overhaul the osteological collection, registering, &c, till 1857, when he was transferred to the insect room, and took charge of the library, at that time very small compared with its present dimensions. Thus Mr. Saunders has largely witnessed the evolution of our Zoological Museum, and retires on a moderate pension incidental to a never highly paid position. He has always been greatly esteemed, and the Museum staff presented him with a testimonial on his leaving, which was handed over to him in appreciative terms by another veteran of the establishment—Dr. A. Günther.
On the occasion of the unveiling of the monument dedicated to Johannes Müller, which took place on Oct. 7th at Coblentz, the daughter of the celebrated zoologist presented to the Stadtbibliothek fourteen volumes of drawings, containing upwards of nine hundred zoological sketches made by her father in the years 1850-1854 in various countries.
Mr. Henry O. Forbes, the Director of the Liverpool Museums, has issued his Report upon the Scientific Expedition to the Island of Sokotra during 1898-1899, which, under the generous auspices of the Royal and Royal Geographical Societies of London, and of the British Association, in conjunction with Mr. Ogilvie-Grant, representing the British Museum, he undertook at the direction of the Committee for investigating and making collections of the natural history of that island. The Director truly observes, "that among scientific circles, especially among geographers and biologists, there has everywhere been expressed the warmest appreciation of the liberality and public-spirited action of the Liverpool Museum Committee and the Council in taking part in the exploration of Sokotra."
The share of the results of the expedition which comes to Liverpool may be summarized as follows:—Of mammals, there are examples of one or two species of Rat, of one species of Civet Cat, of one species of Bat, and of the Wild Ass. Of birds, there are some three hundred specimens, out of which seven species have been diagnosed as new to science; a large series of reptiles has been acquired, which contains one genus and eight species new to Herpetology. Numerous Scorpions, Millepedes, and Spiders have been obtained, among which there turn out to be at least one new genus and seven new species; the land-shells number several thousands, of which Mr. Edgar Smith, of the British Museum, has already described eight species as new to his department of Zoology. Of insects—almost the whole of which were collected by Mr. Ogilvie-Grant—there are several thousands, which in butterflies have included a new species of a very beautiful and large Charaxes.
