ON NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS. 7
has so often been in other ways greatly indebted. The
educational value of this collection is much increased by Mr.
Crouch's neat drawings of the living molluscs, shewing their
relation to the shells. I understand that a large collection of Forest
species is in course of preparation, and as this is the property of
the Club it will be a permanent exhibit. It is well to note, too,
that some of the living mollusca will be on view in the aquaria
in the museum, and I feel sure these will prove a constant
source of interest and instruction to the visitors. The
fascination of living things makes an aquarium one of the most
popular features in any Museum, and amply repays the trouble
which it necessarily involves.
It is not so easy to represent the Vertebrata of the Forest in
our small Museum as it is to illustrate the invertebrate fauna.
There is, however, in the Banqueting Hall a collection of Birds'
Eggs (founded on a collection presented by Mr. G. E. Vaughan),
in glass-topped boxes ; and as many eggs suffer by direct
exposure to light, they are protected, like the insects, by covers
to the table-cases in which they are preserved. These glazed
covers are utilized by the display of a charming series of coloured
plates and reproductions of photographs, illustrating the
residents, migrants and visitors to the forest, with their nests.
The effect of thus appropriating what would otherwise be bare
covers is admirable; but let it not be forgotten that the judicious
selection, the neat mounting, and the careful labelling of such a
series of plates, must have required the expenditure of much
time and thought. It is evident that some sympathetic hand
must have been busy with this work, and I think I trace that of
Mr. Henry Cole.
At present there is no collection of stuffed birds in the
Museum, but it is proposed, as soon as sufficient funds are in
hand, to place in the centre of the Banqueting Room a pedestal
case, divided into four compartments, each containing a small
collection of the Birds of the Forest, in association with their
natural surroundings. What species are to be represented I
know not ; perhaps it is not yet decided. But in view of the
great interest of the Heronry in Wanstead Park, I should think
that a group of herons, with the nest, would be at once
appropriate, attractive and instructive. Fortunately the Club
has, in its new president, a distinguished ornithologist, under