s m- THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ROYAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. a:j<;M UK,;, M [ I *'S - HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ROYAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, 1>UBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THAT ESTABLISHMENT. TKAIfSLATED FHOM THE FRENCH OF M. DELEUZE. With three JPlao^and fourteen Views of the Galleries, Gardens, and Menagerie. PARIS: PRINTED FOR A. ROYER, AT THE JARDIN DU ROI, BY 1. T. CELLOT, RUE DTI COLOMBIER, N° 3o. 4823. & * • THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 238 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. thirty-three windows on the first floor and the same number on the second, is divided into three equal parts. The middle part, which has a small projecting wing on each side, was formerly the dwelling of the superintendant and the cabinet. The southern part, which contains the library, was almost all built in the time of Buffon ; and that division which extends from the second wing to the hill was added in 1808. The gate and staircase opposite the great avenue were then suppressed. The present entrance from the street into the garden opens into that part of the court which is in front of the house where Buffon lived. The door of the cabinet and the staircase have been placed at the other end in the angle next to the guardhouse and orangery. In the first wdng there is another staircase which leads to the library and galleries on the days they are not open to the public (i). The ground floor is composed of the porter's lodge to the south, and of several rooms with doors and windows of iron grating which open into the court. The largest of them contains models of agricultural tools, and is the lecture- (i) The Cabinet of natural history is open to the public every tuesday and Friday, from three o'clock until six in the summer, and from three until dark in the winter. Admission is given on mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, to those who have students' cards, or Tvho present a ticket signed by one of the professors. CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY. 289 room of M. Thouin ; the others serve as store- rooms for such objects as cannot be placed in the galleries ; they are lower as they approach the hill from the elevation of the soil in that direction; so that the ceiling, \vhich is 12 feet from the ground on the south, is only 5 feet on the north. Large trunks of petrified wood are placed between the gratings. In the middle of the second floor of the build- ing is a very beautiful clock, of which we see the mechanism, as it occupies the space of a window and is between two glasses. The win- dows of the second floor are merely for orna- ment, as it is lighted from the top. The interior of the cabinet is composed of six saloons on the first floor without including the library at the end, and five on the second. The first floor is devoted to geology, mineralogy, and the collections of reptiles and fishes: the second is occupied by the quadrupeds, birds, insects, shells, etc. Some of the semicircular sashes, which give light from the roof, are raised and lowered at pleasure for the admission of air. Curtains are placed over the cases when not open to the public. This second floor, the middle of which is a long gallery, has a door leading to the terrace by the side of the street. We will now enter the great staircase by the HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ROYAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ROYAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THAT ESTABLISHMENT. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF M. DELEUZE. With three Plaugjmd fourteen Views of the Galleries, Gardens, and Menagerie. PARIS: PRINTED FOR A. ROYER, AT THE JARDIN DU ROI, BY L. T. CELLOT, RUE DU COLOMBIER, N° 3o. 4823. . CHAPTER II. CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, § I. CURSORY VIEW OF THE WHOLE. IN the historical notice which forms the first part of this work, we have related how the cabinet of natural history hecame remarkable from the improvements completed or begun by Buffon, and afterwards continued ; observing that it was necessary to increase it one third in 1808, although the anatomical and botanical col- lections had been separated from it, and galleries expressly constructed for them. It is therefore useless to recur to those details , and we will confine ourselves to its present state and the dis- tribution of the objects it contains. The building which bears the name of Cabinet or Gallery of natural history, and of which one room is devoted to the library, is 3go feet (or 60 toises] long. It is exposed to the east on the side of the garden, from which it is separated by a court and an iron railing. The front, which has 238 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. thirty-three windows on the first floor and the same number on the second, is divided into three equal parts. The middle part, which has a small projecting wing on each side, was formerly the dwelling of the superintendant and the cabinet. The southern part, which contains the library, was almost all built in the time of Buffon ; and that division which extends from the second wing to the hill was added in 1808. The gate and staircase opposite the great avenue were then suppressed. The present entrance from the street into the garden opens into that part of the court which is in front of the house where Buffon lived. The door of the cabinet and the staircase have been placed at the other end in the angle next to the guardhouse and orangery. In the first wing there is another staircase which leads to the library and galleries on the days they are not open to the public (i). The ground floor is composed of the porter's lodge to the south, and of several rooms with doors and windows of iron grating which open into the court. The largest of them contains models of agricultural tools, and is the lecture- (i) The Cabinet of natural history is open to the public every tuesday and Friday, from three o'clock until six in the summer, and from three until dark in the winter. Admission is given on mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, to those who have students1 cards, or tvho present a ticket signed by one of the professors. CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY. 289 room of M. Thouin ; the others serve as store- rooms for such objects as cannot be placed in the galleries ; they are lower as they approach the hill from the elevation of the soil in that direction; so that the ceiling, \vhich is 12 feet from the ground on the south, is only 5 feet on the north. Large trunks of petrified wood are placed between the gratings. In the middle of the second floor of the build- ing is a very beautiful clock, of which we see the mechanism, as it occupies the space of a window and is between two glasses. The win- dows of the second floor are merely for orna- ment, as it is lighted from the top. The interior of the cabinet is composed of six saloons on the first floor without including the library at the end, and five on the second. The first floor is devoted to geology, mineralogy, and the collections of reptiles and fishes: the second is occupied by the quadrupeds, birds, insects, shells, etc. Some of the semicircular sashes, which give light from the roof, are raised and lowered at pleasure for the admission of air. Curtains are placed over the cases when not open to the public. This second floor, the middle of which is a long gallery, has a door leading to the terrace by the side of the street. We will now enter the great staircase by the 2/fO DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. guardhouse, and go through all the rooms, begin- ning with the geological collection. Those who enter by the small staircase, and wish to follow the order which we point out, will turn to the right, and go through the mineralogical rooms to reach the further end. § II. GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. ON the landing place of the slairs by the side of the door is a very large jointed basaltic column from La Tour, in the department of Puy-de- Dome, given by the late M. Desmarest of the academy of sciences. This column is surmounted by a beautiful pyramid of rock crystal 2 feet 6 inches in diameter at the base : it was found in Le Valais. Next to it are two other jointed basaltic columns from the giant's causeway in Antrim in Ireland, and other irregular columns from Saint Sandoux, in Puy-de-D6me. These ob- jects announce our approach to the geological collection which occupies the three first saloons of the first floor. The entrance hall contains the remains of vege- tables and invertebrated animals which are found in a great number of strata. These remains, which almost all belong to lost species, are classed geo- logically, that is according to the date of the for- mations in which they are found. The greater number are accompanied by a portion of the rock which contained them. 16 24^ DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. In this hall we also see several series of rocks, designed to illustrate the geology of different parts of the french territory. They are placed here for a time only, as they Avill he arranged in the third hall as soon as the Museum is possessed of a sufficient number of fossil vegetables or in- vertebrated animals to fill the cases which are intended for them. The fossil vegetables are placed in the cases to the left and opposite to the entrance : they are arranged according to the order of the forma- tions to which they belong, and the age of which they characterize. Although their assemblage in this point of view is recent, we already remark some interesting specimens, among which we must be content to notice : i st. A series of the larger herbaceous plants, exclusively found in beds of sandstone and coarse slate accompanying coal. 2d. A large trunk of dicotyledonous wood, which has been changed into silex after having been bored full of holes by ines: it comes from Maestricht. 3d. A large plate of quartzose sandstone covered with various impressions of leaves : it was found near Le Mans, by M. Menard de la Groye, who presented it to the Museum. 4th. An enormous trunk of palm-tree, easily GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. recognised by the scales or remains of the leaf- stalks with which it is covered: it was found at Vailly, near Soissons, by M. Menat, who gave it to the Museum. 5th. Two beautiful impressions of leaves of the chamaerops palm, given by M. A. Brongniart, taken out of the quarries in the neighbourhood of Aix, near Marseilles. Lastly. A numerous series of impressions of leaves on the newer limestone, found at Monte Bolca, on the confines of the Veronese and Vi- centine in Italy. The invertebrated fossil animals are in the cases to the right of the entrance : they are divided into three sections: the zoophytes or radiated animals, the articulated animals and the mollusca. Each section is subdivided according to the age of the formations from which the specimens were taken: that is, we see in each section the species which characterize either the transition or intermediary, the secondary, or tertiary formations. This distribution, although merely geological, is so much the more advanta- geous here, as many specimens belonging to the first and third sections, and remarkable for their insulated position and beautiful preser- vation, have been inserted in the great collec- tion of zoophytes and living mollusca on the 16. 244 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. second floor (i), and in which we must study the genera and species, when we wish to be- come acquainted with them independently of geological considerations. We will now notice the most remarkable ob- jects of each section. Amongst the zoophytes: i st. A beautiful stem of encrinite, from the secondary limestone in the neighbourhood of Brunswick. 2d. Several polypis and echinites belonging to the chalk formation in the neighbourhood of Maestricht; drawings and descriptions of which are given by the late M. Faujas Saint Fond, in his work on the quarries of that city. Amongst the articulated animals : ist. Several fine specimens of trilobites (genus ogygia of M. A. Brongniart) from the slate quar- ries of Angers. 2d. A complete specimen of a trilobite (genus calymene of M. A. Brongniart) from Dudley in England, presented by M. A. de Humboldt. 3d. Several specimens of trilobites (genus caly- mene) found in the transition slate of La Hunau- diere, in the department of the lower Loire, (i) M. De la Marck has thought it necessary to bring the fossil and living species together, in the collection which serves as the type of his complete history of inverteb rated animals. GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 245 by M. Regley, assistant naturalist, and given by him. 4th. A very distinct limulus, a precious speci- men, long since described by Walch and Knorr. It was found in the secondary limestone of Pap- penheim, and a good representation of it may be seen in the work of MM. Brongniart and Desmarest. 5th. A large palinurus contained in the tabular limestone of Monte Bolca. Amongst the mollusca : i st. Several hippurites and orthoceratites of a large size, from the ancient limestone beds of lake Erie, in the United States, and from the northern side of the Pyrenees. 2d. Radiolites, partly siliceous, and dicerates collected in the more recent limestone beds of the island of Aix, in the department of the Lower Charente, by M. Dorbigny, correspondent of the Museum. 3d. Nautilithes and ammonites, the shells of which have preserved their pearly lustre. TJiey are from the sandy clay formation above the chalk. The greater number were given by M. Crow, and come from Sheppy in England. 4th. The cast of a gigantic ammonite of whose locality we are ignorant, but which probably comes from the lower part of the chalk formation DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. Lastly. In the other cases, which are at the bottom of the hall to the right, we find the fol- lowing scries of rocks, which are only placed there temporarily, as we have before said, and which are intended for the completion of the geographical collection already begun in the third room. These are : i st. The principal rocks of the tertiary forma- tion, which constitute the soil of the environs of Paris. It is well known that this formation has been the subject of a complete monography, pub- lished by MM. Cuvier and Brongniart. 2d. Various rocks from the neighbourhood of Nantes, Rennes and Paimpol, given by M. Du- buisson of Nantes and M. Regley. Amongst the latter we remark the ancient lavae discovered at Treguierin 1821, by M. Regley. 3d. A fine series of rocks from the environs of Cherbourg, Caen and Havre, collected and given by M. Constant Prevost. 4th. A series of rocks from the neighbourhood of Aixand Marseilles, collected by M. Fontanier, travelling naturalist to the Museum. Amongst them we see a large specimen of compact lime- stone more recent, containing scoriae, which was brought from the volcanic mountain of Beaulieu by M. Menard de la Groye. 5th. A considerable number of specimens of GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 247 argentiferous lead from the neighbourhood of Vienna, in the department of Isere : the Museum is indebted for them to the viscount Hericart de Thury. 6th. Some lavae from the department of Ar- deche, given by the late M. Faujas de Saint Fond ; amongst which we distinguish a column of ba- salt, containing in its center a fragment of gra- nite altered by the heat, and various fragments of secondary limestone from Villeneuve de Berg, changed by its contact with a basaltic vein. Lastly. A numerous suite of lava, tufae and other rocks, which constitute the departments of Cantal and Puy-de-D6me. The cabinet is in- debted for them to viscount He'ricart de Thury and to M. Lucas, keeper of the galleries of the Museum. The second hall contains the rich and nume- rous series of fossil vertebrated animals, and a general and methodical collection of the different formations which compose the mineral crust of the earth. This last collection is arranged in two large chests, 20 feet in length, with drawers on both sides, placed in the middle of the room. We will first examine the fossils of this room, to complete the description we began in the en- trance hall. We shall thus pass in review the whole of the organic remains of the former 248 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. world, beginning with the most simple, arid ending with the most complicated (i). (i) Almost all the animals which we see here existed before the last revolution which changed the surface of the globe. The greater num- ber of them are lost species ; several cannot even be traced to any of the genera we now know; they belong to different periods, and the more distant the period the less they resemble those which now exist. The presence of fossil organized bodies, conjoined with the super- position of heterogeneous layers, demonstrate the relative age of forma- tions, and give positive notions, independent of all system, on the theory of the earth, and the changes which successively took place on its surface. There are no organized bodies in primitive formations ; madrepores, shells, some Crustacea? and fishes, appear first in the tran- sition formations'; other shells, fishes, and some reptiles belong to a second period of formation ; new families of shells, fishes, and reptiles occur in the third period, they are accompanied by reptiles, birds and mammalia of lost genera. The species of mammalia resembling those which are living, as elephants, rhinoceros, and bears are only found in alluvial formations caused by the last deluge. The prodigious number of remains of the same species of animals, their arrangement*in beds, and the preservation of certain shells, lead us to believe that several ages have elapsed between the several revolutions. We do not find human bones in any of the formations we have men- tioned, which does not prove that man did not exist upon the earth at the time of the last catastrophe, which gave the continents their actual form, but that he did not inhabit the places which were swallowed up by the waters, or that his foresight and industry furnished him with the means of retreating elsewhere. It is at the end of the last series, and only in alluvial formations, that some species appear analogous to our domestic animals, such as the ox, horse, and rabbit. It is remarkable that the fossil vegetables, whose species can be determined, appear to belong to genera and even families which are no longer found in our climates. Thus we see trunks of palm-trees in the neighbourhood of Paris, and trunks of arborescent ferns in the ancient coalpits of northern countries. GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 2,^ The fossil vertebrated animals are divided into four great sections : fishes, reptiles, birds and mammalia. The first section is subdivided according to the age of the formations to which their localities belong. It occupies all the cases to the left as we enter the hall. We must begin our survey by the cases at the bottom. The objects are as follows : i st. Several fossil fishes from the transition slate of Plettenburg, in the neighbourhood of Glaris in Switzerland : they are the most ancient vestiges of this class, which have yet been discovered in the bosom of the earth. 2d. A considerable number of fishes, whose skeletons are filled with sulphuret of mercury. They were taken from the sandstone which contains the quicksilver mines of the Palati- nate. They were discovered and collected by M. Beurard. 3d. Some ichthyolites from the coalmines of Saarbriick. Their gangue is formed of the com- pact argiliferous carbonate of iron, which is worked so advantageously in Saarbriick, and especially in England, for the use of large furnaces. 4th. Some good impressions in the marno- bituminous cupriferous slate of Mansfeldt and Thuringia. 25o DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. 5th. Some large fish discovered in France in that species of secondary limestone called gry- phite stone. We also observe a species of elops, which comes from Grandmont, near Beaune, in the department of Cote d'Or, and a species of carp sent from Elbe, in the department of Avey- ron, by M. Pacat. 6th. Some sharks' teeth and palates of rays from the chalk formations. yth. Various impressions from Aichstaedt in Franconia, from mount Lebanon in Syria, and the tertiary formations in the neighbourhood of Paris. 8th. Some impressions on the foliated bitumen called dusodile. They were presented by M. de Humboldt, and were collected near Rott, three leagues from Bonn, on the right bank of the Rhine. gth. Lastly, the magnificent suite of fossil fish from Monte Bolca, collected by the count Gazola, of whom the government bought it for the Mu- seum in 1798. It is composed of more than four hundred specimens belonging to a great variety of species. Drawings and descriptions of them are given in the great work entitled Ittiolitologia P^eronese, printed at Yerona in 1796, large folio. The fossil bones of quadrupeds, birds, and rep- tiles occupy the twelve glazed cases opposite the windows. The space not allowing of a geolo- GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. gical distribution, they are arranged according to the order adopted by M. Cuvier in his great work on fossil remains, which contains a description and figure of almost every specimen in this collection. Beginning with the first case at the side of the door leading into the cabinet of mineralogy, we see the teeth of fossil elephants, named mam- mouths by the Russians, dug up in different parts of the globe, and principally in France. Perhaps the most remarkable for their size are those found in digging the canal of Ourcq, near Paris, and which were given by M. Girard. We ought also to observe those from North America, sent by.M. Jefferson, and those from Mexico, presented by M. de Humboldt. The next case contains tusks, portions of jaws, and long bones of fossil ele- phants from different countries. The most asto- nishing specimen amongst them is the part of a tusk which was found near Rome, by the duke de la Rochefoucauld and M. Desmarest, which at first sight we are tempted to take for the trunk of a tree. Some hair with a portion of the skin of the elephant that was found on the ice at the mouth of the river Lena, by M. Adams, is pre- served here as a very interesting specimen of that animal, which at the time it was discovered had still its flesh and skin on. 252 , DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. In continuing the examination of each case from left to right, always beginning from the top shelf, we again see fossil remains of elephants, and amongst them the lower part of a femur, lately found in the Bog or Hypanis, and given by the chevalier Raynaud : the dimensions of this bone shew, that the animal to whom it belonged must have been 14 feet high. The drawings in the first cases of fossil fish, which represent the head of an elephant from Siberia with its lower jaw, deserve to be men- tioned here. They are a present from the im- perial academy of St. Petersburgh, who had them made for M. Cuvier's work on fossil remains. We then see the remains of another great animal called mammouth by the Americans, and to which M. Cuvier has given the name of mas- todon. Most of the pieces were sent to the Museum by M. Thomas Jefferson, then president of the United States ; above the case which con- tains them we see a glazed box, in which are bones of large mastodons, a fine tusk, for which the Museum is also indebted to the generosity of M. Jefferson, and a femur from the Ohio, brought by M. de Longueil in 174°- We next observe teeth of different species of mastodons, smaller than the preceding, which have been found both in the old and new conti- GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 253 ncnt. Those of America are all from the southern part of that continent, and \vere collected by Dombey and M. de Humboldt ; the others were found in different parts of Europe, but princi- pally in France. Amongst the latter are those discovered at Simorrc in the department of Gers, formerly employed in making what was called occidental turquoise. Then follows a collection of fossil bones of the hippopotamus, almost all from the upper Vale of Arno, and brought by M. Cuvier in 1810 and i8i3. The two thigh bones are very re- markable for their preservation ; the remains of several species of hippopotamus, much smaller than the preceding, are not less so : they are in the two glazed boxes next to those of which we have just spoken. One of these species was found between Dax and Tartas in the department of the Landes ; a second comes from a calcareous stratum near Blaye in the department of the Gi- ronde, it was given by M. Jouannet ; a third from Saint-Michel de Chaisine in the department of Maine and Loire, given by M. Dubuisson, keeper of the cabinet at Nantes. Next follow the teeth and bones of horses, the greater number found in France, accompany- ing those of elephants and rhinoceroses. After these bones are placed those of the rhi- 254 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. noceros, several of which have also been dug up in France : such as a considerable portion of a skull found in the environs of Figeac, given by M. Delpon, and different bones from the neigh- bourhood of Abbeville, for which the Museum is indebted to MM. Fraulle and Baillon: here is also an entire head of a blackish brown colour, given by the reverend M. Buckland, professor of geology at Oxford. But what is still more worthy of remark is a glazed box containing rhinoceros bones of a very small size, found at a very considerable depth; they were given by the baron de Tours, mayor of Moissac. Two drawings of heads of rhinoceroses from Siberia, also sent by the academy of St. Petersburgh are placed above the first cases offish, and by the side of those of the elephant. "We next come to the bones of a genus nearly related to the tapir, to which M. Cuvier has given the name of lophiodon. They are contained in several glazed boxes, each of which holds the different species coming from a particular spot. On examining these boxes we find that this new genus comprehends a number of species found hitherto only in France. M. Bollinat pre- sented those dug up in the neighbourhood of Argenton in the department of the Indre, and M. Hammer, professor of natural history at Stras- GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 255 burgh, those from Buchswciler in the department of Bas-Rhin. The femur and ribs which are still incrusted with calcareous stone, and which are contained in a glazed box placed above the cases, were presented by M. Boirot Desserviers, phy- sician at the mineral waters of Neris ; they come from Gannat in Bourbonnais : they probably be- long to a very large lophiodon ; the same may be said of another femur found in Auvergne, and given by M. Lacoste. After these lophiodons we observe three glazed boxes full of teeth and other bones of gigantic tapirs, also found in France. Some come from Chevilly, near Orleans, and were given by M. Rousseau of Etampes ; others were collected at Carla-le-Comte in the department of Arriege, by M. Lourde-Seillans, and were sent by M. de Mortarieu, prefect of that department. They are followed by the remains of the antracothe- rium, recently discovered in the coalmines of Cadibona, a new genus of the pachydermata, a family which seems to have lost more than all the others together : they were sent by M. Laffin and M. Borson of Turin. We here commence the very curious series of fossil bones found in the quarries of gypsum in the environs of Paris, and which M. Cuvier has discovered to belong to lost genera, differing 256 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. from all those now known in a living stale. This series is contained in several cases and in glazed boxes which are placed above them. \Ve first observe heads and fragments of heads and jaws of various species of palaeotherium and anoplotherium, next those of the genera adapis and cheropotamus, with the feet bones of these genera, their long bones, and those of their body. We must look above the cases for considerable portions of the skeletons of the anoplotherium commune, so remarkable for the size of its tail ; the palaeotherium magnum and minus, still in- crusted with the gypsum which forms their gangue(i). At the end of the genera of which we have just spoken, and which all belong to the pachy- (i) The system which M. Cuvier has introduced in comparative anatomy has enabled him to determine to what genus even an insulated bone belongs, although the animal should have no living analogue. When he established the genus anoplotherium, it was from the scat- tered bones of different individuals that he determined the general form and distinguishing characters; a short time after, the almost entire skeleton was discovered, which we see above the cases, and it was found perfectly conformable to the description which he had given of it. Fossil vegetables do not offer the same means of determining their place, because the form of the leaves of an unknown plant cannot enable us to guess at the characters of its fructification ; we can only tell whether it should be classed with the monocotyledons or the dicotyledons. It is somewhat singular, that the fossil plants found in the oldest formations all appear to be monocotyledons. GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 25y dermata, are placed the bones of carnivora, the didelphis and the rodentia ; and that the fossils from the plaster quarries of Paris may not be separated, we here see the remains of birds, tortoises, crocodiles and fishes, which are found there mingled with those of mammalia. Lastly, we find the palaeotheria, foreign to the soil of Paris, the greater number of which are from the neighbourhood of Orleans. After these bones from the quarries near Paris, we remark the remains of ruminantia and roden- tia, found in alluvial formations or in the bony brec- cia on the shores of the Mediterranean. Amongst the former, several are from the neighbourhood of Abbeville, and were collected by M.Traulle and M. Baillon, correspondent of the Museum : others are from America. Amongst the latter we must remark a model in plaster of part of the skull of an aurochs, which must have been of a prodigious size. This model was sent to the Museum by M. Peale. We should here speak of two heads of a gigantic species of elk from the peat bogs of Ireland, which we see over each door of this room, one of which was presented by the trustees of the British mu- seum, the other by colonel Thornton ; and of the head of a large ox, placed above the last mentioned cases, which was found in the peat bogs of Ar- pajon, and given by M. le comte Dumanoir. 17 258 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. It is a curious fact, that the breccia of Gibraltar, Cette, Nice, Corsica, Pisa, Naples, Romagnano in the Vicentine, Dalmatia, and the island of Cerigo, all contain the same bones and present the same appearance, which leads us to suppose that they were formed at the same time and in the same manner, although at great distances from each other. A little further are the fossil bones of the car- nivora, which are found lying on the ground, and sometimes only covered with a very thin bed of stalactite, in the caverns of Germany, Hungary and England. The greater number of these bones belong to bears of a larger species than those now existing. The other carnivora, wrhich are less numerous, belong to the genera of the cat, hysena, and wolf. Near these boxes are two canine teeth of a tiger; one found at Paris in digging a well, and given by M. de Bourienne, the other at Abbeville, and sent by M. Baillon; which shew, that at the period when elephants and rhinoceroses inha- bited our countries, the larger species of carni- vora, which prevented their too rapid propaga- tion, also lived with them, as the tigers and lions now accompany these enormous animals in Asia and Africa. Then come plaster casts of different bones of GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. the extremities of the great animal of the sloth genus, which M. Jefferson first discovered, and named megalonyx : they are found in America, •in the caverns of Virginia, similar to those in Germany. M. Peale of Philadelphia presented these casts to the Museum. These are followed by the bones of lamentins and seals, almost all found in the department of Maine and Loire, and presented by M. Renou, professor of natural history. Some come from the Isle of Aix, and were given by M. Fleuriau de Bellevue. Further on we see bones of cetaceae, collected in different places. The most remarkable are: ist. The head of a small species of whale, which appears to differ much from those now existing ; it was found near the sea shore at Sos in the de- partment of the Bouches du Rhone. The Museum is indebted for it to M. Raimond Gorse, surveyor of roads and bridges, sd. Another small head of a whale, different from the preceding, dug up in the trenches made for the basin at Antwerp, and sent to the Museum by M. le comte Dejean, then senator. 3d. An enormous radius of a whale or physeter, found in digging the canal of Caen, and sent by M. Roussel, professor of natural history. Several vertebrae have been collected from the basin at Antwerp, and given by M. le Chanteur, DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. inspector of the mines, and by M. Ducos: that which is remarkable for the greatest diameter w#s recently found at Paris in digging the foun- dation of a house : it was presented by M. de Ferussac. • Here end the mamalia. The series of the other vertebrated animals commences with bones of birds found in the quarries of limestone of Chap- tuzat and Gannat, some given by M. le comte de Chabrol, prefect of the Seine, and others by M. Boirot, physician. A little further we find the remains of tor- toises, discovered in the limestone quarries of Maestricht ; apart were given by the lateM. Faujas, professor of geology to the Museum, and the rest were procured at the sale of his collection. Then come the vertebrae of different species of crocodiles, which are found in the rocks called the Vaches-Noires., on the borders of the Chan- nel : they belong to those with a narrow muzzle, and are nearly the same as the crocodile of the Ganges. Immediately after are the vertebrae and various bones of the great animal of Maestricht, classed by M. Cuvier amongst the monitors : in a glazed box above the case which contains them is placed the head of this animal, one of the finest remains of former creations that has been hitherto dis- GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 261 covered. Drawings of most of these bones from Maestricht are given in the work of M. Faujas on the mountain of Saint Peter. Next to those reptiles which may be called in the present existing genera, or which are at least very little removed from them, are : ist. The re- mains of those singular animals called in England proteo-saurus, or ichtyo-saurus, which appear to have filled the same place amongst the reptiles, which the cetaceae occupy amongst the mam- malia ; that is to say, they were essentially swim- ming reptiles, and formed only to inhabit the waters, as their extremities are flattened like the hands or fins of the dolphins. The greater num- ber of these fragments were procured at M. Bul- lock's sale in London, and some were given to the Museum by professor Buckland. Lastly, in two small glazed boxes are plaster models of the flying reptile called by M. Cuvier pterodactylus , which has as yet only been found in the quarries of Aichstaedt, and which holds amongst reptiles the same rank as bats amongst mammalia. They were sent from Munich by M. Soemmering. Such is the rapid view of the collection of fossil remains of vertebrated animals. It is easy to imagine, that a collection of this kind may receive unlimited augmentations, and that the space it now occupies will be soon insufficient ; 262 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. but as the present order will be preserved, and all the new species carefully labelled, it will be easy, whatever are its additions and the space it may occupy, to adapt the present description to its future state. This important examination being finished, we will not dwell so long upon the collection of formations, which is contained in the two sets of drawers in the middle of the room. This collection is designed to represent the structure of the solid crust of the globe accord- ing to the actual state of our knowledge. It was only begun in 1821, and therefore is far from being complete. As space is wanted to display it properly, it has been necessary to shut it up in drawers, and a small number of large specimens, which maybe considered as a sort of index to the contents of the drawers, which cannot be seen at all times, are placed in glass- cases above them. When the two sets of drawers are filled they will contain about ten thousand spe- cimens from 3 to 4 inches square : it would more than furnish the shelves of a room as large as the one wre are now considering. The drawers there- fore answer the purpose of a much larger space. The formations, or, in other terms, the dif- erent strata which, by their superposition, con- stitute the solid crust of the earth, are placed GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 263 according to their relative ages. Each of them is represented by its principal and subordinate rocks, to which are added the most abundant or remarkable organized fossils contained in the formation. Besides these, after each rock with its organic remains, are placed all the vegetables, articulated animals and mollusca, which are too small to be properly seen in the cases of the first room. Lastly, that nothing may be wanting to complete the history of each formation, spe- cimens of the metalliferous or sterile veins, most frequently found, are added to each rock which contains them. By going round the glass cases we may form a very good idea of the above collection, which has been thus summarily ex- plained. We must begin at the end near the entrance. "We first observe specimens of pri- mitive formations, they are rocks entirely formed of crystallized mineral particles, generally hard, and never containing organic remains ; precious stones and minerals are contained in them. Immediately after these are specimens of tran- sition formations, a knowledge of which is no less important, as they are almost as rich in metals and polishable masses as the preceding ; they shew besides the volcanic productions of the first ages of the world, and the vestiges of the first organized beings. 264 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. Then follow the numerous series of rocks which compose the secondary formations, pro- perly so called. It presents sediments and trans- ported matter more easily recognized than those of transition formation, although almost as per- fectly consolidated and cemented. It is poor in metals, but abounds in fossil remains without any trace of mammiferous animals. It contains coal- mines and the largest mines of sulphur and rock salt. The volcanic productions of the middle age of the globe are here seen dispersed under dif- ferent forms. The rocks of tertiary formations immediately fellow. The sediments and transported matter which compose them are generally but imper- fectly cemented, and of a very variable consis- tence ; many are still loose ; with the exception of iron ore, improperly called alluvial, we no longer find amongst them metals which can be worked. We meet with marls, clays, fuller's earth and potter's clay, and common building stones, materials easily worked because of their softness ; but there are no more of those masses, remarkable for the variety and brilliancy of the polish which they are capable of receiving. The only rocks, which are an exception, belong to the volcanic productions of this period. The specimens of modern formations termi- GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 265 nate the collection. We remark first, the rounded silex, sand, mud and fossil remains of the great diluvian formation. 2d. The different alluvial productions which are daily created by the sea, rivers, torrents and springs. 3d. The organic detritus, which are mingled or alternated \vith these productions, such as peat, and conglome- rated shells or madrepores belonging to animals whose species are now living, /^ih. The various substances proceeding from volcanoes either now burning, or extinguished since the last diluvian catastrophe gave the continents their present outline. "We observe with some in- terest among the lavas of this last epoch a slab of scoria from mount Vesuvius, bearing the name of Dolomieu. It was torn away with long pincers from the sides of the running lava in i8o5, and moulded while still hot. We also find various specimens of the saline or sul- phurous incrustations which line the interior of craters ; they complete the collection of forma- tions, which we now quit to pass into the third room. It bears the name of the rock-room, and prin- cipally contains a systematic collection of rocks, classed according to their composition and tex- ture. There are also the first elehients of a geo- graphical collection, as well as a collection of 266 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. geological and mineralogical specimens, which have been cut and polished. "We will begin with the geographical part. This was begun only in 1821; it is intended to offer, if we may be allowed the expression, a text of the data on which the arrangement of formations in the preceding room has been founded. It is composed of a series of rocks, which are generally from places very distant from each other, and which represent the pecu- liar constitution of these different points on the surface of the globe. When the series is more numerous and complete, they may be considered as so many \vitnesses, proving the exactness of the place which shall have been assigned to each formation in the structure of the solid crust of the earth. They are dispersed around the room, and in the order of the space which was unoccu- pied at the time of receiving them. Beginning by the cases to the right on entering, the lower parts of which they occupy with only a few ex- ceptions, we successively find : ist. The rocks of Greenland, collected and pre- sented by M. Giesecke, geological professor at Dublin. 2d. The rocks of the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, near the bank of Newfoundland, sent by M. de la Pilaye. GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 267 3d. A considerable series of the rocks of the United States, sent by M. Milbert, correspondent of the Museum. 4th. Some specimens collected in the Antilles by various persons ; particularly in Guadaloupe, by M. L'Herminier, director of the garden of naturalization in that colony. 5th. Some beautiful specimens from the envi- rons of Rio Janeiro, in the Brazils, procured by the expedition of captain Freycinet. To these has been added, a superb elastic plate of quartz- rock, from the province of Minas-Geraes, which the Museum owes to the generosity of M. Bouch. 6th. Several series more or less detailed, but all important, collected in the islands near Cape Horn, and in those of the Pacific Ocean, by the naturalists of captain Freycinet' s expedition. yth. A considerable number of rocks, brought from New Holland by M. Freycinet ; to which are added, those found by Peron in the same country. 8th. Specimens from Manilla and Sumatra, some given by M. Perrottet, and the others pro- cured by MM. Duvaucel and Diard, travelling naturalists to the Museum. o/th. A small series collected in the mountains of Rajemahal, on the borders of the Ganges, by M. de Saint Yves, correspondent of the Museum. loth. A more numerous series, illustrating the 268 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. composition of the mountains of Nazam and Hy- derbad, in the Madras government, presented by M. Milne Ricketts, member of the supreme coun- cil of Bengal. . nth. Some lavas from the Isle of Bourbon, given by different travellers, but chiefly by M. Des Etangs. 1 2th. Specimens from Caffraria and the Cape of Good Hope, brought by M. de Lalande, assis- tant naturalist to the Museum. 1 3th. Lavas from Teneriffe, given by different collectors. 1 4th. An interesting suite of rocks, from Scot- land and the North of England, given by Dr. Boue. 1 5th. Some others from the Shetland isles, col- lected by M. Wilson, and presented by M. Lucas. 1 6th. A remarkable series of ancient volcanic productions from the Ferro'e* isles, and of the substances which they contain ; it was given by Prince Christian of Denmark, during his Royal Highness' visit to Paris in 1822. i yth. Several specimens from the Netherlands, collected by MM. de la Jonkaire and de Basterot. 1 8th. A suite of ancient lavas from Kaiserstuhl, in Brisgaw, collected by M. Eckel of Strasburgh. igth. An interesting series of calcareous for- mations from Vienna, collected and presented by M. Constant Prevost. GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 269 20th. Some specimens from Hungary, which made part of a rich collection of minerals pre- sented to the Museum by the Emperor of Austria : interspersed with these are a hundred beautiful specimens from the same country, the recent gift of professor Zipser of Neusohl. 2ist. Various rocks, formerly collected by Oli- vier on the shores of the Bosphorus and the Gre- cian Archipelago. 22d. Several numerous and instructive series brought from Sicily, the Lipari and Pumice isles, from Naples, the environs of Rome, Padua, the Vicentine and Veronese, by M. Lucas. To these are added a number of large specimens from the same countries, given by Dolomieu and Spallanzani. 23d. Several polished specimens from Pied- mont, given by count Daru. 24th. A magnificent series of primitive and transition rocks from Corsica. All the specimens are polished, and rival each other in richness and variety of colours. We will not quit this geographical collection of rocks without remarking, how desirable it is to give it a greater extent. We hope to attain this object, when we recollect the zeal and libe- rality of the numerous individuals who now cul- tivate the study of geology even in the most dis- tant countries. 270 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. The systematic collection, at which we are now arrived, is placed in the upper part of the cases which are to the right of the room on entering. It is divided into two sections: one is formed of specimens for study, which are dis- played in a horizontal line of shelves extending throughout this part of the hall, and which divides the height of the cases into two nearly equal parts: these specimens are almost all of the same size. The second section contains either large specimens, which could not be mixt with those for study, because of their disproportionate size, or pieces cut and polished, which shew the different uses made of them in the arts: they occupy the whole of the upper part of the cases. The collection is classed according to the cha- racters which each species of rocks derives from its composition, its texture, and its origin, with- out considering the situation which it occupied in the formation of the solid crust of the earth : its object is to furnish the means of recognizing rocks even when they are out of their original position. The outline of this methodical collec- tion was laid down by the late M. Haiiy. It com- prehends five classes, which may be successively examined, beginning at the extremity of the room, and alternately directing the attention to the stages and upper shelves of each case. GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 27 1 In the first class we find the earthy and saline substances: as, isi. The pegmatite, which, under the vulgar name of petunze, furnishes the glazing matter for chinaware, and the detritus of which produces the earth called kaolin, of which that valuable sort of ware is made. 2d. Common porphyry. 3d. The syenite, which forms the rocks of the cataracts of the Nile, and from which the Egyptian obelisks were hewn. 4tn- The common granite, which is the lowest bed of the crust of the earth within our reach. 5th. The phthanite, of which touchstones are made. 6th. The potstone, which in several countries is formed into cooking and other domestic utensils. In the second class, that of combustible sub- stances, we see various species of coal, and a spe- cies of fossil wood used by jewellers under the name of jet. In the third class, containing metallic sub- stances, we find specimens of the principal me- talliferous rocks, from which are extracted cop- per, iron, lead, tin and zinc. The fourth class contains the rocks of igneous origin, according to many geologists ; of aqueous, according to others. These rocks offer a pro- blem, for the solution of which, we may compare their characters with those specimens which are in the preceding and following classes. 272 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. The last class is that of rocks incontestably volcanic ; in which we see, not only vitreous and scorified substances, which clothe the upper and lower surfaces of the current of lava, but also the materials which constitute the internal masses of these currents ; substances which, in coagulating more slowly than those of the sur- face, produce aggregates of a stony aspect, and so similar to crystallized rocks of ancient forma- tion, that unless apprised of the fact, we should be in danger of considering them as such. We will terminate the examination of this room by noticing the works of art, which are for the present placed in the five cases to the left on entering. On the first shelf, the uppermost, we see four large vases of the Vesuvian lava, a large and beautiful cup of limpid rock crystal, a large slab of greenish serpentine, and a mirror of black obsidian similar to those used by the Peruvians before their conquest by the Spaniards. On the second shelf are several cups of agate, chalcedony, and jasper of different colours, an- other of rock crystal, and one of violet-coloured fluate of lime, two of greenish jade, a vase of the same matter, and a small one of lapis-lazuli. On the third shelf we find a numerous suite of small slabs of jasper, agate and chalcedony, a row GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 27$ of small columns of amethyst, some little cups of chalcedony, chrysoprase and amethyst, with several cut precious stones, such as diamonds, oriental rubies or red corundum, oriental sap- phire or blue corundum, chrysolite, etc. On the fourth shelf we observe, amongst a second series of polished slabs analogous to the preceding, variously coloured specimens of rock- crystals, some facetted, others en cabochon, that is, simply polished. In the front row are several specimens of artificial precious stones, from the manufactory of M. Douault-Vieland, jeweller, who presented them tot he Museum. Objects varying greatly in form and substance are exposed on the fifth and sixth shelves ; amongst which may be mentioned, a beautiful box of yellow amber, several large slabs of Florentine marble, different tomahawks of savages, a cup of red jasper, and a large spoon of greenish jade, which is considered as a rare and precious object. § III. COLLECTION OF MINERALS. THE most striking character of minerals, when compared with the productions of the two other kingdoms, is a want of organization, and the absence of that internal motion which, in animals and vegetables, contributes to the developement and preservation of the individual. Considering minerals in their perfect state, they are of a simple structure, and consist of a symmetrical arrangement of particles similar to each other ; ^whence results a regularly formed exterior, ana- logous to that of geometrical solids. The diversity of forms, of which the same substance is susceptible, establishes a newr con- trast between minerals and organized beings. In vegetables, for example, the different indivi- duals of one species bear the mark of a common model, on which they seem to have been formed; the primitive type always existing amidst slight and accidental variations. The same mineral, on the contrary, frequently presents itself under a multitude of different forms, alJ equally regular, COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 275 and sometimes having no outward resemblance to each other. But this singular metamorphosis, submitted to simple laws, and the effects of which may be calculated, confines itself to modi- fications of the external appearance, without altering the mechanism of the internal structure, which is constant and uniform in every variety. Such is the action of these laws, to which nature is subjected, that, when undisturbed, she inclines to produce the most simple forms, and those best characterized by regularity and sym- metry. This operation is called crystallization^ and the bodies so formed, crystals. But it fre- quently happens, that local circumstances and disturbing causes interfere, to interrupt or de- range the ordinary progress : hence incomplete and irregular forms are produced, either mis- shaped structures, into which the primitive form insensibly degenerates, confused aggregations of foliations or needles, fibres or grains, or lastly, masses entirely compact. Every mineralogicai collection should possess a series of species methodically distributed, and each species should have its varieties placed according to their degree of perfection. The collection in the Museum presents a picture of the mineral kingdom, divided into four great classes, according to the method of M. Hatty. 