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Title: British Museum (Natural History) General Guide
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Language: English
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BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY)
_CROMWELL ROAD, LONDON, S.W._
GENERAL GUIDE
WITH PLANS AND VIEWS OF THE BUILDING,
AND FIFTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS.
_THIRTEENTH EDITION._
LONDON:
PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES
OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
1913.
[_All rights reserved._]
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W.
[Illustration: THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, CROMWELL ROAD, FROM THE
SOUTH-WEST, SHOWING PART OF THE WEST FRONT AS ORIGINALLY PROJECTED BY
THE ARCHITECT.]
PREFACE TO THE THIRTEENTH EDITION.
This Guide is intended for the use of those visitors who wish merely
to get a general idea of the arrangements and contents of the Natural
History Museum.
Special Guides have been published for the use of visitors who wish
to make a closer study of the collections; a list of them is given on
pages 116–18.
L. FLETCHER,
_Director_.
BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY).
_April, 1913._
STAFF OF THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM.
_Director_
L. FLETCHER, M.A., Hon. Ph.D. (Berlin), F.R.S.
_Assistant Secretary_
C. E. FAGAN, I.S.O.
_Assistant in Director’s Office_
BASIL H. SOULSBY, B.A., F.S.A.
_Clerks in Director’s Office_
W. H. R. HOLL;
W. J. ANDERSON.
_Assistant in General Library_
B. B. WOODWARD.
ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT.
_Keeper_
S. F. HARMER, Sc.D., F.R.S.
_Assistant Keeper_
W. R. OGILVIE-GRANT.
_Assistants_
G. A. BOULENGER, F.R.S.;
OLDFIELD THOMAS, F.R.S.;
F. J. BELL, M.A.;
R. KIRKPATRICK;
W. T. CALMAN, D.Sc.;
C. T. REGAN, M.A.;
A. S. HIRST;
J. G. DOLLMAN, B.A.;
W. P. PYCRAFT;
G. C. ROBSON, B.A.;
H. A. BAYLIS, B.A.
ENTOMOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT.
_Keeper_
C. J. GAHAN, M.A.
_Assistants_
Sir G. F. HAMPSON, Bart.;
E. E. AUSTEN;
J. HARTLEY DURRANT (Walsingham Collection);
G. J. ARROW;
G. MEADE-WALDO, B.A.;
F. W. EDWARDS, B.A.;
K. G. BLAIR, B.Sc.;
N. D. RILEY;
B. F. CUMMINGS.
GEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT.
_Keeper_
A. S. WOODWARD, LL.D., F.R.S.
_Assistant Keeper_
F. A. BATHER, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S.
_Assistants_
R. B. NEWTON;
C. W. ANDREWS, D.Sc., F.R.S.;
G. C. CRICK;
W. D. LANG, B.A.;
W. N. EDWARDS, B.A.
MINERAL DEPARTMENT.
_Keeper_
G. T. PRIOR, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S.
_Assistants_
L. J. SPENCER, M.A.;
G. F. HERBERT SMITH, M.A., D.Sc.;
W. CAMPBELL SMITH, M.A.
BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT.
_Keeper_
A. B. RENDLE, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S.
_Assistants_
A. GEPP, M.A.;
E. G. BAKER;
H. F. WERNHAM, B.Sc.;
J. RAMSBOTTOM B.A.;
A. J. WILMOTT, B.A.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
STAFF OF THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM vi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS viii
HISTORICAL SKETCH 1
GENERAL ARRANGEMENT 9
DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM AND ITS CONTENTS 15
CENTRAL HALL 15
NORTH HALL (Domesticated Animals, &c.) 38
STAIRCASE AND CORRIDORS 40
WEST WING 42
_Ground Floor_ 42
Bird Gallery 42
Pavilion, with British Land and Fresh-water Vertebrates 46
Coral Gallery 48
Fish Gallery 52
Insect Gallery 54
Reptile Gallery 57
Starfish Gallery 59
Shell Gallery 60
Whale-Room 63
_First Floor_ 66
Lower Mammal Gallery 66
_Second Floor_ 72
Upper Mammal Gallery 72
EAST WING 74
_Ground Floor_ 74
Fossil Collections 74
_First Floor_ 90
Mineral Collections 90
_Second Floor_ 100
Botanical Collections 100
SELECTED LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 105
GUIDE-BOOKS 116
REGULATIONS FOR ADMISSION OF STUDENTS 119
NUMBER OF VISITORS TO THE MUSEUM 120
DAYS AND HOURS OF ADMISSION TO MUSEUM on back of cover.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Number. Page.
LEAF-BUTTERFLY 1 19
SOMALI TSETSE-FLY 2 20
COMMON GNAT 3 22
SPOT-WINGED MOSQUITO 4 22
MALARIA PARASITE 5 23
_Trypanosoma gambiense_ 6 24
AFRICAN ELEPHANT 7 25
SKELETON OF A FLYING-FOX 8 27
SKULL OF THE GIANT TUATERA 9 32
SKELETON OF THE GREAT BLUE SHARK 10 33
FLYING FISH 11 35
FLYING GURNARD 12 35
JAW OF PORT JACKSON SHARK 13 36
FEMALE OKAPI 14 41
GREAT AUK 15 43
EGG OF THE GREAT AUK 16 45
VENUS’ FLOWER-BASKET 17 49
BRAIN-CORAL 18 50
ROUGH SUNFISH 19 51
_Gastrostomus bairdi_ 20 52
_Saccopharynx flagellum_ 21 52
SUCKER-FISH 22 52
LOWER VIEW OF HEAD OF SAW-FISH 23 53
BASKING SHARK 24 54
COCONUT CRAB 25 55
SADDLE-BACKED TORTOISE 26 57
HORNED FROG 27 58
SEA-LILY 28 59
WHELK 29 61
LEFT VALVE OF GIANT CLAM 30 62
PEARLY NAUTILUS 31 62
SPERM-WHALE 32 65
PLATYPUS OR DUCK-BILL 33 67
YELLOW-BELLIED PANGOLIN 34 68
PRONGBUCK OR PRONGHORN ANTELOPE 35 69
HEADS OF RHINOCEROSES 36 70
NORTHERN FUR-SEAL 37 71
ELEPHANT-SEAL 38 71
GREAT PANDA 39 72
GORILLA 40 73
SKELETON OF AMERICAN MASTODON 41 75
SKULL OF _Arsinoïtherium zitteli_ 42 76
SKELETON OF TOXODON 43 77
SKELETON OF DINOCERAS 44 78
SKELETON OF NORTHERN SEA-COW 45 79
SKULL OF _Sivatherium giganteum_ 46 80
SKULL OF _Samotherium boissieri_ 47 81
LIZARD-TAILED BIRD 48 82
SKELETON OF IGUANODON 49 83
SKELETON OF ICHTHYOSAUR 50 84
SKELETON OF _Brontosaurus ingens_ 51 85
SKELETON OF PARIASAURUS 52 86
GIANT PTERODACTYLE 53 87
PTERICHTHYS 54 88
TURRILITE 55 89
AMMONITE, FROM THE OÖLITE 56 89
TRILOBITE 57 89
COLENSO DIAMOND 58 91
SOUTH-WEST VIEW OF MUSEUM iv.
VIEW OF CENTRAL HALL x.
PLAN OF GROUND FLOOR 42
PLAN OF FIRST AND SECOND FLOORS 66
[Illustration: VIEW OF THE CENTRAL HALL, LOOKING NORTH: APRIL, 1913.]
GENERAL GUIDE
TO
THE BRITISH MUSEUM
(NATURAL HISTORY).
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
[Sidenote: Foundation.]
The British Museum dates its foundation from the year 1753, when an Act
of Parliament was passed “for the purchase of the Museum or Collection
of Sir Hans Sloane, and of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts, and
for providing One General Repository for the better Reception and more
convenient Use of the said Collections and of the Cottonian Library and
of the Additions thereto.”
[Sidenote: Sir Hans Sloane.]
Sir Hans Sloane, an eminent physician in London, was for sixteen years
President of the Royal College of Physicians, and in 1727 succeeded
Sir Isaac Newton in the Presidential Chair of the Royal Society. He
was throughout his long life a diligent and miscellaneous collector,
having, as stated in the Preamble of the Act of Incorporation of the
Museum, “through the course of many years, with great labour and
expense, gathered together whatever could be procured, either in our
own or foreign countries, that was rare and curious.” His collection,
which at the time of his death in 1753 was contained in his residence,
the Manor House, Chelsea, consisted of “Books, Manuscripts, Prints,
Medals, and Coins, ancient and modern, Seals, Cameos and Intaglios,
Precious Stones, Agates, Jaspers, Vessels of Agate and Jasper,
Crystals, Mathematical Instruments, Drawings, and Pictures,” and
included numerous zoological and geological specimens, as well as
an extensive herbarium of dried plants preserved in 333 large folio
volumes.
According to the terms of Sir Hans Sloane’s will, this collection was
purchased for the sum of £20,000--far below its intrinsic value--in
order “that it might be preserved and maintained, not only for the
inspection and entertainment of the learned and the curious, but for
the general use and benefit of the public to all posterity.”
[Sidenote: Montagu House, Bloomsbury.]
The valuable collection of manuscripts formed by Sir Robert Cotton at
the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries
was already the property of the nation, having been presented by his
grandson, Sir John Cotton, in the year 1700. The Harley Collection was
obtained by purchase at the same time as the Sloane, and the three
were brought together under the designation of “the British Museum,”
placed under the care of a body of Trustees,[1] and lodged in Montagu
House, Bloomsbury, purchased for their reception in 1754. The Museum
was opened to the public on the 15th of January, 1759. Admission to
the galleries of antiquities and natural history was at first by
ticket only after application in writing, and limited to ten persons,
for three hours in the day. Instead of being allowed to inspect the
cases at their leisure, visitors were conducted through the galleries
by officers of the house. The hours of admission were subsequently
extended; but it was not until the year 1810 that the Museum was freely
accessible to the general public for three days in the week, from ten
to four o’clock. The daily opening, with longer hours in summer, dates
from 1879.
[Sidenote: Growth of Collections necessitating additional space.]
[Sidenote: Resolution to separate Natural History Collection.]
At the time of the foundation of the Museum, the site allotted seemed
amply sufficient for its purposes; but gradually, as the collections
increased, they outgrew the limits, not only of the original Montagu
House, but even of its successor, the present classical building,
completed in 1845 from the designs of Sir Robert Smirke. The erection
of the magnificent reading-room in 1857 disposed for a time of the
difficulty of finding accommodation for the ever-growing library; but
the keepers of other departments continued urgent in their demands
for more space, and after much discussion of rival plans for keeping
the collections together and obtaining the needful extension of room
by acquiring the property immediately around the old Museum, or for
severing the collections and removing a portion to another building,
the latter course was finally decided upon. At a special general
meeting of the Trustees, held on the 21st of January, 1860, attended
by many members of the Government in their official capacity, a
resolution, moved by the First Lord of the Treasury, was carried “That
it is expedient that the Natural History Collection be removed from
the British Museum, inasmuch as such an arrangement would be attended
with considerably less expense than would be incurred by providing a
sufficient additional space in immediate contiguity to the present
building of the British Museum.”
[Sidenote: Purchase of a Site at South Kensington.]
The House of Commons, in the Session of 1863, sanctioned the purchase
of part of the site of the International Exhibition of 1862 at South
Kensington, with a view to appropriating it to the purpose of a Museum
of Natural History.
[Sidenote: Competitive designs.]
In January, 1864, the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Works issued an
advertisement for designs for a Natural History Museum and a Patent
Museum, to be erected on part of the land thus acquired; a plan which
had been prepared by Mr. Hunt in September, 1862, from Sir Richard
Owen’s suggestions, being proposed as a model in respect to dimensions
and internal arrangement.
[Sidenote: Captain Fowke’s plan.]
The plans of the various competitors were submitted to Her Majesty’s
Commissioners of Works, who awarded prizes to three of the number,
giving precedence to that of Captain Francis Fowke, R.E., and then
referred the three selected plans to the Trustees of the British
Museum. As the internal arrangements in Captain Fowke’s plan did not
meet with the approval of the Museum officers, he was desired to modify
them in conformity with the requirements of the Trustees, and was
engaged in this labour when his death occurred, in September, 1865.
[Sidenote: Mr. Waterhouse engaged.]
Early in the year 1866, Mr. Alfred Waterhouse was invited by the Chief
Commissioner of Works to take up the unfinished work of Captain Fowke,
but found himself unable to complete the plan to his own satisfaction.
In February, 1868, he was accordingly commissioned to form a fresh
design, embodying the requirements of the officers of the Natural
History Departments of the Museum.
Mr. Waterhouse was not long in submitting to the Trustees his plan and
model of the building, with a disposition of galleries as required,
and these were formally accepted by the Trustees in April, 1868. It
was not, however, until February 1871 that the working plans had been
thoroughly considered, and had received the final approval of the
Trustees.
[Sidenote: Completion of building and removal of Collections.]
The actual work of erection commenced in the year 1873, and the
building was handed over to the Trustees of the British Museum by Her
Majesty’s Commissioners of Works in the month of June, 1880. As soon as
the exhibition-cases were completed, and the galleries sufficiently dry
to receive the collections, the labour of removing the Natural History
Collection from Bloomsbury was begun. The departments of Geology,
Mineralogy, and Botany were arranged in their respective sections of
the Museum in the course of the year 1880, and the portion of the
Museum which contained these departments was first opened to the public
on April 18th, 1881. It was not until the following year that the cases
destined to receive the larger collections of the Zoological Department
were sufficiently near completion to allow of these collections
following, and three more years were required before all the galleries
could be brought into a state fitted for public exhibition.
[Sidenote: Description of the building.]
The following description of the structure was contributed by Mr.
Waterhouse:--
“The New Natural History Museum will, from its position, always be more
or less identified with the International Exhibition of 1862, which
occupied the whole of the site between the Horticultural Gardens and
Cromwell Road. It was at one time thought that a portion, at any rate,
of the Exhibition buildings could with advantage have been converted
into a Museum of Natural History. Parliament, however, decided against
the preservation of any part of these buildings, and they were
accordingly entirely removed.
“In designing the present building, Captain Fowke’s original idea of
employing terra-cotta was always kept in view, though the blocks were
reduced in size, so as to obviate, as far as possible, the objection to
the employment of this material, arising from its liability to twist in
burning. For this and other reasons the architect abandoned the idea of
a Renaissance building, and fell back on the earlier Romanesque style
which prevailed largely in Lombardy and the Rhineland from the tenth to
the end of the twelfth century.
“In 1873, a contract was entered into by the Government with Messrs.
George Baker and Sons, of Lambeth, for the erection of the building at
a cost of £352,000. Other subsequent contracts have been entered into
by the Treasury, especially one for the erection of the towers, which
in the first instance it was decided to omit.
[Sidenote: Exterior.]
“On looking at the exterior of the building, one of the first points
which strikes a spectator is that the site is lower than the street.
This arises from the fact that the whole surface of the ground between
the three roads was excavated for the Exhibition building of 1862, and
it was not thought desirable, for economical considerations, to refill
the space. The building is set back 100 feet from the Cromwell Road,
and is approached by two inclined planes, curved on plan and supported
by arches, forming carriage-ways. Between the two are broad flights of
Craigleith stone steps, for the use of those approaching the building
on foot. The extreme length of the front is 675 feet, and the height of
the towers is 192 feet. The return fronts, east and west, beyond the
end pavilions, have not yet been erected.[2]
[Sidenote: Interior. Central Hall.]
“On entering the main portal, the visitor has before him the great
central apartment of the Museum (170 feet long, by 97 feet wide, and 72
feet high), which it is intended to use as an Index or Typical Museum.
The double arch in the immediate foreground which spans the nave (57
feet wide), carries the staircase from the first to the second floor.
Opposite the spectator, at the end of the hall, is the first flight
of the staircase, 20 feet wide, which rises from the ground to the
first floor. The galleries over the side recesses form the connection
between the two staircases, and are also intended for exhibition space,
as are also the floor of the main hall and the side recesses under the
galleries. The arches under the side-flights of the main staircase at
the end of the hall lead into another large apartment, with an extreme
length of 97 by 77 feet measured into the arms of the cross.
[Sidenote: Side galleries.]
“Branching out of the Central Hall, near its southern extremity, are
two long galleries, each 278 feet 6 inches long by 50 feet wide.
These galleries are repeated on the first floor, and in a modified
form on the second floor. They are divided into bays by coupled piers
arranged in two rows down the length of the galleries, and planned in
such a manner as to allow of upright cases being placed back to back
between the piers and the outer walls, so as to get the best possible
light upon the objects displayed in the cases with the least amount
of reflection from the glass, and leaving the central space free as a
passage. Owing to the nature of the specimens exhibited in one or two
of these galleries requiring for their exhibition rather table-cases
than wall-cases, advantage has only been taken to a limited extent
of this disposition of the plan. These terra-cotta piers, however,
are constructively necessary, not only to conceal the iron supports
for the floor above, but to prevent these supports being affected in
case of fire. Behind these galleries on the ground floor are a series
of toplighted galleries, devoted, on the east side to Geology and
Palæontology, and on the west to Zoology.
[Sidenote: Towers.]
“The towers on the north of the building have each a central
smoke-shaft from the heating apparatus, the boilers of which are placed
in the basement, immediately between the towers, while the space
surrounding the smoke-shafts is used for drawing off the vitiated air
from the various galleries contiguous thereto. The front galleries
are ventilated into the front towers, which form the crowning feature
of the main front. These towers also contain, above the second floor,
various rooms for the work of the different departments, and on the
topmost storey large cisterns for the purpose of always having at hand
a considerable storage of water in case of fire. On the western side
of the building, where it is intended that the Zoological collection
shall be placed, the ornamentation of the terra-cotta (which will
be found very varied both within and without the building) has been
based exclusively on living organisms. On the east side, where Geology
and Palæontology find a home, the terra-cotta ornamentation has been
derived from extinct specimens.
“The Museum is the largest, if not, indeed, the only, modern building
in which terra-cotta has been exclusively used for external façades and
interior wall-surfaces, including all the varied decoration which this
involves.”
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Gardens.]
The gardens on the south, east, and west sides of the Museum are
open to the public whenever the Museum itself is open, under certain
regulations, posted at the entrance gates.
GENERAL ARRANGEMENT.
[Sidenote: Use of the term Natural History.]
Natural History is an old term, used to describe the study of all the
processes or laws of the Universe, and the results of the action of
those processes or laws upon such of its constituent materials _as are
independent of the agency of man_.
It is thus contrasted with the history of Man and his works, and the
changes which have been wrought in the World by Man’s intervention.
This distinction afforded a convenient and rational basis for the
division of the numerous and multifarious objects which had been
collected together in the British Museum at Bloomsbury. When it was
decided to effect a separation of the collections, those that were
purely the products of what are commonly called “natural” forces were
removed to South Kensington, while those showing the effects of Man’s
handiwork remained at Bloomsbury. Like most others of the kind, this
distinction cannot be applied very rigidly. Such lines of demarcation
almost always overlap. For instance, examples of modification of animal
or plant structure under Man’s influence legitimately find a place in a
Museum of Natural History, especially as they may afford illustrations
of the mode of working of natural laws. Prehistoric stone-implements,
again, are shown in the Geological Department, in order to illustrate
the co-existence of Man with extinct Mammals.
Processes or laws cannot, however, be satisfactorily demonstrated in
a museum; therefore such branches of knowledge as deal chiefly with
these, as Astronomy, Geology (in the stricter sense of the word), and
the experimental sciences, as Physics, Chemistry and Physiology, though
essentially belonging to the domain of Natural History, have not found
a place in the Natural History Museum. It is only the results of the
working of these processes or laws, as shown in the modifications of
the arrangement of the elementary substances of which the material of
the Universe is composed, which can be fully illustrated by specimens
admitting of being readily preserved and permanently exhibited in a
museum. A Natural History Museum, therefore, in the sense in which the
term is now usually understood, is a collection of the various objects,
animate and inanimate, found in a state of nature. It will be readily
understood that as the study of such objects is one of the principal
means by which the laws leading to their formation or arrangement may
be traced out, it is of the utmost importance for the progress of those
departments of knowledge which the Museum is designed to cultivate,
to bring together as full an illustrative series of these objects as
possible.
[Sidenote: Division into Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal.]
Although the validity of the division of natural objects into
_inorganic_ and _organic_ or _living_ has been the subject of some
discussion, and although the separation of the latter into _vegetable_
and _animal_ is less absolute than was once supposed, yet for practical
purposes, MINERAL, VEGETABLE, and ANIMAL remain the three great
divisions or “kingdoms” into which natural bodies are grouped, and
this classification has formed the basis of the arrangement of the
collections in the Museum.
[Sidenote: Mineral Department.]
I. Inorganic substances occur in nature in a gaseous, liquid, or solid
form. With few exceptions, it is only in the latter state that they
can be conveniently preserved and exhibited in a museum, and it is
to such that the term “mineral” is commonly limited. The collection,
classification, and exhibition of specimens of this kind is the office
of the Mineral Department of the Museum, to which is devoted the large
gallery on the first floor of the east wing of the building.
[Sidenote: Botanical Department.]
II. The study of the vegetable kingdom, so far as it can be illustrated
by preserved specimens, is the province of the Department of Botany,
which occupies the upper floor of the east wing.
[Sidenote: Zoological Department.]
[Sidenote: Entomological Department.]
III. In the same way the animal kingdom belongs to the Department
of Zoology, from which it has been found necessary to separate an
Entomological Department. To these two is assigned the whole of the
western wing of the building.
[Sidenote: Geological Department.]
There is, however, a fifth department, which owes its separate
existence to a time when the terms Zoology and Botany were limited
to the study of the existing forms of animal and plant life, and the
extinct or fossil forms were associated with minerals, rather than
with their living representatives. This arrangement prevailed in the
British Museum until the year 1857. The fossils were then severed from
this incongruous connection, and placed in a separate department to
which the name of “Geology” was given.[3] The result is that there are
two distinct zoological and botanical collections in the building, one
containing the remains of the animals and plants which lived through
successive ages of the world’s history from the earliest dawn of life
down to close upon the present time, and the other including those
living at the particular period in which we dwell. Notwithstanding the
objections which may be urged against this separation, it prevails
largely in museums, and (owing to certain conveniences, as well as to
the difficulty and expense of rearranging extensive collections and
reorganising the staff in charge of them) will probably be retained
for some time to come. It should, however, be mentioned that a few
specimens illustrating some of the more important extinct forms have
been intercalated among the recent Mammals and Reptiles; while,
conversely, skeletons and other specimens of recent animals have been
introduced among the fossil Vertebrates in the Geological Department.
Again, the more important remains of extinct Cetaceans are now shown in
the Whale-Room, and some of the specimens of recent Elephants, as well
as all the Sea-Cows, in the Geological Department.
[Sidenote: Introductory Collection.]
Besides the five Departments, into which the collection is divided for
the purposes of custody and administration, each of which is under the
charge of an officer styled “Keeper” and a staff of Assistants, there
is a sixth, under the supervision of the Director, and arranged in the
Central Hall, some of the specimens in which are intended to serve as
an introduction to those exhibited in the others.
[Sidenote: The specimens all arranged in three series.]
Inclusive of the last-named collection, the whole of the specimens
contained in the Museum, whether Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral, are
arranged in the three following distinct series, as follows:--
[Sidenote: Introductory or Elementary Series.]
I. An Elementary or Introductory Series, by which the study of every
group should commence. In this series, limited, so far as the cases
in the Central Hall are concerned, to Vertebrated Animals and Botany,
the leading features of the structure, and, so far as may be, the
development of the various parts of some of the more typical members
of each group, are demonstrated in a simple manner, and the terms used
in describing and defining them explained by means of illustrative
examples. This idea is carried out in the Department of Minerals in a
series of cases placed on the north or left-hand side of the gallery
containing the rest of the collection.
