except the skeletons of the Corals), must practically, if not actually, be absent from the Museum unless represented by spirit-preserved specimens. The modern mode of preservation, and the use of flat sided jars with dark coloured glass inserted behind the animal will exhibit many of these as among the most lovely objects in a collection; and existing gaps in the chain of organic beings will thus be filled. No money can be better spent by a Curator than the outlay, say to begin with, of £10 to £50 in the purchase of these classes and orders of animals preserved in the marvellous manner in which they are sent out from the "Zoological Station" at Naples; while many of the invertebrates now supplied by the "Biological Labora tory" at Plymouth, are also most satisfactory. When these have been procured a commencement will at least have been made in a right direction. But there still remain the Protozoa. Here, as regards the Foraminifera and Radiolaria, models are commonly shown, but it is desirable that these should be supplemented by drawings of the sarcodous animal in life, while the Infusoria and many other groups can only be illustrated by drawings, which, however, should never be wanting. THE RESERVE OR RESEARCH COLLECTION. I pass to say a few words on the Reserve or Research Collections. Here the aim should be the reverse of that described in the exhibited collection; for the object to be sought is the preservation of the largest number of specimens in the smallest possible space, provided only that the method of arrangement shall be such that any given species may be immediately found. As a private collector restricted to the limited space of a dwellinghouse (aided only by an iron structure in the garden which contains the spirit preserved larger forms) in which to keep an extensive collection, it has been of necessity the study of long years to accomplish the objects just named. With a view not only to economy of space, but also to the preservation of the animals in the best way for minute and critical examination, such things as the smaller mammals, birds, &c., should not be mounted but kept in the skin and preserved in glass-topped drawers, and thus protected from the injury of light, &c. It is of the Invertebrata however that I can speak from experience, and as more than one Museum has adopted. my mode of arrangement, I will now bring it before you in the hope that it may be of some service. The cabinets (see fig. 1) are all of uniform size, four feet high. On each side a narrow door, furnished with a lock at the top and bolt at the bottom secures the drawers (A door open, B door closed). The drawers are interchangeable throughout the whole series of cabinets, and are of three depths, D being twice, and E three times the depth of C.* It will be observed that the cabinet contains thirty drawers of the C depth, or their equivalent in the deeper drawers. Each C drawer (see fig. 2) measures *There are very few things that will not go into D; and I would advise that no drawer of E depth be ordered until the necessity for it is proved. The precise depth of this shallow drawer is very important as it exactly takes in the larger bottles and boxes. It will be observed that the outside of the drawer is wider below than above forming a jutting process which fits into the groove at the side of the cabinet on which the drawer rests. Fig. 3 represents the triangular supports which form the grooves of their full size, they of course are of the whole depth of the cabinets, and each is a separate piece glued and nailed to the side of the cabinet. The double depth drawer occupies two grooves; the treble depth three grooves. (Fig. 1, D and E.) The advantage of this will be at once apparent. (a) No partition separates the drawers, each drawer forming the cover of the one below, so that no room whatever is lost. (b) a deeper drawer can be inserted in any situation required, (c) if one part of the cabinet is crowded with specimens and more space is required, no re-arrangement is necessary, one or more drawers are taken from the bottom (to be removed to the top of the succeeding cabinet), the remaining drawers are moved downwards, and the additional drawer or drawers inserted in the place or places required-the whole being done in a few minutes. Each of the shallow drawers is provided with a wooden framework, which divides the drawer into sixteen divisions, each measuring 6 inches by 3 inches, this frame I prefer to be loose so that it can be taken out if desired; its use prevents the contents of the drawers slipping about from one part to another (Fig. 2.). The drawers as used by me have no glass covers, and if it is desired to have these they must of course be proportionately deepened. * Not the deeper drawers. In these drawers glass topped boxes, trays, tubes (for dry things), bottles (for spirit preserved animals), are employed promiscuously. The glass topped boxes and open trays are of the same dimensions as follows: 2, 3, and 4 being, as will be seen, one half, one fourth, and one sixth of the size of 1 respectively.* In the deeper drawers larger sized trays are employed which are two, four, or six times as large as size 1. The sizes of the tubes employed are The Tubes are chiefly used for the smaller shells. The dimensions of the two sizes of bottles are given on figures 4 and 5 which represent them. The very best corks should be used, and then it will be found necessary to reject a large proportion of those supplied as not being sufficiently good. It is better to throw away a whole gross of corks, than by the use of a bad cork to have a valuable specimen destroyed.‡ * My glass topped boxes are made for me by Mr. Hugh Fulton, The dimensions of tubes and bottles are given in millemeters as I procure them from Germany, from Gundlach and Müller, Ottensen bei Hamburg. For bottle 4, I pay £2 10 per thousand, and for bottle 5, £110 per thousand. For small bottles corks are a much more secure closing than ordinary glass stoppers. I have not had much experience with gutta-percha stoppers; they are, at any rate, very good for a time. |