18. 376 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. The first class is that of earthy substances con- taining an acid, the salts of former systems ; the second class comprehends earthy substances, or stones ; the third presents an assemblage of dif- ferent inflammable substances ; and the fourth comprises the metals. The cases which contain this collection are numbered and divided into shelves. At the height of the eye are placed the specimens specially intended for the use of students ; they are ar- ranged on smaller shelves, connected together like steps, forming little stages. The specimens follow uninterruptedly in the same case, begin- ning from the lowest shelf ; so that in passing from one case to another, the first specimen of the one comes immediately after the last speci- men of the upper shelf of the preceding. Above and below the stages, on the shelves, are pieces remarkable for their size ; they belong to those species on the stages to \vhich they are connected. They shew these same species in their various associations with other mineral substances, and recall the different localities in which ihcy have been found. As these specimens are of various sizes, and are not all of equal interest, it was impossible to arrange them in the same systematic order ; the larger pieces have therefore been placed in the lower part of the cases, whilst COLLECTION OF MINERALS. those which are rare and precious are placed most insight, and those least worthy of attention are on the upper shelves. The mineralogical collection occupies the two rooms immediately following those devoted to geology. To examine them methodically we cros slhe first room, and hegin with the first case, at the extremity of the second room, in the cor- ner, by the window. This first case contains several instruments for ascertaining the characters of minerals; amongst others the goniometer , by which are measured the mutual inclinations of the faces of crystals. In the space between the windows are several shelves, on which are arranged models in wood ; some of which serve to explain the structure of crystals according to the theory of M. Haiiy, and others represent the principal varieties of the regular forms of crystallized bodies. Below these models are polished slabs of red porphyry, etc. ; others which are of a rounded form, and which present tolerably regular patterns of that descrip- tion of argillo-ferruginous limestone, generally known under the name of Indus helmontu. Small tablets are made out of it for covering brackets. We will return to the first room, which con- tains the two first classes of minerals, the salts and earthy minerals; and beginning with the 27$ DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. case on our right, we shall follow their nume- rical order. The first series is that of calcareous substances, or those which contain lime in a greater or less quantity. The carbonate of lime begins the range : the numerous modifications of this sub- stance, the most abundant on the globe, almost entirely occupy the five first cases. We may first observe on the stage a suite of crystallized varie- ties for study, each of which has a characteristic name. Some places, although vacant, are labelled to mark those known varieties which are still wanting to complete the series. Below the stage, in the first case, is a very fine crystal of Icelandic calcareous spar, which exhibits to pecu- liar advantage the property of double refraction, for which this mineral is remarkable. This spe- cimen, of an uncommon size and clearness, is nearly seven inches thick. We also see some very interesting groups of crystals on the shelves ; amongst them the primitive carbonate of lime from Ratieborztiz, in Bohemia ; also metastatic crystals from Derbyshire, given by M. Heularid, a German mineralogist, to whom the Museum is indebted for a great number of specimens, all remarkable for their size and freshness. Here too we see the equiaxe variety from Andreasberg, in Harz, The two following cases present a COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 279 continuation of the geometrical forms of carbo- nate of lime. In the second, above the stage, we remark a beautiful crystal of the variety called continue ; and in the third, below the same stage, a superb specimen of the soustractive variety, given by M. Heuland. In the fourth case is a series of irregular bodies; amongst which is the fibrous carbonate of lime, presenting the undulating reflections of watered silk, and is hence called satin-spar. It is used in jewellery. The lamellated variety, more generally known by the name of Parian marble , employed by an- cient sculptors for the representations of illus- trious personages. The saccharoidal carbonate of lime, so called from its resemblance to sugar; it is the marble now employed by statuaries, and comes from the famous quarry of Carrara, in Italy. The coarse carbonate of lime, or building stone of Paris. The variety called liais, or very hard free- stone, only employed for ornamental building and sculpture. The earthy carbonate of lime, or the substance commonly called chalk, from which is formed the whitening used in house-painting and gla- ziers' work. 280 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. Lastly, the pulverulent, more generally known under the name ®i fossil-flour. Above the stage is the lithographic stone, dis- covered a few years ago at Chateauroux, in the department of Indre ; and which has all the qua- lities of that of Bavaria, which was first employed for that purpose. A specimen of the latter, from Ingolstadt, is at the bottom of the case. The series of carbonate of lime (fourth and fifth cases) is terminated by specimens of those varie- ties of it, which have been denominated concre- tions; they result from the filtration of a liquid, charged with calcareous particles, through the roofs of subterranean cavities. In proportion as the drops, which remain suspended to these arches, dry, the stony particles unite in a tube, which elongates from successive deposits like icicles : this kind of concretion is called stalactite. A portion of the liquid falling from the roof to the ground forms other deposits, generally mam- millated, named stalagmites. These deposits some- times increase so as to unite, and consequently form enormous columns. We see such in the grotto of Auxelle, in the department of Doubs ; whence the beautiful stalactite, which is placed between the windows in this room, was taken. But of all the grottos of this kind, the most cele- brated is that of Antiparos, in the Archipelago. COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 281 When Tournefort visited it, he imagined that stones vegetated in the manner of plants. He brought home the beautiful concretion placed at the bottom of the fourth case. The calcareous alabaster, of which vases and statues were for- merly made, and of which we have here several specimens, is the result of successive deposits of carbonate of lime : the layers of which form un- dulations more or less distinct, and shew, when polished, zones of different colours. When water, having calcareous particles in solution, remains in a cavity of small extent, these particles incrust the sides of the cavity, and line it with crystals : this is called a geode. We see on the stage of the fourth case an example, the interior of which is lined with crystals belonging to the metastatic variety. The liquid sometimes deposits particles, which are held suspended, on the surface of different organic bodies, and clothes them with a stony envelope ; under which are preserved the prin- cipal features which characterize the body. It is this variety, named incrusting concretion, which covers the branches and nests, which are at the bottom of the fifth case. Next to these is an in- crustation of a milk-white colour, presenting the likeness of Galileo, from the baths of San Phi- lippo, in Tuscany. Immediately over the stage 282 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. we observe the inverse quartziferous variety, commonly called crystallized sandstone of Fon- tainebleau; but which in reality is only carbo- nate of lime mixt with sandy particles. Its crys- tals frequently form groups of considerable size, such as those we see on the shelves of the same case. The bituminiferous carbonate of lime consti- tutes the black marbles of Dinant and Namur, and is employed for paving churches. In the sixth case we have another species, called arragonite, of which there is at the bottom a considerable block, given by M. Lacoste de Plai- sance, professor at Clermont-Ferrand. The most remarkable of its varieties is the coralloid, for- merly known under the improper denomination of Jlos ferri, which frequently rivals snow in whiteness : it is a stalactite, the twisted branches of which are entwined together. Here are very fine groups of it from Eisenerz, in Styria. The third species is the phosphate of lime. In the seventh case we observe the earthy variety from Estramadura, where it is employed in building. Its dust, when thrown upon red-hot charcoal, emits a beautiful phosphoric light. In the eighth case is ihejluate of 'lime ; a sub- stance known in the arts under the name ofjluor- spar, remarkable for the diversity of the colours COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 280 which ornament its crystals. Amongst the re- gular forms it most commonly assumes, we ob- serve that of the cube exactly traced in a great number of specimens. The most beautiful groups in the collection are from Derbyshire and Nor- thumberland, and were presented by M. Heuland. On the upper shelves is a specimen of the concre- tionnee variety, which is formed of bands and zones like calcareous alabaster : in England it is cut into slabs and cups of different forms. The acid contained in this substance is also used for engraving on glass, on account of the corrosive property it possesses. The sulfate of lime, which we see in the ninth case, is the mineral commonly called gyp- sum, or plaster-stone. In fact, plaster is only a • mixture of this substance with carbonate of lime : this mixture sometimes exists in nature, as at Montmartre, which is almost entirely composed of gypsum. The lenticular variety, so called on account of its rounded form, is usually found there ; on the lower shelves may be seen many beautiful specimens of it. The thin and trans- parent plates, which are detached from these crystals, are vulgarly called specular stones, and asses' looking-glasses. The ancients used them instead of window-glass: according to Pliny, the temple of fortune, which was built of this 284 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. slone, had no windows ; and was only illumi- nated by the light that passed through the walls. Besides these, we observe in the cabinet the white laminar variety from Sicily, remarkable for its beautiful pearly lustre ; the fibrous variety, of a shiny and silky whiteness, used in jewellery ; the niviform, which has the appearance of a snowball ; lastly, the compact variety, or gyp- sous alabastar, employed in making statues and ornamental vases. In .the tenth case is the anhydrous sulphate of lime, which only presents one remakable variety, the lamellar, of a sky-blue colour, and called Wurtemberg marble. There is a beautiful po- lished slab of it, which was presented to the Museum by the King of Wurtemberg. The nitrate of lime is the substance daily formed on the sides of damp walls, and obtained by washing old plaster for the making of saltpetre. The arseniate of lime follows immediately ; its name indicates the presence of arsenic acid in it ; it is only known to mineralogists. It has been called pharmacolite, or poisoned stone. It owes its pink hue to the presence of cobalt. The sulfate of barytes, which occupies the eleventh and twelfth cases, is, next to the carbo- nate of lime, the species most abundant in regular forms. The stage for study presents a consider- COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 285 able number of specimens, most of which are from the departments of Puy-de-D6me and Can- tal. On one of the upper shelves is a beautiful specimen of the primitive variety from Czarles, in Transylvania. This species is remarkable for its great specific gravity, and is the heavy spar of former mineralogists. The radiated variety has been long known under the name of Bologna stone ; because the phosphorous, which bears the name of that city, is obtained by calcining this stone. The carbonate of barytes, found principally in England, is in the thirteenth case. It is a poison for all animals, and is named in that country ratsbane. Regular forms of this substance are very rare. On the stage for study is a beautiful group of crystals, terminated by pyramids with six sides. The sulfate and the carbonate ofstronlian, in the fourteenth case, are only interesting to mine- ralogists. In the bottom of the case is a beau- tiful group of crystals of the former substance, of a very great size ; it weighs twenty pounds, and was presented by Dolomieu. Some superb spe- cimens of limpid crystals and concrete masses are distributed on the shelves. They were collected in Sicily by M. Lucas, whose last excursion in that country has enriched the Museum with a multi- 286 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. tude of rare and precious objects. The compact variety, in grey masses, is common atMontmartre. The sulphate of magnesia is employed in medi- cine as a purgative ; it has been known by the names of bitter salts, Epsom salts, Sedlitz salts, etc. The borate of magnesia is of no use in the arts ; but its crystals are remarkable for acquiring electric properties, when submitted to the action of fire. In the fifteenth case is the aluminous Jluate of sileXy or the substance called topaz : it furnishes several precious stones for jewellery ; but, how- ever, it must not be confounded with that called by lapidaries oriental topaz, which belongs to a species of the second class. This want of agree- ment between the scientific nomenclature, and that in use among artists, proceeds from the dis- position of the latter to unite all substances, re- sembling each other in colour, under one deno- mination ; although this similarity of appearance frequently only disguises essential differences in composition : besides which, the same species is frequently subject to a series of the most diver- sified tints. We have already observed such a variation of colour in the modifications of fluor- spar; the topaz furnishes us with another example no less remarkable. In fact, we see on the shelf, for study, several specimens of a yellow COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 287 colour ; and, next to them, a blue crystal of the quindecioc tonal variety, sixteen lignes thick, and weighing nearly 4 oz. 2 drams : on the shelf im- mediately underneath, a reddish yellow crystal, longitudinally striated ; another red, vulgarly called Brazil ruby ; and a white topaz from the same country, cut like a brilliant, and given to the Museum by professor Geoffroy Saint-IIilaire. This last variety is that called by the Portuguese the water-drop and tnina nova. Above and below, on the same stage, are various groups of pale yellow crystals, remarkable for their size. The greater number of stones, sold under the name of Brazil rubies, and those which are called by dealers burnt topazes, are merely topazes of a reddish yellow, which have been exposed to the action of fire to give them a fine rose-coloured tint. The nitrate of potash, which we see in the same case, is the salt called nitre, or saltpetre, employed in the manufacturing of gunpowder; which is a mixture of about six parts of nitre, one of charcoal, and one of saltpetre. Aqua- fortis is extracted from this substance, which is the reason why it is also called nitric acid. After the nitrate of potash follow the species which have soda for their basis ; and the most important of which is the muriate of soda, or 288 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. common salt., so useful in domestic economy. The crystals are generally of a cubic form, as we may observe in several specimens on the upper shelves of the fifteenth case. Next to them is a beautiful indigo blue crystal from Ischel,in Upper Austria. The suite of varieties is continued in the sixteenth case. Below the stage is the red salt of Car dona, in Catalonia ; still lower is a beautiful specimen of limpid muriate of soda, from the celebrated mine of Wieliczka in Po- land, one of the most important saltmines known. It produces 120,000 cwt. of salt an- nually, is 900 feet deep, and extends nearly six miles in every direction. A considerable quantity of muriate of soda is held in solution in sea water and certain lakes ; being extracted by evaporation, it is then called marine salt ; and it differs only from rocksalt, because the latter is crystallized by nature. The muriate of soda, by dissolving, yields mu- riatic acid, so usefully emplbyed in dying and bleaching. The borate of soda, which comes next, is the substance commonly called borax, or tinkal, and comes from the East Indies ; it is purified before it is used in the arts, and serves for soldering metals and gilding jewellery. The carbonate of soda \yas formerly known COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 289 under the name of nairon, and was obtained by the evaporation of the waters of certain rivers or lakes, especially in Egypt, where it is in great abundance. In Europe it is found in an efflo- rescent form on the surface of the ground, or on the sides of old walls ; it is also found in great quantities in the ashes of several vegetables. It is employed in manufacturing glass, in the composition of hard soap, and is also used in medicine. The muriate of ammonia, which we see in the seventeenth case, is better known by the name of sal ammoniac. It is found amongst volcanic productions. There is a specimen in this case of a concrete form, from Vesuvius. It is now ex- tracted from putrefied animal matter, and is em- ployed in the arts for plating and soldering metals. Under the name of alkaline sulfate ofalumine, we here find alum, that substance so useful to dyers, who make use of it to fix and strengthen colours. It is only found in nature in small quantities in the form of filaments, to which the name of plumose alum has been given. We re- mark a fine specimen of this fibrous variety, which the celebrated Tournefort brought from the island of Milo, in 1700. The alum, which is sold in commerce, is obtained by \vashing snb- 19 290 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. stances impregnated with it, or is composed of such as contain its principles. It is thus that the beautiful semi-transparent group, in the bottom of this case, was formed, which came from the manufactory of M. Curaudau. The greater num- ber of the varieties on the stage is also produced by artificial crystallization. The following species, the alkaline fluate of alwnine, also called cryolite, is of no use in the arts ; but is interesting to the mineralogist on account of its rarity. The shelves, next to the stage for study, present a very precious series of the different varieties of cryolite, all remarkable for their size, and were brought from Green- land by M. Giesecke, professor of mineralogy at Dublin. This learned professor employed nearly eight years in exploring, with indefatigable zeal, a country still new to the naturalist, and col- lected an abundant harvest of various produc- tions, with which he has been pleased to enrich the collection of our Museum. (Eighteenth and nineteenth cases). We are now arrived at the second class of minerals, that of stones, or earthy substances. These produc- tions are generally of brilliant and beautiful colours ; amongst them are classed those rare and desirable stones which art transforms into objects of dress and ornament. In the first place, COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 291 under the name of quartz, we see one of the most abundant species in nature, and the modi- fications of which are the most numerous and diversified. We will examine this substance in its purest state, the whole of whose varieties bear the name of hyaline quartz. The first is trans- parent and crystallized, and is known by the name of rock-crystal. There are some beautiful specimens on the shelves of this and the adjoin- ing cases. The most general form of these crys- tals is a solid of six sides, terminated with two pyramids with six faces. The Museum possesses a fragment of such a crystal, the enormous size of which prevented its being placed in this gal- lery : it was brought from Valais, and weighs more than 800 pounds. It has been placed on the staircase, leading into the first geological room. A group of similar crystals of a remark- able size is placed in this room, near the win- dows; the crystals are nearly a foot long, and altogether weigh 325 pounds : they come from Fischbach, in Valais. The colourless hyaline quartz, or rock-crystal, is employed in making lustres, vases of different forms, etc. This substance is not always limpid, as in tlie crystals of which we have just now spoken ; it is often coloured by other matter, without en- tirely losing its transparency, and then it is named '9- 292 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. according to its different tints. After the colour- less hyaline quartz, on the stage for study, we observe the violet rock-crystal, commonly called amethyst; the rose-coloured or Bohemian ruby; the blue, the yellow, or Indian topaz ; the yellow- brown or smoked topaz ; the dark green, the hcematoid of a dull red, or compostella hyacinth. The iridescent rock-crystal, which we see in the nineteenth case, owes its name to the colours of the rainbow, which are reflected by the air lodged in a flaw. As we proceed, we remark some precious specimens of all the preceding varieties on the different shelves; amongst others, some masses of rock-crystals from Madagascar, some beau- tiful samples of rose-coloured lamellar quartz from Siberia, a crystal of a blackish brown hyaline quartz, from the same country, nearly 12 inches long. In the bottom of the eighteenth case is a magnificent geode of a violet hyaline quartz, given by M. Brard, formerly assistant naturalist to the Museum. The variety named aero-hydre, which is in the following case, con- tains a drop of water, which but partly fills a tubular cavity, so that the air bubble, which oc- cupies the void space, ascends and descends ac- cording to the motion given to the stone, as in the water-level. COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 290 With the twentieth case commences the series of specimens which present quartz or rock- crystal in its various modifications. They are generally called agates ; the greater number is concrete bodies, some only offering the primitive form of quartz. Amongst them we may distin- guish chalcedony, which is of a milky white, with a cloudy transparency; cornelian, of a cherry red ; sapphirine, of a delicate blue ; sardo- nyx, of an orange colour ; prase and plasma y which present different shades of green; other varieties present coloured zones, sometimes pa- rallel and sometimes circular ^they are then called ribband and onyx agates. Artists cut them, as well as the preceding, into boxes, vases, seals, and other ornaments. In the lower part of the case is a simple onyx agate in chalcedony, from the environs of Oberstein. Two varieties, far less inviting from their appearance, are valuable for their use, as the gunflint and the millstone. After the agates, come the quartz-resinite, which shines like rosin ; and the jaspers, which are opaque, the fractures of which are always dull. Amongst the former we observe the hydrophajie, which becomes transparent when plunged into water ; the girasol, which reflects red and gold yellow colours; the common opal, which is so much sought after for the variety and beauty DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. of its colours. The varieties of jasper, receive like those of agate, their name from the colour they principally display. One of the most rare is the sanguine jasper, which is of a more or less dark green, spotted with deep red. In the same case we see several specimens of pseudomorphous xyloi'de quartz. These bodies, commonly called petrified wood, were originally trunks or roots of trees, the substance of which has been re- placed by quartz. The substitution takes place by degrees, so that the stony particles are succes- sively lodged in the small cavities, formerly occu- pied by the vegetable matter, in proportion as the latter abandons them, whence the appear- ance of vegetable tissue is preserved. The greater number are from common wood, and marked •with concentric zones, which answer to those we see in the transverse section of a tree. Others, and particularly the magnificent trunk which we see in the lower part of one of the cases, were originally palrn-trees; the totally different or- ganization of which is to be traced in the whitish or yellowish ground, sprinkled with little black spots. The substances, which follow the quartz, in the twenty-second case, are those "which furnish the rarest precious stones, next to the diamond ; and are the most sought after for their brilliancy COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 2g5 and hardness. The first is the zircon, a fine series of its crystals is to be seen on the stage for study. The precious stones, furnished by this mineral, are the jargooTi of Ceylon, which is of a greenish yellow, or a marigold hue, and the hya- cinth scarlet mixed with brown. The next case presents the corundum, which of all minerals is the most rich in precious stones. Those called ruby, topaz, and oriental sapphire, by jewellers, are only varieties of this substance ; one of which is red, another yellow, and a third of an indigo blue. In the collection for study we find prismatic and pyramidal crystals of these different colours, and afterwards speci- mens, polished, but not cut, of similar crystals ; one of them is divided into two parts, one red, the other yellow, so that it is at once a ruby and a topaz ; which circumstance is the best proof, that the colour of these stones is merely acci- dental, and cannot affect their nature. By the side of the transparent variety, of which we have for- merly spoken, we see others which arc more or less opaque, and extremely lamellated ; for which reason they have been named, by M. Haiiy, har- mophajie ; their former name was adamantine spar. The last variety, less remarkable in appear- ance, is the granulated corundum, vulgarly called emery, the fracture of which is compact and DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. dull. It is used in polishing different substances, such as metals and