[Sidenote: Exhibited Systematic Series.]
II. The Exhibited Systematic Series, in which the more important types
of animals, plants, or minerals are shown, by means of specimens,
arranged in a systematic manner; or one which exhibits, so far as
may be, their natural relations to each other. Classification is an
important feature in this series, which properly should be so extensive
and so arranged as to enable visitors to the Museum, without recourse
to assistance from the officials, to find every well-known and markedly
distinct type of animal, plant, or mineral, and satisfy themselves
about, at least, its external characters. In practice, with the
amount of space available, and the resources at the disposal of the
authorities, it has, however, been found impracticable to carry out
this ideal in anything like its entirety, and in most instances only a
selection of specimens is in consequence exhibited.
While the two series above mentioned have for their object the
_diffusion_ of scientific knowledge, the next ministers mainly to its
_advancement_, so that between them the twofold object of a National
Museum of Natural History is carried out.
[Sidenote: Reserve or Study Systematic Series.]
III. The Reserve or Study Systematic Series contains the exceedingly
numerous specimens (in many groups the great bulk of the collection)
showing the minute distinctions required for working out the problems
of variation according to age, sex, season and locality, for fixing
the limits of geographical distribution, or determining the range
in geological time: distinctions which, in most cases, can only be
appreciated when the specimens are kept under such conditions as to
admit of ready and close examination and comparison. It is to this
part of the collection that naturalists resort to compare and name the
animals and plants collected in exploring expeditions, to work out
natural-history problems, and generally to advance the knowledge of
science. In fact, these reserve collections, occupying comparatively
little space, kept up at relatively small cost, and visited by
comparatively few persons, constitute, from a scientific point of
view, the most important part of the Museum; for by their means new
knowledge is obtained, which, given forth to the world in the form of
memoirs and books, is ultimately diffused over a far wider area than
that influenced even by the exhibited portions of the Museum. Indeed,
without the means of study afforded by the reserve series, the order
displayed in the arrangement of the exhibition galleries, and the
instruction which may be gleaned from the same, would not be possible.
It is important to bear in mind that if all the specimens required for
enlarging the boundaries of knowledge were displayed in the public
galleries, so that each could be distinctly seen, a museum many times
larger than the present one would not suffice to contain them; the
specimens themselves would be inaccessible to those capable of deriving
instruction from their examination, while, owing to the effects of
exposure to light upon preserved natural objects, many would lose their
chief characteristics. This portion of the collection must, in fact,
be treated as are the books in a library and used for consultation and
reference by accredited students.[4]
In some parts of the Museum the reserve collections are contained
in drawers beneath the cases in which the corresponding exhibited
portion is placed. This applies principally to the fossil specimens,
the shells, and the minerals. The reserve birds and insects have
special rooms devoted to them, and the extensive series of reptiles,
fishes, and other animals preserved in spirit is kept, for the purpose
of safety, in a separate building behind the Museum. In the Botanical
Department the reserve collections are kept in the well-known form of
an Herbarium, or _Hortus siccus_.
[Sidenote: Supplementary Collections.]
The great bulk of the specimens being arranged in these three
series, supplementary collections for facilitating the study of the
distribution of animals and plants in space and in time would be
advantageous. The first, constituting a geographical series, might
show by illustrative examples the leading characteristics of the fauna
and flora of each great region of the earth’s surface; the second,
or palæontological series, would give examples of the fossil remains
found most abundantly in each formation, arranged so far as may be in
chronological order.
[Sidenote: Geographical.]
[Sidenote: Geological.]
The only attempt hitherto made at exhibiting a geographical series in
the Museum is the collection of terrestrial and fresh-water vertebrated
animals of the British Isles, arranged in the pavilion at the west end
of the bird gallery. It would be difficult in the present building to
find room for other geographical collections, however interesting and
instructive. With regard to palæontological collections, although the
specimens in the Department of Geology, so called, are mainly arranged
not geologically, or according to stratigraphical position, but
according to their natural affinities, yet, in many cases, it has been
found convenient to adopt a mixed arrangement, the specimens within
each large natural group being classified according to the sequence
in age of the strata in which they were buried. Such an arrangement,
however, is only applicable to the fossils of a particular region,
owing to the difficulties in accurately determining the correspondence
in age of formations occurring in distant parts of the earth’s surface;
hence a large and varied palæontological collection, such as that of
the British Museum, is best arranged in the main upon a systematic
or zoological and botanical basis. A limited series showing the more
characteristic British rock-formations with their included fossil
remains, placed in chronological sequence, is arranged in one of the
galleries of the Geological Department.
DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM AND ITS CONTENTS.
On entering the Museum, the visitor should bear in mind that the
principal front faces the south, so that he will be looking due north,
with the east on his right, and the west on his left hand.
It must also not be forgotten that a museum in a state of active growth
is continually receiving additions as well as undergoing changes in the
arrangement of its contents, and since these often occur faster than
new editions of the Guide can be produced, there may be variations in
the positions of some of the specimens from those here given.
THE CENTRAL HALL.
[Sidenote: Statues and Cases in the Central Hall.]
On entering the hall the visitor will notice the bronze statue of the
late Sir Richard Owen, K.C.B., Superintendent of the Natural History
Departments of the British Museum (1856–1884). It is the work of Mr. T.
Brock, R.A., and was placed in the Museum on March 17th, 1897. To the
right of this is a marble statue of the late Professor T. H. Huxley,
sculptured by Mr. E. Onslow Ford, R.A., which was unveiled on April
28th, 1900. In the first bay on the left is a bust, by Mr. Brock, of
the late Sir W. H. Flower, Director of the Natural History Departments
of the British Museum from 1884 to 1898. Most of the cases placed on
the floor of the hall illustrate general laws or points of interest in
natural history which do not come appropriately for illustration within
the systematic collections of the departmental series.
[Sidenote: Pigeons illustrating Variation under Domestication.]
One group, in a case near the entrance to the hall, on the right,
shows the great variation to which a species may become subject under
the influence of domestication, as illustrated by examples of the
best-marked breeds of Pigeons, all derived by selection from the wild
Rock-Dove (_Columba livia_), specimens of which are shown at the top of
the case.
[Sidenote: Fowls and Canaries illustrating Variation under
Domestication.]
In the corresponding case on the left are further illustrations of
the same subject. A pair of red Jungle Fowl (_Gallus bankiva_, or _G.
ferrugineus_) of India represents the species from which the breeds
of Domesticated Fowls are generally considered to have been derived.
As examples of extreme modifications in opposite directions produced
by selection, are exhibited the Japanese Long-tailed Fowls, in which
some of the feathers (tail-coverts) attain a length of nine feet,
and specimens of a breed in which the tail is absent. There is also
shown a group of Fowls living wild in the woods of the Fiji Islands,
which are descendants from domesticated birds introduced in the
eighteenth century. A pair of Cochin Fowls is exhibited in the same
case to display development in point of size and in the abundance of
feathers on the limbs; while a pair of white “Silkies” illustrates a
modification of the plumage, accompanied by a rudimentary condition of
the tail-feathers. The pair of Coloured Dorkings exemplifies a breed
cultivated in England.
A series of Canaries is shown in a case in the archway leading from
the east side of the central hall to the north hall, as an example of
a late addition to domesticated animals, these birds having been first
imported into Europe from the Canary Islands in the early part of the
sixteenth century. Specimens are exhibited of the wild birds, and of
some of the modifications produced by selection.
[Sidenote: Ruffs and Reeves, illustrating Changes of Plumage according
to Sex and Season.]
A case placed to the north of the one containing Fowls illustrates
a remarkable instance of external differences in the two sexes and
changes in plumage at different seasons, not under the influence
of domestication. The birds in it belong to one species, the Ruff
(_Pavoncella_, or _Machetes_, _pugnax_), of which the female is called
Reeve; a member of the Plover family (_Charadriidæ_). In the upper
division of the case are shown the eggs, newly-hatched young, and young
males and females in the first autumn plumage; as well as adult males
and females in winter, when both sexes are exactly alike in colour and
distinguishable externally by size alone. The large group occupying the
lower part of this case consists of adult birds in the plumage assumed
in the breeding time (May and June). In the female the only alteration
from the winter state is a darker and richer colouring, but in the
males there is a special growth of elongated feathers about the head
and neck, constituting the “ruff” from which the bird derives its name.
In addition to this peculiarity, another, rare among wild animals,
may be observed, namely, striking diversity of colour in different
individuals. Of the twenty-three specimens shown no two are entirely
alike.
[Sidenote: Wild Ducks illustrating Seasonal Change of Plumage.]
Next in order stands a case displaying the variations, according to
season and age, in the plumage of the Wild Duck, or Mallard (_Anas
boscas_). The most noticeable feature in the plumage-changes is the
assumption in summer by males of an “eclipse-plumage,” resembling
the one worn by females at all seasons. At other times the males are
more brilliantly coloured than their partners. The eclipse-plumage
corresponds to the winter, or non-breeding, dress of other birds which
have a seasonal change.
[Sidenote: Adaptation of Colour to surrounding Conditions.]
On the same side of the hall follow two cases illustrating the
adaptation of the colour of animals to their natural surroundings, by
means of which they are rendered less conspicuous to their enemies or
their prey. The first contains a specimen of a Mountain or Variable
Hare (the common species of the north of Europe), a Stoat, and a
Weasel, together with some Willow-Grouse and Ptarmigan, as well as
an Arctic Fox, in their summer dresses. All were obtained in Norway,
and show the general harmony of their colouring at this season with
that of the rocks and plants among which they live. The second case
displays examples of the same animals obtained from the same country in
winter, when the ground was covered with snow. Such striking changes
as these only occur in latitudes and localities where the differences
between the general external conditions in the different seasons are
extreme, where the snow disappears in summer and remains on the ground
during most of the winter. Even some of the species here shown do not
habitually turn white in the less severe winters of their southern
range, as the Stoat in England and the Variable Hare in Ireland. A
few permanent inhabitants of still more northern regions, where the
snow remains throughout the year, such as the Polar Bear, Alaskan
Bighorn Sheep, Greenland Falcon, and Snowy Owl, retain the white
dress throughout the year. The whiteness of these animals must not be
confounded with _albinism_, or whiteness occurring in individuals of
species normally of a different colour, which is illustrated in a case
on the other side of the hall.
[Sidenote: Protective Resemblance of Desert Animals to their
Surroundings.]
The case on the east side of the hall nearest the great staircase
contains examples of conformity of general style of colouring to
surrounding conditions, as exemplified by some of the commoner Birds,
Mammals, and Reptiles of the Egyptian desert, placed on the stones
and sand amid which they habitually dwell. The advantage of this
colouring in concealing the herbivorous species from their enemies,
and in enabling the carnivorous to approach their prey unperceived,
is obvious. Many excellent cases of concealment by adaptation to
surroundings, especially in eggs and young Birds, may be seen among the
groups in the Bird-gallery.
[Sidenote: Mimicry.]
More special modifications for the same purpose are shown in the
adjacent bay on the east side of the hall by Insects which closely
resemble the objects, such as leaves, twigs, etc., among which
they dwell. The close imitation of a dead leaf, presented by the
Leaf-Butterfly (_Callima inachis_), when its wings are closed, could
not be surpassed. In a further stage of the same condition, called
“Mimicry,” the object resembled, or mimicked, is another living
animal, belonging to a different species, family, or even order. The
resemblance in these instances is also believed to be for protection,
or to be in some way advantageous to the animal in which it occurs.
We know, however, so little of the habits and life-history of animals
in a state of nature that many of the purposes supposed to be served
by particular colours or appearances can only be regarded at present
as conjectural. Whatever be the real explanation, the facts shown by
the specimens in this bay are very curious, and worthy of careful
consideration.
[Sidenote: Group illustrating Albinism.]
The next case on the east side of the middle of the hall contains a
series of specimens illustrating _albinism_, a condition in which the
pigment, or colouring matter, usually present in the skin, hair, or
feathers, and giving the characteristic hue, is absent. Individuals
in this condition occur among many animals of various kinds, and
are called “_albinos_.” In some of the specimens shown in the case
the albinism is complete, but in many it is partial, the absence of
colouring matter being limited to certain portions of the surface.
Other examples of complete or partial albinism are shown in the North
Hall.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--THE LEAF-BUTTERFLY (_Callima inachis_) IN
FLIGHT AND AT REST.]
[Sidenote: Group illustrating Melanism.]
The adjacent case shows examples of the opposite condition called
_melanism_, depending upon an excess of dark colouring matter or
pigment in the skin and its appendages, such as hair, feathers, etc.,
beyond what is commonly met with in the species. This is by no means
so frequent as albinism. A black Leopard in the middle of the case
is a good illustration. This is not a distinct species, but merely
an individual variety of the common Leopard, born from parents of
the normal colour. A black Bullfinch is introduced as an example of
acquired melanism, this bird having turned black in captivity.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--THE SOMALI TSETSE-FLY (_Glossina longipennis_).
Enlarged 4 diameters.
Shows the complete closure of the wings in the resting position, and
the prominent proboscis, characteristic of the genus.]
[Sidenote: Group illustrating Intermediate Forms in Nature.]
Another group shows that two forms of Crows which appear quite
distinct, and, judged by their external characters, might be regarded
as different species, may in a state of nature unite, and produce
hybrid offspring. In the same case is exhibited a series of Goldfinches
to show a complete gradation between birds of different colouring,
which have been regarded as different species. Both these examples may
by some naturalists be considered instances, not of the crossing of
distinct species, but of “dimorphism,” or the occurrence of a single
species in nature in two different phases. From whatever point of view
they may be regarded, they illustrate the difficulty of defining and
limiting the meaning of the term “species,” of such constant use in
natural history.
[Sidenote: Mosquitoes and Tsetse-Flies.]
In the middle line of the hall are placed cases containing greatly
enlarged models of certain Insects concerned in the spread of disease,
such as Mosquitoes or Gnats (figs. 3 and 4), a House-Fly, Tsetse-Fly
(fig. 2), and Plague-Flea; also still more enlarged gelatine models
of mammalian blood-corpuscles, showing the parasites by which they
are infested in the diseases respectively communicated by means of
Mosquitoes and Tsetses. Models of the parasites themselves are also
shown (figs. 5 and 6).
Malaria, or ague, is a disease caused by extremely minute parasites
which live in the red corpuscles of the blood. Formerly malaria was
believed to be contracted by merely breathing the air of marshy
districts, but it is now proved that the parasites are transmitted from
man to man by the “bite,” or rather “stab,” of a Mosquito or Gnat. The
Common Mosquito or Stabbing Gnat (_Culex pipiens_), fig. 3, does not
transmit the malaria-parasite; the Spot-winged Mosquitoes (fig. 4) of
the genus _Anopheles_, abundant in England and nearly all parts of the
world, being the carriers. The parasite multiplies not only in the
human blood, but in the stomach and tissues of the Gnat--as shown in
the models (fig. 5).
Tsetse-Flies are African blood-sucking Flies, with the mouth-parts
adapted for piercing the skins of wild and domesticated mammals, human
beings, and even crocodiles. The blood of some of the larger African
animals is sometimes infected with a microscopic parasite (fig. 6),
which, if sucked up by Tsetse-Flies when feeding, and subsequently
introduced by them into the veins of domesticated animals such as
horses and cattle, produces the fatal _nagana_, or Tsetse-Fly disease.
Sleeping-sickness in man is caused in a similar manner, and is conveyed
from infected to healthy individuals by two kinds of Tsetse-Fly,
including that of which an enlarged model, 28 times (linear) natural
size, is exhibited. The parasites and the red blood-corpuscles are
enlarged 6,000 diameters.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--(_a_) THE COMMON GNAT (_Culex pipiens_).
Enlarged.
FIG. 4.--(_b_) THE SPOT-WINGED MOSQUITO (_Anopheles maculipennis_).
Enlarged.]
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--LIFE-HISTORY OF THE MALARIA PARASITE.
_a_, malarial germ, or sporozoite, as introduced into the blood by
the mosquito; _b_, sporozoite after entry into blood-corpuscle;
_c_, growth of sporozoite into an amœbula; _d_, division of
amœbula to form merozoites; _e_, liberated merozoites; _f_,
growth of merozoites into a crescent at expense of corpuscle;
_g_, male, and _h_, female crescent; _i_, male cell with
projections, which lengthen and are set free as spermatozoa; _j_,
fertilisation of ovum by spermatozoon; _k_, fertilised egg as the
active motile vermicule; sphere formed from the _l_, enlarged
vermicule, after this has bored through the stomach-wall of the
mosquito; _m_, segment of sphere at final stage of development,
containing countless needle-shaped spores, which, when it bursts,
escape as sporozoites into the organs of the mosquito’s body
and pass through the salivary glands into the proboscis, and so
infect a man bitten or pricked by the mosquito.
]
The House-Fly--_see_ enlarged models of the perfect insect and its
preliminary stages,--although not provided with a piercing proboscis,
and consequently incapable of biting, sometimes plays an important part
in spreading deadly diseases, such as cholera and enteric (typhoid)
fever. In this case the disease-causing organisms are carried by the
insect either in its intestine or adherent to the outer surface of its
body, and thus House-Flies may spread disease by contaminating food.
Plague, which is a disease of rats and a few other rodents, especially
the bobac Marmot, is communicated to man by the bite of the flea
known as _Xenopsylla cheopis_, one of several species of fleas with
which rats are infested. When a rat dies, the fleas that it has been
harbouring seek another host, and may bite human beings, in which case,
if the rat itself was suffering from the disease, an epidemic of plague
may be the result. The model of the Plague-Flea exhibited is enlarged
200 times (linear).
The Arachnida, a group which includes the Spiders and can generally
be distinguished from Insects by the number of their legs (four pairs
instead of three pairs), include also the Ticks, which are responsible
for the transmission of many deadly diseases which attack Man and
Domestic animals. Enlarged models of a disease-carrying Tick are in
course of preparation.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.
_Trypanosoma gambiense_, the parasite of Sleeping-sickness, very
highly magnified. The occurrence of three kinds of individual,
as shown in the figure, appears to be characteristic of this and
certain other species of _Trypanosoma_.
(After Col. Sir D. Bruce.)]
[Sidenote: African Elephant.]
In the middle line of the hall is placed a magnificent mounted skin
of an African Elephant (_Elephas africanus_), fig. 7, from Rhodesia,
standing about 11 feet 4 inches in height. The skull of the same
individual is mounted on a stand below. Near by are exhibited three
tusks, the largest of which measures 10 feet 2½ inches in length. On
the north wall, on either side of the Darwin statue, are mounted two
African Elephant heads.
[Sidenote: Bays or Alcoves round the Hall.]
Most of the bays or alcoves round the hall, five on each side, are
(with the exception of the one at the north end of the right side)
devoted to the Introductory or Elementary Collection, designed to
illustrate the more important points in the structure of certain types
of animal and plant life, and the terms used in describing them. This
has been called the “Index Museum,” as it was thought at one time that
it would form a sort of epitome or index of the general collections in
the galleries. It is now mainly restricted to a display of the leading
structural features in Vertebrated Animals and in Plants. The space
being limited, the number of specimens is necessarily restricted. In
examining this collection the visitor should follow each case in the
usual order of reading a book, from left to right, and carefully study
the printed explanatory labels, to which the specimens are intended to
serve as illustrations.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--AFRICAN ELEPHANT (_Elephas africanus_).
The skull and tusks seen in the foreground are those of the stuffed
specimen, the tusks in which have been modelled from another
individual.]
The bays on the west side (left-hand on entering the hall) are devoted
to the Vertebrata, or Animals possessing a “backbone.” In Nos. I and
II are shown the characters of the Mammals, which form the highest
modification of this type; the wall-cases of No. I containing specimens
of the bony framework (internal skeleton).
[Sidenote: Bay I. Skeleton of Mammals.]
In the first case (south side of the recess) may be seen a complete
skeleton of a good example of the class--a Baboon Monkey, with the
bones laid out on a tablet, and their names affixed. Below is a
skeleton of the same animal articulated, or with the bones in their
natural relation to each other, and also named. By examining these
two specimens an idea may be obtained of the general framework of
the bodies of animals of this class. In other parts of the case are
exhibited various modifications of the skeleton to suit different
conditions of life.
1. Man, showing a skeleton adapted for the upright posture.
2. A Bat, or flying Mammal, in which, by the great elongation of the
fingers, the fore-limbs are converted into wings (fig. 8), supporting a
web of skin stretched between them.
3. A Sloth, in which the tips of both limbs are reduced to mere hooks,
by the aid of which the creature hangs back-downwards from the boughs
of the trees among which it passes its entire existence.
4. The Baboon serves as an example of an animal walking on all four
limbs in the “plantigrade” position, i.e., with the whole of the palms
of the hands and the soles of the feet applied to the ground.
5. A small species of Antelope shows the characteristic form of a
running animal, in which the limbs perform no office but that of
supporting the body on the ground. This animal stands on the tips of
the toes of its elongated, slender feet in the “digitigrade” fashion.
6. A Porpoise, adapted solely for swimming in the water. The fore-limbs
are converted into flattened paddles, and the hind-limbs are entirely
absent, their function being performed by the tail. The rudimentary
pelvic bones are preserved.
The rest of the case is occupied by details of the skull in some of its
principal modifications. At the top are diagrams of the structure of
bone and cartilage as shown by the microscope.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--THE SKELETON OF A FLYING-FOX, OR FOX-BAT
(_Pteropus medius_).
_cl_, clavicle; _cv_, cervical vertebræ; _d_, dorsal vertebræ; _fb_,
fibula; _fm_, femur; _h_, humerus; _hx_, great toe, or hallux;
_l_, lumbar vertebræ; _mc_, metacarpals; _mt_, metatarsals; _ph_,
phalanges, or finger- and toe-bones; _pv_, pelvis; _px_, thumb,
or pollex; _r_, radius; _s_, sacral vertebræ; _sc_, scapula;
_sk_, skull; _tb_, tibia; _ts_, tarsus; _u_, ulna.
]
In the wall-case on the opposite (north) side of the bay the study
of the skeleton of Mammals is continued by illustrations of the
structure of the limbs. At the top of the case is a diagram showing the
correspondence of the hand and the foot in their complete typical form,
with the names applied to the different bones. The series of specimens
below shows the principal deviations actually occurring from this
typical condition, which, as may be seen, is very nearly preserved in
the human hand. One series shows some of the stages of modification for
special purpose (specialisation) by which a typical five-fingered hand
becomes converted into the single-toed fore-foot of the Horse; while
another series ends with the fore-foot of the Ruminants, sometimes, but
erroneously, called a “cloven hoof,” in which only two toes remain.
Similar changes are shown in the toes of the hind-foot, illustrating
the same common plan running through infinite modifications in detail,
enabling the organ to perform such a variety of purposes, and to
exhibit such diversity of outward appearance. The existence of this
common plan is now generally regarded as due to inheritance from a
common ancestor.
[Sidenote: Teeth of Mammals.]
The central case of the bay contains a collection illustrating the
principal characters of the teeth of Mammals. Its inspection should
commence at the north-east corner, where the visitor will find himself
after completing the survey of the specimens of skeletons in the
wall-cases. In the first division are placed specimens showing the
general characters of teeth, their form, the different tissues of
which they are composed, the two great types of dentition in Mammals,
_homœodont_ and _heterodont_,[5] the names and serial correspondence
of the different teeth, and their development and succession. The
principal modifications of teeth according to function are next
shown by examples of forms adapted for fish-eating, flesh-eating,
insect-eating, grass-eating, etc. The remainder of the case is taken
up by examples of the dentition of the families of Mammals arranged in
order, and prepared so as to display not only the shape of the crowns,
but also the number and character of the roots by which they are
implanted.
[Sidenote: Bay II. Classification of Mammals.]
