How to See the British Museum in Four Visits Part 2

The varieties of this family are not many; they are grouped in three cases (24-26). Here are the terrible common crocodiles which have long been the terror of the people whose native land they inhabit; the alligators, which patronise America exclusively; and the gavials of India. They are said to act as orderlies, in the rivers they frequent, devouring all the putrid matter that would else infect the atmosphere.

Here too are those curious snakes which are equally thick at either end--a peculiarity which has earned for them the appellation of double-headed, and the supposed power of walking indifferently forwards or backwards. The visitor now approaches the

FROGS,

called by zoologists after the Greek name, Batrachia. The author of the Vestiges of Creation remarks, that the frog is the only animal that, like man, has a calf on the hinder part of its legs. The batrachian animals are here all grouped in one case (26). They have many peculiarities. They are in the first place almost ribless; their feet are in no way armed; many of the toads have no teeth, and those of the frog are insignificant for its size; they have no tails; neither the frogs nor the toads are venomous; the fiery expectorations of the poor toads are matters of household fable only; and their croaking choruses have startled many a poor traveller. One variety, in the case with which the visitor is now engaged, is remarkable. Here are specimens of the tree frogs that can walk with their backs downwards on the most polished surfaces, and can slightly change their colour; the paradoxical frog from Surinam, which is larger as a tadpole than in its condition of maturity; the Brazilian horned toads; the American bull frogs; and the Brazilian pipa, the female of which deposits its eggs upon the back of the male, who carries them about till they burst from their sh.e.l.ls; the repulsive siren of Carolina, which Mr. J.E. Gray likens to an eel with fore-legs; and lastly, here is the blushing proteus, which in its native subterranean caverns is of a pale pink, but when brought to the light of day, deepens into a crimson blush; this is represented by a waxen model. It is strange that political and controversial literature, so rich in chameleons, a.s.ses in lions' skins, and other figures for human fallibility and stupidity, should not contain a few, just a few, varieties of the blushing proteus.

The visitor has now examined all the wall cases of the second room; and his way again lies to the west. The third or central room of the gallery, which he is now about to enter, is to a large cla.s.s of country visitors, perhaps the most interesting apartment of the museum. Herein is deposited a complete museum of the animal life of Britain, comprehending the beasts and birds native to its soil, and the fishes that swim in its waters.

THE BRITISH ZOOLOGICAL ROOM.

In this room, as in the previous rooms, the vertebrated animals are grouped in the wall cases or on the top of the cases. It is hardly necessary to guide the visitor systematically through the intricacies of a collection, every beast, bird, fish, and sh.e.l.l of which is native to his own land. In the wall cases devoted to British vertebrate animals he will notice, first the Carnivorous Beasts, which include the foxes; stoats; cats; &c.:--the Glirine Beasts, including rabbits; squirrels; hares; rats; and mice:--the Hoofed Beasts, as the fallow deer; the stag; and the roebuck:--and the Insectivorous Beasts, including moles; hedgehogs; &c.

The collection of British birds includes the Birds of Prey, as the hawks; the eagles; and the owls:--the Perching Birds, as the swallows; kingfishers; thrushes; butcher birds; rollers; and wagtails:--the Sc.r.a.ping Birds, as pheasants; pigeons; quails; partridges; and guinea-fowls:--the Wading Birds, including the woodc.o.c.k; snipes; herons; sandpipers; storks; &c.:--and the Web-footed Birds, including swans; ducks, and sea ducks; grebes; divers; auks; petrels; gulls; gannets; cormorants; &c. The eggs of the birds are in a table case (1) and arranged like the birds.

The British reptiles are all collected in the upper part of one case, including toads; frogs; and lizards.

The British fish occupy the remainder of the wall cases. These include perch; bream; the john-dory; carp; barbel; salmon; pike; trout; sturgeon; the shark; thornback; lamprey; turbot; plaice; sole; flounder; cod; haddock; &c.

INSECTS AND Sh.e.l.lS.

Three tables (2-4) are devoted to insects with jaws; the insects that are furnished with a proboscis; and a collection of British Crustacea, including lobsters; crabs; woodlice; shrimps; &c. On the table upon which the Insects with Jaws are spread, the visitor will notice many household torments, including beetles; crickets; earwigs, bees; and wasps: and in the general collection, ants; gra.s.shoppers; c.o.c.kroaches; dragon-flies; &c. The Insects with a proboscis include some beautiful b.u.t.terflies with their painted wings; gnats; and, to the horror of many female visitors, bugs.