looking-glasses. After the corundum comes the cymophaney which is very brilliant, and of a greenish yellow ; \vith lapi- daries it bears the name of chrysoberyl and orien- tal chrysolite. The spinelle, which follows, fur- nishes two varieties of ruby, found in commerce under the names of the spinelle and ruby balais, and which only differ in the deepness of their colour. The emerald is also much sought after for the purpose of ornaments. The precious stones be- longing to this species are the emerald of Peru, and the beryl or aigue-marine. We, see on the stage for study, a fine crystal of emerald from Santa Fe, which presents the primitive variety. The Peru emerald is the most esteemed, it is of a pure deep green. The beryl is of a greenish blue, or of a honey yellow. Below the stage are some long cylindrical crystals belonging to this variety, and which come from Siberia. W^e find in France, opaque emeralds of a considerable size, but which are of no value : such is the enormous crystal, placed in the lower part of the case, found at Barat, near Limoges. After the emerald, we see the cordierile> amongst its varieties is the water sapphire of the jewellers, The name of cordierite is a compli- COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 297 ment paid to the learned professor of geology in this Museum, to whom we owe the first exact description of this substance. The Euclase, which we sec in the same case, was brought from America by Dombey, travel- ling naturalist to the Museum. This mineral, which is only remarkable for its rarity, is of an agreeable green colour, and can easily be po- lished; but, for the great facility with which it splits, it is never worked into objects for ornament. The garnet, which is distinguished by the size and exactness of its dodecahedral crystals, affords several precious stones ; such as, the Syrian garnet, which is red mixed with violet ; the Bohemian garnet, of a vinous red mixed with orange ; and the vermeille, which is of a deep scarlet. We will pass rapidly over the different sub- stances which terminate the second class (twenty- fifth case) ; because they are mostly unknown to those not acquainted with the science, and are scarcely of any use in the arts. The felspar, which we see in the twenty -sixth case, however, deserves attention for the beau- tiful varieties which it affords ; amongst which is the Labrador stone, or opaline felspar, whose iridescent reflections may be compared to the wings of the most beautiful butterflies ; the 298 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. moonstone , or mother of pearl felspar, the ground of which is of a sky-blue ; the avanturim, of a carnation or green colour, spotted with gold coloured and white dots ; and lastly, the ama- zon stone, or green felspar, the surface of which in certain lights looks like satin. There is a beau- tiful specimen of this variety on the first shelf, above the stage for study. The kaolin, or de- composed felspar, is of a great use in making porcelain. Several varieties of tourmaline, in the twenty- seventh case, are employed by jewellers ; but it is chiefly remarkable for its electrical properties, when heated. Beyond the stage is a superb spe- cimen of the red acicular variety, called siberite. The amphibole and pyroxene, whose numerous modifications fill this case, are chiefly interesting to mineralogists for the important share they have in the structure of the terrestrial globe. On one of the upper shelves is a beautiful group of py- roxene crystals of the quadrioctonal variety, given by M. Muthuon, engineer of the mines of France. Below, in the twenty-eighth case, is a magnificent specimen of silky amphibole from St. Gothard. The lazulite, which we see in the twenty-ninth case, is better known under the name of lapis- lazuli, or simply, lapis. That which is of a purple blue is most sought for by artists, who work it into COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 299 slabs, and extract from it the ultramarine blue colour, which produces such a beautiful effect upon stuffs, and is so unchangeable. Several of the minerals, which follow, are not yet brought into use, and are not worthy of much attention. Amongst them, however, are some specimens of a large size, such as the red stilbite and whitish ajialcime, given to the Museum by M. Lucas, jun1 . Mica, of which we see some large slabs in the bottom of the thirtieth case, has been called Muscovy glass, because it is employed in Russia instead of window-glass. By the side of the mica is asbestos, the filamentous variety of which was known to the ancients under the name of amiajithe, or incombustible flax, which they spun, and made cloth and napkins of it. They threw them into the fire when dirty ; by which means they were made whiter than if they had been steeped in lye. They \vrapt the bodies of their dead in this stuff, when they wished to preserve their ashes. We see, on one of the shelves, a speci- men of this sort of cloth, which was made in Italy. The talc, which immediately follows, presents also several varieties, which are interesting for their uses ; such as the lapis ollaris, or potstone, out of which vases are made on the turn-lathe ; the Verona earth or green earth, which is em- ployed \vith oil for painting landscapes ; and the 300 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. lamellar or Venetian talc, the powder of which renders the skin smooth and shining. It is co- loured with the plant named carthamus, and then sold as rouge. Before we quit this room, we should observe between the windows a su- perb vase of the brecciated porphyry of the P^osges, and two very large groups of prismatic crystals of colourless quartz. The following room contains the inflammable substances and the metals. Returning to the order of the numbers on the cases, we find in the thirty-second those substances which are combustible, but not me- tallic. The principal is native sulphur, or sul- phur free from all combinations. There are some superb groups of translucid crystals, and a beautiful series of varieties, given by M. Lucas, and which he procured in his last journey in Sicily and Italy. The diamond, which follows in the thirty- third case, is placed amongst the combustibles, next to the anthracite, or native mineral carbon, because it burns without leaving any residue ;. and the most exact experiments have proved, that the diamond is only mineral carbon in its purest state. Below the stage for study is a series of diamonds, rough and cut ; the regular forms of the first are the effect of crystallization. In the same case are placed the different varieties COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 3oi of solid and liquid bitumens ; amongst the most curious is that which comes from England, under the name of elastic bitumen. Black coal is one of the most precious minerals for its usefulness. The French territory abounds with mines of it, which are worked with ad- vantage. Jet is of a more brilliant black than coal ; it is polished and used for different pur- poses, but chiefly as ornaments for dress in mourning. The yellow amber has been much used in making ornamental furniture ; it is now cut in the same way as precious stones. Pieces, similar to those placed here, are particularly sought by the curious, for the insects that were enveloped by the amber when in its liquid state, without injuring their form. With the thirty-fifth case commences the class of metallic substances. Their utility in the arts and their properties are too well known, to ren- der it necessary to enter into long descriptions, to enhance the value of those principal sources of our wealth. We will limit ourselves to a rapid notice of them, merely remarking those most worthy of our attention. Platina, which first presents itself, is the least fusible of all the metals; it takes a perfect and tolerably brilliant polish ; as yet it has only been found in the form of little grains, such as are now 302 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. before us. Watch chains and snuff boxes are made of it, as also mirrors for telescopes, cru- cibles, and small instruments for the use of mineralogists. Gold has hitherto been found only in the native state. In the Brazils it is met with regularly crystallized, as appears from the beautiful spe- cimens with which M. Geoffroy enriched the Museum. It more often exists in a ramified state on the surface of apparently common stones, the ground of which is a white or yellowish quartz. It is disseminated in grains amongst the sand of several French rivers, such as the Rhone, the Arriege, etc. In the thirty-sixth case we may observe an enormous piece of massive gold, from Peru, it weighs five hectogrammes, or six- teen ounces and a quarter, French w eight. Native silver, like gold, exists under the form of twisted filaments on the surface of certain stones ; when in contact with air it loses the lustre it has immediately after it is taken from the mine ; its surface is soon tarnished and co- vered with a blackish coating. We see in the bottom of this case a fine specimen of p^tivc silver, brought from Mexico by Donibey. In the thirty-seventh case are the different combinations of silver with sulphur and anti- mony, and the carbonic and muriatic acids. Above COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 3o5 the stage is a considerable mass of sulphurct of silver from Bohemia, and, below the same stage , a beautiful group of crystals of antimoniated sul- phuret of silver. Mercury rarely presents itself in its native state or as quicksilver, such as we see it in the thirty- eighth case. It is more commonly found in the state of cinnabar, or in combination with sulphur. The thirty-ninth case contains an interesting se- ries of specimens of sulphuret of mercury from the famous mines of Almaden in Spain, and Idria in the Frioul. (Fortieth case.) Lead is one of those metals which present themselves in the most varied combinations of form and colour. We should particularly remark the beautiful groups of cubic crystals, which belong to sulphuret of lead or galena, which were given to the Museum by M. Heuland. In the following case, under a glass, is a rare variety of carbonate of lead in acicular crystals of a dazzling white. In the forty-second case are several specimens of lamelliform molyb- date of lead, from Bleiberg in Carinthia, and green phosphate of lead, from lirisgaw. After having glanced at the specimens of the nickel ore, a metal which is of no use in the arts, let us pause before the two cases in which are the different varieties of copper. We should 3o4 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. notice first, several specimens of ramose native copper, from the Ural mountains in Siberia ; the beautiful copper pyrites from Bannat ; and above all, those magnificent concretions of green car- bonate of copper, commonly called malachite, which is polished and made into tables, chimney- pieces, and other valuable objects. On the shelf immediately below the stage, in the forty-seventh case, where the iron ores begin, we see a numerous collection of stones, the ori- gin of which will long be an inexplicable mys- tery. They are the aerolites.) or stones which have fallen from the atmosphere, on the forma- tion of which the learned have hazarded so many theories. It is now well authenticated, that from time to time, and in different countries of the globe, stones fall from the atmosphere, which not only differ from all others known, but which bear a very remarkable resemblance both in aspect and composition to each other. Amongst the numerous specimens from the iron mines, which furnish the six following cases, we may remark on the lower shelves some large masses of compact oxydulous iron : these are im- properly called loadstones, and furnish the na- tural magnets which are sold in commerce. The beautiful varieties of olig/ste, or specular iron ore,, deserve attention on account of their beau- COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 3o5 tiful iridescent reflexions, and the lively tints which decorate their surfaces. They come from the famous mines of Elba, which were worked even in the time of the Romans. In the fifty- first case we see several specimens of sulphuret of iron, hetter known by the name of martial pyrites : settings for stones and jewels were for- merly made of it, which were called marcasites. The fifty-fourth case contains various speci- mens of oxyde of tin, from the mine lately disco- vered near Limoges. Zinc, which we see in the following case, is scarcely employed for any thing but alloy. There are in France several mines of oxyde of zinc, which is more commonly called calamine stone, or lapis calaminaris, be- cause of its mixture with earthy substances. The filings of zinc are of great use in fireworks, and produce the brilliant stars and other beautiful effects. Bismuth, which is in the fifty-sixth case, also serves as alloy, and communicates its fusi- bility to the metals with which it is mixed, while it increases their hardness. Cobalt is used for colouring glass blue, and for painting on enamel. The azure blue, known by the name of smalts, is prepared from this metal. (Fifty-seventh case.) Arsenic is well known as one of the most powerful metallic poisons. It is sold in its native state under the name of 20 3o6 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. powder for killing flies. In the state of sulphuret it presents two varieties of colour, very useful for painting : one is the realgar, of an orange- red colour ; and the other orpiment, of a beau- tiful citron-yellow. Manganese is of great use in the manufacturing of flint-glass and mirrors. Antimony, which im- mediately follows, is used in medicine, especially as an emetic. It serves also in the casting of printers' types, and for the composition of me- tallic mirrors. In the fifty-eighth case we see some fine specimens of sulphuret of antimony in needles of a reddish brown colour, and in very silky filaments. Uranium, molybdena, titanium, tungsten, tel- lurium and chrome, the modifications of which furnish the remainder of this and the next case, are metals but little known, and almost without use, if we except the last of them, which was discovered by M. Vauquelin, and is successfully employed in painting porcelain and staining glass. Here terminates the collection of minerals, pro- perly so called; one of the most precious in exis- tence, on account of the great number of choice specimens which it possesses, and the order in which it is distributed. It will be proper to remind our readers, that the specimens of this COLLECTION OF MINERALS. 807 collection have been named and classed according to the method of the late M. Hatty, and that the collection for study is also indebted to that learned professor for the greater number of its specimens (i). (i) We have only pointed out the principal riches of this collection. Those who may wish for further details, will find them in the second volume of the Tableau Methodique dcs Especes Minerales, published by M. Lucas, junr, in i8i3. They will find there a full description of all the specimens of the collection, up to that period. 20. § IV. COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. ASCENDING to the upper story of the cabinet, by the grand staircase to the right, we enter the rooms which contain the zoological collections. The three first and that at the furthest end con- tain the mammalia, arranged according to the system of M. Cuvier. The intermediate gallery is occupied by the birds and animals without ver- tebrae. The number of mammalia now amounts to about one thousand five hundred individuals, belonging to more than five hundred species. The first room contains the family of monkies. Between the two windows is a case containing five species of the genus oran-otan (i). The first, placed on the upper shelf, is the chimpanzee, (simia troglodytes, Lin.) a native of Congo and Guinea. This animal was brought to Paris, alive, to M. de Buffon. It was remarkable for its gen- tleness, and adroitness in walking upright, wait- ing at table, sitting down, and in taking its food like a human being. (i) These words oran-otan signify, in the Malay tongue, a reasonable being , and were given to these monkies, because they resemble man. COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. The second species is the oran-otan (simia satyr us), a native of the most southern parts of Asia. This individual, which also lived in Paris, was very slow in all its movements, and the dis- proportionate length of its arms deprived it of all grace. It was silent and melancholy, but of a gentle disposition ; and it possessed consider- able intelligence, though not so much as what travellers have reported, not more than that of the dog. On the second shelf is the gibbon (simia leucisca). The largest of the three individuals was sent from Java, by M. Diard. We know- nothing of the habits of this species, nor of those which follow, and which were sent from Su- matra, by M. Duvaucel. One of these on the third shelf is the black gibbon, (simia laf) : five individuals of this species, having differently co- loured fur, shew as many varieties. In the bottom of the case is the ape with united toes (simia syndactyla. Raffles), a new species. Besides the remarkable character of the toes being united as far as the last joint but one, the absence of hair on the neck, and the swelling of the throat, lead us to suppose, that the economy of this ape must be as curious as it is new in the history of animals. Beginning our inspection of the cases by those 3lO DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. to the left of the entrance of this room, we first see the numerous family of apes, natives of the warmest regions of the ancient continent : they are extremely lively and active. The patas (simia rubra), from Senegal, is on the upper shelf ; next to it the mangabey (simia fuli- ginosa), which Buff on believed to be from Ma- dagascar, but which comes from Senegal. On the same shelf are the different sorts of apes, commonly called green apes. They have all been alive in the menagerie, and have only been well described and known to naturalists since the work of M. Frederic Cuvier. On the second shelf is the malbrouck (simia faunus), and its different varieties, all from Bengal. On the third, the varied monkey (simia mojia), the spotted monkey (simia diana), the mustache (simia ce- phus\ the vaulting monkey (simia petaurista), the white nosed monkey (simia nictitans}. All these apes are very gentle, and come from Guinea. To the right of the third shelf is the douc (simia nemceus), a large and beautiful spe- cies from Cochin China. It was long believed that this species wanted the posterior callosities ; but a young individual, lately obtained for the Museum, proves that it has this character in com- mon with all its kind. On the same shelf is the kahau (simia nasica), remarkable for the exces- COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. 3ll sive elongation of its nose, which grows with age. These animals are very common in Borneo, where they live in troops on trees: they cry kaJiau. The species on the fourth shelf are new ; they are allied to the simice entellus and maura of Geoffroy ; and were procured by MM. Diard and Duvaucel. The macaucos are at the bottom of this case : one of the most remark- able, for the long mane which surrounds its face, is the ouanderou of Buffon (simia silenus). After the macaucos we observe the magot (simia in- nuus), from Barbary ; it is naturalized in Spain, on the rock of Gibraltar, and is one of the most common apes, and the easiest to instruct. One of these in the Museum is of a remarkable size. On the side opposite the windows are the apes with long faces, called cynocephali, or dog- headed. The largest and most formidable of them is the hairy baboon (simia pore arid) : these ani- mals inhabit in troops the woody mountains near the Cape of Good Hope. M. Delalande's voyage has afforded the two sexes, and several young in- dividuals of this species. On the lower shelves are the different ages of a species, nearly of the same colour as this, and the habits of which are equally brutal and ferocious ; they belong to the simia sphinx, or baboon of Guinea. Below these we see the mandrill (s. maimonmA. s. mormon, L.), 3l2 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. an inhabitant of the same country. This ferocious ape, so dreaded by the negroes, is rendered one of the most hideous and extraordinary of all ani- mals by the red and purple-blue colours of its naked parts : its size is nearly that of a man. On the right, in the corner of this case, we see the black ape without a tail, from the Soloo isles ; it was given to the Museum by M. Dussumier, who has enriched our zoological collections with a great number of rare and curious species. Opposite the door are two cases ; on the upper shelf of the former are howling apes (stentor, Geoff.). These inhabit the equatorial countries of America, and derive their name from the tre- mendous cries with which they make the forests resound. On the second shelf,' more than fifteen indivi- duals of the sai and sajou (simia appella and s. capucind] shew the numerous varieties which age and probably locality produce in these small species. On the third shelf, the horned and the white faced sajou are remarked for their singular ap- pearance, and the simia sciurea and its little con- geners, for their round faces and elegant forms. In the upper part of the second case are seve- ral species of the genus ateles, established by M. Geoffroy. These animals, with long and COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. 3l3 slender limbs and prehensile tails, can take the most varied attitudes. Below are the sakis. or night apes, to which a tufted tail, and long hair covering their body, give a peculiar appearance. One of the most remarkable is the capuchin of Orinoco, so named because of its long beard. M. de Humboldt, who first described it, after having observed it living in America, gave it the name of ehyropotes, from two greek words, signifying hand and drink; because, when about to drink, this animal takes the liquid into the hollow of its hand, and pours it into its mouth, taking great care not to wet its beard (i). On the third shelf of this case are placed the numerous species of ouistiti, very small monkies, of a pleasing form, differently coloured, very easy to bring up, and much sought for Ik Europe, on account of their genteelness. Lastly, in the bottom of the two cases we see the lemurs, nearly allied to the apes in habits and movements, but differing from them by having their muzzle as long as that of the fox. They all come from Madagascar and the neighbouring islands : the most remarkable species are the mau- cauco (lemur catta), the lemur macauco and the (i) The individual now before us, is that which M. de llumboldt observed, during his travels in Orinoco. DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. red lemur (lemur ruber, Peron). They breed in our menageries. Next to them is the Indri, first made known by Sonnerat, and which the inhabi- tants of Madagascar train like a dog for hunting. It differs from the others of its tribe by having two incisors less in the under jaw, and no tail. This case is terminated by the loris of Bengal, the galago of Senegal, which has large ears, and by the tarsiers (lemur spectrum, Pall.) from Am- boyna. All these animals are very slow in their movements, and lead a nocturnal life. The tarsi of these two last are elongated, which make their hind feet appear of a disproportionate length. Passing into the second room, in the cases right and left of the door, we see the different genera of bats, so remarkable for the form of their noses and ears, the length of their toes, and their membranous wings. Several species roll them- selves up into a ball, and remain torpid during the whole winter (i). The largest, which be- long to the genus pteropus, are placed on the cor- nice. At the top of the case are the phyllostomce, whose lips and tongues are furnished with warts, (i) M. Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, in the 8th and i5th vol. of the Annals of the Museum, first published a complete work on this family, which he divided into sixteen genera, and made known several new species. The genera which he established differ not only in their anatomical characters, but also in their habits and exterior forms. There are more than eighty species in the Museum. COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. 3l5 which assist them in sucking the blood of large quadrupeds, even without awaking them from sleep. The most formidable species is the vam- pire (vespertilio spectrum, Lin.), which is very noxious in several parts of South America by killing cattle. On the lower shelves of the case to the left are the hedgehog, the tenrecus, and different species of moles. The first of the six cases, which cover the left wall, contains the bears. Those on the moun- tains of Europe retire into caves, where they pass the winter in a state of torpidity. The largest species, and the most celebrated by the exagge- rated accounts of its voracity, is the sea or polar bear, whose fur is white. It lives on the bor- ders of the frozen ocean, and pursues the seals and other marine animals, which it seizes swim- ming, when they rise to the surface to respire. It remains buried under the snow from October till March, and the female brings forth during this period : it dreads heat more than any other quadruped. The individual in this case lived in the menagerie, and had eighty pails of water thrown over him daily. By the side of this northern bear is a species from India, which feeds on honey ; it was lately brought by M. Les- chenault from the mountains of Gates, had not 3l6 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. been well observed until now, and was classed among the sloths. After the bears are the ra- coons, which only differ from the bear in size and length of tail (i). On the first shelves of the second case are the long-nosed coatis, the badgers, whose bristles are employed in making soft brushes, and the civet of the Cape (viverra mellivora], which has only been well known since M. Delalande brought it from that country. On the fourth shelf is the northern glutton, or the rossomaque of the Rus- sians, which hunts at night, and whose fur is much esteemed. The lower shelves are occu- pied by weazels and martins, of which there are nineteen species. The most celebrated for its rich fur is the sable, which inhabits the frozen mountains of the north of Europe and Asia. Long and hazardous journeys are performed in the winter to hunt these animals ; and it was in searching for their fur that the eastern countries of Siberia were discovered. The individual in the Museum was presented to Buffon by the Empress of Ptussia (2). At the top of the third case are the European (1) These animals inhabit America, where they are commonly called washers, from their habit of steeping their food in water. (2) All the animals of this class have a more or less offensive smell ; whence the names of polecat and scamcw given 10 both genera. COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. 