In bay No. II the two wall-cases contain a collection arranged to show
in a serial manner the orders and sub-orders of existing Mammals, by
examples selected to illustrate the predominating characters by which
these are distinguished. A brief popular account of the characteristics
of the group, and a map showing its geographical distribution,
are placed with each. This is intended to serve not only for an
introduction to the study of the class by visitors to the museum, but
also as a guide to a method of arrangement which may be adopted in
smaller institutions.
Among the illustrations of the order _Primates_ is placed the skeleton
of a young Chimpanzee dissected by Dr. Tyson, which formed the subject
of his work on the “Anatomy of a Pigmie,” published in 1699, the
earliest scientific description of any Man-like Ape.
[Sidenote: Skin of Mammals.]
The central case of this bay contains illustrations of the outer
covering or skin and its modifications in the class of Mammals, divided
into the following sections:
1. Expansion of skin to aid in locomotion, as the webs between the
fingers of swimming and flying animals, the parachutes of flying
animals.
2. The development of bony plates in the skin, found among Mammals only
in the Armadillos and their allies. The cast of a section of the tail
of a gigantic extinct species (_Glyptodon_) shows a bony external as
well as an internal skeleton.
3. The outer covering modified into true scales, much resembling in
structure the nails of the human hand. This occurs in only one family
of Mammals, the Pangolins, or _Manidæ_.
4. Hair in various forms, including bristles and spines. The two kinds
of hair composing the external clothing of most Mammals, the long,
stiffer outer hair, and the short, soft under-fur, are shown by various
examples.
5. The special epidermal appendages found in nearly all Mammals on the
ends of the fingers and toes, called according to the various forms
they assume, nails, claws, or hoofs.
6. The one or two unpaired horns of the Rhinoceroses, shown by sections
to consist of a solid mass of hair-like epidermic fibres.
7. The horns of Oxen, Goats, and Antelopes, each consisting of a hollow
conical sheath of horn, covering a permanent projection of the frontal
bone (the horn-core).
8. The antlers of Deer, forming solid, bony, and generally branched
projections, covered during growth with soft hairy skin, and in most
cases shed and renewed annually.
On the wall is arranged a series of antlers of an individual Stag
or Red Deer (_Cervus elaphus_), grown and shed (except the last) in
thirteen successive years, showing the changes which took place in
their size and form, and the development of the branches, or tines, in
each year. In old age the number of these tines tends to diminish.
On the north side of the table-case are shown dissections of the
principal internal organs of Mammals.
[Sidenote: Bay III. General structure of Birds.]
Bay No. III is devoted to the class of Birds. An Albatross (_Diomedea
exulans_) mounted with the wings expanded shows the most important
characters by which a Bird is externally distinguished from other
animals. The body is clothed with feathers, which (in the majority
of Birds), by their great size and special arrangement upon the
fore-limbs, enable these to act as organs of flight. The mouth is in
the form of a horny beak. A nestling Albatross shows that at this stage
of its existence the bird is not clothed with ordinary feathers, but
with soft down, which serves to keep the body warm, although it confers
no power of flight. An Emu and an Apteryx in the lower compartment
of the case display the exceptional condition (found only in a
comparatively few members of the class) of Birds with wings so small
as to be concealed beneath the general feathery covering of the body,
and quite useless. In the Penguins, of which two species are shown
in the case, the wings are reduced to the condition of fins, and are
serviceable only for progress through water.
In the first wall-case the principal features of the skeleton of the
class are shown. Sections of bones exhibit the large air-cavities
within; a complete skeleton of an Eagle, with the bones separated and
named, and mounted skeletons of the Ostrich, Penguin, Pelican, Vulture,
Night-Parrot, Fowl, etc., show the chief modifications of the skeleton.
The Apteryx possesses the smallest, and the Frigate-bird the longest
bones of the wing, the correspondence of which can be readily traced
by means of the labels attached to them. The under surfaces of the
skulls of various birds are shown with the different bones coloured to
indicate their limits and relations; these are followed by a series of
the different types of sternum or breast-bone.
The second wall-case contains further illustrations of the anatomy of
Birds. In the left-hand part a series of wings of Birds displays the
form characteristic of different groups; while above them are a few of
the different types of tails, supplementing the series of tails in the
table-case. Very instructive is a series of skins of white chickens of
the same brood at different ages, displaying the gradual replacement of
the down by the adult plumage.
The table-case in the middle of the bay contains illustrations of
the external characters, the beak, the feathers, and the tail, as
well as of the fore and hind limbs, or wings and feet. By the aid of
the explanatory labels, the essential characters and the principal
modifications of all these parts may easily be followed.
Two cases on the wall in the vestibule leading to the Fish Gallery
illustrate the chief modifications of the eggs of Birds, and their
differences in structure, number, form, size, texture of surface,
and colour. On the side of the main staircase opposite are specimens
illustrating the parasitic nesting habits of certain Cuckoos and
various other Birds; while near by is a remarkably fine series of
the eggs of Cuckoos with those of the Birds among which they were
respectively deposited. On the opposite (east) side of the staircase
the visitor will find a case showing the remarkable variation in
colouring and markings displayed by the eggs of the Guillemot.
[Sidenote: Bay IV. General structure of Reptiles and Amphibians.]
The fourth bay on the west side of the hall exhibits the leading
peculiarities in the structure of Reptiles and Amphibians. Owing to
the large number of groups in the former class now extinct, many
fossil specimens, or plaster reproductions of the same, are shown.
The wall-case on the south side of this bay illustrates the different
ordinal groups of Reptiles--living and extinct. Very instructive are
the skeletons of Tortoises and Turtles, showing the relations of the
vertebræ and limb-bones to the bony part of the shell. Lizards and
Snakes are mostly represented by coloured casts. The extinct Dinosaurs
are represented by a small-sized model of _Iguanodon_, together with
a photograph of the skeleton and a plaster-cast of the bones of the
hind-foot showing the three toes.
The adjacent side of the table-case shows the modifications of the
backbone, or vertebral column, of the ribs, and of the limbs, in the
different groups of the class. Specially noticeable are examples of
five types of Skink-like Lizards, exhibiting the gradual diminution in
the size of the limbs and their final disappearance.
The opposite, or north, side of the table-case displays the different
modifications of the skull and teeth of living and extinct Reptiles.
In some, like Crocodiles and Ichthyosaurs, the jaws are armed with
a full series of sharply pointed teeth, while in others, like the
Tortoises and Turtles, they are devoid of teeth and encased in horn.
Very remarkable is the approximation to a carnivorous mammalian type
presented by the dentition of some of the extinct mammal-like Reptiles,
or Theromorphs, and equally noticeable are the palatal crushing teeth
of certain other extinct Reptiles known as _Placodus_ and _Cyamodus_.
The peculiar dentition of the New Zealand Tuatera, and likewise that of
its extinct European and Indian ally _Hyperodapedon_ (fig. 9), are also
shown.
[Illustration:
FIG. 9.--SKULL OF THE GIANT TUATERA (_Hyperodapedon gordoni_), from
the Triassic Sandstone of Lossiemouth, Elgin, (¼ nat. size). A,
upper surface of skull; B, palatal aspect of skull; C, under side
of front of lower jaw; _Pmx_, premaxillary bone; _Mx_, maxillary;
_Pl_, palatal teeth; _Md_, lower jaw; _O_, orbit, or eye-socket;
_N_, nostrils; _S_, temporal pit; _S’_, lateral temporal fossa.
]
The brain and other internal organs of Reptiles are displayed in the
left half of the wall-case on the north side of this bay, in which are
also shown the eggs of many species, in some cases with the embryo.
[Illustration:
FIG. 10.--SKELETON OF THE GREAT BLUE SHARK (_Carcharodon
rondeletii_), with portion of backbone on a large scale. _pl_,
functional upper jaw, and _su_, its reflected portion; _md_,
lower jaw; _hy_, ceratohyal; _br_, branchial arches; _co_,
pectoral girdle; _ph_, cartilaginous portion of pectoral, or
front paired fin; _r_, dermal portion of pectoral fin; _pu_,
pelvic, or hind paired, fin; _c_, centra, or bodies, of the
vertebræ; _na_, neural, or upper, and _ha_, hæmal, or lower,
arch. The median fins are not lettered.
]
In the right half of the same case are exhibited a number of
preparations showing the external form and internal structure of
Frogs and Salamanders, or Amphibians, living and extinct. The Giant
Salamander of Japan (_Megalobatrachus_ or _Cryptobranchus_) is
represented by a stuffed specimen; but the Newts, Salamanders, and
Frogs are shown in spirit. Very curious is the almost colourless and
blind Olm (_Proteus_) from the caves of Carniola; as also are the
so-called Cœcilians, or Apoda, which have the habits and, in some
degree, the appearance of large worms. Special specimens exhibit the
structure of the extinct Labyrinthodonts, in which the hinder half of
the skull is completely roofed over by bone; while the teeth in many
instances exhibit a curious in-folded arrangement from which the group
derives its name.
[Sidenote: Bay V. Structure of Fishes.]
The last bay (No. V) on the west side of the Central Hall is devoted to
the display of the form and structure of Fishes.
The wall-case on the left side of this bay exhibits the external
form of several characteristic types of Fishes, such as the Pike,
Cod, Turbot, Dog-fish, and Skate, with the names of the various fins
affixed. A striking specimen is the skeleton--mainly cartilaginous--of
the Great Blue Shark (_Carcharodon rondeletii_), fig. 10, which
occupies the greater portion of this case. It should be noted that, as
in all Sharks and Rays, the upper jaw does not correspond with that of
the higher Vertebrates; and particular attention should be devoted to
the structure and arrangement of the arches supporting the gills.
In the south side of the table-case in this bay are shown a number
of dissections, mounted in spirit, displaying the different types
of skeletal structure presented by the fins in various groups of
Fishes. One of the most remarkable of these types occurs in _Ceratodus
forsteri_, the Queensland Lung-fish, in which the skeleton of the fin
consists of a central jointed rod, from each side of which diverge
narrower jointed rods. Alongside are specimens showing special
modifications of certain fins, as in the Flying Fish (fig. 11) and
Flying Gurnard (fig. 12), for the purpose of sustaining the body in the
air, or, as in _Pentanemus_, to serve as organs of touch. Specimens
of the West Indian Goby and the Lump-Sucker show modifications of the
pelvic fins in connection with a sucker on the lower surface of the
body; while other preparations display the pectoral (_Doras_) and
pelvic fins (_Monocentris_) reduced to the condition of saw-like spines.
The structure of the skull of Fishes is illustrated in another part of
the same side of this case. From this the visitor may learn how the
primitive cartilaginous skull of the Sharks (fig. 10), Rays, Chimæras,
and Lung-fishes has been gradually modified, by the addition of
superficial sheathing-bones, into the bony skull of modern Fishes, such
as the Cod and Perch.
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--THE FLYING FISH (_Exocœtus_).
FIG. 12.--THE FLYING GURNARD (_Dactylopterus_).]
The north side of the table-case in bay V is mainly devoted to the
display of the different types of scales, spines, and teeth found
among Fishes. In one corner are the enamelled “ganoid” scales of
the modern American Bony Pike (_Lepidosteus_) and the African Bichir
(_Polypterus_) alongside those of certain extinct forms. A scale of the
Tarpon, or King-of-the-Herrings, illustrates the largest development
in point of size of the modern “cycloid” type. Spines of the
Porcupine-fish show an extreme development of this kind of structure.
Diagrams and spirit-preparations illustrate the mode of attachment and
succession of fish-teeth. A large series of the teeth of Sharks and
Rays displays the gradual passage from those of the ordinary pointed
form to others arranged in a pavement-like manner and adapted solely
for crushing. Both types occur in the Port Jackson Shark (fig. 13),
but those of some Rays are solely of the pavement modification. Very
remarkable is the dental structure in the Parrot-fish. The west end of
this side of the case shows the various modifications assumed by the
teeth of the modern Bony Fishes; among which, as exemplified by the
Wrasse, teeth are developed on the bones of the throat, as well as on
those of the jaws. Throughout this case specimens, or models, of the
teeth of extinct Fishes are placed side by side with those of their
nearest living relatives.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.--A JAW OF THE PORT JACKSON SHARK (_Cestracion
philippi_), showing sharp teeth in front and crushing ones behind.]
The wall-case on the north side of this bay shows the history of the
development of various Fishes, together with the form and structure of
the gills, brain, heart, digestive system, and other organs.
[Sidenote: Lancelet.]
A small case affixed to the pillar at the entrance of the fifth
bay illustrates the structure of the Lancelet (_Branchiostoma_, or
_Amphioxus_), by the aid of spirit-specimens, enlarged models, and
coloured diagrams. One of the most remarkable features in the structure
of this strange and primitive little creature is the outer cavity
enclosing the part of the body which contains the large and complex
pharynx. The Lancelet was formerly included among the Fishes, but is
now accorded the rank of a class (Cephalochorda) to itself.
Leaving bay VI, next the principal staircase on the east side of
the central hall, which is devoted to illustrations of heredity,
especially in relation to the Mendelian theory, and to modes of Flight
in Vertebrates and Insects, we pass on to a table-case assigned to the
illustration of “Mimicry” and kindred phenomena. Most of the examples
shown occur among Insects; but one example among Mammals and a second
in Birds are illustrated. Very striking is a coloured sketch showing a
group of red and black caterpillars from Singapore grouped side by side
on the stem of a plant so as to present a remarkable similarity to a
succulent fruit.
[Sidenote: Bay VIII.]
[Sidenote: Bay IX.]
In bay VIII, on the eastern side of the central hall, is displayed
an exhibition illustrating trees, native to or grown in Britain. The
winter and summer states are indicated by photographs, and the foliage,
flowers, fruits, seedlings, and texture of wood and bark by specimens,
models, and drawings. Bays IX and X are intended to illustrate the
general characters of the great groups of the Vegetable Kingdom. Bay
IX, in course of arrangement, is devoted to the Cryptogams (Ferns,
Mosses, Fungi, Seaweeds, and Lichens).
At the back of the bay is a fine polished section of a buttress from
the base of the Tapang (_Abauria excelsa_), the largest tree in Borneo,
which attains a height of 250 feet.
[Sidenote: Bay X. Seed-bearing Plants.]
The last bay (No. X) is devoted to the Seed-bearing Plants, which
are characterised by the formation of a seed--the result of the
fertilisation of an ovule by the male cell which is developed in the
pollen. The series begins on the left hand side with the Pteridosperms,
an extinct group combining the characters of Ferns and Seed-plants
and forming a link between them. Then follow the Gymnosperms (Cycads,
Pines, Firs, etc.), in which the seed is borne naked on an open scale
which generally forms, with others like it, the characteristic cone.
Certain points in the development of pollen and ovule recall similar
stages in the Fern group, and indicate that the Gymnosperms stand
nearer to the Cryptogams than do the Angiosperms, the other and larger
group of Seed-plants. The Gymnosperms are also the older group, and
contain many extinct forms. In the Angiosperms the seed is enclosed in
the fruit, and in the development of pollen and ovule almost all traces
of a cryptogamic ancestry have been lost; the great development of the
flower is a characteristic feature of the Angiosperms. The arrangement
of the vegetative parts of the plant is based on its separation into
root, stem, and leaf. In the right-hand wall-case the upper series
of specimens illustrates the leaf, its form, veining, direction, the
characters of its stalk and stipules, its modification for special
purposes, and its arrangement on the stem and in the bud. Below, the
stem and root are similarly treated, and above are some anatomical
drawings. The display of the root is continued in the lower part of the
opposite wall-case. In the central case the chief types of the flower
with its parts, the fruit, and the seed are exhibited.
At the back of the bay is a large transverse section of the Karri tree
(_Eucalyptus diversicolor_) of Western Australia, a species which grows
to a height of 400 feet. The tree from which the section was cut was
about 200 years old when felled.
The Introductory Collection of Minerals will be found in the gallery
devoted to the Mineral Department (see p. 90).
THE NORTH HALL.
[Sidenote: Domesticated Animals,[6] Hybrids, and Economic Zoology.]
The North Hall, or that portion of the building situated to the
northward of the principal staircase, is used for the exhibition of the
more important breeds of Domesticated Animals, as well as of examples
of Hybrids and other Abnormalities. A series of specimens illustrative
of Economic Zoology is likewise temporarily placed here.
The examples of Domesticated Mammals include Horses, Cattle, Sheep,
Goats, Llamas, Dogs, Cats, and Rabbits. One of the main objects of this
series is to show the leading characteristics of the well-established
breeds, both British and foreign. In addition to Domesticated Animals
properly so called, there are also exhibited examples of what may be
termed Semi-domesticated Animals, such as white or parti-coloured Rats
and Mice.
The skulls and skeletons of celebrated Horses[7] of all breeds,
including those of the Thoroughbreds “Persimmon” (presented by His
Majesty King Edward VII.), “Stockwell,” “Bend Or,” and “Ormonde,”
and of the Shire “Blaisdon Conqueror,” form a notable feature of the
series. In another case is exhibited the dentition of the Horse at
different periods of existence; while on the opposite side of the same
is illustrated the evolution of the Horse from three-toed and four-toed
ancestors, and also certain peculiarities distinguishing the skulls of
Thoroughbreds and Arabs from those of most other breeds.
Among the more notable exhibits are a mounted specimen of a Spanish
Fighting Bull, which belongs to an altogether peculiar breed, and heads
of Spanish Draught Cattle, presented by H.M. King Edward VII. Among the
Sheep, attention may be directed to the four-horned, fat-tailed, and
fat-rumped breeds, and also to the small breed from the island of Soa,
as well as the curious spiral horned Wallachian Sheep. The so-called
wild cattle of Chillingham Park are included in this series, since
they are not truly wild animals, but are descended from a domesticated
breed. The celebrated Greyhound “Fullerton” is shown among the series
of Dogs, which also comprises examples of the Afghan Greyhound, and of
the Slughi or Arab Greyhound. Small-sized models of Cattle, Horses,
Sheep, and Pigs also form a feature of the series.
A hybrid between the Zebra and the Ass is shown in one of the cases;
while photographs illustrate the results of experiments undertaken by
Professor Ewart in cross-breeding between Burchell’s Zebra and the
Horse. An example of the Lion-Tiger hybrids born many years ago in
Atkins’ menagerie is likewise shown.
A fine series of hybrid Ducks and hybrid Pheasants is exhibited in the
north hall.
[Sidenote: Skeletons of Man and Horse.]
Facing the visitor as he approaches the middle of the north hall are
the skeletons of a Man and of a Horse, arranged for comparison with
each other, and also to show the position of the bones of both in
relation to the external surface. In the case of the Horse, the skin
of the same animal from which the skeleton was prepared was carefully
mounted, and, when dry, divided in the middle line; one half, lined
with velvet, has been placed behind the skeleton. In the case of the
Man, the external surface is shown by a _papier-maché_ model, similarly
lined and placed in a corresponding position. As all the principal
bones of both skeletons have their names attached, a study of this
group will not only afford a lesson in comparative anatomy, but be of
practical utility to the artist.
[Sidenote: Section of “Big Tree.”]
Against the wall dividing the north hall from the central hall is
placed a section of a very large Wellingtonia or “Big Tree” (_Sequoia
gigantea_), which was cut down in 1892 near Fresno, in California. It
is about fifteen feet in diameter, and perfectly sound to the centre,
showing distinctly 1,335 rings of annual growth, which afford exact
evidence of the age of the tree. An instantaneous photograph, taken
while the tree was being felled, is placed near by, and shows its
general appearance when living. The height of the tree was 276 feet.
The exhibits of Economic Zoology at present occupy the northern
division of this hall. In the western wall-case are specimens showing
the injuries caused to trees by various insects. The table-cases
contain examples of the damage done in Britain to fruit, roots, corn,
and garden and vegetable produce, with specimens of the insects, and
hints as to methods of destruction. There are also examples of injury
done by insects abroad to cotton, tea, coffee, etc. In the cases under
the windows are various parasites affecting man and domesticated
animals.
STAIRCASE AND CORRIDORS.
[Sidenote: Statue of Darwin.]
On the first landing of the great staircase, facing the centre of the
hall, is placed the seated marble statue of CHARLES DARWIN (b. 1809, d.
1882), to whose labours the study of natural history owes so vast an
impulse. The statue was executed by Sir J. E. Boehm, R.A., as part of
the “Darwin Memorial” raised by public subscription. It was unveiled
and placed under the care of the Trustees of the Museum on the 9th of
June, 1885, when an address was delivered on behalf of the Memorial
Committee by the late Professor Huxley, P.R.S., to which His late
Majesty King Edward VII. (then Prince of Wales), as representing the
Trustees, replied.
[Sidenote: Statue of Banks.]
Above the first landing the staircase divides into two flights, each
leading to one of the corridors which flank the west and east sides of
the hall and give access to the galleries of the first floor of the
building. Near the southern ends of these corridors two staircases join
to form a central flight leading to the second floor. On the landing at
the top is a marble statue by Chantrey of SIR JOSEPH BANKS (b. 1743, d.
1820), who for 41 years presided over the Royal Society and was Trustee
of the Museum. His botanical collections are preserved in the adjoining
gallery, but his library of works on natural history, also bequeathed
to the Museum, remains at Bloomsbury, where the statue, erected by
public subscription in 1826, stood until it was removed to its present
situation in 1886. On the wall above is displayed a series of unusually
fine heads of Indian Big Game Animals, bequeathed by Mr. A. O. Hume,
C.B., in 1912.
[Illustration: FIG. 14.--A FEMALE OKAPI (_Okapia johnstoni_).]
[Sidenote: African Antelopes.]
The west, south, and east corridors contain a portion of the collection
of mounted Mammals for which there is not room in the gallery
immediately adjoining. The specimens placed here include a large
number of species of the finest African Antelopes, animals remarkable
for their beauty, for their former countless numbers, and for their
threatened extermination in consequence of the inroads of civilized man
into their domain.
[Sidenote: Giraffes and Okapi.]
In a case at the head of the staircase leading to the east corridor are
several mounted specimens of Giraffes, and near by a skeleton of the
same. Alongside the former is placed a case containing the heads and
necks, together with skulls, of the various local races of Giraffes;
while in a third are displayed three specimens of their near ally the
Okapi (fig. 14) of the Congo Forest, as well as a skeleton of the same.
[Sidenote: Collections of Humming-Birds.]
The collection of Humming-Birds (_Trochilidæ_) arranged and mounted
by the late Mr. John Gould, and purchased for the Museum in 1881,
is principally shown in the vestibule leading from the hall to the
Fish-gallery, but a few cases are placed on the pillars of the
staircase. Another large collection of these birds, presented in 1913
by Mr. E. J. Balston, of Maidstone, is exhibited in the corridor
leading to the Whale-room.
WEST WING.
The whole of the west wing of the building is devoted to the
collections of recent Zoology.
(A) GROUND FLOOR.
[Sidenote: Bird Gallery.[8]]
The ground floor is entered from the west side (left hand) of the
central hall, near the main entrance of the building. The long gallery,
extending the entire length of the front of the wing as far as the
west pavilion, is assigned to the exhibited collection of Birds, the
study-series of the same group being kept in cabinets in a room behind.
[Sidenote: Systematic Series in Wall-cases.]
The wall-cases contain mounted specimens of all the principal genera,
placed in systematic order, beginning with the Crows and Birds of
Paradise on the left hand on entering, and ending with the Ostriches,
Emus, etc., on the right.
[Illustration: BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY)
Ground Floor.]
[Illustration: FIG. 15.--THE GREAT AUK OR GARE-FOWL (_Plautus_, or
_Alca_, _impennis_), AND ITS EGG.]
Among the multitude of species exhibited in this gallery, which form,
however, but a small proportion of the different kinds of Birds known
to inhabit the globe, only a few of the more striking can be mentioned.
