which they protrude from the mouth, and from the points of which they inject the poisonous matter into the wounds they inflict. On the lower shelves of this case the visitor will find some specimens of the SeaSerpents, which frequent the East Indian seas, and the coast of New Holland. They are dangerous reptiles, having small fangs amid their teeth, with which they attack bathing animals or men. Some of them have been found sleeping on the warm bosom of a tropical ocean; and upon the warm sands of the shore they are often found, coiled up in a torpid state. They vary greatly in size: but the visitor will perceive none approaching in length to that remarkable reptile which artists, despairing in their attempts to give it the proper dimensions, lately coiled about the wide pages of pictorial papers.

The visitor will next have his attention drawn to that family of serpents of which the Boa is the great representative. These are all grouped together in cases (12 -15). This family has what naturalists call "the rudiments of legs." They are a nobler family than that which the rattlesnake represents, inasmuch as they do not depend upon poison to master their enemy; but fight legitimately, with their muscular strength. The terrible pictures which adorn the pages of eastern travels for children, of poor Indians with just their heads appearing above the folds of a gigantic boa, will probably recur to the visitor, as he surveys the tortuous folds of the placid specimens of the family that lie before him. It is therefore hardly necessary to inform him that the boa family destroy their prey by coiling round it, and having secured their tail to a tree to give themselves additional strength, by crushing every bone in its body. Having thus taken the life out of the victim, the destroyer, with some trouble, if the

animal be large, swallows it, and lies down for weeks to allow the process. of digestion to go on. Some of these boas are from Africa, some from India, and some from America. The last two cases of serpents (16, 17) include many varieties. Here are the common water and ring snakes of England; the coach whip snakes, that live coiled' about trees; the black and red ringed snakes, known as the coral snakes; and the varieties of serpents with which the famed serpent charmers of India exhibit their skill. The juggler snakes have the peculiar power of inflating the skin of the neck till it bulges over the head, and so forms a kind of hood. The Indian varieties of these hooded snakes are poisonous, and are distinguishable from the others by a yellow spot on the back of the neck.

From the serpents the visitor should turn to the families of the Testudinata, or

TORTOISES.

Tortoises are broadly divided into three species, namely, land tortoises; fresh water tortoises, of which there are no less than forty-six varieties; and marine tortoises, well known to the citizens of London, in the shape of turtle-soup. The land tortoises subsist on vegetables, and are said to live occasionally more than two hundred years. The two first cases devoted to Testudinata (18, 19) contain the American, Indian, and African varieties of the land tortoise. Here is the gigantic tortoise from Galapagos, for the flesh of which many a sailor has been grateful. The visitor will remark that the shells of some of the sub-families are handsomely marked. The fresh water tortoises, having the greatest number of sub-families, occupy three cases (20-22). This species is found in the marshes or rivers of warm climates, where they prey upon small

fishes and frogs. The thurgi tortoise of India, and the American snapping-tortoise, grow to a great size. In the lower part of case 22 are specimens of those tortoises which sleep with their heads bent under the margin of their shell. In the last case devoted to tortoises, are those hard tortoises known as the threeclawed terrapins of Asia, Africa, and America. These are the strictly carnivorous family that feed in the water; and may be seen preying upon the human remains that float down the Ganges. Under these terrible epicures are the marine tortoises or turtles; and among them the green turtle of the tropics. Shellfish and sea-weed are its chief food; of its flesh, all Londoners who have not tasted it, can speak pretty confidently from hearsay. It grows occasionally to a great size; those smaller ones which the citizens prize weighing generally about 600lb. Here too are the turtle of the Mediterranean, and the hawksbill turtle of Arabia, to which ladies are indebted for the choicest of their tortoise-shell combs. Having sufficiently dwelt upon the interesting histories of the tortoises, the visitor's way lies forward in the direction of the two cases next in order of succession, which are devoted to the Loricata, or

CROCODILES.

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 how 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 shells; 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, asses 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 class 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 shell 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 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;