British Museum (Natural History) General GuideBritish Museum (Natural History)
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British Museum (Natural History) General Guide
British Museum (Natural History)
British Museum (Natural History) -- Guidebooks; Natural history museums -- England -- London -- Guidebooks
Next in order come the
Antelopes, a large number of which are placed in the corridors outside
the gallery. This series, it may be remarked, is particularly fine,
and, in fact, unique. At the last two bays on the right side of the
gallery the visitor reaches the Goats; and in the “pavilion,” at the
west end of the gallery, he comes to the Sheep, Musk-Oxen, and Oxen, of
which there is a magnificent display, both as regards mounted specimens
and horns. Many of the cases in the middle of the gallery and the bays
have been fitted with artificial groundwork, one of the most striking
being the European Reindeer case, for which the materials were brought
from Norway.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.--PRONGBUCK OR PRONGHORN ANTELOPE (_Antilocapra
americana_).]
Continuing our survey down the left side of the gallery, the bay next
the pavilion and an adjacent case in the middle line contain the
Zebras, Wild Asses and the Wild Horse, among which is a specimen of
the extinct Quagga. Following this are the Rhinoceroses and Tapirs,
some of the former being exhibited in the middle of the gallery. Adult
specimens of all the living species except the one-horned _Rhinoceros
sondaicus_ of Java are exhibited. The cut (fig. 36) shows the form of
the head and the number of the horns in three members of the group.
[Illustration: FIG. 36.--HEADS OF THE WHITE RHINOCEROS (_Rhinoceros
simus, a_), BLACK RHINOCEROS (_R. bicornis, b_), AND GREAT INDIAN
RHINOCEROS (_R. unicornis, c_).]
[Sidenote: Hyraxes.]
In a small case by themselves are exhibited the Hyraxes, which
represent a subordinal group of Ungulates. In this place should come
the Elephants (Proboscidea), but it has been found advisable to
exhibit the existing species of this group alongside their extinct
relatives in the Geological Department, and in the central hall.
[Illustration: FIG. 37.--MALE AND FEMALE OF THE NORTHERN FUR-SEAL, OR
SEA-BEAR (_Otaria ursina_).]
[Illustration: FIG. 38.--MALE ELEPHANT-SEAL, OR SEA-ELEPHANT (_Mirounga
leonina_).]
Next in order follow the Seals, Walruses, and Sea-Bears (fig. 37); and
after these again, the land Carnivora. Among the former, particular
attention may be directed to the specimens of Sea-Elephants or
Elephant-Seals (fig. 38) of the Southern Seas and the Pacific coast of
California. The visitor should also notice the various smaller southern
Seals, obtained during the “Discovery” Expedition, in the case in the
bay. Among the land Carnivora, special interest attaches to the huge
Brown Bear from Alaska, the black and white Bear-like Great Panda (fig.
39) of North-eastern China, and the case of Tigers, in which both the
long-haired Manchurian and the short-coated Indian race are shown.
[Illustration: FIG. 39.--GREAT PANDA (_Æluropus melanoleucus_).]
SECOND FLOOR.
[Sidenote: Upper Mammal Gallery.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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