The three next tables are covered with specimens of the sh.e.l.ls of British mollusca, or soft-bodied animals. Here are the sh.e.l.ls of snails, c.o.c.kles, mussels, oysters, &c.

The collection closes with a table case (8) which is covered with specimens of those animals called by Cuvier radiated creatures, or creatures whose nervous force is concentrated in a central point whence it radiates, as in the starfish; sea eggs, &c; corals; sea pens; corallines, &c.

Having made this rapid survey of the animal life of Great Britain from its highest to its lowest developments, the visitor should again resume his journey westward, to the fourth room of the gallery, in which the collection of

FISHES

begins. Here the Osseous or bony fishes are distributed in and on the top of the wall cases. While taking a general glance at the arrangement of the room, the visitor will at once be struck by the specimens of Sword fish--especially by the Indian flying sword fish, which are placed on the top of the wall cases on account of their length--and some of the pikes or swords of these fish, one of which, it is a.s.serted, was driven, by the fish to which it belonged, into the hull of a stout oak ship. On the top of one of the cases the visitor should notice also the remarkable large head, from Mexico, with a long dorsal ray.

There are six orders or families of osseous or bony fish; and specimens of all these will be found in the wall cases of this room.

First there is the family of

SPINY-FINNED FISHES.

This family occupies the first thirteen wall cases. Among the fishes in the first four cases, the visitor should notice the flying gurnards; the sea scorpions, and flying sea scorpions; the paradise fish; and the perches, including the fingered variety. The next cases (4-9) include, amid other varieties, the chaetodons, or bristle-toothed fish; mackarel, and horse mackarel; tunny; s...o...b..rs, &c.; john-dories; and pilot fish. Then follow, next in succession, two cases (10, 11) containing the lively dolphins, which are remarkable for the rapidity with which they change colour when they are withdrawn from the water; the sturgeons, with their lancet spine; and the sea garters. The next two cases include the remaining specimens of the spiny-finned fish. Among these are the wolf fish; the curiously formed tobacco-pipe fish; the big-headed dolphins or anglers; the hand fish, with its long fins; and the rook fish.

THE SOFT-FINNED FISHES

are deposited in nine cases. In the first two cases (14, 15) of the series, are the fresh water fish of different countries, including the voracious and long-lived pike: these form an interesting group for the contemplation of anglers. The next case is devoted to hard-coated fish, as the Callichthes, which are cased with a thick scale armour; and the hard-coated Loricaria. The fish grouped in the other cases of the series, are mostly familiar to the general visitor. Here are the varieties of the salmon and the herring; cod; ling; turbot; flounders; eels of various kinds; whiting; and the lump fish. The remaining four cases of this room are devoted to a series of fishes including, in cases 23, 24, the globe fish with a parrot's beak; and the ungainly sea horses. The two last cases (25, 26) include the file fish; the coffin fishes with their hard case of octagonal plates; and the European and American sturgeons. Having examined the varieties of osseous fishes, the visitor should continue his westerly course into the fifth and last room, a compartment of the northern zoological gallery. In this room he will find the wall cases devoted to

CARTILAGINOUS FISHES.

Many of the specimens of this division are placed on the top of the wall cases, being too large to be placed inside the cases. The Cartilaginous fishes here brought together include the varieties of the ray; torpedos; and sharks. At the western extremity of this room the visitor should terminate the onward course of his first visit, and, remembering that the table cases of the northern and eastern galleries through which he has pa.s.sed, remain to be examined on his way back to the grand staircase, should begin to retrace his steps, confining his attention, as he returns, to the table cases placed in the central s.p.a.ce of the rooms through which his way lies. He should now therefore face the east, and return, in the northern zoological gallery towards its eastern extremity. The table cases deposited in the room with the cartilaginous fish are covered with

