Thomas Mayo Brewer

“ There are superb specimens of every known species of the birds-of-paradise, very rare and very costly, and all in exquisite plumage. No expense is spared in procuring additions to this collection. Liberality, courtesy, and devotion to science, confirm this gentleman of rank as one of Nature's true noblemen, and unite with him to render his collection a great attraction to the ornithologists of all Europe.
The Museum of Natural History of Turin was commenced under the patronage of the royal house of Savoy, and is still aided by the Italian Government. ”

“ But to an ornithologist the great attraction of Milan is the unequaled private collection of Count Hercules Turati. His cabinet of mounted birds is the finest, as it is also one of the largest, in the world, and, though there may be several public collections both in America and in Europe that outnumber his in species, there is probably not one that approaches it in the uniform excellence, beauty, and perfection of plumage. ”

“ Nevertheless, this museum contains much that is worthy of consideration. The construction of the national railroads of Piedmont enriched its paleontological department with many unique and wonderful relics of the dark ages of geology; and, above all, in its director, Count Tommaso Salvadori, the Museum of Turin possesses one who is conceded to be, par excellence, the ornithologist of Italy, and who enjoys a world-wide reputation as among the first in this department of science. ”

“ The Ornithological Museum, though not of itself very extensive, is particularly interesting to scientific students as the depository of collections made by the several national exploring expeditious of France. Among these are many unique and typical specimens, not known to exist elsewhere in museums. The collection of eggs is also wonderfully interesting, is very large and well preserved, and contains not only many very rare kinds, but is especially noteworthy as possessing a large number of species not to be found in any other public collection, some of them laid by birds in confinement. ”

“ Schlegel, though of mature years, is still in vigorous health, a most charming old man, bright, cheerful, and affable, possessing an inexhaustible fund of conversation and knowledge, enriched by the careful observation of a long and well-spent life. ”

“ Crowded into the small apartments of an irregular building, though well worth a noble hall, devoted exclusively to their exhibition and preservation, are some of the most interesting historical collections anywhere to be met with. ”

“ A portion of the birds were open to inspection, and well attested the taxidermic excellence of their preparation, which is said to characterize not only this department, but the whole museum. Dr. Finsch is author of an excellent and, to the student, invaluable monograph on the parrots; and, although he has largely contributed, with Dr. Hartlaub, to investigate the ornithology of Africa, probably there is no one living more generally familiar than he with the ornithological forms of the world. ”

“ Its vast collections would require almost a lifetime to examine exhaustively, and no single volume could do justice to all their various points of interest. Indeed, a good-sized and condensed volume has been devoted to its collections of birds only and from Brazil alone; and when it is remembered that this collection possesses specimens of 1,200 species exclusively from that region, besides all the collections of the Novara Expedition, and that these are but a portion of the immense whole, some idea may be formed of its magnitude. The museum is also rich in its collections of nests and eggs. ”

“ The extensive museum of Berlin, owing to the inclemency of the weather and the rooms not being heated, could only be partially and hastily examined. The general plan of arrangement was simple and good, and the specimens appeared to be in excellent condition. It possesses a small but valuable and well-arranged collection of eggs, in which the great point of interest is a series of nests and eggs from Siberia, collected by a man of science exiled to that desolate region ”

“ Hartlaub is a physician, in full practice, standing at the head of his profession, but finding ample time, without neglecting his professional duties, to devote to the study of his favorite science, and to favor the world with valuable contributions, the results of his careful and exhaustive researches. ”

“ The spacious and elegant building is comparatively new, is well arranged for light and the exhibition of specimens, and is pleasantly situated in the midst of a large, open park. Here may be studied the famous conchological collections that once belonged to the Duke of Massena, and which, to the student of this department of science, afford added interest as having been the types for Lamarck's great work. Here, too, is an immensely rich and very interesting collection of fossils, systematically arranged by the distinguished Pictet, and, among them, all the geological types of De Saussure. ”

“ This institution is fortunate in having at its head so accomplished a gentleman and so enthusiastic a naturalist, and under his judicious efforts to advance its interests it bids fair to become in all its departments well worthy of the Tuscan capital. ”

“ The collection of birds is very rich in rare African types, but, in the absence of Prof. Krauss, the director, these could not be inspected to advantage. The museum has no collection of eggs, but there is in the little kingdom of Würtemberg probably the largest oölogical collection in the world; the richest in its number of species, and excelling in the rarity and beauty of specimens, and in the extent and fullness of series, exhibiting variations in eggs of the same species. ”

“ For popular attractions, for general excellence of arrangement, and expedients for the instruction and education of the people in natural history, the Derby Museum, or, as it is now called, the Free Public Museum of Liverpool, far surpasses anything of its kind. ”

“ In one compartment are a full-grown lion and lioness, and with them young lions of various ages, from the tender nursling to the nearly full-grown whelp. In another compartment is well represented water in which appear disporting various forms of swimming-birds, old and young, demonstrating to the observer their position, when swimming, both above and below the surface. ”

“ The Garden of Plants, in Paris, is an institution too generally familiar to require more than a passing mention. The new houses for the protection of the living animals are models in their contrivance, more especially the one for the reptiles and batrachians. ”