The various types of the Birds-of-Prey are very fully represented:
from the Condor of the Andes, the large Sea-Eagle of Bering Strait,
and the Great Eagle-Owl of Europe (all of which are placed in separate
cases), to the Dwarf Falcon in case 53, which is not much larger
than a sparrow, and preys upon insects. Among the large group of
Perching-Birds, attention may be directed to the cases of Birds of
Paradise and Bower-Birds in the first bay on the left. In separate
cases in the sixth bay on the opposite side of the gallery are placed
skeletons of the Dodo and Solitaire, large Pigeon-like birds with wings
too small for flight, once inhabiting the islands of Mauritius and
Rodriguez, respectively, but now extinct. Other cases on the right-hand
side of the gallery are occupied by the Game-Birds, and the Wading and
Swimming Birds. Here may be noticed a nearly complete series of the
genera of Pheasants and Pigeons, showing the various forms. Special
attention may be directed to the Great Auk (fig. 15), from the Northern
Atlantic, which became extinct only in the last century. Casts of the
eggs (fig. 16) of this curious bird are also exhibited. A case in the
7th bay contains a series of Penguins, flightless birds which may
be regarded as representing the northern Auks and Guillemots in the
southern oceans. Particularly interesting is the great Emperor Penguin,
which lays its eggs and rears its young in winter amidst the ice of the
Antarctic. Most of the specimens exhibited were obtained during the
British Antarctic Expedition of 1839–43, under the command of Captain
Sir James Clark Ross.
Other noteworthy types are the Great Bustard, once an inhabitant of
England, and the Flamingos; a pair of the latter being exhibited with
their nest.
In the first two bays on the right side of the gallery are placed
specimens of the Ostrich group, characterised by the flat or raft-like
form of the breast-bone. Owing to the rudimentary character of their
wings, these Birds lack the power of flight. They include the largest
existing Birds, the Ostriches, Emus, and Cassowaries, as well as the
small Kiwis (_Apteryx_) of New Zealand, together with the extinct Moas
(_Dinornis_, etc.), of the same country, and the Roc (_Æpyornis_) of
Madagascar. A fossil egg of the latter is placed alongside eggs of the
existing species of the group.
[Illustration: FIG. 16.--EGG OF THE GREAT AUK OR GARE-FOWL: Size of
nature.]
[Sidenote: Groups of British Birds and Nests.]
Down the middle line of the gallery, as well as in many of the bays,
are placed groups showing the nesting-habits of various species of
British birds. The great value of these groups consists in their
absolute truthfulness to nature. The surroundings are not selected by
chance or from imagination, but in every case are carefully executed
reproductions of those that were present round the individual nest.
When it has been possible, the actual rocks, trees, or grass, have
been preserved, but in cases where these could not be used, they have
been accurately modelled from nature. Great care has also been taken
in preserving the natural form and characteristic attitudes of the
Birds themselves. Among the more attractive cases are, near the centre
of the gallery, a pair of Puffins feeding their single young one, and
Black-throated Divers with their eggs in a hollow in the grass on
the edge of a mountain-loch in Sutherland. Hen-harriers--the male grey
and the female brown--are shown with their nest among the heather from
the moorland of the same county. On the left of these is a Peregrine
Falcon’s eyrie, on the ledge of a rocky cliff, containing three white
downy nestlings. Near by are various species of Ducks, notably the
Red-headed Pochard on the sedgy border of a Norfolk mere. In the last
bay but one on the right side is a nest of the Heron, in a fir-tree,
with the two old birds and three nearly fledged young. Various species
of Gulls and a particularly beautiful group of Arctic Terns from the
Shetland Islands are exhibited in the middle line towards the west end
of the gallery and in the eighth and ninth bays. In the eighth bay on
the right side and in the adjoining passage are Plovers, Sandpipers,
Snipes, etc., some of which (especially the Ringed and Kentish Plovers)
show the wonderful adaptation of the colouring of the eggs and young
birds to their natural surroundings for the purpose of concealment.
In the second passage leading to the Coral-gallery are Ptarmigan and
Capercaillie from Scotland, and in the adjacent part of the middle
line Wood-Pigeons and Turtle-Doves building their simple, flat nests
of sticks in ivy-clad trees. In the fourth, sixth and seventh bays
on the left are Sand-Martins and Kingfishers, showing, by means of
sections of the banks of sand or earth, the form and depth of the hole
in which the eggs are placed; and also nests of the Swift, Swallow, and
House-Martin, all in portions of human habitations.
[Sidenote: Pavilion, with British Land and Fresh-water Vertebrates.[9]]
The “pavilion” at the west end of the Bird-gallery is devoted to the
exhibition of the land and fresh-water Vertebrated Animals of the
British Islands. The larger Mammals and Fishes occupy the wall-case on
the north side, which is surmounted with horns. In the two pairs of
centre cases is exhibited the series of British Birds, supplemented by
the groups, to which reference has been made already. The wall-case on
the north side of the archway contains a group of Gannets and other
sea-birds from the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth. On the opposite
side are two striking groups with the surroundings true to nature,
the one of the Golden Eagle and the other of the Buzzard, both taken
in Scotland. Other groups in the pavilion display the Kestrel, the
Peregrine Falcon, and the Merlin amid natural surroundings. Among the
Mammals, especial attention may be directed to a case of British Hares
and Rabbits. In another case may be seen a female Badger and her young;
in a third is a group of Otters; in a fourth a vixen Fox with her cubs;
in a fifth a Mole-hill with its inhabitants; in a sixth a pair of
Martens; in a seventh Polecats and their young; while other cases are
devoted to Stoats, Weasels, Hedgehogs, Squirrels, Rats, Mice, etc.
Here it may be mentioned that the animal inhabitants of any country or
district are collectively termed its “_fauna_.” The British Islands in
this respect belong to the great zoological region called Palæarctic,
or Eastern Holarctic, embracing all Europe, the north of Africa,
and the western and northern portions of Asia. As in the case of
other islands, the species belonging to groups in which the power of
locomotion is limited to land or fresh-water are not numerous compared
with those inhabiting large continental tracts. Their numbers can
only increase under exceptional circumstances, and have a tendency to
diminish as the growth of human population and increase of the area of
cultivated land gradually reduce their native haunts. In this way the
Brown Bear, the Wolf, the Beaver, and the Wild Boar have disappeared
from Britain within the historic period, while other species, such
as the Badger, Marten, and Wild Cat, with difficulty maintain a more
or less precarious existence. All these were originally derived from
the mainland of Europe, probably before the formation of the channel
which now separates it from Great Britain. The wider and older channel
which separates Ireland from Great Britain has been a greater barrier
to the emigration of animal life than that between the latter and the
Continent, many species (as the Polecat, Wild Cat, Mole, Squirrel,
Dormouse, Harvest-Mouse, Water-Rat, Short-tailed Field-Mouse, Brown
Hare, Roedeer, as well as Snakes and Toads) never having crossed what
is now the Irish Sea, unless by human agency.
On the other hand, those species that have the power of travelling
through the air or traversing the ocean are far less fixed in their
habitat; and it results from this that the list of so-called “British
Birds” receives accessions from time to time from stragglers which
find their way from the European continent or Asia, or even across the
Atlantic.
Slight but permanent variations from the continental type may be
recognised in many native British species, some of the most marked
among vertebrated animals being the Irish Stoat, the Squirrel, the Red
Grouse, the St. Kilda Wren, the Coal-Tit, the Goldcrest, and several
species of fresh-water fishes, mostly belonging to the genera _Salmo_
and _Coregonus_. Some of the latter, such as the Vendace, the Gwyniad,
and their allies, of which specimens are exhibited in the wall-case in
the pavilion, have an extremely local distribution, being found only in
certain small groups of mountain lakes.
Of the Seals, only two species are really natives of Britain, the
Common Seal (_Phoca vitulina_) and the great Grey Seal (_Halichœrus
grypus_); specimens of both these are shown in the pavilion.
Those desirous of studying more minutely the characteristics of British
Mammals should examine the series of skins and skulls exhibited in a
special case on the right side of the central west window.
[Sidenote: Coral Gallery.[10]]
Parallel with the Bird-gallery, on the north side (right on entering),
and approached by several passages, is a long narrow gallery containing
the collection of Corals and Sponges and allied types. Commencing
at the eastern end, some of the lowest forms of animal life are
exhibited in the wall-case and table-cases; they belong to a group
called PROTOZOA, and, for the greater part, are so minute, that they
can be studied only with the microscope; their structure is therefore
illustrated chiefly by means of models and figures. The next divisions
of the gallery are occupied by the Sponges, most conspicuous among
these being a series showing the variations of the common Bath-Sponge
(cases 1 and 2), the beautiful flinty Venus’ Flower-basket or
_Euplectella_ (fig. 17), the Japanese Glass-rope Sponge or _Hyalonema_
(case 3), and the gigantic Neptune’s Cup or _Poterion_, of which
several specimens are placed on separate stands. Special interest
attaches to the case showing the different kinds of Sponges used in
commerce.
[Illustration: FIG. 17.--VENUS’ FLOWER-BASKET (_Euplectella imperialis_
and _E. aspergillum_). (One-sixth natural size.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 18.--BRAIN-CORAL. (_Meandrina cerebriformis_).]
Nearly the whole of the remainder of the gallery is given up to Corals.
In life these organisms display an immense variety of form and colour,
sometimes presenting a marvellous resemblance to vegetable growths; but
the part exhibited in the gallery is merely the dried, hard, horny, or
stony basis or supporting skeleton, either of isolated individuals, or
of colonies. Corals are allied to the well-known Sea-anemones of the
British and other coasts; the combined skeletons of myriads of these
animals form the coral-reefs which constitute the bases of thousands
of islands in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Among the larger reef-making
species are the Brain-Corals (_Meandrina_), one of which is shown in
figure 18. Near the west end of the gallery is placed a magnificent
specimen of the Black Coral of the Mediterranean (_Gerardia savalia_),
obtained off the coast of the island of Eubœa in the Ægean Sea. The
drawing in the case shows a magnified view of the “animals” or polyps
of this species as they appear in life. In case 13 are specimens
and drawings of the Red Coral (_Corallium rubrum_), so largely used
for ornamental purposes, and also of the crimson Organ-pipe Coral
(_Tubipora musica_). Arranged on shelves on the south wall of the
western end of this gallery is a series of _Pennatulidæ_ (Sea-pens,
Sea-rushes, or Sea-ropes) preserved in spirit. These Zoophytes live at
the bottom of the sea, with their lower ends fixed in the sand and mud;
the skeleton being never more than a straight internal rod in addition
to innumerable microscopic spicules.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.--ROUGH SUNFISH (_Orthagoriscus mola_).]
Approached through the Coral-gallery, and running backwards at right
angles with it, are several galleries containing other portions of the
zoological collections.
[Sidenote: Fish Gallery.[11]]
I. The Fish-gallery is nearest to the central hall, and contains the
exhibited portion of the collection of Fishes. The greater number of
specimens, preserved in spirit, are, however, placed for safety in a
detached building outside the Museum, where they are available for
study under special regulations. The gallery contains mounted examples,
models, and skeletons of many of the more remarkable members of the
class.
[Illustration: FIGS. 20 & 21.--TWO DEEP-SEA FISHES (_a. Gastrostomus
bairdi_ and _b. Saccopharynx flagellum_).]
[Illustration: FIG. 22.--SUCKER-FISH (_Echeneis remora_).]
The wall-cases on the east side of the gallery (right on entering)
contain the fishes with completely bony skeletons (Teleostei); to which
division belong by far the greater part of the species now inhabiting
the waters of the globe. Large and remarkable examples are placed in
separate cases opposite to the wall-cases. As the colours of fishes
are very fugitive, and disappear more or less completely after death,
most of the mounted examples have been painted. The fishes allied to
the Perch, Gurnard, Mackerel, Sword-Fish, Wrasse, Cod, Plaice, Catfish,
Salmon, Pike, and Eel are represented by numerous examples. Specially
noticeable, so far as size and external form are concerned, are the
Sunfishes, _Orthagoriscus_ (fig. 19).
Even more strange are several of the species of deep-sea Fishes
exhibited in a table-case in the Fish-gallery, which live at depths
where the sun’s rays cannot penetrate, and many of which are
self-luminous. Two deep-sea Fishes are shown in the accompanying
illustrations (figs. 20 and 21). From another point of view, special
attention may be given to the Sucker-Fish or Remora (_Echeneis
remora_), fig. 22, which attaches itself by the sucker on the top of
its head to the bodies of Fishes or Turtles, or to the bottom of ships.
As it attaches itself back-downwards, the under-parts are coloured dark
while the back is light; a condition just the reverse of that obtaining
in ordinary Fishes.
[Illustration: FIG. 23.--LOWER VIEW OF THE HEAD OF A SAW-FISH.
(_Pristis antiquorum._)]
The western or left side of the gallery is devoted to the exhibition of
certain very different types of Fishes, which were much more numerously
represented in ancient times than at present. The majority have a
cartilaginous skeleton. Among these may be specially mentioned the
Bichir of the tropical African rivers, the Gar-Pike of North America,
the Sturgeons, the Lung-Fishes (Dipnoi) of South America, Africa, and
Australia, the Chimæras, and finally the Sharks and Rays. Among the
two latter are included the singular Hammer-headed Shark (_Zygœna_),
and the Saw-Fishes (_Pristis_), which have long projecting flattened
snouts, with a row of teeth arranged something like those of a saw on
each side (fig. 23). A remarkably large specimen from the coast of
British Guiana of a species of this group (_Pristis perrotteti_) is
exhibited. Another very small division of Fishes comprises the Lampreys
and Hags, of which a few specimens are shown.
[Illustration: FIG. 24.--THE BASKING SHARK (_Selache maxima_).]
The largest exhibited specimen of the class is the head of a full-grown
example of the great Basking Shark (_Selache_, or _Cetorhinus,
maxima_), fig. 24, captured on the 2nd of March, 1875, near Shanklin,
in the Isle of Wight. The length of the entire specimen was
twenty-eight feet, but, as the minute size of the teeth indicates,
it is a comparatively harmless fish. A smaller female specimen is
suspended from the roof; and below this is placed a model of the
skeleton of the same species. Near by is a young specimen of another
basking species, the Elephant-Shark (_Rhinodon typicus_), which when
adult is said to attain a length of at least fifty feet. It inhabits
the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Models of some of the more remarkable types of extinct Fishes are
exhibited in cases on the same side of the gallery.
[Sidenote: Insect Gallery.[12]]
II. A small gallery is devoted to the group of Arthropoda or
Invertebrate animals with jointed limbs, such as Lobsters, Crabs,
Spiders, Centipedes, and Insects.
At the south end of this gallery are exhibited specimens of Crabs and
Lobsters. Among the former, special attention may be directed to the
specimens of the Giant Crab (_Macrocheira_) of Japan, and also to the
Coconut Crab (_Birgus latro_), fig. 25, which climbs trees to feed on
young cocoanuts, and is related to the Hermit-Crabs. In the central
table-cases, besides Crustacea (Crabs, Lobsters, etc.), are displayed
representative Scorpions and Spiders, including several examples of the
large Bird-eating Spiders of South America.
[Illustration: FIG. 25.--THE COCONUT CRAB (_Birgus latro_)].
The northern half of this gallery is devoted to the exhibited series of
Insects. Next to the door on the east side are the nests of White Ants
or Termites, while on the opposite side are some remarkable cocoons of
social Caterpillars of various Moths, and also a series of preparations
showing the metamorphoses or changes undergone by Insects as they grow
to maturity. At the sides of the gallery are models of various galls,
with drawings of the insects which cause them; and others showing
the life-histories of certain Beetles, Bees, and Moths. Beneath a
shelf, on the west side, are four cabinets containing a collection of
British Butterflies and Moths with their caterpillars, prepared and
presented by Lord Walsingham; and near by stands a cabinet containing a
collection of the Butterflies and Moths of the British islands formed
by the late Mr. William Buckler, most of the specimens in which were
bred by him during the preparation of his “Larvæ of British Butterflies
and Moths.” Above these are maps illustrating the geographical
distribution of certain Beetles (_Calosoma_, _Carabus_, _Julodis_
and _Stigmodera_); actual specimens of the insects being placed in
position on the maps. The wall-cases at the end of the gallery are
devoted exclusively to the nests of Ants, Wasps, and Bees. On the east
wall is a large case containing specimens and drawings explaining the
structure of Insects. On the west side, next the Walsingham collection,
are cabinets containing a selection of British Insects. Lower down are
other cabinets in the series of foreign Butterflies; while foreign
Moths and other Insects are arranged in adjacent cabinets. In another
part of the gallery are exhibited coloured drawings of a few of the
smallest Insects known, namely the _Mymaridæ_, a group of minute
parasitic Hymenoptera; and above is a drawing of a House-Fly, enlarged
in the same proportion--thirty diameters--to show the contrast. A few
specimens of the insects themselves are placed in the microscope below.
In the table-cases in the middle of the gallery are specimens and
illustrations of some of the principal families of Insects, with
explanations of the characters by which these may be recognised. The
first case (next to the west door) contains an introductory series, and
then follow the various orders in sequence commencing with the most
primitive forms or Aptera, among which _Campodea_, a small British
insect, may be specially noticed.
The classification of Butterflies, Bees and Ants, and Beetles is shown
in the last three cases; and attention may be specially directed to a
series of drawings illustrating the transformations of Fleas, Gnats,
Midges, etc.
The main collection of insects is kept in cabinets in the “Insect
Room” in the basement, but is open to students under the regulations
mentioned at the end of this guide.
[Sidenote: Reptile Gallery.[13]]
III. The long Reptile-gallery contains mounted specimens and skeletons
of Reptiles, including Crocodiles, Lizards, Snakes, and Tortoises,
as well as restorations or casts of the remains of many groups now
entirely extinct. The most noticeable specimen in this gallery is the
model of the skeleton of the gigantic extinct North American land
Reptile known as _Diplodocus carnegii_, which measures over eighty feet
in length, and was presented by Mr. Andrew Carnegie in 1905. Restored
models of the skeletons of the Iguanodon, a British Dinosaur, and of
the North American Horned Dinosaur (_Triceratops_) are also noteworthy.
[Illustration: FIG. 26.--SADDLE-BACKED TORTOISE (_Testudo abingdoni_),
OF ABINGDON ISLAND, GALAPAGOS GROUP.]
The Crocodiles and their extinct relatives occupy the cases on the
left of the entrance from the Bird-gallery and also a stand in the
middle of the gallery; and among these may be specially noticed the
Indian Gharial, of which both the skeleton and skin are exhibited.
The two small cases on each side of the west doorway are occupied by
extinct forms and the peculiar Tuatera Lizard of New Zealand. At the
south end of the east side are arranged the Turtles and Tortoises,
including examples of the Giant Tortoises of the Galapagos (fig. 26)
and Mascarene Islands, as well as a large species (_Testudo calcarata_)
from North Africa. Opposite the Turtles and Tortoises are the Snakes,
among which two large Pythons, coloured to nature, form attractive
exhibits. Extinct groups occupy a small case on each side of the east
door. Beyond these come the Lizards, which occupy the cases opposite
the Crocodiles. The series of Old World Monitor Lizards and American
Iguanas is specially noteworthy; and attention may be likewise directed
to the curious worm-like Amphisbænas, of which the majority inhabit
Tropical America. Casts of remains of the extinct marine Ichthyosaurs
and Plesiosaurs are shown in the small cases on the sides of the
doorway in the east wall.
[Illustration: FIG. 27.--THE HORNED FROG (_Ceratophrys cornutus_) OF
BRAZIL.]
[Sidenote: Amphibians (Salamanders and Frogs).]
In the Reptile-gallery is placed a large table-case containing a
selection of the more important forms of Amphibians, which are divided
into such as possess a tail:--Salamanders and Newts; and those without
tails:--Frogs and Toads. During some period of their existence most
of these animals live in the water, when they breathe by gills, and
are in this respect akin to Fishes. The comparatively enormous size
attained by certain tropical species of Frogs and Toads, such as the
South American Horned Frog (fig. 27), should be noticed. The largest
representative of the group is the Giant Salamander of Japan and China.
[Illustration: FIG. 28.--A SEA-LILY, THE LARVAL STAGE OF THE ROSY
FEATHER-STAR. (_Antedon rosacea_), much magnified. _a_, arms; _b_,
basals; _r_, radials; _s_, stalk.]
[Sidenote: Starfish Gallery.[14]]
IV. A small gallery is devoted to Starfishes and their allies
collectively constituting the class ECHINODERMA. Specimens of these
are arranged systematically in table-cases 1–24; and in case 36 are
specimens illustrating the anatomy of the skeleton, and models and
figures showing the remarkable changes undergone by these animals in
the course of their development. In a separate case on the east side
of the gallery is a case containing specimens of a large Starfish to
illustrate the variability in the number of rays from 4 to 7. In a
case on the opposite side is shown _Luidia savignei_ from Mauritius,
one of the largest of Starfishes. The Feather-stars (_Antedon_) are
also members of this group; but the most beautiful and remarkable
specimens in the gallery are the Sea-Lilies, or Crinoids, collected by
the “Challenger” Expedition. One specimen was found attached to an old
telegraph-wire taken up in the Caribbean Sea. These deep-sea Crinoids,
of which representatives, now extinct, were abundant in earlier periods
of the world’s history, are exhibited on tables in the corners of
the gallery, by cases 37 and 38. Some of the larval stages of the
Feather-stars (fig. 28) resemble stalked Crinoids.
The wall-cases contain representatives of the groups collectively known
as Worms. Case 1 contains the Tape-Worms or Cestoda, and the Flukes
or Trematoda, the life-history of a species of each being illustrated
by specimens, figures, and models. In case 2 the Round-Worms are
illustrated by models of _Trichina_, and the anatomical structure of
various other kinds is shown by the aid of diagrams. Case 3 contains
specimens of free-living terrestrial and marine Worms, Leeches, and
Gephyreans. Case 4 is devoted to specimens of Echinoderms preserved in
spirit, especially Holothurians, such as Trepangs or Sea-Cucumbers, the
Bêche-de-Mer of the French.
[Sidenote: Shell Gallery.[15]]
V. A large gallery is devoted to the great group of Shell-fish or
MOLLUSCA, the exhibition of which is, however, mainly restricted to
their shells. In some cases the form of the soft parts is, however,
shown either by specimens in spirit or by means of models.
In wall-cases on the west side of the gallery is a series of shells
arranged on tablets to show the leading structural types, such as
univalve, bivalve, multivalve, etc.; then the nature of the outer
coat, or “skin”; and, thirdly, some of the more striking styles of
ornamentation and colouring. Following these, a division is devoted
to the display of the general form of the shells of bivalves, special
attention being directed to the nature of the hinge by which the two
valves are joined. Fresh-water Mussels (_Unionidæ_) are selected as
examples of great variability in the form of the shell in closely
allied species. Near by is a small series of the shells of boring
bivalves, many in the various substances they perforate. Alongside are
shown in a similar manner modifications in form and structure presented
by Univalve or Gastropod shells; many of the shells having been cut
to show their internal structure. Specimens of the horny or shelly
plate (operculum) closing the mouth of many Gastropod shells are also
exhibited. In one compartment are displayed spirit-preparations of
Cephalopod Molluscs, such as Octopus, Cuttle-fish, Squids, Nautilus,
Argonaut or Paper-Nautilus, etc. Specimens of the horny beaks possessed
by all members of this class are also exhibited; and a Pearly Nautilus
(fig. 31), with the shell cut in two in order to show the air-chambers
and the comparatively small space occupied by the “animal,” will be
found of special interest. From the roof are suspended life-sized
models of a Giant Squid (_Architenthis_) and a Giant Octopus. The
Cephalopods were extraordinarily numerous in past ages, and many of the
fossil forms are exhibited in the Geological Department.
[Illustration: FIG. 29.--THE WHELK (_Buocinum undatum_), a Gastropod
Mollusc. _a_, siphon; _b_, foot; _c_, tentacles; _d_, eyes; _e_,
operculum.]