SPONGES

of different kinds. It will be interesting to the visitor to know something of the natural history of the sponge. It has been ascertained, beyond a doubt, that the sponge is an animal that sucks in its food and excretes its superfluities; that certain of its pores imbibe, while others exude; and that according to the relative positions of the two distinct sets of pores, is the shape of the sponge determined. In a natural state, as it is found in the Mediterranean, the sponge is surrounded with a thick glutinous matter, which is its vital part; like coral, it is a zoophyte: it propagates in the same manner, and its life is indestructible till it is removed from its proper element, and the glutinous matter which makes its vitality has been boiled out of its pores, leaving the soft and beautiful skeletons, of which these cases contain many specimens. Here also are some old sponges preserved in flint. Having noticed these beautiful zoophytes, the visitor should proceed in an easterly direction into the room he recently quitted, to examine the table cases it contains. The first tables to which he should direct his attention here, are those in which a series of Crustacea or hard-coated animals are deposited. They are of Cuvier's order of animal life, known as the articulata, or animals whose bodies consist of a series of moveable joints. These are mostly inhabitants of the sea, and rank in the animal kingdom as the highest cla.s.s of the Articulata, except the insects, who head the order. The tables upon which the Crustacea or

Sh.e.l.l FISH,

are deposited, are numbered from 13 to 24. The four first cases (13-16) are covered with Crabs of various kinds, including the long-legged spider-crabs, common crabs with oysters growing upon their backs, and fin-footed swimming crabs. The next case (17) contains in addition to the long-eyed or telescope crab, varieties of the land-crab, which is found in various parts of India; one kind, that swarms in the Deccan, commits great ravages in the rice-fields. The two next tables are covered with Chinese crabs, square-bodied crabs; those crabs with fine sh.e.l.ls known as porcelain crabs, and the curious death's head crab, which seems to build a kind of nest of sponge or sh.e.l.ls. But upon the next table (20) the visitor will find the most remarkable of the crabs, together with an astonishing lobster. This crab is known as the hermit crab. The visitor will perceive, that it has a long naked tail; and he should know that the one all-absorbing care of its life seems to be to find a place of safety in which this unprotected part may be screened from the dire mischances of war.

Accordingly, at an early age, it sets out in search of a deserted sh.e.l.l into which it backs its tail; or if an unoccupied sh.e.l.l be not at hand, without much ceremony, the hermit contrives a summary ejectment of the lawful tenant, that it may shield its tail and be at rest. Upon the same table with this unceremonious hermit, lies the tree-lobster, which is believed to climb cocoa-trees in search of the nuts. Upon the next table (21) are the sea craw-fish and sea locusts; and upon the succeeding table (22) the visitor will remark the destructive scorpion-lobster of India, the excavations of which seriously damage the roads of that part of the world; Shrimps in all their varieties; the delicate alima, with its pale thin sh.e.l.l; and the long king crab. Upon the last two tables devoted to sh.e.l.l fish, or crustacea, are spread the goose sh.e.l.ls or barnacles, whale lice, and I the sea acorn.

Having examined these crustacea, the visitor should turn his attention to the twelve tables (1-12) upon which a fine collection of

INSECTS

is spread. The first eight tables are covered with varieties of

THE BEETLE TRIBE.

These include some beautiful insects. The care with which the many thousand varieties have been cla.s.sified by zoologists, and the minuteness with which the habits of each variety have been traced, have raised these insects to a conspicuous position in the great Animal Kingdom. Their beauty, as they lie here in vast numbers before the spectator, is dazzling. Every colour and every combination and shade of colour can be traced upon them; and in these varieties of tint there appears to be a wise provision of nature, the blue coloured beetle being the frequenter of the bark of trees, the green beetle revelling among the leaves; and the gay red and light beetles being the _habitees_ of flower cups. Upon the first table of the series (1) are some curious varieties. Here are the remarkable burying-beetle, that deposits its eggs in the rotting flesh of small dead animals, and then, with the a.s.sistance of some kindred beetles buries the body, leaving its progeny to enjoy the carrion when they quicken; the sacred scarabaeus of the Egyptians, and the British variety of the same beetle, that bury their eggs in their dung. Upon the next table (2) are the golden tropical beetles, whose wings are used by the natives as ornaments; the celebrated glow worms, the females of which emit a phosph.o.r.escent light, in order to attract the attention of the males--thus these lights are love signals; the Brazilian diamond-beetle, a splendid insect, and the harlequin beetle. The third table (3) is covered with varieties of the kangaroo beetles, a brilliant collection of ladybirds, the varieties of earwigs, c.o.c.kroaches, originally tropical insects only; the praying insects, called so from their habit of erecting their fore legs and a.s.suming a prayerful att.i.tude, when, in fact, they are preparing for an attack upon their prey: and the insects which the uninitiated visitor has already mistaken for pieces of stick, but which are the walking leaf-insects; some with wings like dead leaves, and others wingless.

