Three tables (2-4) are devoted to insects with jaws; the insects that
are furnished with a proboscis; and a collection of British Crustacea,
including lobsters; crabs; woodlice; shrimps; &c. On the table upon
which the Insects with Jaws are spread, the visitor will notice many
household torments, including beetles; crickets; earwigs, bees; and
wasps: and in the general collection, ants; grasshoppers; cockroaches;
dragon-flies; &c. The Insects with a proboscis include some beautiful
butterflies with their painted wings; gnats; and, to the horror of
many female visitors, bugs.
The three next tables are covered with specimens of the shells of
British mollusca, or soft-bodied animals. Here are the shells of
snails, cockles, mussels, oysters, &c.
The collection closes with a table case (8) which is covered with
specimens of those animals called by Cuvier radiated creatures, or
creatures whose nervous force is concentrated in a central point
whence it radiates, as in the starfish; sea eggs, &c; corals; sea
pens; corallines, &c.
Having made this rapid survey of the animal life of Great Britain from
its highest to its lowest developments, the visitor should again
resume his journey westward, to the fourth room of the gallery, in
which the collection of