that inhabited New Zealand in the remote past. But these wall cases
are mainly devoted to the exhibition of chelonian, or tortoise
fossils, which are the highest class of fossil reptiles, except the
serpents, and found only in the later or oolite formations of the
earth. The regularity with which the various families of reptiles are
discovered in the earth's strata, according to their order, is
remarkable. First the Lizards are found in the magnesian limestone,
immediately above the coal deposit, indicating their early appearance
on the earth; the next deposit, or new red sandstone, introduces us to
the Frogs; the oolite to the Tortoises; and the recent tertiary strata
to the Serpents. The bones of the tremendous wingless birds, which are
deposited in the third case of this room, have been recognised by
Professor Owen as the remains of an animal that must, when living,
have stood eleven feet high. By the windows in the northern wall of
the room are deposited the beautiful crystallised mass of Selenite, or
sulphate of lime, found in the duchy of Saxe Coburg, and presented to
the museum by Prince Albert; and a mass of carbonate of lime,
presented by Sir Thomas Baring. Having noticed these prominent
attractions of the room, the visitor should direct his attention to
the table cases, and first to those ranged along the southern half of
the room (7-13). Five of the tables are loaded with further specimens
of the Sulphurets, or metals in combination with sulphuric acid. In
the first case (7) are sulphurets of copper, and copper iron; in the
second case (8) are the series of sulphurets of lead, or galena, from
various parts of the world; in the third case (9) are specimens of
sulphuret of bismuth, needle ore, or sulphuret of bismuth, copper, and
lead, and sulphurets of mercury, or cinnabar, chiefly from Spain, the
light variety of which is the bright vermilion used by artists; in the
fourth case (10) are the sulphurets of silver, the beautiful
crystallised sulphurets of antimony, chiefly from Transylvania, and