The fourth table (4) is covered with the varieties of the Cricket, including the great Chinese cricket, dragon-flies, scorpion-flies, the terrible tropical white ants, caddis flies, wasps, saw-flies, bees, hornets, and sand wasps.

b.u.t.tERFLIES AND MOTHS.

Then follow three tables (5-7) of splendid b.u.t.terflies, with their brilliant tints. The two tables (8, 9) ranged next in order to those upon which the b.u.t.terflies are distributed, are covered with varieties of the moth. Here are the silkworm moth and its coc.o.o.n as kept in Siberia; the ghost moth of our hop grounds; the hawk moth, the death's head moth, and the large Brazilian owl moth.

The next table (10) is covered with a great variety of flies and bugs, including the Chinese lantern flies.

The eleventh table is given up to Spiders in all their varieties, including the tarantula, a formidable insect with a power of severe biting; and the curious spider that bores a nest in the ground, lines it sumptuously with its own silk, and then constructs a lid that closes inevitably, as the insect leaves its house. Here too are the scorpions. The last table of the series (12) is covered also with varieties of the spider, including the land and shepherd spiders; the African scarlet tick, and the centipedes. The visitor has now completed his survey of the contents of this room, and should at once pa.s.s forward in an easterly direction, traverse the British zoological room, which he has already examined throughout, and pa.s.s into the fourth room of the gallery.

The table-cases in this room present nothing that can greatly interest the unscientific visitor. They are covered with varieties of

STARFISH; SEA-EGGS, ETC.

The sea-eggs are scattered over the first nine tables (1-9) in the room. They live on small animals and sea-weed. The varieties include a flat kind, vulgarly called sea-pancakes. The remaining cases of the room are loaded with varieties of the star-fish. The mouth of the star-fish is on its lower side, through which it takes its food. It has innumerable feet, which it displays when in the water, and by means of which it can climb rocks. Some of the varieties fall to pieces on being taken from their native element, as the lizard, or brittle star-fish. The gorgon's head, which has innumerable branches from its central part, should be observed by the visitor; and the sea-wigs, which are a kind of star-fish, somewhat resembling the gorgon's head, with innumerable radii. They are placed upon table 24, near a cast of a stem and flower, that has the appearance of a fossil plant, but is in reality a cast of a crinoid star-fish that once existed in great abundance. In the most eastern room of this gallery are a few tables upon which are deposited the sh.e.l.ls and tubes of molluscous animals, to ill.u.s.trate their changes, and the way in which the animal adapts them to his position. The third and fourth tables will, perhaps, interest the general visitor. Here he will find specimens exhibiting the growth of Sh.e.l.ls, and also how the animal repairs any damage to its sh.e.l.l. Here, too, are the sh.e.l.ls upon which the modern cameo-cutters of Rome, work. As the visitor will perceive, the design is engraved in relief upon the light outer layers of the sh.e.l.l, leaving the darker under part exposed, as a back-ground.

The visitor's way now lies out of the northern gallery, by its eastern door, near which he should notice a remarkable sun fish, of a bulky and squat appearance. Having regained the first, or most northerly room of the great eastern zoological gallery, the visitor should turn to the south, examining the table cases of this gallery as he returns through its s.p.a.cious rooms. All the table cases of this gallery, with the exception of a few small side tables, are covered with the vast varieties of the

Sh.e.l.lS

of molluscous or soft animals. These sh.e.l.ls, scattered over no less than forty-nine tables, represent the architectural capacities of the great order of soft-bodied animals, only inferior in rank, in Cuvier's "Animal Kingdom," to the Vertebrate animals.

Upon the first table, before which the visitor will find himself (49), are some interesting specimens of the well-known Cuttle fish, exhibiting its varieties, including the common cuttle fish found upon our coasts; those which have the power of secreting a dark fluid, and those from India, whose ink-bags furnish artists with that valuable brown called sepia. Here, too, are the skeletons of the slender loligos, or sea leaves, known also as sea-pens; and the crozier sh.e.l.l.

