History of the Collections Contained in the Natural History Departments of the British Museum

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The present history of the collections preserved in the four Natural History Departments of the British Museum has been produced at my suggestion, by the officers in charge of the collections. Mr. B. B. Woodward has written the history of the libraries; Mr. George Murray, assisted by Mr. Britten, that of the Department of Botany; Dr. Arthur Smith Woodward with valuable help from the late keeper, Dr. Henry Woodward, and from Dr. Rather, assistant keeper, that of the 'department of Geology; and Mr. Fletcher that of the Department of Minerals. A second volume will contain the history of the collections in the Department of Zoology to which Mr. Edgar Smith,. Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, Mr. C. O. Waterhouse, Mr. Boulenger, Mr. Oldfield Thomas, Mr. Jeffrey Bell, Mr. Pocock, Mr. Kirkpatrick, Sir George Hampson, and Mr. Lydekker, have each contributed a special section.