live chiefly on animal food, such as frogs, fishes, &c. and are found in rivers and marshes in warm countries. One of the species that attain the largest size is the crocodile-tortoise or snappingturtle of America, so called from its fierceness and the strength of its jaws, which have been known to bite through a stick half an inch in diameter with ease. Another species, the three-clawed terrapins (Case XXIII), are strictly carnivorous; they are to be seen on the Ganges feasting on the human bodies that float down the river. Some species of river turtles are fattened for food in Germany and Russia. But the turtle, whose flesh is so prized by epicures for the rich soup that it makes, is one of the marinetortoises (Case XXIII, lower shelves), called the green turtle (Chelonia midas), found chiefly within the tropics, where it feeds in shallow water, on sea-weeds, molluscs, and crustacea. It sometimes attains a weight of 1500 pounds; but the most valuable for soup are of smaller size, about four or five feet long, and from 500 to 800 pounds in weight. Although marine animals, the green turtles deposit their eggs (of which they lay about a hundred three times a year) on shore, covering them in the sand, and leaving them to be hatched by the sun's heat. They will travel hundreds of miles to procure a suitable locality for this purpose, generally preferring some island; the island of Ascension is much frequented by them, and there they are caught in great numbers at the proper seasons. As the best soup is made from one species of marine tortoise, so another species-the imbricated or hawk's-bill turtle of Arabia, Chelonia imbricata (Case XXIII, lower shelves), which is usually much smaller than the green turtle-yields the best tortoise-shell. Both the river and marine-tortoises are, on the whole, flatter in shape than the land-tortoises.

Loricata, or Crocodiles-Case XXIV.—Here we have specimens of the crocodiles proper, which are common to the old and the new world; of the caymans, or alligators, which are peculiar to America; and of the gavials, which are found in the Ganges and other Indian rivers. All these animals are serviceable as scavengers in the spots they inhabit, removing the carrion that would otherwise putrefy and taint the atmosphere; but wherever they exist they are a terror to the natives.

Batrachia, or Frogs-Cases XXV, XXVI.-In these cases are specimens of the toad, frog, and eft tribes; including the tree-frogs of some warm countries, which have their feet so formed that they can walk inverted on the smoothest surfaces; 'the bull-frogs of America; the horned toads of Brazil; the paradoxical frog of Surinam, the young or tadpole of which in its fish-like form is larger than its parent, and has been described as a fish; the pipa of Brazil, which deposits its eggs on the back of the male, who

carries them for a certain period, when the young are emitted from the cells; the siren of Carolina, which looks like an eel with front legs; the proteus of the dark subterraneous lakes of southern Europe, which is of a pale-pink colour, and blushes when exposed to the light-of this there is a very accurate wax model to exhibit its appearance when alive.' The common notion that toads are poisonous is a mistake; the fluid they emit when caught is quite harmless. Some of the frogs in these cases are of very large size.

ROOM III-SMALLER MAMMALIA.-Twenty-eight of the wallcases in this room are devoted, for the present at least, to the reception of the small mammalia belonging to these two orders: chiroptera, or bats, and glires, or dormice. The cases containing the bats are labelled XXV-XXIX; those containing the glires are the series from VI to XXII inclusive.

Chiroptera, or Bats-Cases XXV-XXIX.-These curious animals, though they fly in the air, are not to be regarded as birds, from which they differ not only in being mammalia—that is, in suckling their young, which they produce alive-but also in the very structure of the parts by means of which they fly; the wings of birds

consisting of feathers, while those of bats are membranes of skin extended on a framework of bone. From experiments made by Spallanzani, who found that bats, even after they had been deprived of their eyes, could fly without striking against obstacles, or even threads placed purposely in their way, it would appear that their wings possess an extreme sensibility of touch. Bats walk on a level surface very awkwardly: the notion, however, that they cannot rise from the ground, is erroneous. There are many species of bats all bearing a family resemblance to each other (in England

alone there are eighteen known species); and in the cases under notice one sees representatives of almost all these, including the curious leaf-nosed bats from Brazil, supposed to excel in the sense of smell; the vampire, or large blood-sucking bat from the same country, which sometimes attacks sleepers, and sucks their blood, but whose feats in this way have been exaggerated; and the different kinds of fruit-eating bats found in America and Australia, and sometimes called flying-foxes on account of their great size. The bats of temperate climates remain torpid during the winter.

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Glires-Cases VI-XXVIII.-This order, which receives also the name of rodentia, or gnawing animals--so called from the manner in which they eat their food—is the most numerous of the orders of mammalia, embracing no fewer than 604 distinct species, or about two-fifths of the entire number of known mammalia. is usually subdivided into seven families or tribes—namely, the Muride, or rat tribe; the Castoridæ, or beaver tribe; the Hystricida, or porcupine tribe; the Leporida, or hare tribe; the Chinchillida, or chinchilla tribe; the Cavida, or guinea-pig tribe; and the Sciurida, or squirrel tribe. The most striking characteristic of all these animals is the structure of their teeth. The molar or grinding teeth,' says Mr Patterson, 'have ridges of enamel variously arranged, which keep up the inequality of surface, as they wear less rapidly than the other portions. The incisor teeth with their chiselled edges are, however, more remarkable. If a carpenter. could lay hold of the wishing-cap of the fairy tale, and desire to possess a chisel that would never wear out, and would never become blunt,' he would choose instruments made exactly on the principle of these incisor teeth of the rodentia. 'New matter is ever added at their base, the tooth is ever growing, the enamel is deposited on the outer edge, the soft or inner portions of the teeth wear away, and thus the bevelled or sloping edge of these most efficient tools is invariably preserved.' Of the muridæ, or rat and mouse tribe, which are not only the most numerous of the rodentia, comprehending 306 species, but also the most widely distributed over the globe, there is a large collection in Cases VI and VII; including curious specimens of the white mice, voles, jerboarats, which resemble kangaroos in shape, and in the enormous length of their hind-legs, spinous pouched rats from tropical America, &c. &c. In Cases VIII, IX, and X are specimens, some very curious, of the beavers, the cavies, and the porcupines; in Cases XI-XIV there is a fine collection of hares and rabbits from different parts of the world, including some beautiful white hares from the arctic countries; in Case XIV are some specimens of the chinchilla and its allies; while the range of Cases from XV to XXII is devoted to specimens of the extensive squirrel tribe,