3iy and American otters. The most remarkable is the sea-otter (mustela lustris] ; the black fur of which has the eclat of velvet. The English and Russians seek this animal in the northern parts of the Pacific ocean, and sell its skin in China and Japan. In the same and in the following case are different varieties of dogs (i), and the two species of European wolves. The fifth case contains thirteen species of foxes. The black fox of North America, the blue fox, and the isatis, are most sought for their fur. On the first shelf of the sixth case are the hyaenas ; one species of which (hycena picta] is but lately known to naturalists; and travellers formerly mentioned it by the name of the Hot- tentot's hunting dog. Below the hyaenas arc the seals, amphibious animals, whose different species have been vul- garly called sea-calf, sea-lion, sea-elephant, etc. Peron has formed his genus, otariusy of that with projecting ears, and which is called the sea- bear (2). On the cornice of the same case is the (1) The most beautiful of them all was presented to the Museum by Baron Laugier. (2) The seals are mild and sagacious animals, and attach themselves to man. Vide Peron's Voyage, vol. 11, page 3a ; and M. F. Cuvier's Memoir in the Annals of the Museum, vol. xvn. 3l8 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. arctic walrus, vulgarly called sea-cow ( i ) . In the projecting case, which terminates this side of the room are the civet and genet cats. The largest is the civet, bred in Abyssinia, because it furnishes the perfume of which it bears the name (2). The only species found in France is the common genet, the fur of which is an article of trade in the Pyrennees. At the bottom of the case is an animal nearly allied to the civet, sent us alive from Pondicherry, by M. Leschenault, and of which M. F. Cuvier has made a genus under the name of paradoxurus. It is called in India the palm-tree martin, because it generally lives on these trees. In order to follow the classification that has been adopted, we must immediately pass to the third room ; the first case of which contains the genus mangouste, of which there are ten species : one of them is the ichneumon, so celebrated for the high degree of estimation in which the Egyp- tians formerly held it. We owe it to M. Geof- froy Saint-Hilaire. The other cases on the same side of this room (1) This animal sometimes acquires 20 feet in length ; it is caught in the frozen seas ; its flesh yields much oil, and coach braces are made of its skin. The ivory of its tusks is employed in works of art, although it is far inferior to that of the elephant. (2) This odoriferous matter is secreted by two glands, which are situated in a pouch between the anus and the insertion of the tail. COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. contain twenty-three species of the cat genus (fells}', which comprehends lions, tigers, leo- pards, lynxes, etc. The greater number of these animals lived in the menagerie, and several bred there. The most remarkable amongst them are, the lion and panther of Africa, the tiger of India, the hunting tiger, trained by the Indians for the chace, the caracal, which is the true lynx of the ancients, the jaguar and the couguar of America, the European lynx, which is the lynx of the fur- riers, and the lynx of the United States of Ame- rica. By the side of the lioness we see three cubs, which were born in our menagerie, and there lived until the period of dentition. After the cats are the numerous family of the didelphis, or animals with a pouch ; it compre- hends the opossums, kanguroos, etc. There are thirty-three species of them in the Museum (i). (i) The females of these animals present a very remarkable pheno- menon ; which is, that their young are born in the state of a foetus, possessing only the rudiments of their members and exterior organs : they are then received into a pouch, which is under the belly of the mother, and formed by the skin of the abdomen folded round the mammae. The young ones fix to the mammae by instinct : they are preserved in that pouch from external accident, and even when able to walk, they occasionally retire into it. In several species, when the young ones become too large to be any longer contained in the pouch, they fix on the back of the mother, twisting their tails to hers; and holding that situationeven while she runs, in the manner we see here in the didelphis murina and d. marsupialis. The opossum, with party-coloured ears (the opossum of the Americans) 320 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. Passing to the right side of the room, we see those of the genus didelphis, which belong to the old world. The largest of them all are the kan- guroos of New Holland. These animals, having the fore feet very short, and the tarsi extremely jong, are almost always on their hind feet and leaning on their tails ; and instead of walking, they jump, without the help of the fore feet. MM. Peron and Lesueur brought almost all the species possessed by the Museum. The kanguroo with red and woolly hair comes from ihe Blue mountains, and was brought by MM. Quoy and Gaimard, surgeons to the expedition of captain Freycinet. Near the kanguroos we see the dasyura, the pe- rameles, and the phalangers, genera established by M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Amongst the pha- langers we may observe several species from New Holland, which have the skin on each side extended from one paw to the other like flying squirrels. One of the species is scarcely as large as a mouse. The rodentia, to the number of one hundred is nearly the size of a cat; its young, at the time of their birth, only weigh one grain : they remain fixed to the mammae in the pouch until they have acquired the size of a mouse. A particularity in the species of opossum is, that they have fifty teeth; a greater number than has hitherto been observed in any other quadruped. They live on trees, aad hunt at night. COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. O21 species, occupy the three following cases. The most worthy of attention are the beavers, which live in companies on the horders of rivers in Ca- nada. With their teeth they cut down the trees, which they use in the construction of dams, to keep the water always the same height ; and they build huts of two stories ; the lower apartment, being under water, serves as a store-room, and the upper they inhabit during winter. The industry of these animals appears the more extraordinary, when we consider their outward form. Their number decreases, as so many are killed for the sake of their fur. The substance employed in medicine, under the name of castoreum, lies in two glands under the belly of this animal. After the beavers, we find the dormouse, remarkable for sleeping during winter; the hamster, so de- structive to corn, which it buries in iis hole, and is sometimes more than seven feet deep. The chinchilla, so valuable for its fur ; the alac- taga, a species of gerboa, given by M. Gamba ; and the gerboa of the Cape brought by M. Dela- lande. Near them are twenty-three species of squirrels; amongst which we see the flying squirrel (pteromys), the skin of wThose flanks, extending into a membrane between the fore and hind legs, enables it to remain a short time in the air, and to leap with facility from 21 322 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. one tree to another. We then see the aye-aye, from Madagascar, so named from its cry ; this singular animal, unique in European collections, was discovered by Sonnerat. On the lower shelves we see porcupines, remarkable for the long black and white spikes which cover their bodies. We have four species of them ; one from the Brazils (histrix prehensilis), which has a pre- hensile tail, and is often found on trees. The numerous species and varieties of hares and rabbits occupy several shelves in the last case but one. The order of the rodentia is terminated by the guinea-pigs (ancema, F. Cuvier), of which the aperea of Brazil is the original type. The last case of this room is filled by sloths (bradfpus), which are at the head of the order edentala. The unau, or two-fingered sloth (bra- djpus di dactylics], and the ai, or three- fingered sloth (b. tridactylus] , are the two known spe- cies of this extraordinary genus, and are from South America. Their fore-legs are much longer than those behind ; so that when wralking they are obliged to drag themselves along on their elbows; and their pelvis is so large, that they cannot bring their knees close together: their hair is coarse and brittle. The female brings forth but one young at a time, which she carries ©11 her back. These animals live on trees, and COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. ?>2/i feed on the leaves whilst one remains ; and it is said, that when they pass from one tree to an- other, they let themselves fall to the ground, rather than be at the trouble of descending the trunk. W^hen they sleep, they sit down, and cross the fore paws round the forehead, which hangs down on the breast ; this attitude has been given to one of them, which we see on the middle shelf. Returning to the second room, in the case to the left of the door, we see the armadillo of America (dasypus], covered with hard horny plates, united in the front and hind part of the body in the form of a shield. These plates are disposed in transverse zones on the middle of the back, and move one upon another, thus per- mitting the animal to roll itself into a ball like the hedge -hog. The three lower shelves contain the manis, originally from India, where they in some degree represent the armadillos; but their bodies are covered with imbricated scales. This animal also rolls itself into a ball, folding its tail under its belly, the skin of which is naked. The first case, on the same side of the room, contains the ant-eaters. The very long muzzle of the ant-eater is terminated by a mouth without teeth, whence issues a filiform tongue, which it can considerably elongate, and which it intro- duces into the nests of termites and ants, and 21. DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. draws it back covered with these insects, which become fixed to it by means of the viscous matter with which it is wetted. The largest of these species, all of which are originally from America , is the mj'rmecophaga j ubata ( i ) . By the side of the ant-eaters is the orycteropus, vulgarly called ground-hog, because it lives in holes which it hollows with great facility. In the bottom of this case we see the two-horned rhinoceros of Africa, the American tapir, and another species of the same genus, sent from Malacca by MM. Diard and Duvaucel. In the second case are two genera of quadru- peds, differing in several respects from all others : these are the ornithorynchus , the large flattened muzzle of which much resembles the bill of a duck ; and the echidna, which has a long muzzle, terminated by a small mouth like that of the ant- eater, and the body covered with spines like those of the hedge-hog. These animals have hi- therto been found only in the rivers and marshes of New Holland, near Port Jackson. (2) (1) The female brings but one young at a birth, which she carries on her back. (2) M. Blumenback having made known, in 1800, the first of these animals under the name of ornithorynchus paradoocus, and sir Everard Home having since described the echidna, M. Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire formed of these two genera a separate order, which he named monoircma. This professor, having re-examined them, is of opinion, that they ought to form an intermediate class between the mammalia COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. 325 The four following cases contain nineteen species of the order pachydermata. The Arabian horse, the baskir horse covered with long hair, the zebra, and the quagga, are remarkable for their beautiful form or variety of colours. The dif- ferent species of wild boar are placed between the legs of these larger quadrupeds, and amongst them the Pecary of America, which has a glan- dulous opening in the back, whence issues a foetid humour. In the last case are the cetacece, vulgarly called blowers. A foetus of the whale, a porpesse, a large dolphin, and the dolphin of the Ganges, a very rare species sent by MM. Diard and Duvaucel, are the most remarkable animals of this order in the Museum. We have been obliged to place in the middle of this room, on account of their enormous si/e, the male and female elephants, which lived in our menagerie ; as also the one-horned rhinoceros of India, which lived at Versailles ; the two-horned rhinoceros of Sumatra, and the unicorn of Java, which we owe to MM. Diard and Duvaucel ; and lastly, the two-horned rhinoceros and the hippo- potamus, brought from the Cape by M. Delalande. and the birds. The monotrema in fact differ from mammalia in the \vant of mammae, and by being oviparous, but they approach them in the other organic systems. 826 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. After having gone through the gallery where the birds are placed, we enter the room which contains the order ruminantia. We first see the animals which, like those in the first room, being too large to be placed in the cases, stand in the middle of the room: they are, the giraffe (came- lopardalis], which lives in the deserts in the south of Africa; and is the tallest of them all, its head being 18 feet from the ground; we have had the male ever since the journey of M. Levaillant, and the female has been recently brought by M. Delalande : the buffalo (bos bu- baliis), originally from India, whence it was taken to Egypt, and thence into Greece and Italy, during the middle ages : the aurochs (bos i/rus),from the marshy forests of Lithuania and Caucasus, which has been erroneously considered as the primitive stock of our large cattle (i): the camel with two humps (camelusbactrianus), from the centre of Asia, and the camel with one hump (camelus dromedarias) ; two species which are completely domesticated, and are the only medium of communication between certain na- tions separated by deserts : and the elk (cervus alces) which is found in the marshy forests to the (i) By the side of the aurochs is a cow without horns, and a bull of a race which is half wild in the plains of Gamargne, in Provence. This last was given to the Museum by baron Laugier. COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. 827 north of both continents, living in small herds ; its horns widen into triangular plates, and increase with age to the weight of fifty or sixty pounds. We \vill now make the circuit of this room, beginning with the case to the right of the win- dow. We there find a young camel, born in our menagerie, which lived only three days. By its side is the vicuna, a wild animal of Peru, whose tawny wool,, of an admirable texture, is employed in making the finest cloth: it was presented by baron Larrey. Below it, is the lama, the only beast of burthen in Peru, at the time of the conquest ; it is now solely employed in the service of the mines. By the side of the lama is the musk-deer (moschus moschiferus), remarkable for the long canine teeth, projecting from its upper jaw : it is found in Thibet, Ton- quin, and other countries of Asia. The perfume so well known under the name of musk, is fur- nished by this animal, and secreted under the belly of the male. After the musk, we see the moschus prgmccus, the smallest and most elegant of all ruminating animals. The second case contains the common deer, and a species one third larger (cervus canadejisis], from North America. Before them is the muntjac, of different ages, from Java and Sumatra, which were sent by MM. Diard and Duvaucel. These 328 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. travellers sent us, from the same countries, the hippelaphos, which was only known from the description by Aristotle. It is in the third case, with the axis or deer of the Ganges, whose skin is beautifully spotted. In the fourth case we see the Louisianan or Vir- ginian deer, of which some are red and others brown ; which shews the difference of colours in the same species according to the season of the year in which they were killed. In the bottom of the same case is the white deer of Cayenne, presented by M. Poiteau. The roe- buck and its black and white varieties are placed in the fifth case. By their side we see the male and female rein-deer, given to the Museum by the marshal duke of Treviso, who procured it alive from Stockholm (i). Before the rein-deer is the common roe (cervus capreolus], whose flesh is much esteemed. On the upper shelf of the sixth case are the American deers: the first is the gouazoubira, from Buenos Ayres, which was given to the (i) The rein-deer inhabits the frozen regions of the two continents. It is well known for speed, and for feeding by simply browzing on the lickeus concealed under the snow; but it is still more celebrated for its utility to the polar countries. The Laplanders have large herds, which they lead up the mountains in summer, and bring down to the plains in winter. They live upon the milk and flesh of these animals, and make their clothes of the skins. They also use them to draw sledges and carry burdens. COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. 329 Museum by M. Baillon. The second is the red- deer of Cayenne, of which we have specimens of the two races, differing in size. The lower part of the case is occupied by the bubalus, or Barbary cow, and the caama of the Cape ; and with them begins the numerous genus of ante- lopes, of which we have twenty-two species. In the seventh case is the Barbary antelope (antilope dorcas], a species celebrated for the elegance of its form and the sweetness of its countenance. They live in innumerable herds in the north of Africa, and are the usual food of lions and panthers. In the eighth case, which is on the other side of the door, are the steen- bock, the duiker or plunging goat of the Cape, so called from its habit of darting head down- wards into the covers where it lives in small herds ; the stone-leaper, the gries-bock in its dif- ferent ages, and the woolly antelope of M.Cuvier. All these were procured by M. Delalande. The pasan of Buffon (antelope oryx] is in the ninth case. Its size, colour, straight annulated horns, and the contrary direction of the hair on its back and neck, exactly agree with the de- scription given us by the ancients of the uni- corn (i). By the side of the pasan we see the (i) M. Guvicr is of opinion, that the description, which the ancients have given us of the unicorn, is that of a pasan, which had lost one of its 33o DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. algazel of Buff on, from Senegal; the blue ante- lope of the Cape ; and the guevei, pygmy antelope (antilope pygmcea), a beautiful little animal only nine inches high, and wonderfully alert. It in- habits the warmest regions of Africa. In the ten ih case are the two largest species of antelope ; their size almost equals that of the horse : they are the antilope equina of India, and the striped antelope (antilope strepsiceros) of the Cape. By the side of them is the gnu (antilope gnu], of a very singular form, apparently bor- rowed from other animals: it has the body, rump, and tail of a small horse, and an upright mane : its horns, drawn close together, resemble those of the buffalo of Caffraria ; projecting bristles surround its flat muzzle, a second black mane descending under the neck and dewlap, and its feet and legs are as slender as those of the deer. It inhabits the mountains northward of the Cape, where it is somewhat rare. The Nilghau (i) of India (antilope picta), and the European chamois (antilope rupicapra], are in the eleventh case, with several varieties of the goat, \vhich also fill the twelfth case. Amongst these varieties wre find the one that horns, or rather of a drawing, which represented the animal iu pro- file, shewing then but one of its horns. (i) This is a compound of two Persian words : nil, which means blue, and gliauf 'which signifies a btilL COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. 33l furnishes the wool of which the Cashmere shawls are made. In the twelfth case is the Caucasan ibex (capra cegagrus] , which lives in herds on the mountains of Persia, where it is known by the name of paseng ; it appears to be the parent of all our varieties of domestic goats ( i ) . After it, comes the ibex, an inhabitant of the highest mountains, and remarkable for the uncommon size of its horns. The thirteenth case contains the various races of sheep of which the muffoli of Corsica and Sardinia might be considered the parent. Beneath it is the African muffoli (pvis tragelaphus) , to which a long mane hanging under the neck , andan- other which forms ruffles round each ancle, give a very singular appearance. This species inhabits the rocky countries of Barbary and Upper Egypt. On the higher shelf of the fourteenth and last case, we see a race of sheep originally from Persia and Tartary. The tail of this race enlarges from the insertion, and gradually transforms itself into a double lobe of fat, weighing from fifteen to twenty pounds (2). Here terminates the collection of mammalia. The numerous family of the ruminantia, which (1) In the intestines of the aegagrus is found the concretion called egagropyla, or oriental bezoar. (2) The Astracan sheep, and that from Upper Egypt, vvith a very short tail, belong to this race. This last was given to the Museum by H. U. H. the duke of Orleans. 332 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. we have just seen, is the most useful to man- kind. Several of them were reduced to a do- mestic state at a period anterior to history, and have produced varieties, the primitive type of which we can with no small difficulty recognize. § Y. COLLECTION OF BIRDS. ON leaving the gallery of ruminating animals, we re-enter that of the birds. The species nearest to each other from their natural affinities, form the genera and suh-genera of which M. Cu- vier has traced the characters in the first volume of his Regne Animal. To avoid the loss of space, which the different sizes of birds of analogous ge- nera would have caused in the cases, had they been placed together, we have frequently been obliged to lay aside the order adopted by M. Cuvier for the distribution of his genera ; but they can easily be referred to, by means of tickets on black pedes- tals, placed before each group : those on the red pedestals indicate the subdivisions of the genera. To the support of each bird is attached a label, the first line of wrhich is the French name with a reference to a figure. The name given by Buffon to the species has been prefcred, for all those which he described, as well as the coloured plate in which it is represented by him. The 334 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. beautiful works of MM. Levaillant and Vieillot, and the rich collection of coloured plates of MM. Laugier and Ternrninck have served for the species unknown to Buffon. The latin name, written in the second line, is that given by Gmelin in his edition of the Systema Natures, or of the author who has since described it. The third line gives the name of the country whence the individual comes, with that of the traveller who brought it, or of the person who presented it to the Museum. The collection comprehends upwards of six thousand individuals belonging to more than two thousand three hundred different species. Al- most all are in a perfect state of preservation; and such means have been found of preparing them, that they never change. There is not so numerous a collection existing any where else, and nevertheless it has been formed in a few years. At the death of Buffon it consisted of only eight hundred species ; but it has since been suc- cessively enriched by the purchase of M. Levail- lant's collection ; by the addition of that of the Stadtholder, the possession of which was con- firmed, when we gave in exchange our duplicates in every branch of natural history ; and lastly, it has been every year increased by those sent from different countries by travellers. COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 335 This collection is of infinite use and advantage, from its being so well adapted for study, by the methodical distribution of the genera and species; the males and females and the varieties being placed close to each other. A great number of birds, especially those re- markable for the beauty of their colours, have a totally different plumage according to their age, and even sometimes according to the season. Thus the same bird has often been described and drawn several times under different names. It is only after many researches that the different varieties and the passage from one to the other can be determined. "We frequently see ten or twelve individuals of one species, presenting the same essential characters, but whose colours are totally different. Besides the diversity of the males and females, the same bird is quite different at one, two, or three years of age ; as also, if it has been killed in summer or winter. All this may be observed in the collection, which for the future will fix the type for the species. We will now resume the succinct description of what is most worthy of remark in this collection. The gallery, which contains it, is divided into fifty-seven cases with shelves, on which the birds are arranged in the manner best adapted to their display. Care has been taken to avoid the waste 336 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. of room, and at the same time the confusion that might arise from that economy of space. We will begin with the case to the left, on entering the gallery from that of the ruminating animals, and we will make the circuit, proceed- ing from left to right. Ten species of the genus vulture occupy the two first cases. On the top shelf of the first are the different ages of the king of vujtures (i) (vultur papa]. This bird inhabits South Ame- rica ; it has a beautiful plumage ; the naked parts of its head and neck are covered with red and yellow, which fade after death. On the second shelf of the second case is the percnopterus of Egypt, vulgarly called Pharaoh's chicken, a bird most common over the old continent. Large flights of them follow the caravans, devour what dies, and purify the country of the dead bodies which otherwise would infect it. The ancient Egyptians held this bird in veneration, and even now some devout mussulmen leave legacies for the maintenance of a certain number. Above the percnoptere is the vulturfulvus, wiiose or- gan of smell is so acute, that it can distinguish (i) The reason of its receiving this title is worth recording. When the male and female, which keep always together, fall upon prey, already attacked by a large party of the aura (a species which we see on the second shelf of the second case), these latter fly away, leaving the king and his female to finish quietly their repast. COLLECTION OF BIRDS. at several leagues the prey best suited to its voracity. At the bottom of the case is the Icemmer-geyer, or gypaetos of the Alps (vultur barbarus], the largest bird of prey on our continent ; it mea- sures ten feet between the tip of each wing. It lives solitary on the steep rocks of the Swiss mountains, carries away sheep, goats and cha- mois, and it is said sometimes to have attacked children. The cases from the third to the tenth contain the numerous species of diurnal birds of prey, which Linnaeus united under the generic name of falco. Six species of eagles commence the series. The royal eagle, the largest and most courageous, is the first. It hunts in the mountains for goats, roes, and other quadrupeds of that size, and feeds on dead animals only when pressed by hunger. After this are the ospreys or fishing eagles, which keep on the borders of the sea, or near the great lakes, and the bald-buzzard, which lays waste the fish-ponds. In the fifth case we see the great American harpy of a size larger than the common eagle ; and it is considered as having the claws and beak stronger than any other bird. It generally feeds upon the sloth, can carry away a fawn ; but the rapidity of its flight being greatly diminished by 338 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. the shortness of its wings renders it less destruc- tive. By the side of this is the falco ecaudatus , from Africa, which has a shorter tail than any other of this genus. Lastly, the secretary of the Cape (falco serpentari us] , one of the most re- markable birds of prey for the length and strength of its legs (i). It inhabits the burning and sandy deserts of Africa, where it feeds on serpents and other venomous reptiles (2). In the sixth case are the male and female astur, the sparrow-hawk, which was formerly trained for the chace, and the male of which, from being one third less than the female, was named the tiercelet. We must remark ihe falco musicus, the only bird of prey which sings agree- ably. The buzzards, the kites, the pernis, and the pygargi, occupy the seventh and eighth cases. These birds pursue insects or reptiles. The/y- gargus deserves a peculiar attention, as the Egyp- tians worshipped it and embalmed it after death. We may, see the feathers of one perfectly pre- served, that were taken from a mummy brought from Egypt by M.Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. The (1) When very young it drags itself along on its belly. It is exhibited in the various attitudes it assumes according to its age. (2) This species, if we naturalized it to the climate of the French equatorial settlements, would be of great service to the inhabitants, by destroying the dangerous reptiles with which they abound. COLLECTION OF BIBDS. 33g honey-buzzard was sent us from Java by M. Les- chenault. In the ninth case are the common falcon and the jerfalcon (hiero falco) , celebrated for their docility, and the rapidity of their flight ; the first of these has given its name to a peculiar art, that of training these birds to pounce upon the game, either in the air or on the ground, and bringing it to their master. This sport was very much in use during the middle ages. Both these birds in- habit northern countries, and build their nests upon rocks. In the same case we find the smallest of the birds of prey, the falco ccerulescens from Sumatra. The tenth case, which projects and forms a separation in the gallery, contains the hobby- falcon and the falco tinnunculus in its different ages. And here terminates the diurnal birds of prey, of which there are one hundred and twenty species in the Museum. The eleventh and twelfth cases contain thirty- four species of the nocturnal birds of prey : the grand duke, the lesser duke, the ulula, the com- mon owl, the little duke or scops; all of them inhabiting Europe. Amongst the foreign species are the Cape owl, the great American owl, and the owl with naked feet (strix leschenaultii, Tern.). 22. 34o DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. This last was discovered and sent us from Pon- dicherry, by M. Leschenault. The thirteenth and fourteenth cases contain the beautiful and numerous family of parrots, which is divided into cockatoos, lorys, aras, parrots, and parrakeets. The cockatoos have a tuft on the head which they raise and lower at will ; the greater number of them have a white plumage, that of the lorys is red. The aras are sought after on account of the brilliant and various colours which adorn them(i). Green is the prevailing colour of the parrakeets and parrots, properly so called. There are however some exceptions; the common grey or African parrot, called jaco (psittacus erithacus), which can articulate with so much facility, is of an ash grey all over the body and wings, and the tail is of a fine red. That of the Moluccas, which Buffon catts parrakect, with the spotted blue face, is of varied colours (2). All climb the trees with the assistance of their beak (3). The species most (i) One of them is entirely black, the ara a trotnpe of Levaillant. M. Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire calls it the microglossa, on account of the smallness of its tongue ; the functions of which are supplied by the larynx, which it projects beyond its beak. (2) Those colours are said to be accidental, and produced by an operation called taplrer; some feathers are taken away, and the naked skin of the bird is rubbed with the blood of a frog called rana tinctoria; the new feathers which shoot out after this operation change their colour. (5) The perruche ingambe of Levaillant, which we received from Nevr COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 31^1 anciently known in Europe is the Alexandrine par- rakeet (psittacus 4lexandri),so named because it was brought from India by that conqueror. On the first shelves of the nineteenth case are the different species of toucan. The enormous bills of these birds would weigh more than their body, if they were not of a cellar and light substance. They belong to the equatorial regions of America, and live upon insects and fruits. The structure of their beak prevents them from chewing their food; they throw it in the air and catch it as it falls. The brilliant feathers, which cover their breast, were formerly employed for a peculiar sort of embroidery. On the third shelf are the wrynecks (yunoc], small birds which owe their name to the habit of turning their neck in different ways. The woodpeckers (picus] are placed on the lower shelves. To them the name of climbers is best adapted, as they climb in all directions on the bark of trees, striking it with their long and flattened bills, and taking from underneath the larvae of insects, which they seize with their tongue, armed with curved spines, and susceptible of a consi- derable elongation. Holland, is remarkable for Ihe length of its legs. It is the only one which runs on the ground, and seeks its food in herbage ; wherefore Jlliger made a separate genus of it. 342 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. The different species of cuckoos occupy the upper shelves of the sixteenth case. The Euro- pean cuckoo, so named from its cry, is cele- brated for its singular habit of laying its eggs in the nests of other insectivorous birds. These bring up the young cuckoo with as much care as if it was theii^own, even when its introduction into the nest has been preceded by the destruction of their own eggs. Amongst the foreign species we will notice the blue cuckoo of Madagascar, sent by baron Milius ; the copper coloured cuc- koo of the Cape ; the golden and the klaas cuc- koos, remarkable for the beauty of their plumage. On the sixth shelf are birds, which have been set apart to make a separate genus. Sparmann, who observed them at the Cape, gave them the name of indicators ; because, feeding on honey, they fly at a great distance in quest of wild bee hives, and utter a loud cry when they have found them ; thus serving as guides to the inhabitants, and sav- ing them a tedious search. "We have four species of this genus: the two first were brought by Levaillant, and the others by M. Delalande. The lower shelves of this case are covered by the barbets (bucco, Lin.), so named from the bundle of stiff bristles on each side of their beak ; and with the couroucous, solitary birds, which fly only at twilight. Several species of this genus COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 34?) attract attention by the beautiful colours of their plumage. The three most brilliant amongst them are the blue-faced barbet (bucco cyanops, Cuvier). The red-bellied couroucou of Sumatra, and the couroucou narina from the south of Africa. The two first were brought by M. Du- vaucel, and the other by M. Delalande. In the seventeenth case, is the numerous genus of shrikes (lanius] . These birds live in families ; their attachment to their young is such that, al- though not larger than a common blackbird, the female will fight with the crow in defence of her covey, and is frequently victorious. The grey shrike (lanius excubitor), of the size of a thrush, remains in France all the year long. The /. rufusy and the red-backed shrike (l.collurio), quit us in winter. The latter, which is the smallest of all, pursues insects, and fixes them in the bushes, to find them when it needs food. It imitates the voice of other birds. Amongst the foreign species, those most re- markable for their colour are the bacbakiri (turdus zeylonicus] from the Cape, the blue shrike of Madagascar, and the shrike with a red throat (lanius gutluralis , Baud., Ann. du Mus.), from the coast of Angola. The vanga is a species . of shrike with a compressed beak. The most cu- rious are the blanchol of Senegal, the tufted vanga 344 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. of Java and Sumatra, and the striped vanga of the Brazils. The baritce, which come naturally after the shrikes, are shrieking birds of New Holland and New Guinea : one of them, the chalybean, has such brilliant colours, that it was formerly ranked amongst the birds of paradise (paradisea viridis] ; another (the coracias streptera] has so strong a voice, that it has been named the wakener ; this is from New Holland, as well as the musician (coracias tibicen), whose voice is so agreeable. Below the shrikes are placed the breves, from India, adorned with the most beautiful colours. Buffon knew but two species of them; there are now six in the Museum. Two of the most beautiful, the one with a red belly, and the other with a black head, were presented by M. Dussu- mier, who brought them from the Philippine isles. After the breves come the ant-thrushes (myo- thera) ; they live on the enormous ant-hills in the forests and deserts of America ; their plumage is brown and their voice very sonorous. We pos- sess twenty-seven species of them ; the largest is the king of the ant-thrushes, of the size of the blackbird. It is solitary , and lives in the forests of Cayenne. The eighteenth case contains the merlins (tur- COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 345 i), of which we have one hundred and sixty species. By the side of the common black- bird (turdus rnerula), which is the first, we may observe a white variety ; then the rose-coloured thrush of the south of France, which is so useful in destroying grasshoppers ; next comes the mockbird (turdus polyglottus], famous for the astonishing facility with which it imitates the chirping of other birds, and all the voices it hears. Below are the singing thrushes ; the largest is the turdus viscivorus, which feeds on the misle- toe berries, and propagates this parasitic plant by sowing the seeds of it on the branches of trees (2). The smallest is the mavis, which arrives in large flights about the time the grapes ripen ; and which is when fat very delicate eating (3). (1) The merlins and thrushes are of the same genus. We give the name of merlins, to those species whose colour is uniform; and that of thrush, to those whose plumage is marked with small black or brown spots. (2) The turdus pilaris differs but little from the turdus viscivorus ; but the white variety is very rare; that in the Museum, was given to Buffon by Lewis XVI, who had killed it when hunting. (3) The Romans thought much of this species, which they called turdus, and is still called tourdre in the South of France. Horace, speaking of the presents to be made to one whose property it was desirable to inherit, says : turdus Slve aliitd prlvum dabltur tibi; devoid illuc lies ubi rnagna nitct domino scne. 346 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. Of all the birds of this numerous genus, the azure thrush of Java attracts most attention : its breast is of a velvet black, and its back of an ultramarine blue. This beautiful bird was sent us by MM. Diard and Duvaucel. We have also the white-breasted thrush from Senegal (turdus leucogaster), the back of which is of the most vivid crimson ; and the New Guinea thrush, com- monly known under the name of the magpie of paradise, beautiful on account of the magni- ficence of its plumage ; its tail is three times longer than the body, its head has a double tuft, and the colours of its throat and neck shine with metallic lustre. The lyra (inenura magnified), which inhabits the rocky parts of New Holland, is placed in this case. The tail of this singular bird is composed of three sorts of feathers : twelve of these, which are very long with slender and scanty beards, form the principal part ; the two in the middle longer than the others, are stiff, and only bearded on one side ; and the two outer are curved like the frame of a lyre. The female does not present the same characters. Both are of the size of a pheasant. On the two last shelves in this case are the grakle^genus (gracula) . The most common spe- cies (paradisea tristis, Gm.) is famous for the COLLECTION OF BIRDS. service it performed in the Isle of France, in de- stroying the grasshoppers. Near the grakles are the orioles, which have a beautiful yellow plu- mage, and the different species of which are distinguished by the variety of tints on a small portion of the body. The French oriole con- structs its nest very skilfully, suspending it from the extremities of the largest branches of trees. The first shelf of the nineteenth case contains a genus established by M. Cuvier, under the name of philedon. The species, each of which pos- sesses some remarkable singularity, are united by one common character, that of having the tongue terminated with a brush of hairs. The caruncu- lated philedon (coi vus paradoxus, Lath.) has two fleshy caruncles, which hang under its throat ; the cravat philedon (merops Novce Hollandice , Brown) has two small bunches of curled feathers, the whiteness of which forms a strong contrast to the green of the body. The monk philedon (mej^ops monachus, Lath.), and the philedon corbicalao, which, as well as the two preceding, are natives of New Holland, have a tubercle on the beak, and during life the naked parts of the head and neck are of a fine blue. Below the philedons we find the motacilla>y a very numerous family, characterized by a straight slender beak, and comprehending the 348 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. stonefmches, the warblers, the bullfinches, the wrens, the wagtails, etc. There are a hundred and seventy-two species in the Museum. The most celebrated, not for its plumage, but for its singing, is the nightingale. Amongst the foreign species, the motacilla superba, m. cyanea, and the malachura, all three from New Holland, ought to be particularly noticed, the two first, for the beauty of their colours, the third, for the deli- cacy and slenderness of the feathers of its tail. Amongst the indigenous species, we will only mention the most interesting, such as the wheat- ear (motacilla cenanthe) , which follows the la- bourers in the fields, to feed on the worms turned up by the plough. The robin-redbreast, which seeks shelter in our dwellings during winter : in some provinces they assemble in such numerous flights, that the sky seems co- vered by them. The reed-warbler (motacilla salicarid), which fastens its nest to three reed- stalks, so that it rises and falls with the surface of the water, upon which it reposes. The mota- cilla modalaris^ the only species which remains with us during winter, and enlivens this season with its agreeable notes : it builds its nest twice in the year, and feeds on corn, when insects are not to be had. The golden crowned wren (mo- tacilla regnlus] is the smallest of all European COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 3/fg birds ; it weighs sixty-seven grains, and its heart, no larger than a pea, weighs from four to five. This pretty little hird makes its nest in the shape of a ball in the firs; the entry is on one side, and contains from eight to ten eggs of the size of a pea. On the last shelf but one are the wagtails, so called from the continual movement of their tail ; some of them are called water- wagtails, because they live on the banks of ponds and rivers. Near them we see the budytes, a sort of wagtails which follow the sheep, perch on their back, and search for insects in their wool. Below the case are the meadow larks (anthus), known in the southern provinces of France by the name of bec-Jigues. One of the most remarkable exotic species is the sentinel lark, which lives at the Cape among the flocks. The drongos (edolii) are placed in the twen- tieth case. \Ve have eight species, some of which come from Africa, others from the countries on the borders of the Indian ocean; some sing as sweetly as the nightingale. The most remarkable is the racketted drongo, which has the two outer feathers of the tail three times longer than the others, and destitute of beards, except to- wards the end, where they form a little palette. The cotingas, or chatterers (ampelis), are placed below the drongos; they inhabit the 35o DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. swamps of South America. At the pairing season, the plumage of the males is coloured with crim- son and azure, and is generally grey during the rest of the year. Some species with a strong pointed beak feed on insects, and those with a weak depressed one feed on berries. Amongst seventeen species in the Museum, the most beau- tiful are the ampelis carnifex, pompadora, and colinga ; the purple cotinga (coracias milita- ris, Sh.), the white cotinga (ampelis carur.cu- lata), which has a caruncle upon its head. The ampelis variegata, whose plumage is green dur- ing the first year, and ash-grey when the bird is full grown, is besides remarkable for the bundle of fleshy caruncles which hang under its throat. The numerous family of the flycatchers, di- vided into several genera, and of which the Museum possesses one hundred and fifty species, occupies the lower shelf of this case. The spe- cies with a wide depressed beak belong to the genus gnatsnapper (muscipeta, Cuv.) ; those with a narrower beak, to the muscicapa, Cuv. The flycatcher of Lorraine (muscicapa atricapilla\ which nidificates in the trunk of trees, presents the same phenomenon as the cotingas. During the winter the male is of an uniform grey, but towards the pairing season a part of its plumage becomes of a beautiful black, and the rest of a pure COLLECTION OF BI11DS. 35l white. Amongst the exotic species, the prettiest are the muscicapa oranor from Java, the red- breasted flycatcher and the azurou, both from Timor. Some of the gnatsnappers of Madagascar, the Isle of France, the Cape of Good Hope, and the East Indies, have very long tails, on account of whicji they have been named the paradise gnatsnappers. A species from Cayenne, which has been erroneously referred to the todies (lodus platyrhincos] , is remarkable for its beak being widened in the form of a spoon. On the last shelf of this case are several birds well worthy of at- tention from their rarity and beauty : ist. A species near the cotingas (coracias scutata, Lath.), which M. d'Azzara has described, under the name of the pie with a bloody throat. 2d. The cephalop tents ornatus, Geoff. , the base of whose beak is fur- nished with upright plumes, which form a large bunch over the head. 3d. The gymnocephalus (corvus calvus), which the negroes of the French settlements call oiseau mon pere ; its head is co- vered with feathers when young, but becomes altogether bald when of an advanced age : young individuals of this species are very rare in col- lections. 4tn- Two species of a genus lately de- scribed by Dr. Horsefield, under the name of eureylamus, sent from Java by MM. Diard and Duvaucel. 5th. The rupicola of Cayenne, the 352 DESCRIPTION OF TFyE MUSEUM. . ) male of which, when adult, is of a beautiful orange colour, whilst the young males are as brown as the females. 6th. A new species of this same genus, to which M. Cuvier gave the name of rupicola smaragdina, on account of its beautiful green colour : this species was sent us from Java by MM. Diard and Duvaucel, and is the more interesting, as all the others are natives of America. At the top of the twenty-first case are many species of the genus tjrannus. These American birds have the same habits with the shrikes, and their courage is still greater ; the females defend- ing their young even against the eagles, and find- ing the means of driving away all birds of prey from their nests. The spoon-billed tyrant (lanius pitangud) of the Brazils, the yellow tyrant from Cayenne (lanius sulfuraceus], and many other species have their plumage of a sulphur yellow, and a red tuft on the head. Below the tyrants are the euphones, from the warmer countries of America. One of the most common species in the West Indies, is called the musician (pipra musica), because it articulates the seven notes of the gamut. After the euphones come the tana- gers, American birds, very agreeably varied in colours : the prettiest species are the tanagra septicolor of Cayenne, the tricolor of the Brazils, COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 353 the t. mexicana, the t.punctata^ the t. archiepis- copus, the t. episcopus, the red tanager from the Mississipi, the scarlet one from Brazil, and the silver beaked tanager from Cayenne ; they live in the woods like some of our sparrows, and feed equally on seeds, berries and insects. Below the tanagers are the manakins (pipra), small birds which live on insects in the forests of equinoctial America. They are all adorned with brilliant co- lours. That with a long tail (pipra caudata, Sh.), makes a noise like the barking of a moderate sized dog. The titmice are placed after the manakins. These birds of a very lively nature, are incessantly suspended to the branches of trees, busied in split- ting the bark to find the larvae of insects, or in breaking hard seeds, on which they feed. They line their nest with down, and lay from sixteen to eighteen eggs : the great titmouse (parus ma- jor), the marsh titmouse (p. palustris), the blue titmouse (p. cceruleus], the long tailed titmouse (p. caudatus), are natives of France, the rest are foreign ; by the side of the titmice is the remiz (parus pendulinus) : this little bird from the south of Europe, builds its nest in the form of a purse, with the down of the catkins of the wil- low or poplar, and suspends it to the flexible branches of aquatic trees. Another species from the Cape of Good Hope, builds its nest with 23 354 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. cotton, and having given it the form of a bottle, adds a small cupola outside for the male to rest in. In the bottom of this case are the goat-suckers, nineteen in number; they have the light soft plu- mage of the nocturnal birds, and their mouth is so wide that they can swallow the largest insects. They only fly about in the evening. The female lays its eggs on the ground, or on a stone, and only sits on them a very short time. An American species (caprimulgus grandis), is the size of an owl. One from Africa (caprimulgus longipennis], is remarkable from a feather twrice as long as its body, which springs from the carpus of each wing, and is only feathered at the extremity. The twenty-second case contains, first, the nu- merous genus of the swallows, of which the Museum has twenty-seven species. The first is the hirundo apus, of all birds best formed for flight ; its feet are so short, and its wings so long, that when it is on the ground it cannot rise again; it therefore passes the greater part of its life in the air, and when it has rested for a short while on a wall or on the trees, it falls to recommence its flight. The swallows which immediately fol- low it, have longer feet, which enable them to take their flight from the ground, and rest on it longer. The hirundo urbica, or window swal- low, is universally known. It quits us in the , COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 355 autumn, and returns with the spring to the nest it had formerly occupied. There is a white variety in this case ; near it is the h. riparia, which builds its nest in the banks by the water side : it does not quit us in the winter, but plunges deep into the mud, where it remains torpid until the re- turn of wrarm weather. Amongst the exotic swallows, we should observe the hirundo escu- lenta, which inhabits the Indian archipelago ; it builds its nest, which has been placed by its side, on the highest shores, with the spawn of fish and other gelatinous substances, picked up from the sea. These nests are an object of commerce: considerable number of them are sent to China and Japan, where they are considered a very agreeable and nourishing food. Below the swal- lows are the larks ; beginning with the field lark, of which we have a white variety. Imme- diately after come the starlings ; they assemble in large flights, and are very useful to cattle, by destroying the insects which torment them. The five lower shelves are filled with the genus cas- sicus, of which we have thirty-four species ; some of the size of a crow, others of that of a thrush. They are American birds, live in num- bers like our starlings ; most of them are bril- liantly tinted with yellow, red and black. Their nest (of which we can see several in the two 356 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. frames upon the cornice) are worthy of atten- tion; they are made with tufts of grass, of an oval form, and from six to twelve placed one after the other, all united by a single tube with only one opening, like so many rooms in a pas- sage. The tube, which is commonly from four to six feet long, is suspended by its upper end to the branch of a tree, and its opening is at the lower extremity ; through it each couple ascends to that part of the nest which it has adopted. These nests being suspended, and continually blown about by the \vind, protect the cassiques from their constant enemies, the serpents (i). The twenty-third case contains the numerous family of buntings (emberiza) and sparrows, which has been subdivided into several genera, and of which we have seven hundred individuals belonging to one hundred and fifty species. The emberiza are on the first shelf ; to these belong the ortolan, which is reckoned so great a dainty. The sparrows, properly so called, (pfrgita,Cuv.), occupy the three following shelves ; one of the prettiest is the painted emberiza (emberiza ciris, Lin.) of New Orleans. Four individuals shew the different colours assumed by this bird at dif- ferent ages. The linnets are on the fifth, sixth, (i) These birds have been named republicans, from their habit of living many together in the same nest with only one communication. COLLECTION OF BIRDS. seventh and eighth shelves. To this group be- long the goldfinch, the linnet of the vines (frin- gilla carmabina), thefringilla linaria, and the Canary bird (f. canarina) (i). The widow birds follow the goldfinches ; the long feathers of their tail give them a peculiar appearance ; they are all from Africa. On the six following shelves are the numerous species of grosbeaks (cocco- thraustes,Guv.). On the fifteenth is the bullfinch and its congeners. All these birds feed upon seeds, and are much sought for the sweetness of their voice, the beauty of their colours, and the facility with which they are tamed. The cross- bills (loxia curvirostra, Lin.), which inhabit the pine forests of the northern parts of the two con- tinents, are at the bottom of this case. The Euro- pean crossbill is very familiar ; it takes its food in the claws, and carries it to the mouth as the parrots do : it builds its nest, and hatches in Ja- nuary. The greater bullfinch of the north (loxia enucleator), and the colies of the Cape, are on the same shelf; the latter live in numbers ; they sleep suspended to the branches of trees, the head downwards, close to each other. The last bird of this shelf is the beef-eater (bufaga africand), so called because it takes out and feeds upon (i) This species pairs with its conveners, aud its produce is endowed, with thf same fecundity. 