There are likewise Venetian, German, Oriental, and Chinese specimens ; some of them remarkable for the elegance of their forms or the richness of their colour.

AUGUSTUS W. FRANKS.

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DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY.

THE collection of specimens selected for exhibition, from the existing classes of Animals, is contained in three Galleries; and, for the convenience of exhibition, is arranged in two series. The BEASTS, BIRDS, REPTILES, and FISHES, are exhibited in the Wall Cases. The hard parts of the Molluscous, Radiated, and Annulose Animals, (as SHELLS, CORALS, SEAEGGS, STARFISH, CRUSTACEA, and INSECTS,) and the EGGS of BIRDS, are arranged in the Table Cases of the several Rooms.*

The names and numbers of the Rooms are placed over the doorways in each apartment, and the numbers of the cases over the glass frames.

The specimens are labelled with the scientific name, the English name when they have one, the country whence they come, and, when they have been presented, with the name of the donor.

The General Collection of MAMMALS, or Beasts which suckle their young, is arranged in three Rooms, the Hoofed Beasts (Ungulata) being contained in the CENTRAL SALOON and SOUTHERN ZOOLOGICAL GALLERY, and the Beasts with claws (Unguiculata) in the MAMMALIA SALOON.

1. THE CENTRAL SALOON.

In the WALL CASES of this Saloon are exhibited the specimens of the Antelopes, Goats, and Sheep. The Cases between the doorways contain Bats, or Chiroptera. Some of the larger Mammalia are placed on the floor, such as the Giraffes or Camelopards of Tropical Africa; the Morse or Walrus from the Arctic Ocean; the Indian Rhinoceros, with a single horn on the nose, and with its thick hide in deep folds; different species of the African Rhinoceros, all of which have two horns and a smooth hide, without any folds; several specimens of the Hippopotamus in different stages of growth; the

* For a more detailed and scientific explanation of the Zoological Collection, there is published a series of Catalogues, which may be purchased in the Prin cipal Librarian's Office at the Museum, or at any Bookseller's. A List of these Catalogues, with the prices, is at the end of this Guide.

Indian Elephant,* which is easily tamed and, when domesticated, one of the most useful animals in its native country; a young specimen of the African Elephant, a species distinguished by its enormous ears; in ancient times tamed like the Indian species, it is now mercilessly hunted down on account of the great value of its tusks. In two large glass-cases are shown stuffed specimens and skeletons of those Apes or Monkeys which, on the whole, are most like man, and therefore are named "Anthropoid Apes;" however, it will be perceived that their similarity to man is much greater during their early youth than at an advanced age. To this group of Monkeys belong the Gorilla and Chimpanzee, inhabitants of the forests of Western and Central Africa; and the two kinds of Orang from Borneo and Sumatra. These animals live chiefly on fruits, but possess an extraordinary strength, which they well know how to use when attacked.

Over the Cases containing the Antelopes and Bats are placed the horns of the different species of Oxen, the largest of which are those of the Arnee, or Great Indian Buffalo.

Cases 1-6 and 14-20. The Antelopes are beasts with hollow horns, chewing the cud; they are chiefly of a sandy colour, and specially fitted to inhabit extensive plains with tracts of desert; a few of the species live among rocks, where they are as sure-footed as the Goat. They are most abundant in Africa, especially in the southern districts. A few are found in India. Among the more interesting species may be pointed out the Water-buck, and Sable Antelope; the Oryx, the Blessbok, Hartebeest, and Sassaybe of South Africa; the large-eyed Gazelle, so often referred to by Eastern poets; the Springbok, so called from its springing bounds, during each of which the white fur of its back opens out like a sheet; the Gnu, which at first seems a compound of Horse, Buffalo, and Antelope; the Sasing, or Indian Antelope, with its curious cheek-pores; the Wood Antelopes, with short horns often concealed amongst a brush of hairs; the Chickara of India, with four little horns. (Case 12.) North America and Europe have each a single species, viz., the Prong-buck of the United States, and the Chamois which frequents the Alps. None of these hollow-horned animals shed their horns, except the Prong-buck, in which, periodically, a new pair of horns, covered with hairs, are formed below and within the old one.

The different kinds of Wild Sheep (Cases 9 to 11) from the mountains of Asia, North America, and North Africa: one of the most remarkable is the Bearded Sheep, or Aoudad of Morocco, which has enormous strength in its neck and horns; these are of great size in the gigantic Argali of Northern Asia, and in the Wild Sheep of

* At the top of the staircase, close to the entrance into this saloon, there are exhibited two skulls of the Indian Elephant: one of an adult animal, with fully developed tusks; the other of a younger individual, about eighteen years old, showing the succession of the grinding teeth. In the Elephant, only one grinding tooth at a time is in use on each side of each jaw. Whilst this is wearing out, another grinder is gradually formed behind the old tooth, to take its place when it is shed. The number of the teeth thus successively developed is limited to six.