Upon the next six tables (48-53), proceeding southward, are the varieties of the Oyster, the Mussel, and beautiful Mother-of-pearl sh.e.l.ls. But hence the visitor will probably proceed rapidly to the south; inasmuch as the varieties of the mussel family, including the Chinese pearl mussel and Scotch pearl mussel, the borers, the club sh.e.l.l, and the c.o.c.kle family, are not generally interesting; but he will probably linger for a few moments near the pond mussels placed upon some of the tables (38-41). The tables numbered from 24 to 30 are covered with the varieties of hard sh.e.l.ls, which, however, present no points of interest to the general visitor, who may at once pa.s.s on to the varieties of the Nautilus and Argonaut, (tables 23, 24). And here, too, we must entreat the visitor to forget the poetic history of the inhabitants of those beautiful sh.e.l.ls, and learn that the extended arms of the nautilus are used only to clasp its sh.e.l.l; that it has no sails of any kind. The varieties of the paper nautilus, or argonaut, are the most delicate and beautiful. The next table (22) displays the sh.e.l.l of the curious carrier, that embodies all kinds of foreign substances with its sh.e.l.l; the slipper sh.e.l.l, and the rose bud. Upon the next table (21) are the Screws; the curious ladder sh.e.l.ls from China; and upon table 20, are the varieties of fresh water Clubs. The next two tables (18, 19) display some curious and beautiful sh.e.l.ls, including Venus's ear, the paG.o.da sh.e.l.l, and varieties of Snails, including the apple snails. Proceeding on his southern way, the visitor should pause to notice the ear sh.e.l.ls, placed upon tables 18, 17, including the beautiful rainbow; the b.u.t.ton sh.e.l.ls, the rainbow eardrop, and the pyramid upon table 16; the pomegranate from the Cape of Good Hope, New Zealand imperial, and pheasant, and the West Indian golden sun, upon table 15; the weaver's shuttle and pig cowries, including the Chinese variety, highly valued by the Chinese, as an ornament; also upon table 15, more varieties of cowries, including the money cowry of Africa, used there as money, and the orange cowry from the Friendly Islands, where it is worn as an ornament; the five varieties of the Volutes, including the red clouded volute, the Chinese imperial volute, the bishop's mitre, and the papal crown, distributed upon tables 12 and 13. The Melons, the large varieties of which are put to domestic uses by the Chinese, the olives, and b.u.t.ter sh.e.l.ls, upon table 11; the magilus, whelks, and the needle sh.e.l.l upon table 10; the purple sh.e.l.l that emits the colour from which it is named, the mulberry sh.e.l.l, and the unicorn sh.e.l.l, distributed upon table 9; the tun sh.e.l.l, the harps, the harp helmets, and the helmets upon which cameos are carved, distributed about tables 8 and 7; the spindle sh.e.l.ls, including the great tulip sh.e.l.ls, and the turnip sh.e.l.ls, occasionally used as oil-vessels in Indian temples, distributed about the tables 5, 6, and 7 are all worth examination.

The splendid cone sh.e.l.ls, which include the king of the collection, pointed out to visitors as the glory of the sea, from the Philippine Islands, and the African setting sun cone, upon tables 5 and 4; the rock sh.e.l.ls upon table 4: the trumpet sh.e.l.ls upon table 3, so called after the large kinds which savage tribes have been known to use as horns; and upon the last two tables, the s...o...b.., including the beautiful varieties from the West Indies and China, close the list.

The visitor has now reached the Southern Extremity of the Eastern Zoological Gallery, and brought his first visit to a conclusion. He may well pause, however, before dismissing from his mind the objects which have engaged his attention.

First, then, he examined the varieties of MAMMALIA. The mammalia, of which man himself is the highest type, are the leading cla.s.s of the great order of vertebrate, or back-boned animals, and fishes are the lowest, the intermediate cla.s.ses being birds and reptiles. VERTEBRATA are of higher rank in the animal kingdom than the mollusca, or soft-bodied animals, those having "red blood and a double-chambered heart." The mammalia are the cla.s.s which suckle their young; second to them are the BIRDS; and then the blood cools, the organisation is inferior, and the REPTILES are produced; and lastly come the FISHES, with cold blood, and wanting aerial lungs. Philosophers, who have settled the scheme of the world as one of progression, complication, or development, trace animal life from the polypus, (which belongs to the order of Radiata, or animals that have a central point in which the vital force of the animal appears to preside, diverging in radii, as in the sea-eggs, starfishes, coral, sponges); the polypus advances to the Articulata, or jointed animals, including all kinds of worms, leeches, or ringed animals, of which insects are the most highly organised developments; next to the Mollusca, or soft-bodied animals; and then from these, which include the sh.e.l.l-fish, the scheme gradually progresses to the fish with backbones; and here the lowest order of Vertebrata is developed: the fish merges into the reptile, the reptile into the bird; the bird, as in the ornithorhyncus, into the Mammalia.