358 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. the larvae of insects which lodge in the skin of oxen. In the twenty-fourth case are the rollers, which resemble the jays in form, but whose colours are more brilliant. We have seven species of them. The gracula religiosa, or Indian grakle of Java, is on the second shelf ; it is said to imitate the human voice better than any other bird. Next to it are the jays. The third and fourth shelves are occu- pied by a magnificent series of birds of paradise (paradisea), of which there are nine species. These birds live in New Guinea, and in the neigh- bouring islands. As their feathers are employed in making plumes, aigrettes, and different other ornaments of dress, the natives sell them very dear, and it is even difficult to procure perfect individuals. Thus it was for a long time believed, that they had. no feet nor wings, and always lived in the air, supported by the very long feathers which are placed under their wings. The velvet black, the emerald green, the sapphire blue, and the most vivid red, all adorn the plu- mage of these birds (i). The lower shelves of this case are furnished with the different spe- cies of pies and crows. We shall only mention •> -v- . -^\f -' " i * •-" , ' (i) M. Regnault de la Susse, who has seen these birds alive at the governor of the Philippine islands, tells us they have no voice, are des- titute of intelligence, and feed on berries. COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 35g the sky-blue pie of Paraguay, and the pie from the Brazils, whose colours are beautiful, and agreeably distributed. This species was sent to the Museum by M. Auguste de Saint-Hilaire. The twenty-fifth case contains the birds which bear the name of tenuirostris , from their slender beaks, which are very long, and more or less arched. This family has been divided into three great genera. The hoopoes (upupd), the creepers (certhia), and the humming birds (trochilus] . We have eight species of the first genus, sixty- four of the second, and fifty-three of the third. Two genera which belong to another division, occupy the lower part of the case. The hum- ming birds are placed in the front and middle part of the case, in order to be better seen. On the first shelf are, ist. The hoopoes (fre- gilm, Cuv.), from the Alps and Pyrennees, which build in the clefts of the highest rocks ; their red beak and feet form a strong contrast to their black plumage. 2d. The hoopoes, properly so called, and so named from the double row of feathers with which their heads are adorned, and which they can raise at their will. They live on insects, and lay their eggs in the holes of trees and walls. 3d. The promerops of the Cape, and the epimachus of New Guinea. The epimachus promefil, whose breast is like the 36o DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. most beautiful burnished steel, and which has the feathers of its flanks elongated like those of the bird of paradise, is one of the rarest and most beautiful birds of the collection. On the second shelf are the species of American creepers. These little birds resemble the pies in their habits, and in the feathers of their tails, which are stiff arid worn at the end. The humming birds fill up the third, fourth,, and fifth shelves. They excite attention by their diminutive size, the beauty of their colours, and the elegance of their forms ; several of them are not an inch long; their nests are placed by their side. The topaz, the garnet, the red topaz, the ruby, the sapphire, and the emerald humming birds, have been so named from the colours of these precious stones -which they display on their breasts and necks. They are all natives of America, and fly rapidly round the flowers, the nectar of which they suck by in- troducing their tongue into the corolla, which is bifid like that of the pies and capable of the same elongation ; they also feed on small insects. The crested-neck of Cayenne and the white crested-neck of Brazil are not so lively, but their size is scarcely larger than that of a hornet. The sugar-eaters (cinnfris, Guv.), which are the hum- ming birds of the ancient continent, fill the three following shelves. They are equally brilliant. COLLECTION OF BIRDS, 36l but less remarkable for the smallness of their size. The malachite and shining sugar-eaters present the most brilliant colours. The red sugar-eater, or heorotaire of Levaillant (certhia vestiaria), from the Sandwich islands, furnishes those scarlet feathers with which the islanders make mantles in high esteem among them. Amongst the sugar-eaters on the ninth and tenth shelves, we should remark that of the West Indies, which lives in sugar plantations, climbs up the stems of the canes to feed on the insects which it finds in the axillae of thejeaves ; the certhia ccerulea and the c. cyanea, blue creepers of the most beautiful ultramarine blue; the merops rufus, commonly called the baker, because its nest which it builds on bushes has the shape of an oven ; one of these nests is at the bottom of the case. The wall-creepers (certhia murarid) are on the eleventh shelf ; they inhabit the south of France, but are sometimes seen fur- ther north. The specimen with extended wings was killed in the Jardin du Roi. The bee-eaters are placed on the twelfth shelf ; they are all adorned with the most beautiful colours. We will only remark that with a lilac head, recently sent us from Sumatra by M. Duvaucel, and that of Europe (merops apiaster), which also inhabits Africa in all its extent from Egypt to the Cape of 362 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. Good Hope : it flies rapidly in pursuit of bees, wasps, and other insects, and builds its nest in holes on the banks of rivers. By the side of the bee-eaters are the momots, which may be well considered as the bee-eaters of America; they have the same habits with the merops. We will now pass on to the twenty-sixth case. The five upper shelves contain thirty-four species of king-fishers (alcedo), which belong to both continents; their plumage is in every species shaded with green and blue ; some of them live on the Borders of rivers and lakes, and feed on fish which they catch by diving ; others resort to the forests and marshes, where they pursue and feed upon insects. The bottom of this case is filled with horn-bills (buceros), large birds from Africa and the East Indies, remarkable for the size and form of their beak. In some species it is surmounted by a straight or arched projection, which changes its form and increases with age, becoming even as large as the beak itself. On the first shelf of the twenty-seventh case are the touracos (corythaix, 111.), and the muso- phaga or plan tain-eater, African birds which ap- pear to form a passage from the climbers to the gallinaceae. We have four species of them ; that which has been longest known is the touraco of Buffo n (cucidus persa, Lin.), which lives in the COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 363 neighbourhood of the Cape; the three others have only been discovered lately. The most re- markable is the corythaixpaulina,Cu\., of Sierra Leone, which is valued by the negroes, who tame it for the sake of its voice. The rest of the case is fdled by the numerous varieties of the domestic pigeon and the cognate species. We will only call the attention to the columba muscadivora, from the country of the Papous; that with a white cap, from the West Indies; the bronze winged pigeon (columba lumachella), whose changing colours are extremely brilliant; the kurukuru from New Holland, and the jamboos from Sumatra. The remainder of this genus entirely fills the twenty-eighth case. The species with long gra- duated tails are on the upper shelves ; the columba phasianella feeds on all-spice. On the fourth shelf are the green pigeons with strong beaks, which Levaillant names colombars (vi- nago, Guv.). At the bottom are the columbi- gallinae of the same ornithologist. Amongst the most remarkable of this genus are, ist. The talpa- coti from America (columba passerina), scarcely the size of a sparrow. 2d. The goura, or crowned pigeon of the Moluccas (columba corojiata), the size of a cock. 3d. The bleeding dove, which has a red spot on the white plumage of its breast, 364 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. It is caught in the Philippine islands in the same manner as partridges are caught in France. 4th. The columbi-gallina of the Moluccas, whose green plumage has a metallic lustre, and which is ornamented with a long ruffle round the neck. The genus columba forms the transition from the passeres to the gallinaceae. There are eighty- four species in the Museum. Although the peacocks are generally known, a few moments' attention should be given to the twenty-eighth case, which contains varieties pre- pared so as to display the magnificence of their plumage. This superb bird, which is now do- mesticated, is originally from India, and the indi- vidual to the left was killed in a wild state in the mountains of Bengal. To the right is an- other species from Java, which differs from the preceding in the feathers of its crest, and its neck is green, spotted with blue ; it was sent to the Museum by M. Diard. The thirtieth case, which projects and forms an angle, is the last on that side of the room, and contains the turkeys. The common turkey has been spread over Europe since the discovery of America. By comparing the individuals in our farms with those killed wild in the forests of Virginia, and which were sent us by M. Milbert, we find that domestication has deprived these COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 36!) birds of the metallic lustre of their plumage. At the bottom of the case is a new species, described by M. Cuvier, in the sixth volume of the Memoirs of the Museum, under the name of jneleagris ocellata ; the eyes of its iridescent plumage offer a diversity of colours of a metallic lustre, which change according to their position. It is one of the most beautiful birds known, comes from the bay of Honduras, in the gulph of Mexico, and is the only spcimen in Europe. The thirty-first case, corresponding to that we have just seen, is the first in our return along the other side of the room, and is filled with hoccos, which come from the warm countries of Ame- rica, and are analogous to the turkeys. The pauxi, called the stone-bird, on account of a very hard tubercle at the base of its beak, is placed on the last shelf (i). On the first shelf of the thirty-second case are the quans or jacoos (penelope), American birds with a dark plumage, a tuft on their head and a part of the throat naked. On the second is the napaul or horned pheasant from Bengal, a very rare bird ; the male of which has two fleshy horns behind the eyes, its plumage is crimson spotted with white. On the third and fourth shelves are the different races of domestic fowls, (0 It has the longest trachea of all known birds. I 366 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. and near them several wild species from India and the Moluccas. It cannot yet be decided from which of them our common yard fowls have sprung. The genus pheasant commences at the bottom of this case, and presents ten species. Among these we should notice the golden phea- sant from China; its gold crest, its plumage, enamelled with the most brilliant colours, and its elegant shape make it esteemed as the most beau- tiful of the gallinaceae : to this bird we may refer Pliny's description of the phoenix. In the following case is a superb bird from Sumatra ; its size is nearly that of a common cock, but its wings are extremely large ; it is called the argus pheasant from the number of eyes on its wings and tail. It does not excite ad- miration from the brilliancy of its colours, but from the regular distribution of the circles on each plume and the delicate gradation of the tints. The Museum had only three feathers of this bird at the Hme of Buffon ; it now possesses six individuals sent from Sumatra by MM. Diard and Duvaucel, four males and two females ; the plumage of the latter is in nowise remarkable. Below the argus is the impeyan pheasant (pha- sianus impeyanus], which has a very elegant crest, and whose plumage presents the brilliant colours of gold, malachite or lapislazuli, accord- COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 36y ing to the reflexion of the light. The crested pheasant (p. igrittus), from the Sonda islands, is next to it, and is not less remarkable for the sin- gular form of its crest, than for the colour of its plumage. After it^ comes the rouloul from Ma- lacca^ very rare species discovered by Sonnerat; the male is black and the female green. The lower part of the case is filled with the pinta- does (numida, Lin.), commonly called guinea- fowls. The most common species is gregarious in the marshes of Africa. As its flesh is very good eating, it would be advantageously multiplied in our farm-yards, were its cry less disagreeable. The numerous family of the grouse, of which we have fifty-nine species, entirely fills the thirty-fourth case. To it belongs the heath-cock, the largest of the gallinaceae ; the water-hen; the lagopus or ptarmigan, which is of a tawny co- lour in summer and white in winter. This bird lives on high mountains, and passes the winter under the snow ; the several varieties of part- ridges; and lastly, the quail, the white variety of which was sent to Buffon by Louis XV, who killed it when sporting. A great number of foreign species with varied plumage are grouped around the European, which serve as types to the different genera of this family, so celebrated for furnishing excellent game. ! 368 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. We now come to the grallce, or waders, so called from the length of their legs ; they form the fifth order in the general system of classifi- cation. Those of the two first genera, which occupy the thirty-fifth and ^thirty-sixth cases, differ from all others in heing deprived of the power of flight. The first is the ostrich (struthio camelus] ; this hird, celebrated in the remotest ages, is sometimes eight feet high; it lives in herds in the sandy deserts of Africa, and feeds on grains and herbage ; no animal can fun so fast. The fe- male lays her eggs, which weigh three or four pounds, on the sand. She abandons them to be hatched by the heat of the sun in the tropical re- gions, but sits upon them in the colder climates ; when the young are hatched she holds them be- tween her legs. There are some tame ostriches in Senegal, which are ridden like horses, but they are not to be trained or guided at will. Their feathers form a considerable article of commerce ; they are light and waving, because their plumes are not hooked to each other as in almost all other birds. Above the female ostrich, which is accompanied by its eggs and young of different ages, is the nandou, or American ostrich, about half the size of that of the ancient continent. Its feathers, which are made into brooms, are sold for vulture feathers. Several females are COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 869 said to lay their eggs in the same nest, and leave them to he hatched hy the male. Above the male ostrich are the two species of cassowary. That of Asia has a prominence on the head, and the naked skin of its neck is tinted during life with red and blue ; it feeds on fruit and eggs, but not on grains. The second species comes«from New- Holland, and is as rapid in its course as the fleetest greyhound ; its feathers are used for ornamental purposes, and its flesh is good food. The bustards (otisy Lin.) fill the thirty-seventh case. ^Ve have nine species ; three of which have not yet been described. That of Europe lives in large plains, and builds its nests in the corn ; it flies but little, and generally uses its wings only to accelerate its course. The male, which is double the size of the female, is very rare, and is the largest of European birds. The specimen in the Museum was presented by Yiscount de Riocour. Among the foreign species we may cite the houbara, brought from Barbary by M. Desfontaines, remarkable for the cloak of long feathers which adorns its neck. Next comes the cariama of Brazil, described by M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in the Annals of the Museum; its flesh being esteemed, it has been domesticated. The grallce, in the following cases, have been called shore-birds, on account of their ha- 24 870 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. bits. The plovers (charadrius , Linn.), to the number of thirty species, are arranged on the three first shelves of the thirty-eighth case. These birds live in numbers on humid soils, and strike the ground with their feet, to make the worms, on which they feed, come out ; their flesh is generally esteemed. The golden plover is com- mon in our climates. The lapwings are on the fourth shelf; they very nearly approach the plo- vers ; that of Europe is pretty, its head is adorned with a loose elegant crest; its eggs are consi- dered a great delicacy. Several species of lap- wings and plovers have their naked face fur- nished with long caruncles ; others have a very long and pointed spur to the joint of their wings, with which they defend themselves against the birds of prey. Below the lapwings are the oyster-catchers (hcematopus} , so called because they open the shells of oysters with their bill, which is strong and square at the end ; they are also called sea-pies, because their plumage is varied black and white like that of the magpie. The bottom of the case is occupied by the ibis. The most celebrated species is that worshipped by the Egyptians, and which M. Cuvier has named the sacred ibis, after having compared those which live in Africa with the mummies brought from Egypt by M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Two COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 3yi of these are placed here ; the one has still its en- velopes on, and they have been removed from the other to exhibit the feathers, which are well preserved as to their form and colour. Some species nearly allied to the sacred ibis are found in America; the most remarkable on account of its scarlet colour inhabits the borders of the sea at Cayenne and Surinam. The thirty-ninth case contains fifty species of the genera analogous to the woodcocks (scolu- pajc). These birds live all in the same wray on the swamps, thrusting their long bills into the mud to seek for worms. The extremity of their bill is soft, which renders their sense. of feeling very delicate. They moult twice a year, when their plumage changes from a dull red which it assumes in summer, to a deep grey during the \vinter season. It is this complete change that has induced several naturalists to multiply the species. Care has been taken to bring here together those specimens which differ most in their plumage. On the first shelf are the god- wits (limosce, BechsL) one species of which meets in innumerable flights on the plains of the Low Countries in the summer. On the second are the woodcocks proper. The common wood- cock, which lives on the mountains in summer, and descends in the plains during the autumn, 34. 3y2 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. is too well known to be particularly noticed. By the side of them are the snipes, which live in marshes, and rise to a great height, uttering a cry much like the bleat of a goat. On the last shelves are the ruffs and reeves (machetes. Guv.), of which the Museum has twenty-three varieties. These birds are famous in the north of Europe for their combats to get possession of the females, •which are much less numerous than the males. During the spring the head of the male is covered with red caruncles, and the neck is ornamented with a large ruffle which varies in form and co- lour. The turn-stones (tringa interpres, Lath.) fill the bottom of the case ; they live on the sea- shore, where they turn up the stones with their short conical bills, and eat the worms which they find underneath. The sand-pipers occupy the top of the fortieth case. The white-tail (tringa ochropus), which is very common on the borders of streams and rivers, although it lives solitary, belongs to this genus. This series is terminated by the avocets (recurviroslrd), which are distinguished from all other birds by the strong upward curve of their bill. They run upon the mud, which they fur- row with their bills in search of insects ; in other respects they have the habits of the snipes. At the bottom of this case is the boat-bill (can- COLLECTION OF BIRDS. croma cochlearia), which lives in the warm parts of South America ; it perches upon trees on the borders of rivers, whence it darts upon the fish. It is remarkable for its large bill, which is like the bowls of two spoons with their concave sides adjoining, and for the long black feathers which hang from the head of the male. The herons (ardea) to the number of thirty- nine species fill the forty-first case. These birds, which are of a melancholy disposition, feed on fish, and pass their lives on the borders of rivers. They advance into the water up to the body, and remain for hours with the neck drawn in be- tween the shoulders in the most complete inac- tivity; if a fish, such as they like, passes within their reach, they extend their neck and dart their bill down with such rapidity, that they never fail to catch it. The common heron is of an iron- grey with a black crest, out of which three fea- thers, longer than the rest and very flexible, hang behind the head. They are much esteemed as ornaments, and are sold at a considerable price. There is another species equally esteemed for the pretty feathers, from which it is named the egret; the bird itself is entirely wKite; in the pairing season those feathers with slender stems and loose plumes are very long on its back. The bit- tern (ardea stellaris) keeps constantly amongst DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. the reeds, whence its strong voice is heard, simi- lar to that of a bull. The crane and its congeners fill the three shelves of the forty-second case. On the first is the sun bird, also called the small rose peacock. This beautiful bird, which is nearly the size of a partridge, lives on the banks of rivers in Guyana. The different colours of its plumage are rather dark, but shaded with such delicacy that they can be compared to those of the most beautiful moths. By its side is the agami of South Ame- rica (psophia crepitans), also called the trum- peter, from the hollow sounds it utters, which seem to come from its abdomen ; its plumage is blackish with metallic shades of blue and violet ; it is so easily tamed, that it conducts the farm- yard fowls as dogs do the flocks. Below it, is the royal or crowned crane (ardea pavonina) ; its voice is like the sound of the trumpet; its shape is slender, its cheeks coloured with the brightest rose and white, and the bunch of light feathers which crowns its head expands or keeps close at pleasure ; it inhabits the wrestern re- gions of Africa, as well as the ardea virgo, which is brought up as an ornament for parks, on ac- count of its elegant forms and singular move- ments. The common European crane and that of southern Africa, are at the bottom of the case. COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 3y5 The first has been long celebrated for its regular migrations in large and regular flights, from the south to the north in the autumn, and in spring from north to south. The storks (ciconia, Guv.) are placed in the forty-third case. The first is the European, so common in Holland and the north of Europe. They migrate like the cranes, and in the spring return to the nest which they had built the pre- ceding year on steeples and chimneys. It is a common belief with the lower class of people in some countries, and particularly in Flanders, that there is an impending calamity upon the house to which the storks do not resort. Imme- diately after follow seven other species, amongst which we will only cite the ardea dubia and a. crumenifera ; the former lives in great num- bers in the Philippine islands and Bengal, where it is called the adjutant. They are so useful for purging the towns from all sorts of animal re- mains, that no one is allowed to kill them. They have however been much sought for, since the custom has been introduced of wearing as an ornament the under feathers of their tail, which are \vell known under the name of maraboo plumes, as well as those of the latter species which is from Senegal. On the upper shelf of the forty-fourth case 3y6 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. are two species of the open-beak genus (i). The one (ardea ponticeriana), which is white, comes from India ; the other, which is black, lives in the interior of Africa, north of the Cape. This last is extremely remarkable for the feathers of its breast and belly, which do not resemble those of any- other bird ; their stems flattened into thin and brilliant thongs are prolonged much beyond the beards, and curl or twist into a spire from their elasticity : it is a new spe- cies recently brought by M. Leschenault de la Tour. On the following shelves are three spe- cies of tantalus ; one from America, one from Ceylon, and the other from Senegal. Previous to the researches of MM. Cuvier and Savigny, the Senegal species, or the tantalus ibis, was looked upon as the true ibis of the Egyptians ; it is not even found in Egypt. Below the tantali are the jabirus (inycteria, Linn.). These birds have the same habits as the storks, from which they differ chiefly in being of a larger size : they are found in America and Africa living by the side of ponds, and feeding on reptiles and fish. In the forty-fifth case we see, first, the spoon- bills (platalea, Linn.), which are so named from (i) The open-beak (hians) has been thus named, because its two mandibles, which form a crescent, touch each other only at the base and point of the beak. COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 877 the form of their bill : they live in the same way as the storks, hut their large and flattened bill, being weaker than that of the stork, seems rather calculated to seize small fishes, or to seek insects and worms in the mud. The European spoon-bill is white, that of America of a beau- tiful rose colour, which becomes brighter with age. The lower shelves of this case, and all those of the following, are occupied by the nu- merous family macrodactyla, which compre- hends the rails, the jacanas, the screamers or kamichis, the water fowls, sea partridges, and flamingos. Some have very long and slender claws, which enable them to walk on marshy ground, and support themselves on the grass; others have their feet furnished with mem- branes, often dentated, which facilitate their swimming. They form the passage from the gratlcG to the palmipedes. Thirty species of rails furnish the lower shelves of the forty -fifth case- That which is called rallus crex lives and nidifi- cates in the plains (i) ; the others remain in marshes, run rapidly on the grass and swim. Such are the water rails which feed on shrimps : the spotted rail Callus porzana) , which builds (i) This bird has been also called the king of quails, because it arrives and sets off with them, which led to the belief that it served them as a guide. 