IX.— Notes on a few Natural History Collections visited in thecourse of a Tour on the Continent in 1880.* By ThomasStock, Natural History Department, Museum of Scienceand Art, Edinburgh .

(Read 17th March 1881.)

Brussels . —At Brussels the chief national collections are housedin a continuous range of buildings, which is a convenientarrangement for visitors. The natural history objects haveconsiderable space allotted to them in long but not well-lightedgalleries. The fittings are neat throughout, of simple Gothicdesign, and of unvarnished oak. The recent vertebrata arearranged with taste and skill, and the space is made the most of.The birds are well stuffed. The register number is placed onthe label. Maps of distribution are freely exhibited. Thenests and eggs are placed in glass trays beside the birds. Thefossils are arranged in upright cases which are placed in seriesbehind and slightly raised above each other. Each case has sixshelves sloping to the front. The fossils are placed loose intrays and labelled (too sparingly) in manuscript. There isroom for improvement both in the scientific arrangement andin the methods of mounting employed. Everything is sacrificedto the wants of the stratigraphical geologist. The museum isnot rich in Palaeozoic fossils; but there is a good representationfrom the Belgian Tertiaries. The numerous subdivisions of theTertiary rocks, with their long series of fossils, make the studyof any particular zoological group exceedingly difficult andperplexing. A neat method of mounting certain objects isworthy of remark. Small watch-glasses are cemented togetherenclosing the object, and fixed on tablets. This method might beadopted with advantage in certain cases, but is not capable of awide application. Another method is deserving of mention.Fragile Tertiary fossils frequently occur in a sandy matrix.The application of a liquid cement would destroy them. Thedifficulty is met by imbedding them. Gutta-percha is usedhere for this purpose ; but paraffin would perhaps be better.

* I have much pleasure in acknowledging the assistance I have received inpreparing these notes from my colleagues. My friend Mr Clark accompanied meon the journey, and I am indebted to him in a special way for many referencesand suggestions. Dr Hajnsler, formerly assistant at the Polytechnieum Museum ofZurich , has rendered me invaluable help in the part relating to Switzerland . Hehas supplied me with the majority of the most important facts relating tothe museums of that country, and has added to his kindness by revising mymanuscript, so that, thanks to him, I have been able to give a trustworthyaccount of the chief natural history collections of Switzerland .