The main shell-collection is contained in four parallel rows of
table-cases, the arrangement commencing on the right as the gallery is
entered. The first two rows contain the marine forms of Gastropods--a
division which includes Snails, Slugs, Whelks (fig. 29), and all
those Molluscs which crawl upon the under surface of their bodies;
the Cowries, Cones, Volutes, Mitras, and Murexes forming some of the
most attractive groups. The two rows of cases on the left contain
Land-Shells, Bivalves, and Cephalopods. The Cockles, Oysters, Clams,
Piddocks, Teredos, Scallops, and Ark-Shells represent some of the
principal types of Bivalves, so called on account of their shells being
formed of two pieces or valves. A Giant Clam (fig. 30), at the S. end
of the gallery, weighs 310 lbs., and measures 36 inches in length.
[Illustration: FIG. 30.--LEFT VALVE OF THE GIANT CLAM (_Tridacna
gigantea_), a Bivalve Mollusc.]
[Illustration: FIG. 31.--THE PEARLY NAUTILUS (_Nautilus pompilius_).
_a_, body; _b_, funnel; _c_, eye; _d_, hood; _e_, tentacles; _f_,
muscle of attachment to the shell; _g_, siphuncle.]
[Sidenote: Sea-Mats, Lamp-shells, and Sea-squirts.]
In the same gallery are exhibited examples of three other groups of
marine organisms, respectively known as Polyzoa, Brachiopoda, and
Tunicata. The Polyzoa live in colonies, and include the so-called
Sea-Mat. They are often mistaken for sea-weeds, although in reality
they are animals of comparatively high organisation. The Brachiopods
have two shells like Bivalve Molluscs, but the valves are dorsal and
ventral--that is to say, back and front--instead of right and left.
One valve is frequently perforated, hence the name of “Lamp-shells,”
from a resemblance to an ancient Roman lamp. Sea-squirts, Tunicates,
or Ascidians, are worthy of the attention of the visitor on account of
their affinity with the Vertebrate stock, of which they may be regarded
as a degenerate type. It is in the larvæ or “Ascidian Tadpoles” that
the evidence of Vertebrate relationship is most conspicuous, as shown
by certain important characters in the nervous system, skeleton, and
respiratory organs.
A series of large shells occupies some of the space in the wall-cases,
among which attention may be directed to the thick and often handsomely
coloured Helmet-shells (_Cassis_), which, together with the pink
Queen-conch (_Strombus_), were formerly largely used in the now nearly
obsolete art of cameo-cutting. In addition to these, a selection
of British shells, and series of the eggs of Molluscs, as well as
specimens illustrating the formation of pearls, and other points
of special interest connected with Molluscs, are displayed. These
specimens include not only the Pearl-oyster, but some of the other
shells used in the mother-of-pearl trade.
WHALE-ROOM.
[Sidenote: Whale-Room.]
Approached by a staircase, leading down from the last (or western-most)
of the passages which connect the Bird-gallery with the Coral-gallery,
is a separate room in which are placed the specimens of Whales and
their relatives. For these, on account of their large size, no other
place could be found in the Museum; but the room has, unfortunately,
the disadvantage of being too small to display such large animals to
full advantage. It is also intersected by columns, which interfere with
the complete view of the larger specimens.
As it is almost impracticable to preserve the skins of the larger
species of Whales, owing to the oil with which they are saturated, the
exhibition of the characters of these animals is carried out by means
of their skeletons and artificial models of one side of the body.
Complete models, which are much better than actual skins, of many of
the smaller kinds, are shown. A general account of the structure and
classification of the Cetacea, as Whales are technically termed,
with reference to those exhibited in this gallery, will be found in a
Special Guide.[16]
[Sidenote: Fresh-water Dolphins.]
[Sidenote: Narwhal.]
On the left side of the entrance is a case containing a stuffed
specimen, a skeleton, and several skulls of the Susu, or Fresh-water
Dolphin (_Platanista gangetica_) of the rivers of India, and also of
the Dolphins of the Rio de la Plata (_Pontoporia blainvillei_) and of
the River Amazon (_Inia geoffroyensis_). Among the specimens fronting
the visitor as he enters the room, one of the most interesting, on
account of its remarkable dentition, is the Narwhal, or Sea-Unicorn.
It has only two teeth, which lie horizontally in the upper jaw. In the
female both remain permanently concealed within the bone of the jaw,
so that this sex is practically toothless; but in the male, while the
right tooth remains similarly concealed and rudimentary (as shown in
the specimen, by removal of part of the bone which covered it), the
left is immensely developed, attaining a length equal to that of half
the entire animal, and projecting horizontally from the head in the
form of a long, straight, tapering and pointed tusk, spirally grooved
on the surface. In rare cases, as in the skull exhibited near the
skeleton, both teeth are fully developed, and it is noticeable that in
such specimens the direction of the spiral is the same in both tusks.
[Sidenote: Sperm-Whale.]
To the right of the entrance is placed a specimen of the bony framework
of one of the most colossal of animals, the Cachalot, or Sperm-Whale
(_Physeter macrocephalus_), fig. 32, prepared from an old male cast
ashore near Thurso, on the north coast of Scotland, in July, 1863, on
the estate of Captain D. Macdonald, R.E., by whom it was presented to
the Museum. Upon one side of this skeleton has been built the model
of the external form of the animal. The Sperm-Whale is the principal
source of supply of sperm-oil and spermaceti: the former being obtained
by boiling the fat or blubber lying beneath the skin over the whole
body. The latter, in a liquid state at the ordinary temperature of the
living animal, is contained in cells which fill the immense cavity on
the top of the skull. This Whale, which feeds chiefly on Cephalopods
(Squids and Cuttle-fishes), but also on Fishes, is distributed
throughout the warm and temperate regions of the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans, and sometimes enters British waters.
In order to render this skeleton more instructive, the names have been
attached to the principal bones, thus enabling the visitor to trace at
a glance the extraordinary modification from the normal mammalian form
the huge skull of this species has undergone.
[Illustration: FIG. 32.--AN OLD MALE SPERM-WHALE OR CACHALOT. Skeleton
and outline of animal: _b_, nostril or blowhole; _p_, rudimentary
pelvic bone. Length of specimen 54 feet.]
[Sidenote: Whalebone Whales.]
Most of the largest Cetacea belong to the group called “Whalebone
Whales,” in which a series of horny plates termed “whalebone” grow
from the palate in place of teeth, and serve to strain the water taken
into the mouth from the small marine animals on which these Whales
subsist. A representative of this group is the skeleton of the Common
Rorqual or Fin-Whale (_Balænoptera musculus_) in the south-west portion
of the room. This Whale, which is sixty-eight feet long, was captured
in 1882 in the Moray Firth, Scotland. The flukes of the tail and the
back-fin were preserved with the skeleton and are placed above the
wall-case behind; the small pelvic bones, and a rudimentary nodule
representing the femur or thigh-bone, the only trace of the hind leg
of this gigantic animal, are also shown. The external form is modelled
in plaster. In front is a skeleton and half-model of the Black or
North Atlantic Right-Whale (_Balæna glacialis_ or _biscayensis_).
Below this skeleton is placed a lower jaw of the Greenland Right-Whale
(_Balæna mysticetus_), the species which formerly yielded most of the
“whalebone” of commerce, and also a miniature wooden model of the
entire animal, on the scale of one inch to the foot.
Remains of extinct Cetaceans--notably the solid bony beaks of the
skulls of Beaked Whales (_Ziphiidæ_) from the Red Crag of the east
coast of England--are placed in this gallery. A special table-case,
near the Sperm-Whale, shows the curious ear-bones of various Cetaceans,
both recent and fossil. These bones are perfectly sufficient for the
identification of the kind of Whale from which they were taken. In
a case on the opposite side of the gallery is displayed the horny
wart, termed by sailors the “bonnet,” found on the nose of the Black
Right-Whale.
FIRST FLOOR.
The upper floors of the wings of the Museum consist merely of single
galleries extending along the whole front of the building; for the
galleries which run backwards on the ground floor form only a single
storey.
[Illustration: BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY).
First Floor.
Second Floor.]
[Sidenote: Lower Mammal Gallery.]
The Lower Mammal-Gallery is entered from the western corridor of
the central hall. Together with the adjacent corridor, it contains
the greater part of the exhibited series of recent Mammals, with
the exception of the Cetacea, Sirenia, and Proboscidea, which are
downstairs, and the orders Primates, Chiroptera, Insectivora, and
Rodentia, which are in the upper gallery. As three special guides[17]
are devoted to these galleries, a very brief notice will serve on
this occasion. Both stuffed specimens and skulls and skeletons are
exhibited, although the former constitute by far the greater portion of
the series. A few remains of extinct types, or plaster reproductions
of the same, are introduced here and there; and photographs of
living animals are hung on the walls, where will also be found some
instructive series showing the modifications assumed by the teeth
of certain groups. Wherever possible, the horns and antlers of the
Ruminants, as well as the horns of the Rhinoceroses, are placed in
juxtaposition to the animals to which they respectively belong.
[Illustration: FIG. 33.--THE PLATYPUS OR DUCK-BILL (_Ornithorhynchus
anatinus_).]
[Illustration: FIG. 34.--THE YELLOW-BELLIED PANGOLIN (_Manis
tricuspis_) in a characteristic attitude.]
[Sidenote: Ruminants, etc.]
The series commences on the right side of the gallery with the lowest
forms. Down the middle is a row of large Mammals, comprising various
Deer, Seals, and Rhinoceroses. On the right of the entrance a small
case contains the Australian Platypus or Duck-bill (fig. 33) and the
Echidnas of Australia and New Guinea, which lay eggs, and are the
lowest of all living Mammals. In the adjacent bay are the Marsupials,
such as Kangaroos, Phalangers, or so-called Opossums, Wombats, and
Bandicoots of Australasia, and the true Opossums of America. The eighth
and ninth bays on the left side contain the so-called Edentate Mammals,
such as the South American Sloths, Ant-eaters, and Armadillos, the
Scaly Ant-eaters or Pangolins (fig. 34) of tropical Asia and Africa,
and the African Aard-Vark or Ant-Bear. The Sea-Cows, as represented by
the Dugong, the Manatee, and the recently extinct Rhytina of Bering
Island, are shown in the Geological Department. In the second bay are
the Pigs and Hippopotamuses; in the third the Camels, and near by the
Chevrotains, or Mouse-Deer. Following these are the Deer (_Cervidæ_),
many of which, as already stated, are placed in the middle line of the
gallery. Properly speaking, the Giraffes and their recent and extinct
allies, the former represented by the Okapi of Central Africa (fig.
14, p. 41), should come here; but, as already mentioned, it has been
found convenient to remove the Giraffe group into the east corridor of
the central hall. In one of the cases in the bays stands the Prongbuck
or Pronghorn Antelope (fig. 35), the sole living representative of a
family characterised by the circumstance that the horns have hollow
branched sheaths which are shed annually. Next in order come the
Antelopes, a large number of which are placed in the corridors outside
the gallery. This series, it may be remarked, is particularly fine,
and, in fact, unique. At the last two bays on the right side of the
gallery the visitor reaches the Goats; and in the “pavilion,” at the
west end of the gallery, he comes to the Sheep, Musk-Oxen, and Oxen, of
which there is a magnificent display, both as regards mounted specimens
and horns. Many of the cases in the middle of the gallery and the bays
have been fitted with artificial groundwork, one of the most striking
being the European Reindeer case, for which the materials were brought
from Norway.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.--PRONGBUCK OR PRONGHORN ANTELOPE (_Antilocapra
americana_).]
Continuing our survey down the left side of the gallery, the bay next
the pavilion and an adjacent case in the middle line contain the
Zebras, Wild Asses and the Wild Horse, among which is a specimen of
the extinct Quagga. Following this are the Rhinoceroses and Tapirs,
some of the former being exhibited in the middle of the gallery. Adult
specimens of all the living species except the one-horned _Rhinoceros
sondaicus_ of Java are exhibited. The cut (fig. 36) shows the form of
the head and the number of the horns in three members of the group.
[Illustration: FIG. 36.--HEADS OF THE WHITE RHINOCEROS (_Rhinoceros
simus, a_), BLACK RHINOCEROS (_R. bicornis, b_), AND GREAT INDIAN
RHINOCEROS (_R. unicornis, c_).]
[Sidenote: Hyraxes.]
In a small case by themselves are exhibited the Hyraxes, which
represent a subordinal group of Ungulates. In this place should come
the Elephants (Proboscidea), but it has been found advisable to
exhibit the existing species of this group alongside their extinct
relatives in the Geological Department, and in the central hall.
[Illustration: FIG. 37.--MALE AND FEMALE OF THE NORTHERN FUR-SEAL, OR
SEA-BEAR (_Otaria ursina_).]
[Illustration: FIG. 38.--MALE ELEPHANT-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT (_Mirounga
leonina_).]
Next in order follow the Seals, Walruses, and Sea-Bears (fig. 37); and
after these again, the land Carnivora. Among the former, particular
attention may be directed to the specimens of Sea-Elephants or
Elephant-Seals (fig. 38) of the Southern Seas and the Pacific coast of
California. The visitor should also notice the various smaller southern
Seals, obtained during the “Discovery” Expedition, in the case in the
bay. Among the land Carnivora, special interest attaches to the huge
Brown Bear from Alaska, the black and white Bear-like Great Panda (fig.
39) of North-eastern China, and the case of Tigers, in which both the
long-haired Manchurian and the short-coated Indian race are shown.
[Illustration: FIG. 39.--GREAT PANDA (_Æluropus melanoleucus_).]
SECOND FLOOR.
[Sidenote: Upper Mammal Gallery.]
The portion open to the public of the gallery on this floor in the
western wing of the building contains such of the Mammalian orders
(apart from Proboscidea, Cetacea, and Sirenia) as are not shown in the
lower gallery. In the first two wall-cases on the right on entering
the gallery is displayed a series of Bats, some stuffed, and others
in spirit. In the third wall-case are the Insect-eating Mammals
(Insectivora), such as Shrew-mice, Moles, Hedgehogs, etc. Next come the
Rodents, and then the Lemurs, Monkeys, and Apes, the greater number
of the last being exhibited in the large case in the middle of the
gallery. Among the more striking specimens may be mentioned the series
of Gorillas (fig. 40) and Chimpanzees, and the Proboscis and Snub-nosed
Monkeys.
Nearly all the left side of this gallery is devoted to Anthropology,
that is to say, to the representation of the zoological characters
of the different races of Mankind[18]; the series including busts,
skeletons, skulls, hair, and portraits.
[Illustration: FIG. 40.--THE GORILLA (_Anthropopithecus gorilla_).]
At the west end of the portion of this gallery open to the public
stands a case exhibiting many of the structural differences
distinguishing the man-like Apes from Man himself; and also showing
different types of human skulls and the method of measuring the same.
On the adjacent screens and partitions are diagrams, photographs, and
sketches illustrating hand and finger prints, and identification by
means of the latter.
EAST WING.
GROUND FLOOR.
[Sidenote: Fossil Collection.]
The ground floor of this wing consists, as on the other side of the
building, of a gallery running west and east the whole length of the
wing in front, of a smaller parallel gallery behind this, and leading
from the latter a series of galleries running north and south. With
the exception of a certain number of recent skeletons introduced for
comparison, and some of the specimens of Elephants and Sirenians or
Sea-Cows, the whole of this floor is occupied by the collection of the
remains of animals and plants which flourished in geological periods
previous to the one in which we are now living. Some of these belong
to species still existing upon the earth, but the great majority are
extinct. They are arranged mainly upon zoological principles, that is,
the groups which are believed to have natural affinities are placed
together; but within some of the great divisions thus mapped out,
especially of the Invertebrata and Plants, it has been found convenient
to adopt a stratigraphical or even geographical grouping, the fossils
of different geological formations being kept apart, and those of the
British Isles separated from those of foreign localities.
This portion of the Museum is more fully described in the special
Guides[19] than is possible in the present work.
[Sidenote: Elephants, Sea-Cows, and Extinct Mammals.]
The front gallery, entered from the central hall, is devoted to
Elephants and Sea-Cows, both living and extinct, and to extinct and
fossil Mammals of other groups. Down the middle are placed a number of
large and striking objects, of too great size to be contained in the
wall-cases. The first is a nearly complete skeleton of the American
Mastodon (fig. 41), an animal closely allied to modern Elephants,
from which it is chiefly distinguished by the characters of its
cheek-teeth. This is followed by a skeleton of the existing Indian
Elephant (_Elephas maximus_), and the mounted skin of a tuskless male
of the same species, brought home from India by His Majesty King
Edward VII., when Prince of Wales. Further down the gallery is the
skull of the extinct _E. ganesa_--remarkable for the immense length
of its tusks--from the Siwalik Hills of India; and another of the
Mammoth (_E. primigenius_), with huge curved tusks, in a perfect state
of preservation, found in the Brick-earth at Ilford, Essex.[20] Then
follow skeletons of the great extinct Irish Deer (_Cervus giganteus_),
male and female, the former distinguished by its magnificent spreading
antlers, resembling those of a Fallow Deer on a large scale.
[Illustration: FIG. 41.--SKELETON OF THE AMERICAN MASTODON (_Mastodon
americanus_). Greatly reduced.]
The next central case is occupied by the skulls and portions of jaws of
a remarkable horned hoofed quadruped, _Arsinoïtherium_ (fig. 42), from
the Upper Eocene of the Fayum, Egypt. It belongs to an ancient group
not closely related to any living animal.
[Illustration: FIG. 42.--SKULL of _Arsinoïtherium zitteli_, from the
Upper Eocene Strata of the Fayum, Egypt. About 1/12th natural size.]
Equally peculiar is the _Toxodon_ (fig. 43) from the Pampas of S.
America, of which a model of an entire skeleton is exhibited.
[Illustration: FIG. 43.--SKELETON OF THE TOXODON (_Toxodon platensis_).
From the Pampas Formation of Argentina. About 1/18th natural size.]
Near by is placed a model of a skeleton of the _Dinoceras_ (fig. 44),
one of the most remarkable of the many wonderful forms of animal life
discovered in the Tertiary beds of the western portion of the United
States of America. This animal combines in some respects the characters
of a Rhinoceros with those of an Elephant, and has others altogether
special to itself. The group to which it belonged became extinct in the
Oligocene, or Middle Tertiary, period, without leaving any successors.
[Illustration: FIG. 44.--SKELETON OF DINOCERAS. From the Eocene of
Wyoming, U.S.A. One-thirtieth natural size.]
[Sidenote: Sea-Cows.]
Near the pavilion is a skeleton (fig. 45) of an interesting animal, the
Northern Sea-Cow (_Rhytina gigas_ or _stelleri_), the last resort of
which was Bering Island in the North Pacific, where it was completely
exterminated towards the close of the eighteenth century. In the
same case is placed the skeleton of a smaller allied animal, the
_Halitherium_, from the Oligocene of South Germany. These, with their
existing representatives, the Manatee and Dugong, constitute the order
Sirenia, aquatic Mammals of fish-like form, presenting considerable
external resemblance to Cetacea (Whales and Dolphins), but differing in
many points of structure and habit. All the exhibited specimens of the
group, both living and extinct, are shown in this gallery.
[Sidenote: Fossil remains of Man.]
The wall-cases on the south side (right on entering) contain typical
series of chipped and polished flint implements of human workmanship,
and also remains of Man found, under circumstances which may justify
the appellation of “fossil,” in caves or Pleistocene deposits,
associated with the bones of Mammals either completely or locally
extinct. Then follow in systematic order the bones and teeth of the
other Primates, the Carnivora, Ungulata, and Sirenia.
[Illustration: FIG. 45.--SKELETON OF THE NORTHERN SEA-COW (_Rhytina
gigas_ or _stelleri_). From Bering Island. Length of specimen, 19 feet
6 inches.]
[Sidenote: Elephants and Ruminants.]
The greater part of the north side of the gallery is devoted to the
exhibition of the remains of Proboscidea (Dinotheres, Mastodons, and
Elephants), as well as teeth and skulls of the two existing species
of Elephants. The forerunners of the Proboscidea from the Eocene
strata of Egypt, as represented by _Palæomastodon_ and _Mœritherium_,
are of special interest. Attention may likewise be directed to the
skull of the gigantic Ruminant _Sivatherium_ (fig. 46), from the
Siwalik deposits of Northern India, an ally of the living African
Okapi (p. 41), with which it is connected by _Helladotherium_ of the
Grecian Tertiary deposits; another still more nearly allied type being
_Samotherium_, from the Isle of Samos, of which a skull (fig. 47) is
exhibited.
[Illustration: FIG. 46.--SKULL OF _Sivatherium giganteum_, an Extinct
Ruminant from the Pliocene Deposits of the Siwalik Hills, India. About
1/13th natural size.]
[Sidenote: Edentates.]
In the “pavilion,” or large room at the end of the gallery, are
skeletons and bones of the members of the order Edentata, mostly from
South America, including fine specimens of the great Ground-Sloths, the
largest of which, the _Megatherium_, is shown in the act of rearing
itself on its hind-legs and powerful tail to seize and tear down the
branches of a tree in order to feed upon the leaves. That this was the
habit of this huge animal is clearly indicated by the structure of
its bones and teeth. The mounted specimen is not an actual skeleton,
but is composed of plaster-casts of the real bones, most of which are
shown in the wall-case at the north side of the room. Of the _Mylodon_,
a smaller but nearly allied animal, an almost perfect skeleton is
exhibited in a glass case near the _Megatherium_. Near by is a portion
of the skin of a closely similar animal (_Grypotherium listai_), from
a cave in Patagonia, showing the hair, and also the nodules of bone
embedded in the hide.
[Sidenote: Marsupials.]
Not far off is shown one of the glyptodons, huge extinct
Armadillo-like animals, of which the body is enclosed in a solid
barrel-like bony case. As these animals far surpassed in size their
diminutive existing representatives, so the gigantic Marsupials of the
corresponding period in Australia (Pleistocene, or latest Tertiary),
such as _Diprotodon_ and _Nototherium_, greatly exceeded any of the
species now existing on that continent; of _Diprotodon_ a complete
skeleton is exhibited. On the other hand, all the Mammals of the
earlier geological periods of which remains are known are of diminutive
size, as seen in the series of jaws, teeth, etc., mostly from the
Purbeck (Upper Oolite) beds of Dorset and the Stonesfield Slate (Great
Oolite) of Oxfordshire, exhibited in the centre window-case on the east
side of the room.
[Illustration: FIG. 47.--SKULL OF _Samotherium boissieri_, an Extinct
Okapi-like Ruminant from the Pliocene Strata of Samos. About ⅙th
natural size.]
[Sidenote: Extinct Birds.]
The south side of this room (right on entering) is chiefly reserved
for the remains of extinct Birds, including the famous Lizard-tailed
Bird (_Archæopteryx_) of the Solenhofen beds of Bavaria (fig. 48),
the oldest known member of the class. Although presenting many
Reptile-like characters, it had well-developed feathers on the wings
and tail, the impressions of which are beautifully preserved in the
specimen. A series of skeletons of the “Moas,” or _Dinornithidæ_, of
New Zealand, birds in which no trace of a wing has been discovered,
shows the diversity in size of different members of the group, some
far exceeding any existing Ostrich, while others are scarcely larger
than a good-sized Turkey. Some of these remains are so recent as still
to be covered with dried skin, and even feathers. Several eggs are
also shown; but, large as these are, they are greatly exceeded in
size by those of the Roc (_Æpyornis_) from Madagascar. The skull and
certain other remains of a gigantic extinct bird, _Phororhachos_, from
Patagonia are also shown in this room. These birds appear to have been
allied to the existing South American Seriema.
