How to See the British Museum in Four VisitsJerrold, Blanchard
History
How to See the British Museum in Four Visits
Jerrold, Blanchard
British Museum
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
Scraping Birds, as pheasants; pigeons; quails; partridges; and
guinea-fowls:--the Wading Birds, including the woodcock; 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 SHELLS.
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; grasshoppers; cockroaches;
dragon-flies; &c. The Insects with a proboscis include some beautiful
butterflies with their painted wings; gnats; and, to the horror of
many female visitors, bugs.
The three next tables are covered with specimens of the shells of
British mollusca, or soft-bodied animals. Here are the shells of
snails, cockles, 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 asserted, 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
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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