including the souslicks and marmots of North America and Europe.

ROOMS III AND IV-FISHES.-Fishes, the investigation of whose structure and habits forms the subject-matter of the department of natural history called Ichthyology, are usually divided into two great sections:-OSSEOUS FISHES, or those whose skeleton consists of bone, and CARTILAGINOUS FISHES, or those whose skeleton consists of cartilage or gristle. Osseous fishes are farther subdivided into six orders-namely, Acanthopterygii, or spinyfinned fishes such as the perch; Malacopterygii, or soft-finned fishes, comprising three orders—namely, M. Abdominales, in which the ventral fins are attached to the abdomen behind the pectoral fins-such as the pike, the salmon, &c. a very numerous order, including the majority of fresh-water fishes; M. Sub-brachiati, in which the ventral fins are brought forward under the pectoralssuch as the cod, the whiting, &c.; and M. Apoda, in which the ventral fins are wanting, as in the eel; Lophobranchii, or tuftgilled fishes-that is, fishes having gills disposed in tufts, as in the pipe-fish, instead of hanging in regular fringes; and Plectognathi, having their jaws as if soldered together-as in the globe fish. The Cartilaginous fishes are subdivided into three orders:-Sturiones, sturgeons; Plagiostomi, sharks and rays; and Cyclostomi, round-mouthed fishes-such as lampreys.

Such is the ordinary method of classifying fishes; but at present, those in the museum are arranged only in the roughest possible temporary manner, under the three heads of spiny-finned fishes (Room IV, Wall-Cases I-XIII), soft-finned fishes (Room IV, Wall-Cases XIV-XIX), and anomalous fishes, including the cartilaginous (Room IV, Wall-Cases XX-XXVI); while a great number, left out of these cases, are placed either along the tops of the cases in the same room, or in a portion of the wall-cases of Room III. It is only possible, therefore, to name a few of the more interesting specimens, indicating where they are deposited.

Among the spiny-finned fishes are various specimens of the curious flying gurnards and flying sea-scorpions (Cases I-IV, Room IV); of the sword-fish (Case VII), distinguished for its long and sharp nose with which it kills its prey, and sometimes even pierces the timbers of a ship; of the dolphins (Case IX), which change colour so rapidly when they are caught; and of the curiouslyshaped tobacco-pipe fish (Case XIII). Among the soft-finned fishes are specimens of the carp and other fresh-water fishes (Case XIV); of the pikes (Cases XV), remarkable for their voracity, their longevity, and the great size to which they sometimes grow; of the siluroid fishes; the callichthes, which are covered with rows of

imbricate plates like scale armour; and the loricaria, whose scales form a coat of a similar description (Case XVI); and of the flatfishes such as turbot, flounders, soles, &c. (Cases XVIII, XIX); and the eels (Case XX). In the remaining cases of the same room are specimens of the spiny-globe fish, which can dilate their bodies almost to a globular shape by filling their stomachs with air (Case XX); and of the sturgeons, sharks, saw-fishes, rays, and torpedoes (Cases XXII-XXVI). Over the cases in the same room are placed various fine specimens of sword-fishes-one a flying sword-fish from the Indian Ocean; various pikes or weapons of the same fish, one of which was forced deep into the hulk of an oak-built ship; weapons also of the saw-fish,

so called from their saw-like proboscis; and some specimens of large sharks, including the white shark, the most ferocious and dangerous of all the tribe. In Room III, also, are many specimens of fish that deserve notice; and in the lobby, at the entrance to the gallery from the side of the Eastern Zoological Gallery, is placed a large specimen of the short sunfish, whose bulky body and almost comic expression of coun

Sun-Fish.

tenance invariably arrest visitors in their passage from the one gallery to the other.

EASTERN ZOOLOGICAL GALLERY.

This gallery, which is far more spacious and magnificent than the one we have just quitted, does not present the same confused variety of objects, and may be examined by the visitor in a more complete manner with far less trouble. It contains, in addition to a series of horns of different kinds of deer and rhinoceri ranged along the tops of the wall-cases, two splendid collections that do honour to the museum-the one a collection of shells of molluscous animals, occupying a series of fifty large table-cases; and the other a collection of stuffed birds, occupying a range of no fewer than 166 wall-cases. At intervals along the sides of the room are also placed small table-cases, containing specimens of the eggs of the different species of birds that occupy the wall-cases near. We shall give a short account of the shells and the birds.