THE NEW MUSEUM, DUNEDIN.

Globe, Volume V, Issue 523, 21 February 1876, Page 2

THE NEW MUSEUM, DUNEDIN.

{Daily Timas,') After a considerable amount of delay, largely owing we hear to the delay in procuring the iron rails which are being supplied by the Government, and which are used in the construction of the building, all preparations have now been made, and work is going on actively. The Main Building.—The walls of the basement are up, and the bluestone base which commences at the street level has been laid and is ready to receive the concrete walls. The basement floor is now quite a forest of timber which supports the frame work that forms the support of the concrete till the latter sets hard. This concrete forms the fire-proof floor of the building, a floor which consists of a series of arches, each of which graduates in thickness from thirteen inches at the springs to six at the crown. All the strong concrete pillars that rise from the foundation to the level of the first floor are now up, and the arches forming the floor are being laid as rapidly as possible. Some of the pieces of bluestone used in the bluestone base which commences at street level are a pretty big size, being eight feet long and weighing up to nearly three tons. It will be a long job erecting the main building, and Mr CTBen is determined to make himself as comfortable as possible. The coatiaofcojc'g

office, instead of being the usual shed, has the look inside of a snug little cottage, a substantial fence has been erected all round the works, to keep out intruders who have no business inside the precincts, and a large covered floor has been laid down, on which concrete can be mixed in all weathers. So much for the main building, and the work of erecting it. We will now refer to The Institution itself—The Museum is being kept open in Princes street, and will be for such time as the University authorities have their building unsold, or perhaps till possession is required by the purchasers. Should the Princes street quarters be required by the University authorities before the main building of the Museum is completed, the specimens in the University building will be stored in the annexes of the King etre-t building, and which are already erected. In the meantime, a great deal of work is being done by Captain Hutton pnd his taxidermist, Mr Jennings, in getting specimens ready for exhibition in the new Museum by the time it is opened. The space given by the buildings already up in Great King street is being fully availed of. In one room (it is to be the future herbarium) are to be seen large quantities of skins that formerly were packed away in boxes—skins of mammals, including lions, and tigers and elephants; and of birds, including one of the American eagle. These skins are now hard and dry, but in a short time the hides that have been for a long time packed up in boxes will assume forms similar to those of the animals they clothed. With plenty of space, all that could not be done before is being done now, and stuffiing is being vigorous gone on with. Already a number of specimens (none of which have been shown in the Princes street building) have been prepared, and are quite a goodly sized museum in themselves. Six mo as have been articulated—that is to say, fixed up skeleton-wise —as also has been a skeleton of the extinct goose, which was a contemporary of the moa. There are also skeletons (articulated) of the African ostrich, and of the rhea, American ostrich, and of the cassowary of New Guinea, To complete the set of struthious birds an emu is wanted, and there is neither skin nor skeleton of the emu in the Museum yet. Perhaps some gentleman will immortalise himself as a lover of science by presenting the Museum with the aforesaid desideratum. A new branch has been added to the Museum, namely, the keeping of a collection of caterpillars in order to study their habits, and to ascertain the several moths into which they develop. The caterpillars are kept in little glass jars, containing the forms of vegetation which they prefer most. This is a study which should lead to very important results when it is considered what great damage is done by caterpillars in fields and gardens. Specimens of caterpillars, together with small pieces of the vegetation on which they are found, are requested by the Museum authorities. They may be sent by post from any part of the country by being properly enclosed in matchboxes, and with them may be sent as much of the plant they were found on as will show their taste, and serve to keep them alive on the journey. Already there are about forty living specimens. A number of butterflies have been hatched out, and for the first time has been ascertained the caterpillars from which many of the New Zealand butterflies come. The big swordfish caught lately has been stuffed, and is now hung up in the preparing room. His tail is a tremendous propeller, and with it, his large fins, and fine lines, he looks the very incarnation of speed. The preparing room is the one in which large animals and fishes arej cleaned, and already it has been found very serviceable for the purpose.