[Illustration:
FIG. 48.--SKELETON AND IMPRESSIONS OF THE FEATURES OF THE
LIZARD-TAILED BIRD (_Archæopteryx macrura_), FROM THE UPPER
JURASSIC (LITHOGRAPHIC STONE) OF SOLENHOFEN, BAVARIA. About ¼th
natural size.
]
[Illustration: FIG. 49.--SKELETON OF THE IGUANODON (_Iguanodon
bernissartensis_), a Biped Dinosaur from the Wealden of Belgium. About
1/80th natural size.]
[Sidenote: Extinct Reptiles.]
The long corridor north of the fossil Mammal-gallery contains a fine
assemblage of Reptilian remains. The south side is devoted to the Great
Sea-Lizards (Sauropterygia and Ichthyopterygia), mostly from the Lias
formation. The skeleton of an Ichthyosaur from the Lias is shown in
fig. 50. Skeletons of Plesiosaurians and Pliosaurians from the Oxford
Clay are mounted in central cases. Ranged in the cases on the north
side are remains of the gigantic Dinosaurs, which vastly exceeded in
size any other land-animals. A mounted plaster cast of a complete
skeleton of the Iguanodon (fig. 49), found (with many others) in the
Wealden strata at Bernissart in Belgium, is exhibited in the gallery
of recent Reptiles; but a large series of bones of the same reptile is
shown here.
[Illustration: FIG. 50.--SKELETON OF AN ICHTHYOSAUR (_Ichthyosaurus
tenuirostris_). From the Lias of Somersetshire. About 1/10th natural
size.]
In the centre of this gallery is placed a large portion of the skeleton
of a gigantic Dinosaur (_Cetiosaurus leedsi_) from the Upper Jurassic
Oxford Clay near Peterborough. It is nearly allied to the North
American _Diplodocus_, of which, as mentioned on page 57, the model of
a complete skeleton is exhibited in the recent Reptile Gallery. Both
_Cetiosaurus_ and _Diplodocus_ resemble _Brontosaurus_ (fig. 51) in
the extremely small size of the skull. Another central case contains
an actual skull and other remains of the American Cretaceous horned
Dinosaur _Triceratops_ (see page 57), and in wall-case 8 is placed a
plaster cast of the skull of the contemporary _Tyrannosaurus_, the
largest known carnivorous Dinosaur.
At the eastern end of the gallery are the Pterosauria or Ornithosauria,
commonly called Pterodactyles or Flying Reptiles. Their most gigantic
representatives were the species of _Pteranodon_ from the Upper
Cretaceous of Kansas (fig. 53). At the west end is the nearly complete
skeleton of _Pariasaurus_ (fig. 52) from the Karoo formation (Trias)
of South Africa. It occurs also in Russia, and belongs to a primitive
section of the Theromorphs, or Anomodonts, which include the ancestors
of Mammals.
[Illustration: FIG. 51.--SKELETON OF _Brontosaurus ingens_, A
FOUR-FOOTED DINOSAUR FROM THE JURASSIC FORMATION OF N. AMERICA. 1/150
natural size.]
[Illustration: FIG. 52.--SKELETON OF PARIASAURUS. About 1/14th natural
size.]
[Sidenote: Extinct Fishes.]
Of the galleries running northwards from the Fossil Reptile gallery,
the one nearest to the central hall is used for the display of the
Fossil Fishes, many belonging to groups now extinct. Perhaps the most
remarkable of all, and certainly most unlike existing forms, are the
armoured Devonian Fishes known as _Cephalaspis_, _Pterichthys_ (fig.
54), etc. The well-preserved fishes from the Chalk are especially
noteworthy, and a specimen of _Portheus_ in a central case, 14 feet in
length, is one of the largest bony fishes known.
[Illustration:
FIG. 53.--A GIANT PTERODACTYLE (_Pteranodon occidentalis_) FROM THE
CRETACEOUS OF KANSAS. (Original span about 18 feet.) Compare the
wing, which is supported by the outermost finger, with that of
the Bat in Fig. 8.
]
[Sidenote: Extinct Invertebrates and Plants.]
The next gallery contains the Cephalopods, a group of Molluscs
abounding in extinct species, of which the Belemnites, Turrilites (fig.
55), and Ammonites (fig. 56) are some of the best-known. The form and
structure of their nearest living representatives, the various species
of Cuttle-fishes, Squids, Argonauts, and Nautilus (fig. 31, page 62)
are illustrated by models, drawings, and specimens placed near the
entrance of the gallery and along the top-line of the wall-cases. The
third gallery contains the remaining Mollusca, with the Brachiopoda,
Polyzoa, Echinoderma, Worms, and Crustacea; the fourth, the Corals,
Sponges, Protozoa, and Fossil Plants. In these last two galleries most
of the British specimens are placed in the table-cases, and those of
foreign origin in the cases round the walls.
Among numerous other groups which cannot be mentioned, great interest
attaches to the Trilobites (fig. 57) of the Palæozoic epoch, which
are related to the modern King-Crabs and also have affinity with the
Scorpions.
Very extensive is the collection of Fossil Plants from the
Coal-Measures, among which _Lepidodendron_ and _Sigillaria_, as well as
numerous kinds of fern-like leaves, are among the most common.
[Illustration: FIG. 54.--UPPER (_A_) AND LOWER (_B_) SURFACES OF
PTERICHTHYS, AN ARMOURED DEVONIAN FISH.]
[Sidenote: Historical Collections.]
The table-cases of the end gallery contain certain special collections
of historical interest, either from the circumstances under which
they were formed, or the manner in which they came into possession
of the Museum, or from their containing a large number of type
specimens described and figured in various publications. Hence it has
been considered undesirable to break up and disperse these among the
general collection. They include the original collection formed by
William Smith, the pioneer of geology in this country, the Searles Wood
collection of Crag Mollusca, the Edwards collection of Eocene Mollusca,
the Davidson collection of Brachiopoda, the types of Sowerby’s “Mineral
Conchology,” and lastly, but not least in interest, specimens from the
collection of Sir Hans Sloane, which formed part of the nucleus of the
British Museum.
[Illustration: FIG. 55.--A TURRILITE, FROM THE CHALK.]
[Illustration: FIG. 56.--AN AMMONITE, FROM THE OÖLITE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 57.--A TRILOBITE, FROM THE LOWER CAMBRIAN OF
SHROPSHIRE.]
[Sidenote: British Stratigraphical Collection.]
In the wall-cases on the west side of this gallery is exhibited a
stratigraphical collection, showing a series of rock-specimens, often
with their included fossil remains, representing the various geological
formations of the British Isles; they are arranged in the order of
their sequence in time, commencing near the entrance door with the most
recent, and gradually passing down to the most ancient fossil-bearing
strata. Along the top of the case is displayed a running section of all
the water-formed rocks of England in the order of their succession,
each bed being distinctively coloured, and named to correspond with
the actual specimens placed beneath. The stratigraphical collection is
followed by some illustrations of rock-formation, and certain curious
rock-structures simulating fossils. On the east side are exhibited
additional specimens of marine Reptiles from the Lias and a series
of footprints of Reptiles from the Trias of N. America, the New Red
Sandstone of England, etc.
FIRST FLOOR.
[Sidenote: Gallery of Minerals.]
The gallery on this floor, entered from the south end of the east
corridor of the hall, contains the extensive Mineral collections, a
fuller description of which will be found in special guides.[21]
[Sidenote: Introductory Collections.]
Entering the gallery the visitor will find, in the first window-case
on the left-hand side, a series of specimens selected and labelled
to serve as an introduction to the study of Minerals. Beginning with
a definition of what is meant by a Mineral, it shows how essential
characters were gradually recognised, and how Minerals are distributed
into kinds and classified. In the next three window-cases specimens are
arranged to illustrate the characters of Minerals and the various terms
used in their description.
[Sidenote: Rocks.]
In the remaining six window-cases on the same side of the gallery, a
corresponding series of specimens illustrative of the characters and
classification of Rocks is exhibited; and the eleven window-cases on
the opposite side contain a collection illustrating the various kinds
of Rocks.[22]
[Sidenote: General Collection of Minerals.]
In the table-cases of the gallery are exhibited specimens of every
important Mineral species and variety preserved in the Museum. The
cases containing this general collection are numbered from 1 to 41, and
the eight panes of each case are severally distinguished by the letters
_a_ to _h_. For the use of the student there is published an Index to
the names of all the numerous Mineral species and varieties represented
in the collection, with references to the table-cases in which the
specimens are placed.[23]
The system of classification, which includes not only ores, but all
known Minerals, is not easy for the visitor to follow, and it is
therefore convenient to indicate the positions in the gallery of
those minerals--as, for instance, precious and ornamental stones, and
metallic ores--which have an interest for all; for details, reference
must be made to the Mineral Guide. Most of these Minerals occur
as crystals, the forms of which can be referred to six systems of
crystallisation.
[Illustration: FIG. 58.--THE COLENSO DIAMOND, FROM SOUTH AFRICA.
NATURAL SIZE.]
[Sidenote: Native Elements.]
I. In cases 1 and 2 are the native metals, as Copper, Silver, Gold,
and Platinum; and non-metals, as Sulphur, Diamond, and Graphite. The
large symmetrical South African “Colenso” Diamond (fig. 58), weighing
130 carats, presented by the late Professor John Ruskin, is worthy of
special attention (case 1f). Models of some famous diamonds, including
“The Cullinan Diamond,” the largest ever found (weight before being
cut, 3025¾ carats, or about 1⅓ lb. av.) are exhibited.
[Sidenote: Sulphides.]
II. The next six cases contain Minerals which have mostly a metallic
lustre and consist of metals in chemical combination with elements of
the Sulphur or Arsenic groups.
Argentite (3d) is an important Silver-ore, containing 87 per cent. of
Silver and 13 of Sulphur.
Blende (4b) is a valuable Zinc-ore, and contains 67 per cent. of Zinc
and 33 per cent. of Sulphur.
Galena (4e) is by far the most important ore of Lead (Lead 87, Sulphur
13, per cent.).
Copper-glance (3e) is a common ore of Copper (Copper 80, Sulphur 20,
per cent.).
Cinnabar (3h) is the ore from which Mercury or Quicksilver is obtained
(Mercury 86, Sulphur 14, per cent.).
Pyrites (5d), one of the most common of Minerals, is a compound of Iron
and Sulphur (Iron 47, Sulphur 53, per cent.).
Erubescite (5e), Copper pyrites (5f), and Tetrahedrite, or Grey
Copper-ore (7a), are valuable sources of Copper. [Sidenote: Chlorides,
etc.]
III. Common Salt, the chloride of the metal Sodium, is exhibited in
case 8f, and Fluor-spar, a fluoride of Calcium belonging to the same
division, begins at case 7e.
[Sidenote: Oxides.]
IV. The next division consists of compounds of Oxygen and includes most
of the stony Minerals.
Cuprite (10a), an important ore of Copper (Copper 89, Oxygen 11, per
cent.), is at first ruby-red in colour, but becomes blackened by
exposure to light.
Spinel (10e), in its transparent varieties, is one of the precious
stones; the deep red being the Spinel Ruby (less dense and less hard
than the true Ruby), the rose-tinted the Balas Ruby, and the yellow or
orange-red the Rubicelle of the jewellers: sometimes, it has a dark
blue colour. On account of their hardness, the less valuable specimens
are used for the jewelling of watches.
Magnetite, or Magnetic Iron-ore (10f), the richest ore of Iron, of
which it contains 72 per cent., is the natural magnet.
Uraninite, or Pitchblende (10h), consists mainly of Uranium and Oxygen,
but contains traces of Helium and Radium, of which latter it is the
commercial source.
Chrysoberyl (9e) is another precious stone, almost equal in lustre and
hardness to the Sapphire; one variety is a beautiful greenish-yellow;
another, with a peculiar play of light, is the Cat’s-eye; and a third,
green by sunlight, but red by candle- or lamp-light, is known as
Alexandrite.
Corundum (9f), when clear and of the proper colour, is, after the
Diamond, the most precious of stones. When pure, it is colourless, but
with minute traces of colouring ingredient it assumes the richest and
most varied hues; when red it is Ruby, and when blue Sapphire; the
yellow, green, and purple varieties were at one time known respectively
as the Oriental Topaz, Emerald, and Amethyst. The prefix “Oriental”
was at first used to suggest that the stones are not ordinary Topaz,
Emerald, and Amethyst, but other similarly coloured minerals coming
from the East (India, Ceylon, Siam, Pegu, etc.); it was afterwards
understood to suggest only the excellence of their characters. The
Star-stone, another variety of Corundum, when placed in a strong light
shows a six-rayed star.
Hæmatite (11a) is a valuable ore of iron (Iron 70, Oxygen 30, per
cent.).
Cassiterite, or Tin-stone (11f), is the ore of Tin, of which metal it
contains 79 per cent.
Zircon (13b), when clear and without flaws, is one of the precious
stones: one variety with peculiar red tints is the Hyacinth or Jacynth,
while the colourless, yellowish, and dull green phases are termed
Jargoon: the colourless variety, owing to its high refractive and
dispersive power, approaches the Diamond in brilliancy.
Quartz, which is Silica, the oxide of Silicon, is the most common of
Minerals. In its clear and transparent variety it is the Crystal of
the ancients and the Rock-Crystal of modern times; it is the Brazilian
Pebble of spectacle-makers (14c). After the clear come the smoky
varieties, including the Scotch Cairngorm and Occidental Topaz (14g).
Next follows the Amethyst (14g), one of the less valuable, though one
of the most beautiful, of gem stones. The Quartz Cat’s-eye (13f) is a
variety presenting a similar play of light to that of the Chrysoberyl
Cat’s-eye already referred to: the effect is due to enclosed fibres
of an Asbestos-like mineral in the specimens from Ceylon, and to
fibres of Crocidolite in the blue, and of altered Crocidolite in the
brownish-yellow specimens from South Africa.
Jasper (13g) is a coloured mixture of Silica and Clay, distinguished
from ordinary Quartz by its opacity and dull earthy fracture. It is of
various colours, chiefly red, brown, yellow, and green; the colours
being arranged sometimes in a nodular form, as in Egyptian Jasper, at
other times in stripes, as in Riband Jasper.
The Lydian or Touch-stone (15a), by reason of its hardness and black
colour, has been used from remote ages to test the purity of precious
metals.
Hornstone (15a) is a variety of Silica without evident
crystallisation, and generally presenting a more or less splintery
fracture; in one kind, Flint (15b), the surface of fracture is
generally shell-shaped (conchoidal), sometimes conical, as is well
shown by specimens in the case.
Chalcedony (15b), which has a lustre nearly that of wax, is
translucent. The specimens of Enhydros from Uruguay (15d) are of
especial interest as containing imprisoned water.
Heliotrope, or Bloodstone (16a), is a green stone with red, blood-like
spots.
Next follow the Plasma and Chrysoprase, which are green stones: and the
Sard, generally brownish-red; as also the Sardonyx, its banded variety.
All were much prized by the ancients because, though hard and tough
enough to resist ordinary wear and tear, they are more suited to the
display of the engraver’s skill than the still harder and more precious
stones.
Then come the Agates (16b), chiefly formed of thin layers of porous
Chalcedony of different colours, though the material of many of the
white layers is a compact Semi-opal. Most are now brought from Uruguay,
in South America, and cut and polished at Oberstein, in Germany, where
in former times Agates were collected in quantity from the mountains of
the district. Sometimes the layers are parallel, and the stone is then
an Onyx, useful as a material for cameos: or the bands of a section
are arranged in parallel sets of zigzag lines, and the stone is then
called a Fortification-agate; but in the ordinary agate the layers are
variously curved. Moss-agates, or Mocha-stones (16e), are varieties of
Chalcedony enclosing moss-like forms of oxides of Manganese and Iron,
and green earthy Chlorite. Carnelian (16e) is a beautiful red stone
much valued by the engraver: its fracture has a peculiar waxy lustre,
and is distinct from that of the Sard, which is dull and horn-like.
Opal, including the Precious or Noble Opal (16f), among the specimens
of which is a fine suite from Queensland presented by the late
Professor Story-Maskelyne, is hydrated Silica.
[Sidenote: Carbonates.]
Witherite, the carbonate of Barium (18a), is used in the manufacture
of plate-glass. Strontianite (18b), the carbonate of Strontium, is one
of two minerals from which Strontium nitrate is made for use in the
manufacture of fireworks, owing to the fine crimson colour which the
salt gives to the flame: the Strontium minerals are also employed in
connection with sugar-refining. Cerussite (18b) is the corresponding
carbonate of Lead, and when abundant is a valuable ore of that metal.
Calcite (18e), a carbonate of the metal Calcium, is represented by
a fine suite of specimens, illustrating an almost endless variety
of crystalline form. The clear variety from Iceland is largely used
in optical instruments for polarising light. Chalybite, or Spathic
Iron-ore (20h), is the carbonate of Iron, and a valuable ore of that
metal. The most important English Iron-ore, Clay Ironstone, is a
mixture of Chalybite and Clay. Calamine (19h), a carbonate of Zinc,
is an important Zinc-ore. Chessylite (21d) and Malachite (22b) are
respectively the blue and green carbonates of Copper, and are used as
ores of that metal. Malachite is found in large masses; by reason of
the high polish which it takes and its beautiful markings, it is much
used for ornamental work of various kinds.
[Sidenote: Silicates.]
Passing to the Silicates, we come to Olivine (22f), one of the less
hard of the precious stones; when of a yellow colour it is known as
Chrysolite, while the green variety is the Peridot of jewellers.
Hiddenite (23a) is a rare emerald-green variety of Spodumene, and
Kunzite is a lilac-coloured variety which is used as a gem stone.
Asbestos (24c), a kind of Hornblende (a mineral common in rocks of
igneous origin), is found in long fibres; in some of its varieties it
is so flexible that it can be woven into gloves and other articles. The
term Asbestos, meaning unquenched or unquenchable, was applied by the
ancient Greeks, because, owing to being unaltered by heat, wicks made
of this mineral were used in maintaining the perpetual sacred fires of
their temples. Napkins of Asbestos were cleaned by being thrown into
the fire; Asbestos-cloth was also used in the process of cremation to
keep the ashes of the body distinct from those of the fuel. It is now
employed for lining iron-safes, packing for steam-pipes and boilers,
and in gas-stoves, for which purposes its low conductivity for heat
renders it serviceable.
Jade or Nephrite (24d), a valued mineral, belongs to the same group as
Hornblende. The various shades of colour and the beautiful polish which
this tough mineral will take are illustrated by specimens in the case.
Several worked specimens from New Zealand and China are exhibited. An
immense water-worn mass, weighing 1156 lb., found some years ago in
Asiatic Russia, is mounted on a separate stand near by.
Meerschaum (23g), the light soft porous mineral used for tobacco-pipes,
is a hydrated silicate of Magnesium. Serpentine (25a) is another
hydrated Magnesium-silicate: the ease with which it is worked and
polished, its green colour, and varied markings render it much sought
after as a material for mantel-pieces, tables, and other indoor work:
exposed to the weather it soon loses its polish.
Topaz (25c) in its clear varieties is one of the precious stones. The
crystals from the Urulga river, Siberia, are remarkably fine, and of a
delicate brown colour; they are kept covered, as the action of light
slowly bleaches them. The yellow crystals from Brazil assume a peculiar
pink colour when heated, and are then known to jewellers as Burnt or
Pink Topaz. A fine orange-red crystal from Brazil is exhibited.
Garnet also belongs to the group of precious stones; when the red is
tinged with violet, the stone is the Almandine or Syrian Garnet (named
after Syriam in Pegu), and when cut _en cabochon_, the Carbuncle of
jewellery (26f); the Cinnamon-stone or Hessonite varies in tint from
hyacinth-red to honey-yellow (26e); the Pyrope, including the “Cape
Ruby” and the Bohemian garnet, is blood-red (26e), Demantoid is an
emerald-green (26g).
Jadeite (27a) is one of the green stones which, under the name of Jade,
are wrought into ornaments in China: from jade it is distinguished
by its chemical composition, structure, and higher specific gravity.
Among the specimens of Epidote (27c) a remarkable series from the
Untersulzbachthal, Austria, is exhibited.
Mica (28a) is the name given to a group of minerals differing much from
each other in chemical composition and optical properties, but having
as a common character an easy splitting, or cleavage, in a single
direction, and thus affording plates remarkably thin, transparent,
tough, and elastic. One of these minerals, Muscovite (28d), has been
used in Russia in place of glass for windows, and is now in common
use for lanterns and stoves, not being so easily cracked as glass by
changes of temperature; it is often known in commerce as talc, a term
restricted by mineralogists to a different mineral.
The group of Felspars, the most important of the rock-forming minerals,
begins at case 28f. After the Felspars comes Beryl, of which the
bright green variety, Emerald (29c), is one of the most valued of
precious stones. It was in ancient times worked in Egypt, as is proved
by specimens found in the old workings by Sir Gardner Wilkinson, and
presented by him to the Museum. Emeralds occur in the Urals; but the
locality for the finest stones has long been Muzo, about seventy miles
from Santa Fé de Bogotá, in South America. Faceted specimens of the
colourless Beryl, of the bluish-green Beryl, known in jewellery as
Aquamarine, and of pink Beryl from California and Madagascar, are
exhibited (30a).
In cases 30f to 32d will be found examples of the Zeolite group of
minerals.
Tourmaline (33a), when free from flaws, is, in some of its varieties,
to be classed with the precious stones; among these being a pink
variety called Rubellite. Fine specimens of Rubellite from Burma, the
Urals, and Madagascar, are shown in the case; one specimen from Burma,
poor in colour but remarkable for its size and shape, was brought home
by Colonel Symes, to whom it had been presented by the King of Ava in
the year 1795. The pink-and-green tourmalines from Maine, U.S.A., and
the magnificent crystals from San Diego Co., California, are among the
more beautiful of the mineral products of the United States. Examples
of the blue Tourmaline, or Indicolite, are shown in case 33b.
A rich blue mineral, the Lapis-lazuli of jewellery (34b), brought
from Persia, Siberia, Bokhara, and Chili, is a mixture of various
species. When powdered, Lapis-lazuli furnished the once costly
pigment ultramarine; but by the discovery of a method of producing an
artificial and cheap form of the latter, the use of the mineral as a
pigment has ceased.
[Sidenote: Sulphates, Phosphates, etc.]
The sulphates of Strontium, Celestite (35c), of Barium, Barytes or
Heavy Spar (36a), and of Lead, Anglesite (36e), are all represented by
series of specimens.
Gypsum, or Selenite (36f), is a hydrated sulphate of the metal Calcium:
when heated, it gives up its water of crystallisation and falls to a
white powder, known as “Plaster of Paris,” which, when moistened, again
combines with water and yields a coherent solid. Gypseous Alabaster, a
massive variety of Gypsum (36h), owing to its whiteness, fine texture,
and softness is used as a material for statuettes and other indoor
ornaments. Oriental Alabaster is a harder substance, Stalagmitic
Calcite, carbonate of Calcium.
Borax (37c), a borate of Sodium, is much used as a flux, also in
soldering, and in the preparation of easily fusible enamels. It was
formerly carried over the Himalayas on sheep and goats from lakes in
Tibet, but is now obtained largely from the Borax-lakes of the United
States, and is also extensively prepared from the boracic acid lagoons
in Tuscany.
Nitratine or Soda-nitre (37d), found in Chili in beds of large extent,
is largely used for the preparation of Nitric Acid and Saltpetre, and
is also used as a fertiliser.
Calaite or Turquoise (38g), a phosphate of the metals Aluminium and
Copper, is generally massive; only very rarely does it occur in the
crystalline state. Being as hard as Felspar and taking a good polish,
it has been much prized in jewellery; that which comes into the market
is chiefly brought from the Turquoise-mines not far from Nishapur, in
Persia.
[Sidenote: Amber.]
