John Edward Gray wrote nearly 500 papers, including many descriptions of species new to science. These had been presented to the Museum by collectors from around the world, and included all branches of zoology, although Gray usually left the descriptions of new birds to his younger brother and colleague George. Gray was also active in malacology, the study of molluscs. John Edward Gray was buried at St Mary's Church, Lewisham. Gray was one of the most prolific taxonomists in the history of zoology. He described more than 300 species and subspecies of reptiles, only surpassed by his successors at the British Museum, George
Earthly Branches Earthly Branches, which is somewhat similar to the modern-day practice of English-speaking pilots using "o'clock" for directions. Since 12 points were not enough for sailing, 12 midpoints were added. Instead of combining two adjacent direction names, they assigned new names: The 24 directions are: Advanced mariners such as Zheng He used 48-point compasses. An additional midpoint was called by a combination of its two closest basic directions, such as ("bǐngwǔ") for the direction of 172.5°, the midpoint between ("bǐng"), 165°, and ("wǔ"), 180°. Earthly Branches The twelve Earthly Branches or Terrestrial Branches are an ordering system used throughout East Asia