As a supplement to the collection of simple Minerals, is arranged,
in case 41, a group of natural substances which either belong or are
closely related to the Mineral Kingdom, although, in the formation
of most, organised matter has played a very important part. The most
important of these are Coal and Amber. Coal (41a), in most of its
varieties, gives structural evidence of its vegetable origin: its
chemical composition depends on the amount of change which has taken
place, and thus is less definite than in the preceding minerals. In
the variety called Anthracite all traces of the original organised
structure have disappeared. Amber (41c), in ancient times regarded
as one of the precious stones, is likewise of vegetable origin. It
is fossil resin, chiefly derived from trees allied to the pines; its
originally sticky condition is proved by the insects sometimes found
enclosed.
[Sidenote: Larger Mineral Specimens.]
In the pavilion at the east end of the gallery the visitor will
find many mineral specimens which, owing to their size, cannot be
satisfactorily exhibited in the table-cases.
Among these, attention may be directed to the magnificent series of
Minerals in the wall-cases, and to the large specimen of Gypsum, or
Selenite, presented by H.R.H. the late Prince Consort, which, with some
fine masses of Iceland Spar, is exhibited in a special case.
Of the four table-cases in the windows of the pavilion, the first
three contain a series illustrating the various kinds of Pseudomorphs,
or minerals in which the original constituent has been altered and
replaced by a new substance which preserves the crystalline form of
the first. The fourth displays a set of specimens selected by the late
Professor Ruskin to illustrate varieties of Silica.[24]
[Sidenote: Meteorites.]
The most important feature of the pavilion is the collection of
Meteorites,[25] of which the smaller specimens are shown in the four
central cases. The fall of masses of stone and iron from the sky,
though observed again and again since the most remote ages, was very
rarely credited by anyone beside the spectators themselves; and till
the beginning of the nineteenth century no attempt was made to collect
such specimens for examination and comparison. In the special guide
it is shown how evidence of the actual fall of such bodies at length
became irresistible, and a description is given of the circumstances
attending their fall, of their general characters, and their chemical
composition: illustrative specimens, collected together for easy
reference, will be found in one of the cases. It is also shown that
meteorites are closely related, not only to shooting stars, but also to
comets, and probably to nebulæ and fixed stars.
SECOND FLOOR.
[Sidenote: Botanical Gallery.]
The upper floor of the East wing is devoted to the Department of Botany.
The Collections of this Department consist of two portions, the one
open to the public and consisting of specimens suitable for exhibition,
and mainly intended to illustrate the various groups of the Vegetable
Kingdom and the broad facts on which the natural system of the
classification of plants is based; the other set apart for the use of
persons engaged in the detailed scientific study of plants.
On the landing outside the gallery is a series of tree-sections
representing some common British-grown trees, with sections and bark
of the Cork-Oak (_Quercus suber_), and large sections of the White Fir
and Douglas Pine from British Columbia. The Douglas Pine was cut down
in 1885 when 533 years old; its age is indicated by the annual rings
seen in transverse section of the wood, and a record of events has been
painted on the surface. A collection of plant-abnormalities is also
shown.
[Sidenote: System of Classification.]
The system of classification followed in the exhibition-cases in the
public gallery is a modification of one widely used on the Continent
and in America. In the first bay on the left-hand side an attempt has
been made to illustrate, by means of books dealing with the subject,
the history and development of modern systems of classification.
There is a _Guide_[26] to this exhibition. The series of specimens
(starting on the north, or left-hand, side of the gallery) begins
with the simpler orders of Dicotyledonous Seed-plants, those in which
petals are wanting in the flower or if present are free from each
other, and passes on to the less simple orders with united petals.
The orders are represented by dried or otherwise prepared specimens
of the plants themselves, drawings, fruits, and prepared sections of
the woods. Diagrams are employed to indicate the characters in the
flowers on which the grouping is based. The use of the same colour for
corresponding structures throughout the diagrams readily conveys to the
eye the points of agreement or difference on which the classification
rests. The geological history of each natural order is indicated on a
table of strata, and its present distribution on the surface of the
earth given on a small map of the world. Descriptive labels afford
particular information respecting each specimen.
The Dicotyledonous Plants extend to the fifth case on the left side of
the gallery, and are followed by the Monocotyledonous orders, which
fill a portion of the last case on the same side, the two half-cases
at the end of the gallery, and the first case returning towards the
door. The Gymnosperms are placed in the next case. Then follow the
Cryptogams, a case being devoted to the higher, vascular orders, and
another to the cellular plants. The series closes with an interesting
collection of models of the larger British Fungi, coloured and mounted
in accordance with their natural habitats. A Catalogue of these models
has been prepared.[27] In the table-case in the last bay is placed an
illustrated collection of the British Mycetozoa, to which there is
also a _Guide_.[28] A large chalk-like mass of Diatom-earth containing
twelve billion Diatoms is placed in a case by itself near the entrance
to the gallery. The table- and window-cases in the bays contain
exhibitions of interest under the following heads: Insectivorous plants
(at present in the Central Hall), Parasitic plants, Water-plants,
Xerophytic plants, Epiphytic plants, Adaptations for Defence, Climbing
plants, Fertilisation of flowers (also in the Hall), and Dispersal
of seeds, a selection of British plants dried in sand and preserving
their form and colour, and a series of Lichens from Chili. Attention
may likewise be directed to a series of coloured drawings of British
Plants. At the entrance of the gallery on the right is placed a camera
to exhibit stereoscopic views of plants in their natural colours; and
on the left is a model of a large fungus (_Hydnum_).
At the end of the gallery the larger specimens of Palms are set up
against the screen dividing the gallery from the Herbarium; other
Palms, Cycads, Tree-ferns, etc., are placed in the bays next the
appropriate wall-cases. Suspended from the roof is a fine specimen
of the “Wabo” Bamboo (_Dendrocalamus_) from Burma, 81 feet long; and
on the floor of the gallery are specimens of the Vegetable Sheep
(_Raoulia_) of New Zealand, a large aërial root of a Banyan, a
Brazilian Tree-lily (_Vellozia_), a large Bamboo from Demerara, an
Australian Grass-tree (_Kingia_), a Brazilian Palm (_Acrocomia_), a
Sugar-cane, and a Japanese Cycad.
[Sidenote: British Plants.]
A collection of British Plants is exhibited in glazed frames fastened
by hinges to uprights. The classification of the Flowering Plants and
Ferns is that used in Bentham’s “Handbook of the British Flora,” and
descriptions are attached as labels to each plant.[29] Three series of
frames contain specimens of the British Flowering Plants and Ferns. The
fourth frame is occupied with the Mosses and Stoneworts (Characeæ),
and forms the beginning of the exhibition of Cellular Plants. The
series is continued in the frames on the other side of the gallery
containing the lower Fungi and coloured drawings of the larger Fungi;
a small series of the larger kind of Fungi found near London is also
shown. In the first bay to the right on entering are series of coloured
drawings (natural size) of edible and poisonous fungi, and of field and
cultivated mushrooms and poisonous or worthless species often mistaken
for mushrooms. A _Guide_[30] to the latter series has been prepared.
The British Lichens are arranged in a cabinet of shallow glass-topped
drawers.
[Sidenote: Herbarium.]
Above the entrance to the great Herbarium is a life-size photograph of
an Orchid (_Phalænopsis_) from the Philippine Islands.
The portion reserved for the use of the scientific student consists
mainly of the great Herbarium of Flowering Plants. This is a collection
of dried plants, respectively fastened on single sheets of stiff folio
paper, and representing, so far as it has been possible to obtain them,
every species of living plant and the distribution of each of these on
the surface of the earth. The various species are collected under their
respective genera, which are arranged in their natural orders; the
whole being classified according to the system of Bentham and Hooker’s
“Genera Plantarum.” The plants of the British Isles form a small
separate collection. The important herbarium of Sir Hans Sloane is kept
distinct in its original form, the plants being pasted on the pages of
333 large folios. There are other ancient herbaria of great historic
and scientific interest, as well as an excellent working library and a
collection of drawings of plants. The Herbarium of Vascular Cryptogams
(Ferns) and Cellular Plants (Mosses, Liverworts, Algæ, Lichens, and
Fungi) is in a separate room entered from the head of the great
staircase.
SELECTED LIST
OF THE
NATURAL HISTORY PUBLICATIONS
OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE
BRITISH MUSEUM.
The History of the Collections contained in the Natural History
Departments of the British Museum. Vol. I. Libraries; Botany;
Geology; Minerals. 1904, 8vo. 15_s._ Vol. II. Zoology. 1906, 8vo.
30_s._ Vol. II. Appendix. By Dr. A. Günther, F.R.S. 1912, 8vo. 5_s._
Catalogue of the Library of the British Museum (Natural History). By
B. B. Woodward. Vol. I. A–D. 1903, 4to. 1_l._ Vol. II. E–K. 1904,
4to. 1_l._ Vol. III. L–O. 1910, 4to. 1_l._
Report on the Zoological Collections made in the Indo-Pacific Ocean
during the voyage of H.M.S. “Alert,” 1881–2. Edited by A. Günther.
54 Plates. 1884, 8vo. 1_l._ 10_s._
Report on the Collections of Natural History made in the Antarctic
Regions during the voyage of the “Southern Cross.” 53 Plates. 1902,
roy. 8vo. 2_l._
National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–1904. [“Discovery” Report.]
Natural History:--
Vol. I. Geology. 10 Plates, 72 Text-figures, 2 Maps. 1907, 4to.
1_l._ 10_s._
Vol. II. Zoology (Vertebrata; Mollusca; Crustacea). 33 Plates (17
coloured), 146 Text-figures, 1 Map. 1907, 4to. 3_l._
Vol. III. Zoology and Botany (Invertebrata: Marine Algæ, Musci).
51 Plates, 8 Text-figures, and 1 Chart. 1907, 4to. 2_l._ 10_s._
Vol. IV. Zoology (Various Invertebrata). 65 Plates, 1 Text-figure.
1908, 4to. 1_l._ 15_s._
Vol. V. Zoology and Botany. 28 Plates, 19 Text-figures. 1910, 4to.
1_l._ 10_s._
Vol. VI. Zoology and Botany. 8 Plates, 1 Key-plate, 1 Text-figure.
1912, 4to. 16_s._
A Monograph of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean): Physical Features and
Geology by C. W. Andrews, with descriptions of the Fauna and Flora
by numerous contributors. 22 Plates (7 Coloured), 1 Map, and 27
Illustrations in text. 1900, 8vo. 1_l._
First Report on Economic Zoology. By F. V. Theobald. 18 Woodcuts.
1903, roy. 8vo. 6_s._
Second Report on Economic Zoology. By F. V. Theobald. 29
Illustrations. 1904, roy. 8vo. 6_s._
MAMMALS.
Catalogue of Monkeys, Lemurs, and Fruit-eating Bats. 21 Woodcuts. By
J. E. Gray. 1870, 8vo. 4_s._
Catalogue of Chiroptera. By Knud Andersen. Vol. I. Megachiroptera. 85
Text-figures. 1912, 8vo. 2_l._ 10_s._
Catalogue of Carnivorous, Pachydermatous, and Edentate Mammalia. By
J. E. Gray. 47 Woodcuts. 1869, 8vo. 6_s._ 6_d._
Catalogue of Seals and Whales. By J. E. Gray. Second Edition. 101
Woodcuts. 1866, 8vo. 8_s._
Supplement. 11 Woodcuts. 1871, 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._
Catalogue of Ruminant Mammalia (_Pecora_, Linnæus). By J. E. Gray. 4
Plates. 1872, 8vo. 3_s._ 6_d._
Monograph of the Okapi. By Sir E. Ray Lankester, K.C.B. Atlas.
Compiled with the assistance of W. G. Ridewood, D.Sc. 48 Plates.
1910, 4to. 1_l._ 5_s._
Catalogue of the Marsupialia and Monotremata. By O. Thomas. 28 Plates
(4 Coloured). 1888, 8vo. 1_l._ 8_s._
Catalogue of Mammals of Western Europe. By Gerrit S. Miller 213
Text-figures. 1912, 8vo. 1_l._ 6_s._
Catalogue of Heads and Horns of Indian Big Game bequeathed by A. O.
Hume, C.B. By R. Lydekker, F.R.S. 16 Text-figures and a Portrait.
1913, 8vo. 2_s._
BIRDS.
Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum:--
Vol. VII. Passeriformes, or Perching Birds. _Cichlomorphæ_: Part IV.
By R. Bowdler Sharpe. Woodcuts, and 15 Coloured Plates. 1883, 8vo.
1_l._ 6_s._
Vol. VIII. ----. _Cichlomorphæ_: Part V.; and _Certhiomorphæ_. By H.
Gadow. Woodcuts, and 9 Coloured Plates. 1883, 8vo. 17_s._
Vol. X. ----. _Fringilliformes_: Part I. By R. Bowdler Sharpe.
Woodcuts, and 12 Coloured Plates. 1885, 8vo. 1_l._ 2_s._
Vol. XI. ----. _Fringilliformes_: Part II. By P. L. Sclater. Woodcuts,
and 18 Coloured Plates. 1886, 8vo. 1_l._
Vol. XII. ----. _Fringilliformes_: Part III. By R. Bowdler Sharpe.
Woodcuts, and 16 Coloured Plates. 1888, 8vo. 1_l._ 8_s._
Vol. XIII. ----. _Sturniformes._ Also the families Atrichiidæ and
Menuridæ. By R. Bowdler Sharpe. Woodcuts, and 15 Coloured Plates.
1890, 8vo. 1_l._ 8_s._
Vol. XIV. ----. _Oligomyodæ._ By P. L. Sclater. Woodcuts, and 26
Coloured Plates. 1888, 8vo. 1_l._ 4_s._
Vol. XV. ----. _Tracheophonæ._ By P. L. Sclater. Woodcuts, and 20
Coloured Plates. 1890, 8vo. 1_l._
Vol. XVI. Picariæ. _Upupæ_ and _Trochili_, by O. Salvin. _Coraciæ_
(part), by E. Hartert. Woodcuts, and 14 Coloured Plates. 1892, 8vo.
1_l._ 16_s._
Vol. XVII. ----. _Coraciæ_ (contin.) and _Halcyones_, by R. Bowdler
Sharpe. _Bucerotes_ and _Trogones_, by W. R. Ogilvie-Grant.
Woodcuts, and 17 Coloured Plates. 1892, 8vo. 1_l._ 10_s._
Vol. XVIII. Picariæ. _Scansores._ By E. Hargitt. Woodcuts, and 15
Coloured Plates. 1890, 8vo. 1_l._ 6_s._
Vol. XIX. ----. _Scansores_ and _Coccyges_. By P. L. Sclater and G. E.
Shelley. 13 Coloured Plates. 1891, 8vo. 1_l._ 5_s._
Vol. XX. Psittaci, or Parrots. By T. Salvadori. Woodcuts, and 18
Coloured Plates. 1891, 8vo. 1_l._ 10_s._
Vol. XXI. Columbæ, or Pigeons. By T. Salvadori. 15 Coloured Plates.
1893, 8vo. 1_l._ 10_s._
Vol. XXII. Game Birds. By W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. 8 Coloured Plates.
1893, 8vo. 1_l._ 6_s._
Vol. XXIII. Fulicariæ and Alectorides. By R. Bowdler Sharpe. 9
Coloured Plates. 1894, 8vo. 1_l._
Vol. XXIV. Limicolæ (Wading Birds). By R. Bowdler Sharpe. 7 Coloured
Plates. 1896, 8vo. 1_l._ 5_s._
Vol. XXV. Gaviæ (Terns, Gulls, and Skuas), by H. Saunders. Tubinares
(Petrels and Albatrosses), by O. Salvin. Woodcuts, and 8 Coloured
Plates. 1896, 8vo. 1_l._ 1_s._
Vol. XXVI. Plataleæ (Ibises and Spoonbills) and Herodiones (Herons
and Storks), by R. Bowdler Sharpe. Steganopodes (Cormorants,
Gannets, Frigate-birds, Tropic-birds, and Pelicans), Pygopodes
(Divers and Grebes), Alcæ (Auks), and Impennes (Penguins), by W. R.
Ogilvie-Grant. Woodcuts, and 14 Coloured Plates. 1898, 8vo. 1_l._
5_s._
Vol. XXVII. Chenomorphæ (Palamedeæ, Phœnicopteri, Anseres), Crypturi,
and Ratitæ. By T. Salvadori. 19 Coloured Plates. 1895, 8vo. 1_l._
12_s._
(_Volumes I. to VI., and IX. are out of print._)
A Hand-list of the Genera and Species of Birds. By R. Bowdler Sharpe.
Vol. V. 1909, 8vo. 1_l._ General Index to Vols. I.-V. Edited by
W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. 1912, 8vo. 10_s._
(_Vols. I.-IV. are out of print._)
Catalogue of the Birds’ Eggs:--
Vol. I. Ratitæ. Carinatæ (Tinamiformes-Lariformes). By E. W. Oates. 18
Coloured Plates. 1901, 8vo. 1_l._ 10_s._
Vol. II. Carinatæ (Charadriiformes-Strigiformes). By E. W. Oates. 15
Coloured Plates. 1902, 8vo. 1_l._ 10_s._
Vol. III. Carinatæ (Psittaciformes-Passeriformes). By E. W. Oates and
Savile G. Reid. 10 Coloured Plates. 1903, 8vo. 1_l._ 5_s._
Vol. IV. Carinatæ (Passeriformes continued). By E. W. Oates and Savile
G. Reid. 14 Coloured Plates. 1905, 8vo. 30_s._
Vol. V. Carinatæ (Passeriformes completed). By W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. 22
Coloured Plates. 1912, 8vo. 2_l._ 7_s._ 6_d._
REPTILES.
Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles. New
Edition. By G. A. Boulenger. 73 Woodcuts and 6 Plates. 1889, 8vo.
15_s._
Catalogue of the Lizards. Second Edition. By G. A. Boulenger. Plates.
3 Volumes. 1885–87, 8vo. Vol. I., II., 1_l._ each. III., 1_l._ 6_s._
(_Vol. I. out of print._)
Catalogue of the Snakes. By G. A. Boulenger. Vol. I. 26 Woodcuts
and 28 Plates. 1893, 8vo. 1_l._ 1_s._ Vol. II. 25 Woodcuts and 20
Plates. 1894, 8vo. 17_s._ 6_d._ Vol. III. 37 Woodcuts and 25 Plates.
1896, 8vo. 1_l._ 6_s._
FISHES.
Catalogue of the Fishes. Second Edition. Vol. I. Catalogue of the
Perciform Fishes. Containing the Centrarchidæ, Percidæ, and
Serranidæ (part). By G. A. Boulenger. Woodcuts and 15 Plates. 1895,
8vo. 15_s._
Catalogue of the Fresh-water Fishes of Africa. By G. A. Boulenger.
Vol. I. 270 Text-figures. 1909, Imp. 8vo. 1_l._ 12_s._ 6_d._ Vol.
II. 382 Text-figures. 1911, Imp. 8vo. 2_l._ 5_s._
INSECTS.
_Coleopterous Inserts._
Illustrations of Typical Specimens of Coleoptera. Part I. Lycidæ. By
C. O. Waterhouse. 18 Coloured Plates. 1879, 8vo. 16_s._
_Hymenopterous Insects._
List of Hymenoptera, with descriptions and figures of the Typical
Specimens. By W. F. Kirby. Vol. I. Tenthredinidæ and Siricidæ. 16
Coloured Plates. 1882, 8vo. 1_l._ 18_s._
Catalogue of British Hymenoptera. By F. Smith. Second Edition. Part I.
Andrenidæ and Apidæ. [New Issue.] 11 Plates. 1891, 8vo. 6_s._
Catalogue of British Hymenoptera of the Family Chalcididæ. By C.
Morley. 1910, 8vo. 3_s._ 6_d._
A Revision of the Ichneumonidæ. By C. Morley:--
Pt. I. Tribes Ophionides and Metopiides. 1 Plate. 1912, 8vo. 4_s._
Pt. II. Tribes Rhyssides, Echthromorphides, Anomalides, and
Paniscides. 1 Plate. 1913, 8vo. 5_s._ 6_d._
_Dipterous Insects._
A Monograph of the Culicidæ, or Mosquitoes. By F. V. Theobald:--
Vol. III. 193 Text-figures and 17 Plates. 1903, 8vo. 1_l._ 1_s._
Vol. IV. 297 Text-figures and 16 Plates. 1907, 8vo. 1_l._ 12_s._
6_d._ Vol. V. 261 Text-figures and 6 Plates. 1910, 8vo. 1_l._
5_s._ (_Volumes I. and II. are out of print._)
Handbook of the Tsetse-Flies (Genus _Glossina_). By E. E. Austen. 10
Coloured Plates, 24 Text-figures, and a Map. 1911, roy. 8vo. 5_s._
6_d._
Illustrations of British Blood-sucking Flies, with Notes by E. E.
Austen. 34 Coloured Plates. 1906, roy. 8vo. 25_s._
Illustrations of African Blood-sucking Flies other than Mosquitoes
and Tsetse-Flies. By E. E. Austen. 13 Coloured Plates and 3
Text-figures. 1909, roy. 8vo. 1_l._ 7_s._ 6_d._
_Lepidopterous Insects._
Illustrations of Typical Specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera. By
A. G. Butler and [Sir] G. F. Hampson. Parts V.-IX. Coloured Plates.
1881–93, 4to. 2_l._ to 2_l._ 10_s._ a part. (_Parts I.-IV. out of
print._)
Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalænæ [Moths]. By Sir G. F. Hampson,
Bart.:--
Vol. I. Syntomidæ. 285 Woodcuts. 1898, 8vo. 15_s._ Atlas of 17
Coloured Plates, 8vo. 15_s._
Vol. II. Arctiadæ (Nolinæ, Lithosianæ). 411 Woodcuts. 1900, 8vo.
18_s._ Atlas of 18 Coloured Plates, 8vo. 15_s._
Vol. III. Arctiadæ (Arctianæ) and Agaristidæ. 294 Woodcuts. 1901,
8vo. 15_s._ Atlas of 19 Coloured Plates, 8vo. 16_s._
Vol. IV. Noctuidæ (Agrotinæ). 125 Woodcuts. 1903, 8vo. 15_s._
Atlas of 23 Coloured Plates, 8vo. 16_s._
Vol. V. Noctuidæ (Hadeninæ). 172 Woodcuts. 1905, 8vo. 15_s._ Atlas
of 18 Coloured Plates, 8vo. 15_s._
Vol. VI. Noctuidæ (Cucullianæ). 172 Woodcuts. 1906, 8vo. 15_s._
Atlas of 12 Coloured Plates, 8vo. 10_s._
Vol. VII. Noctuidæ (Acronyctinæ). 184 Woodcuts. 1908, 8vo. 17_s._
Atlas of 15 Coloured Plates, 8vo. 13_s._
Vol. VIII. Noctuidæ (Acronyctinæ, II.). 162 Woodcuts. 1909, 8vo.
15_s._ Atlas of 14 Coloured Plates, 8vo. 12_s._
Vol. IX. Noctuidæ (Acronyctinæ, III.). 247 Woodcuts. 1910, 8vo.
15_s._ Atlas of 11 Coloured Plates, 8vo. 12_s._
Vol. X. Noctuidæ (Erastrianæ). 214 Woodcuts. 1910, 8vo. 1_l._
Atlas of 26 Coloured Plates, 1911, 8vo. 1_l._
Vol. XI. Noctuidæ (Eutelianæ Stictopterinæ, Sarrothripinæ,
Acontianæ). 275 Woodcuts. 1912, 8vo. 1_l._ Atlas of 16 Coloured
Plates, 8vo. 17_s._ 6_d._
Vol. XII. Noctuidæ (Catocalinæ, part). 134 Woodcuts. 1913, 8vo.
17_s._ 6_d._
Catalogue of the Leech Collection of Palæarctic Butterflies. By R.
South. 2 Coloured Plates and a Portrait. 1902, 4to. 1_l._
_Orthopterous Insects._
Synonymic Catalogue of Orthoptera. By W. F. Kirby:--
Vol. I. Orthoptera Euplexoptera, Cursoria, et Gressoria.
(Forficulidæ, Hemimeridæ, Blattidæ, Mantidæ, Phasmidæ.) 1904,
8vo. 10_s._
Vol. II. Orthoptera Saltatoria, Part I. (Achetidæ et
Phasgonuridæ.) 1906, 8vo. 15_s._
Vol. III. Orthoptera Saltatoria, Part II. (Locustidæ vel
Acridiidæ). 1910, 8vo. 1_l._
_Homopterous Insects._
A Synonymic Catalogue of Homoptera. Part I. Cicadidæ. By W. L.
Distant. 1906, 8vo. 5_s._
SPIDERS.
Descriptive Catalogue of the Spiders of Burma, based upon the
Collection made by E. W. Oates and preserved in the British Museum.
By T. Thorell. 1895, 8vo. 10_s._ 6_d._
WORMS.
Catalogue of British Non-parasitical Worms. By G. Johnson, M.D., &c.
Woodcuts and 24 Plates. 1865, 8vo. 7_s._
Catalogue of Chætopoda. A. Polychæta: Pt. I. Arenicolidæ. By J. H.
Ashworth, D.Sc. 15 Plates, 68 Text-figures. 1912, roy. 8vo. 1_l._
7_s._ 6_d._
ECHINODERMS.
Catalogue of British Echinoderms. By F. J. Bell. Woodcuts and 16
Plates. 1892, 8vo. 12_s._ 6_d._
CORALS.
Catalogue of the Madreporarian Corals:--
Vol. I. The Genus Madrepora. By G. Brook. 35 Plates. 1893, 4to.
1_l._ 4_s._
Vol. II. The Genus Turbinaria; the Genus Astræopora. By H. M.
Bernard. 33 Plates. 1896, 4to. 18_s._
Vol. III. The Genus Montipora; the Genus Anacropora. By H. M.
Bernard. 34 Plates. 1897, 4to. 1_l._ 4_s._
Vol. IV. The Family Poritidæ. I.--The Genus Goniopora. By H. M.
Bernard. 16 Plates. 1903, 4to. 1_l._
Vol. V. The Family Poritidæ. II.--The Genus Porites. Part
I.--Porites of the Indo-Pacific Region. By H. M. Bernard. 35
Plates. 1905, 4to. 35_s._
Vol. VI. The Family Poritidæ. II.--The Genus Porites. Part
II.--Porites of the Atlantic and West Indies, with the European
Fossil Forms. The Genus Goniopora, Supp. to Vol. IV. By H. M.
Bernard. 17 Plates. 1906, 4to. 1_l._
PLANTS.
Illustrations of Australian Plants collected in 1770 during Captain
Cook’s Voyage Round the World in H.M.S. “Endeavour.” Being a series
of lithographic reproductions of copper-plates, with descriptive
text. By the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, Bart., and Dr. D.
Solander. With Introduction and Determinations by J. Britten:--
Part I. 101 Plates. 1900, fol. 25_s._
Part II. 142 Plates. 1901, fol. 35_s._
Part III. 77 Plates and 3 Maps. 1905, fol. 25_s._
Catalogue of the African Plants collected by Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch
in 1853–61:--
Vol. I. Dicotyledons. By William Philip Hiern. Part I.
Ranunculaceæ to Rhizophoraceæ. 1896, 8vo. 7_s._ 6_d._ Part II.
Combretaceæ to Rubiaceæ. 1898, 8vo. 4_s._ Part III. Dipsaceæ to
Scrophulariaceæ. 1898, 8vo. 5_s._ Part IV. Lentibulariaceæ to
Ceratophylleæ. 1900, 8vo. 5_s._
Vol. II. Monocotyledons, Gymnosperms, and Cryptogamia. Part I.
Monocotyledons and Gymnesperms. By A. B. Rendle. 1899, 8vo.
6_s._ Part II. Cryptogamia. By various Authors. 1901, 8vo. 6_s._
Flora of Jamaica. By W. Fawcett and A. B. Rendle. Vol. I. Orchidaceæ.
32 Plates. 1910, 8vo. 10_s._ 6_d._
Synopsis of the British Basidiomycetes: a Descriptive Catalogue of the
Drawings and Specimens in the Department of Botany. By W. G. Smith.
145 Text-figures and 5 Plates. 1908, 8vo. 10_s._
A Monograph of the British Lichens: a Descriptive Catalogue of the
Species in the Department of Botany, British Museum. Part II. By
Miss A. Lorrain Smith. 59 Plates. 1911, 8vo. 1_l._ (_Part I., by
Rev. J. M. Crombie, out of print._)
A Monograph of the Mycetozoa: a Descriptive Catalogue of the Species
in the Herbarium of the British Museum. By Arthur Lister. Second
Edition, revised by Miss G. Lister. 201 Plates (120 being coloured):
56 Text-figures. 1911, 8vo. 1_l._ 10_s._
FOSSILS.
Catalogue of the Fossil Mammalia. By R. Lydekker. Parts I.-V.
Woodcuts. 1885–87, 8vo. 4_s._ to 6_s._ a volume.
Catalogue of the Fossil Birds. By R. Lydekker. Woodcuts. 1891, 8vo.
10_s._ 6_d._
Catalogue of the Fossil Reptilia and Amphibia. By R. Lydekker. Parts
I.-IV. Woodcuts. 1888–90, 8vo. 7_s._ 6_d._ a volume.
A descriptive Catalogue of the Marine Reptiles of the Oxford Clay,
based on the Leeds Collection. By C. W. Andrews:--
Part I. 94 Text-figures, 11 Plates. 1910, 4to. 1_l._ 5_s._
Part II. 73 Text-figures, 14 Plates. 1913, 4to. 1_l._ 5_s._
Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes. By A. S. Woodward. Woodcuts and
Plates. Parts I.-IV. 1889–1901, 8vo. 1_l._ 1_s._ a volume.
A descriptive Catalogue of the Tertiary Vertebrata of the Fayûm,
Egypt. Based on the Collection of the Egyptian Government in the
Geological Museum, Cairo, and on the Collection in the British
Museum (Natural History), London. By C. W. Andrews. 98 Text-figures
and 26 Plates. 1906, 4to. 1_l._ 15_s._
Systematic List of the Edwards Collection of British Oligocene and
Eocene Mollusca. By R. B. Newton. 1891, 8vo. 6_s._
Catalogue of the Australasian Tertiary Mollusca. By G. F. Harris. 8
Plates. 1897, 8vo. 10_s._
Catalogue of the Fossil Cephalopoda. By A. H. Foord and G. C. Crick.
Woodcuts. Part I. 1888, 8vo. 10_s._ 6_d._ Part II. 1891, 8vo. 15_s._
Part III. 1897, 8vo. 12_s._ 6_d._
List of Types of Fossil Cephalopoda. By G. C. Crick. 1898, 8vo. 2_s._
6_d._
A Catalogue of British Fossil Crustacea, with their Synonyms and the
Range in Time of each Genus and Order. By H. Woodward. 1877, 8vo.
5_s._
Catalogue of the Fossil Bryozoa. By J. W. Gregory:--
The Jurassic Bryozoa. 22 Woodcuts and 11 Plates. 1896, 8vo. 10_s._
The Cretaceous Bryozoa. Vol. I. 64 Woodcuts and 17 Plates. 1899,
8vo. 16_s._ Vol. II. 75 Woodcuts and 9 Plates. 1909, 8vo.
Catalogue of the Blastoidea in the Geological Department. With an
account of the morphology and systematic position of the group, and
a revision of the genera and species. By R. Etheridge, jun., and
P. H. Carpenter. 20 Plates, etc. 1886, 4to. 1_l._ 5_s._
List of Genera and Species of Blastoidea. By F. A. Bather. 1899, 8vo.
3_s._
Catalogue of the Palæozoic Plants in the Department of Geology and
Palæontology. By R. Kidston. 1886, 8vo. 5_s._
Catalogue of the Mesozoic Plants in the Department of Geology:--
The Wealden Flora. By A. C. Seward. Part I.
Thallophyta-Pteridophyta. 17 Woodcuts and 11 Plates. 1894, 8vo.
10_s._ Part II. Gymnospermæ. 9 Woodcuts and 20 Plates. 1895,
8vo. 15_s._
The Jurassic Flora. By A. C. Seward. Part I. The Yorkshire Coast.
53 Woodcuts and 21 Plates. 1900, 8vo. 1_l._ Part II. The Liassic
and Oolitic Floras of England (excluding the Inferior Oolitic
Plants of the Yorkshire Coast). 20 Woodcuts and 13 Plates. 1904,
8vo. 10_s._
Catalogue of the Fossil Plants of the Glossopteris Flora in the
Department of Geology. Being a Monograph of the Permo-carboniferous
Flora of India and the Southern Hemisphere. By E. A. Newell Arber.
51 Text-figures and 8 Plates. 1905, 8vo. 12_s._ 6_d._
* * * * *
These Publications can be purchased of _Messrs._ LONGMANS, GREEN &
Co., _39, Paternoster Row, E.C._; _Mr._ BERNARD QUARITCH, _11,
Grafton Street, New Bond Street, W._; and _Messrs._ DULAU & Co.,
Ltd., _37, Soho Square, W._; or at the Natural History Museum,
_Cromwell Road, London, S. W._ A more detailed list can be obtained
on application to the DIRECTOR of the Museum.
GUIDE-BOOKS.
A General Guide to the British Museum (Natural History). 13th Edition.
With 58 Woodcuts, 2 Plans, and 2 Views. 1913, 8vo. 3_d._
ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT.
Guide to the Specimens illustrating the Races of Mankind. 2nd Edition.
16 Illustrations. 1912, 8vo. 4_d._
Guide to the Galleries of Mammals (other than Ungulates). 8th Edition.
52 Woodcuts and 4 Plans. 1906, 8vo. 6_d._
Guide to Great Game Animals. 41 Woodcuts and 12 Plates. 1907, 8vo.
1_s._
Guide to the Specimens of the Horse Family (_Equidæ_). 26
Illustrations. 1907, 8vo. 1_s._
Guide to the Domesticated Animals (other than Horses). 2nd Edition. 25
Illustrations. 1912, 8vo. 6_d._
Guide to the Whales, Porpoises, and Dolphins (order Cetacea). 33
Illustrations. 1909, 8vo. 4_d._
Guide to the Gallery of Birds. 2nd Edition. 25 Plates, and 7
Illustrations in text. 1910, 4to. 2_s._ 6_d._
Guide to the Gallery of Birds:--
Part I. General Series. 1905, 4to. 6_d._
Part II. Nesting Series of British Birds. 2nd Edition. 4 Plates.
1909, 4to. 4_d._
Guide to the Gallery of Reptilia and Amphibia. 2nd Edition.
Illustrated by 76 text and other Figures. 1913, 8vo. 1_s._
Guide to the Gallery of Fishes. 96 Illustrations. 1908, 8vo. 1_s._
Guide to the British Vertebrates. 26 Text-figures, 1 Plan. 1910, 8vo.
1_s._
Guide to the Exhibited Series of Insects. 2nd Edition. 62
Illustrations. 1909, 8vo. 1_s._
Guide to the Crustacea, Arachnida, Onychophora, and Myriopoda. 90
Text-figures. 1910, 8vo. 1_s._
Guide to the Shell and Starfish Galleries (Mollusca, Polyzoa,
Brachiopoda, Tunicata, Echinoderma, and Worms). 5th Edition. 125
Woodcuts and 1 Plan. 1908, 8vo. 6_d._
Guide to the Coral Gallery (Protozoa, Porifera or Sponges, Hydrozoa,
and Anthozoa). 2nd Edition. 90 Illustrations and 1 Plan. 1907, 8vo.
1_s._
GEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT.
A Guide to the Fossil Mammals and Birds. 9th Edition. 6 Plates and 88
Text-figures. 1909, 8vo. 6_d._
A Guide to the Fossil Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fishes. 9th Edition. 8
Plates and 116 Text-figures. 1910, 8vo. 9_d._
A Guide to the Fossil Invertebrate Animals. 2nd Edition. 7 Plates and
96 Text-figures. 1911, 8vo. 1_s._
Guide to the Elephants (Recent and Fossil). 31 Illustrations. 1908,
8vo. 6_d._
MINERAL DEPARTMENT.
A Guide to the Mineral Gallery. 11th Edition. With Plan. 1911, 8vo.
1_d._
The Student’s Index to the Collection of Minerals. 24th Edition. Plan.
1911, 8vo. 2_d._
An Introduction to the Study of Minerals, with a Guide to the Mineral
Gallery. 13th Edition. 41 Woodcuts and Plan. 1910, 8vo. 6_d._
An Introduction to the Study of Rocks and Guide to the Museum
Collection. 4th Edition. With Plan. 1909, 8vo. 1_s._
An Introduction to the Study of Meteorites, with a List of the
Meteorites represented in the Collection. 10th Edition. With Plan.
1908, 8vo. 6_d._
BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT.
List of British Seed-plants and Ferns exhibited in the Department of
Botany. 1913, 8vo. 4_d._
Guide to Sowerby’s Models of British Fungi. By W. G. Smith. 3rd
Edition. 91 Woodcuts. 1908, 8vo. 4_d._
Guide[31] to Drawings of Field and Cultivated Mushrooms, and Poisonous
or Worthless Fungi, often mistaken for Mushrooms. 2 Plates,
containing 28 coloured figures; 4 Text-figures. 1910, 8vo. 1_s._
Guide to the British Mycetozoa. By Arthur Lister. 3rd Edition. 46
Woodcuts. 1909, 8vo. 3_d._
Books and Portraits illustrating the History of Plant Classification
exhibited in the Department of Botany. 2nd Edition. 4 Plates. 1909,
8vo. 4_d._ (_Special Guide Series, No. 2._)
SPECIAL GUIDES.
No. 4.--Memorials of Darwin: a collection of Manuscripts, Portraits,
Medals, Books, and Natural History Specimens to commemorate the
Centenary of his Birth. 2nd Edition. 2 Plates. 1910, 8vo. 6_d._
No. 5.--Exhibition of Animals, Plants, and Minerals mentioned in the
Bible. 2nd Edition. 7 Text-figures. 1911, 8vo. 6_d._
HINTS FOR COLLECTORS.
Handbook of Instructions for Collectors. With Illustrations. Third
Edition. 1906, 8vo. 1_s._ 6_d._
Instructions for Collectors:--
No. 1.--Mammals. 4th Edition. Text illustrated. 1912, 8vo. 3_d._
No. 2.--Birds and their Eggs. 5th Edition. 6 Figures in text.
1912, 8vo. 3_d._
No. 3.--Reptiles, Batrachians, and Fishes. 3rd Edition. 1903, 8vo.
4_d._
No. 4.--Insects. 5th Edition. Text illust. 1911, 8vo. 3_d._
No. 5.--Diptera (Two-winged Flies). 3rd Edition. Text illust.
1908, 8vo. 3_d._
No. 6.--Mosquitoes (_Culicidæ_). 3rd Edition. 1 Plate, 1 Figure in
text. 1904, 8vo. 3_d._
No. 7.--Blood-sucking Flies, Ticks, etc. 3rd Edition. 13 Figures
in text. 1907, 8vo. 3_d._
No. 8.--Spiders, Centipedes, etc. 2nd Edition. 1906, 8vo. 3_d._
No. 9.--Soft-bodied Invertebrate Animals; Shells of Molluscs. 3rd
Edition. 1909, 8vo. 3_d._
No. 10.--Plants. 4th Edition. 3 Figures in text. 1909, 8vo. 3_d._
No. 11.--Fossils and Minerals. 3rd Edition. 1906, 8vo. 3_d._
ECONOMIC SERIES.
No. 1.--The House-Fly as a danger to health. Its Life-history, and
how to deal with it. By E. E. Austen. 2 Plates (4 figures), and 3
text-figures. 1913, 8vo. 1_d._
* * * * *
_The Guide-Books can be obtained only at the Natural History Museum.
Postage extra. Written communications respecting them should be
addressed to_ THE DIRECTOR.
REGULATIONS FOR THE ADMISSION OF STUDENTS.
1. The Exhibition Galleries are open free daily except on Good Friday,
Christmas Day, and any Fast or Thanksgiving Day appointed by authority.
(For hours of admission see back of cover.)
2. The hours for the Study Collections are, throughout the year, from
ten till four o’clock every day in the week, except Sunday.
3. Persons desiring special facilities for study or drawing in the
Exhibition Galleries, or admission to the Study Collections, must
apply in writing to the Director of the Museum for a Student’s ticket,
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6. Tickets of Admission must be produced if required, and are not
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8. All communications respecting the Departments of Natural History
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THE DIRECTOR,
BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY),
CROMWELL ROAD,
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NUMBER OF VISITORS TO THE MUSEUM FROM THE DATE OF OPENING (18TH APRIL,
1881).
1881 231,284
1882 278,027
1883 277,331
1884 375,231
1885 421,350
1886 382,742
1887 358,178
1888 372,802
1889 361,046
1890 355,682
1891 375,906
1892 351,917
1893 408,208
1894 413,572
1895 446,737
1896 453,956
1897 422,607
1898 419,004
1899 422,290
1900 485,288
1901 417,691
1902 433,619
1903 486,733
1904 470,557
1905 566,313
1906 472,557
1907 497,437
1908 517,043
1909 535,116
1910 515,562
1911 435,684
1912 455,613
NUMBER OF VISITS TO PARTICULAR DEPARTMENTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF STUDY.
------------------------------------------------
Zoology. Geology. Mineralogy. Botany.
------------------------------------------------
1883 5,229 2,453 617 1,023
1884 6,818 1,991 651 993
1885 8,313 1,959 626 1,105
1886 8,372 2,466 761 1,026
1887 8,955 3,290 620 1,483
1888 8,797 3,111 733 2,214
1889 8,360 3,339 683 1,344
1890 9,034 3,771 623 1,244
1891 9,443 2,961 946 2,226
1892 10,932 4,107 1,751 2,585
1893 10,872 4,955 1,714 2,274
1894 10,730 5,176 1,994 2,129
1895 8,189 5,986 2,073 2,206
1896 7,995 5,953 1,841 2,555
1897 9,708 4,889 1,248 2,718
1898 10,830 5,234 1,173 2,940
1899 10,728 4,479 1,264 2,649
1900 11,923 4,447 1,314 2,380
1901 12,813 4,573 1,295 2,392
1902 10,633 4,135 1,366 2,068
1903 11,627 4,601 1,541 2,108
1904 11,824 4,854 909 2,358
1905 11,811 4,968 994 1,939
1906 10,813 4,171 867 2,065
1907 11,043 5,544 855 2,245
1908 10,220 5,803 987 2,315
1909 11,461 5,057 838 2,712
1910 12,443 4,996 850 3,009
1911 12,175 6,038 682 3,084
1912 12,564 5,974 1,415 3,962
L. FLETCHER, _Director_.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W.
BRITISH MUSEUM
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January from 2 to 4 P.M.
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March ″ 2 ″ 5.30 ″
April ″ 2 ″ 6 ″
May to August (inclusive) ″ 2.30 ″ 7 ″
September ″ 2 ″ 5.30 ″
October ″ 2 ″ 5 ″
November and December ″ 2 ″ 4 ″
The Museum is closed on Good Friday and Christmas Day.
By Order of the Trustees,
L. FLETCHER,
_Director_.
FOOTNOTES
[1] The Trustees under the Act of Incorporation were the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker of the House of Commons,
the Bishop of London, and the principal Officers of State for the time
being; six representatives of Founders’ families; the Presidents of the
Royal Society and College of Physicians; and fifteen other Trustees
to be elected by them. Subsequently, the Presidents of the Society of
Antiquaries and of the Royal Academy of Arts, a Trustee by special
nomination of the Sovereign, and three more family Trustees were added
to the Board.
[2] In judging the appearance of the exterior of the building, it
should be remembered that these fronts are required to complete the
design, as the externally unsightly brick galleries which run back
from the main front, and are now conspicuous when the Museum is seen
from either west or east, are intended to be concealed by them (_see
Frontispiece_).
[3] Palæontology, or the study of fossil animals and plants, would
have been a more appropriate designation, as Geology, the science
which investigates the history of the earth, and the changes which its
surface has undergone in attaining its present condition, has a much
wider scope.
[4] For conditions as to admission and regulation, see p. 119.
[5] In the _homœodont_ type the teeth are alike, in the _heterodont_
they are divided into groups.
[6] See Special Guide, price 6_d._
[7] See Special Guide, price 1_s._
[8] See Special Guides, price respectively 2_s._ 6_d._, 6_d._, 4_d._
[9] See Special Guide, price 1_s._
[10] See Special Guide, price 1_s._
[11] See Special Guide, price 1_s._
[12] See Special Guide, price 1_s._
[13] See Special Guide, price 6_d._
[14] See Special Guide, price 6_d._
[15] See Special Guide, price 6_d._
[16] “Guide to the Whales, Porpoises, and Dolphins exhibited in the
Department of Zoology.” Price 4_d._
[17] “Guide to the Galleries of Mammals,” (6_d._); “Guide to Great Game
Animals (Ungulata),” (1_s._); and “Guide to the Horse Family,” (1_s._).
[18] See “Guide to the Specimens Illustrating the Races of Mankind
(Anthropology).” Price 4_d._
[19] “Guide to the Fossil Mammals and Birds,” price 6_d._; “Guide to
the Fossil Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fishes,” price 9_d._; and “Guide
to the Fossil Invertebrate Animals,” price 1_s._
[20] See “Guide to the Elephants (Recent and Fossil).” Price 6_d._
[21] “Guide to the Mineral Gallery.” Price 1_d._ “Introduction to the
Study of Minerals, with a Guide to the Mineral Gallery.” Price 6_d._
[22] “Introduction to the Study of Rocks and Guide to the Museum
Collection.” Price 1_s._
[23] “The Student’s Index to the Collection of Minerals.” Price 2_d._
[24] Catalogue of a series of specimens illustrative of the more common
forms of Native Silica. By John Ruskin, F.G.S., 1884. Price 1_s._
[25] See “An Introduction to the Study of Meteorites, with a List of
the Meteorites represented in the Collection.” Price 6_d._
[26] “Books and portraits illustrating the History of Plant
Classification exhibited in the Department of Botany.” Price 4_d._
[27] “Guide to Sowerby’s Models of British Fungi.” Price 4_d._
[28] “Guide to the British Mycetozoa.” Price 3_d._
[29] A “List of British Seed-plants and Ferns” has been drawn up in the
form of a Guide. Price 4_d._
[30] “Guide to Mr. Worthington Smith’s Drawings of Field and Cultivated
Mushrooms and Poisonous or Worthless Fungi, often mistaken for
Mushrooms.” With reduced reproduction of the drawings. Price 1_s._
[31] NOTE.--The plates may be had separately in one sheet mounted on
linen and varnished. Price 1_s._, or 1_s._ 2_d._ post free.
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
quotation marks retained.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained; occurrences of
inconsistent hyphenation have not been changed.
Since screen sizes vary from device to device, and we do not know the
dimensions of the pages in the original book, the “scale” sizes given
in the captions of some illustrations do not apply to the sizes shown
in an eBook. Also, to make the identifiers within some illustrations
readable, the illustrations have not been resized uniformly in this
eBook, so their sizes, relative to each other, are not always the same
as the ones in the original book.
Illustrations and Sidenotes have been positioned between paragraphs
in this eBook. Consequently, the page references in the List of
Illustrations do not always match the placement in this eBook, and some
of the Sidenotes refer to material towards the middle or end of the
paragraphs that follow them.
Page 55: “feed on young cocoanuts” was printed with the “a”.
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