3y8 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. its nest of rushes in the form of a small boat, and fastens it to some aquatic plant, so that it rises and falls with the stem of the plant according to the level of the water. The jacanas (parra, Lin.) have longer nails than any other bird; that of the great toe is considerably longer and sharper than the rest : they inhabit the warmer regions of America and India. Their wing at the first joint is armed with a spur or lancet more or less pointed, from which they have been vulgarly called surgeons. This characteristic is still more evident in the karnichi (palaniedea cornuta). This bird has a horny stem at the base of its bill, which adheres only to the skin ; it lives in the swamps of South America. The admirable pages written by Buff on on this bird, have given it a great celebrity. Next to it has been placed the Chai'a (parra chavaria), a very fine species which had not yet been seen in collections, and was lately brought from Paraguay by M. Auguste Saint- Hilaire. The coots (fulled) Briss.) and the sultans (por- phyrio, Briss.), which we see at the top of the forty-sixth case, are remarkable for the beauty of their plumage, shaded with violet, blue, and aquamarine. They stand on one leg and bring their food to the bill as parrots do. One spe- cies only is found in the south of Europe, and COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 879 more particularly in Sicily, others in southern Africa, the East Indies, New Holland, and South America. Next to the porphyrions are the coots, whose feet are furnished with den- tated membranes ; their flesh is esteemed. By the side of the coots is a very rare bird which forms a genus by itself under th^e name of the scabbard-beak (vaginalis, Lath.), on account of the singular form of its beak, the base of which is encircled by a horny substance. We are per- fectly ignorant of the habits of this bird, which is found in the Malouin islands, whence it was brought by the naturalists attached to M.Frey- cinet's expedition. The lower part of this case is occupied by the flamingos (phcenicoplerus), remarkable for the excessive length of their legs and neck, and the curious shape of their beak ; they live in troops on marshes and sea-shores ; they sometimes undertake long voyages; they feed on shell-fish, insects and fish-spawn; they build a pyramidal nest elevated above the water, and place themselves astride upon it to hatch their eggs. The European species, when adult, is white with rose-coloured wings; when young it is entirely grey. That of America has a scarlet plumage, but the young ones are grey, spotted with black. We here terminate the grallce, and proceed to 38o DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. the palmipedes, so called from the membranes which unite their toes. The legs in all of them are placed very far back, which fits them the better for swimming. This order comprehends four families, the brachyptera or divers, the longipennes, the totipalmes, and the lamelliroslres. Twenty-seven species of the first family fill up the forty-seventh, forty-eighth, and forty-ninth cases. On the first shelves of the forty-seventh are the colymbi: although their wings are very short, they go very far inland from one pond to another ; their close, smooth, and silvery plu- mage is employed as a fur. Some species carry their young under their wings when swimming. The divers in the lower part of the case breed in the north, but come to the coasts of France in the winter. The guillemots (urici. Lath.), on the second shelf of the forty-eighth case, are stupid birds which live on fish and crabs, and build their nest in the clefts of steep rocks. The colymbus grylle changes its colour more decidedly than has been yet observed in any other bird, being white in winter, and quite black in summer. "We have here an individual killed during the interme- diate season, whose plumage is white, speckled with black. By its side is the small cotymbus, known to travellers by the name of the Green- land pigeon, which lives in the north, and builds COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 38l its nest under ground. Immediately after comes the alca cristatella, a very rare bird, found in the Aleutian islands by M. Choris, who presented it to the Museum. After these are the auks (alca, Lath., fratercula, Briss.), remarkable for their large flat beak, and the pinguins, whose wings are so small that they cannot support themselves in the air for an instant ; they always remain in the waters, and are excellent divers ; they build on steep rocks, which they climb, using their feet and wings equally. The aptenodytes, Forst., fill the greater part of the forty-ninth case, they are from the Antarctic seas ; the shortness of the feathers on their wings is such that they may be taken for scales. They seldom get on shore except when they breed, and to reach the spot they drag themselves along with difficulty. The largest, the Patago- nian pinguin, which is as large as a goose, lives in great numbers in the straits of Magellan ; the plumage of that part of its skin which lines the belly is silvery, and much sought for by furriers. The apienodytes chrysocoma inhabits the Malouin islands and New Holland ; it bounds along the surface of the water. The fiftieth and fifty-first cases contain the Ion- gipennes. They live in the open seas, are found in all countries ; some are met with six hundred 382 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. leagues from land, and they rest upon the waves. The first genus is that of the procetlaria, Lin., which' are also called tempest birds, because they are seldom seen, except on the approach of a storm. They build in the holes of rocks. The largest of them (p.giganteci) has been called the bone-breaker, from the strength of its beak. That most spoken of by sailors is the procel- laria capensis, whose back is spotted with black and white ; it is seen in great numbers in the environs of the Cape. The smaller is more particularly called the stormy petrel (p. pela- gica) ; some have been found carried by the wind more than forty leagues inland. Below these are the stercorarii, which eat the dung of sea-mews and gulls. They are northern birds which visit our coasts in winter. At the bottom of the case is the genus albatross (diomedea), which inhabits the Austral ocean ; the largest has been called the Cape sheep y on account of its size, its colour, and gregarious habits ; its voice is said to resemble that of an ass. The gulls and sea-mews, of which we have twenty- two species in the fifty- first case, are found in all latitudes ; they fly with rapidity near the coasts, never stretching so far out as the petrels ; they live on fish ; their plumage varies according to the season, but is generally of an COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 383 ashy blue on the back and white on the belly, in the adults; when young they arc of a greyish colour. T wenty-three species of sea-swallows (sterna] fill the lower shelves of this case ; they owe their name to the extraordinary length of their wings and tails, and to the rapidity of their flight. They skim the surface of the water to catch molluscas and small fish. Some species ascend large rivers, others keep on the lakes. The cut- waters (rhyncops], which arc at the bot- tom of the case, are distinguished from all other birds by the extraordinary form of their beaks ; the upper mandible of which is like the blade of a knife, and much shorter than the inferior. This singular form renders it impossible for the bird to pierce any thing with its beak, but he uses it when flying over the surface of the waves, to seize the molluscas which float on them. One of these species, the rhyncops nigra, is commonly found in the seas of the West Indies ; the other, but recently known, inhabits the Austral ocean. The fifty-second and fifty-third cases contain the totipalrneSy so named because their great toe is united to the others by a membrane ; notwith- standing this formation they perch upon trees. The largest of them is the pelican, which is re- markable for the length of its beak, whose lower mandible supports a naked dilatable membrane, 384 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. which forms a bag capable of containing fish and water. The pelican inhabits the sea-shores and lakes, it feeds on living fish. At the time of the pairing season, the hooked extremity of its beak becomes of the liveliest red. When it feeds its young, it ejects the fish kept in reserve in the above mentioned bag, and cuts them to pieces ; the blood that then drops on its breast has given rise to the belief that it tore its breast to nourish its young. Below the pelicans are the cormorants, which destroy a great quantity of fish ; they build on trees or in the hollows of rocks. The frigate birds (pelecanus, Lath.) are in the fifty-third case. Their wings, which measure from 10 to 12 feet, are so powerful that they fly to an immense distance from land, especially between the tropics ; they dart upon flying-fish, and strike the boobies (morns, Yieill.) to make them quit their prey. These boobies, which we see on the lower shelves, have been so called from the stupid manner in which they suffer themselves to be attacked by sea birds and by men. They sometimes rest on the rigging of vessels, and are then easily taken with the hand. The tropic birds (phaeton) occupy the bottom of the case ; they are called straw-tails on account of the two long beardless feathers in their tail; COLLECTION OF BIRDS. 385 they keep constantly in the tropical latitudes, the approach of which they announce to sailors. The four cases which terminate the gallery are filled with the lamellirostres ; to this family be- long the swans, geese, and the numerous family of ducks and the mergus. Lath. The swans are well known for the beauty and elegance of their form, and for their down which is so useful. The beak of the wild swan is yellow at the base, and black at the extremity, it is a distinct species from the domestic swan, which has a red beak. The black swan of New Holland, and that with a black neck sent from the Brazils by M. Saint- Hilaire, are remarkable species. Above the swan is the bernacle goose (anas erythropus, Lath.), celebrated for having long been thought to spring from trees like fruit ; it passes the summer in the north, and visits our climates in winter. Next to this is the Egyptian goose, which is very com- mon in Africa. We see it often represented on ancient Egyptian monuments ; it was worshipped for its attachment to its young, and the Egyptians called it chenalopex (fox-goose). Among the ducks (of which we have seventy- eight species) we will only cite : ist. The eyder (anas mollissima), a bird common in the north of Europe, and which only visits the coasts of France in the severest winters; it furnishes a 25 386 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. very precious down. 2d. The musk-duck (anas moschata), native of America, and which is now common in our farm-yards, where it is known under the name of Barbary duck. 3d. The Ca- rolina duck (anas sponsa), much esteemed for its elegance and the colour of its plumage. 4th. The fan-water-fowl from China (anas ga- lericulata), the male of which has some of its wing feathers standing up over the back, and widened in the form of a fan. The mergansers (mergus), which we see at the bottom of the case, live on the lakes of northern countries, and winter on the coasts of France, etc. ; they vary much in their colour, and have a crest on the head. Here terminates the collection of birds, which for elegance, richness, variety of forms and bril- liancy of colours, equals all that the imagination can conceive as beautiful. The centre of the gallery is occupied by a set of cases in which the animals without vertebrae are arranged. We will examine them after we have seen the collections of reptiles and fishes which are on the first floor. On the walls of the staircase, which leads to the two rooms below, are expanded the skins of large serpents of the boa genus, the colours and scales of which are very well preserved. § VI. COLLECTION OF REPTILES. REPTILES do not arrest our attention in an equal degree with birds, either by their elegance of form or variety of colours ; most of these ani- mals are of an unpleasant or repulsive shape ; and the brilliant speckles, which embellished many of them whilst they were living, have completely faded since their death. But the sin- gularity and variety of their forms, and their different properties, some fat^to life, and others capable of being rendered subservient to the wants oT man, give to the animals comprised in this collection, at least an equal degree of in- terest. Who has not heard of the sea tortoise, of the crocodiles of the Nile, of the pithons of India, of the boas of America ? And who would disdain the examination of these animals, many of whose species are celebrated, either for their peculiar habits, for the phenomena \vhich they exhibit, for the terror which they inspire, or for the fables of which they have been the subject ? That the study of reptiles has become almost 25. 388 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. a passion amongst naturalists, is a fact attested by the great perfection to which this branch of natural history is brought at the present day; notwithstanding that the habits of these animals, and their abode in damp and unhealthy places, seem alike calculated to make them elude the re- search of man (i). The collection of reptiles in the cabinet of natural history, is unquestionably the richest in the world ; it consists of eighteen hundred in- dividuals, belonging to more than five hundred species. But what renders it of incalculable value to the student is, that it contains almost all the individuals from which the beautiful plates of Seba were copied, and that it was from them that Linnaeus composed his descriptions ; here also are to be found the originals which served '. f 'f_ . s ^B -, 'M for the work of M. de la Cepede. Reptiles are divided into four orders, namely : chelonianSy or tortoises; saurians, which com- prehend the crocodiles, lizards, etc. ; ophidians, or serpents ; and batracians , to which the toads, the frogs, the salamanders, etc. are referred. (i) Of the species known, scarcely a fifteenth part are dangerous to man, either on account of their size and voracity, as the crocodile ; or on account of their venom, as the viper. A great number are service- able to him, either from their flesh and their eggs which afford an ex- cellent food, or from their furnishing materials which are employed in the arts. COLLECTION OF REPTILES. » We shall follow this division ; but the place which the specimens occupy in the cabinet, ren- ders it necessary to examine them twice (i). Amongst the reptiles of the three first orders, as amongst the quadrupeds> there are some spe- cimens too large to be placed in the cases; these have been suspended from the ceiling or attached to the wall ; and as they first attract our atten- tion, we shall describe them before those which are in the cases. The species of the genus tortoise, suspended from the ceiling, are : the leather tortoise, or the lute of the Mediterranean seas. This species is the largest of all ; and the one we here see is seven feet long ; its weight is often more than twelve hundred pounds. It has no apparent breastplate ; its upper shell or carapace (2) has five projecting bones or ridges, and is covered (1) The want of space not having permitted the arrangement of all the reptiles to be made according to the degree of affinity of the genera, we shall not, in pointing out the objects which are more worthy of notice in this collection, designate them by the cases in which they now are contained, as we have done for the birds ; because as the fishes are about to be removed into the room occupied by the library, the reptiles will then be distributed more at large and in their natural order, when the description we give will be found consistent with the new arrangement. (2) The two bones which envelope the body of the tortoise are called the bucklers ; the one on the back is named the upper shed, or carapace ; and the under one, the breastplate. Both are in most tortoises co- vered with scales, fitted together like inlaid work. The characters for SgO DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. with a brown skin which resembles leather ; its flesh is good food. The true tortoise, or green tortoise, which is nearly as large as the preceding, and which in general weighs eight hundred pounds, feeds on sea-weeds, and inhabits in great numbers all parts of the ocean near the equator. Its eggs, which it deposits in the sand, and its flesh are considered a whoiesome food, and are an im- portant resource for the navigators in the torrid zones. This species is caught with nets, and dragged under water to the shore; when brought to land it is fastened to clumps, and four men are often requisite to lift one of them. The caretta (testudo imbricata), of nearly the same size as the former, furnishes the tortoise shell employed in the arts; it is found in the seas which border on warm countries; but the greater number are obtained from Ascension island, where, after traversing the ocean for two or three hundred leagues, they resort in great numbers to lay their eggs. When they come on shore to deposit them in the sand, the people engaged in catching them, turn them on their backs, and as the tortoise in that position is ut- ascertaining the species are taken from the number, the form, and the colour of these scales. The carapace of the tortoise is very strong, and can support a prodigious weight without breaking. COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 3gi terly unable to move, they are sure to be found in the same place ; and it is not until a consider- able number of them are caught in the like man- ner, that they are collected and carried to the ship. The great land tortoise of India : the feet of this species are rounded off like a stump, instead of being long and flat like those of the sea tor- toise ; it is the largest of all the land tortoises, its carapace being sometimes three feet long. Of the three species which are here, the two largest were given by M. de FEtang, and the smallest which weighed one hundred pounds was kept sometime alive in our menagerie. Amongst tlte tortoises which are fastened to the wall or placed on the cornice, we shall only remark the following : the testudo radiata from New Holland ; the great emy d with a large back, from Cayenne, (emys expansa) ; an enormous carapace of the tyrse or soft tortoise of the Nile (trlonyjc cegyptiacus), which renders the most essential services to the Egyptians, by devouring the young crocodiles immediately after they are hatched ; it was brought from Egypt by M. Geof- froy Saint-Hilaire ; the testudo fimbria , the cara- pace of which is covered with pyramidal points, it inhabits the fresh water ponds and rivers near Cayenne, where it conceals itself under the leaves 302 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. of aquatic plants, exposing only the extremity of its nose, which from its length resembles a pro- boscis; in this position it awaits the approach of young birds and small aquatic animals, which it seizes as they pass near it. The testudofimbria differs from all other species in this respect, that its mouth, which is very wide, instead of being terminated by a horny substance, is formed with fleshy lips as in batracians. Let us now examine the reptiles belonging to the order of the saurians, which are attached to the ceiling or the wall. The largest is the croco- dile of the Nile, which it appears, inhabits also the rivers of Africa, and even those of Madagascar. The length of the specimen we see nere is 1 3 feet, but they are sometimes found 25 feet long. Both on account of its strength and its voracity the crocodile is the most dangerous of all the ani- mals of this order ; its enormous mouth, ex- tremely wide and extending beyond the e&rs, is armed with conical teeth ; it is covered all over with an impenetrable coat of mail, and it is im- possible to wound it, except in the belly, or in the intervals between the scales of its cuirass. They are seen in great numbers on the banks of rivers, sometimes they lie on the shore, and some- times keep concealed under the water with their nose out, and ready to dart with rapidity COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 303 upon the animals which pass near them. The females lay their eggs on the sand, and cover them with leaves ; they are hatched by the heat of the sun ; the young ones betake themselves to the water as soon as they quit the shell. One method employed for catching the crocodile is, to dig across its path a deep ditch, and to cover it with branches and leaves ; it can also be caught by means of a bait, under which is concealed a strong hook which sticks into its palate ; the bait is attached to a long rope, with which the animal, when weakened by the loss of blood, is drawn out of the water. It is said that the ne- groes eat the flesh of the crocodile ; but it smells so strongly of musk, that it is quite revolting to the stomach of an European. The largest of the crocodiles, after that of the Nile (i), is the one (i) The crocodile can be tamed -when abundantly supplied with food. Worship was offered to this reptile in three of the principal cities of ancient Egypt, Memphis, Thebes, and Arsinoe ; which last was surnamed Crocodilopolis. They used to bring up one of these animals in a lake; it was fed by the priests, and called souchi, as the sacred ox was called apis. Precious stones were fastened to its ears, and after death it was embalmed, and placed in the tombs of the kings. Throughout the rest of Egypt it was held in detestation, and the ich- neumon (viverra Ichneumon) was worshipped on account of the war it made on the crocodile by destroying its eggs. It is difficult to explain the cause of this absurd superstition, which continued as late as the third century of the Christian aera. But what is worthy of remark is, that a similar superstition is practised in Java. The inhabitants of that country go out to meet the crocodile, offer him presents, and 3g4 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. with a slender muzzle (crocodilus acutus), This species is peculiar to the Antilles and South Ame- rica. M. de Humboldt saw a prodigious number of them in the river Orinoco, and he measured one which proved to be 2.3 feet long. It is a singular fact, that in extreme heat they be- come torpid like our lizards in a cold winter. M. Descourtils, who observed this species in St. Domingo, says, that the female deposits its eggs in the sand, comes in quest of them when they are ready to be hatched, and defends its young with great courage; At the side of the crocodiles we observe the gavial (crocodilus gangeticus), which is remark- able on account of the extreme length of its muzzle ; it inhabits the Ganges, lives on fish, and is perfectly inoffensive to man. The saurians attached to the wall are : the bicarinated crocodile from India : the pike muz- zled caiman, which inhabits the waters of the Missouri and Mississipi : the caiman with bony eyelids, from Cayenne: the ouaran of the Nile (lacerta nilotica), which was brought from Egypt by M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire ; this great lizard feeds on the eggs of the crocodile, and we crown him with owers. M. Leschenault witnessed this singular ceremony. The species which is the object of it is the bicarinated crocodile. COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 3g5 see it often represented on Egyptian monuments : the elegant tupinambis of Java and the neigh- bouring islands, brought by M. Leschenault ; this traveller states, that these animals assemble in considerable number on the banks of rivers, where awaiting the approach of quadrupeds that come to quench their thirst, they make a joint attack upon them, drown and devour them : the dragonne, sent from Cayenne by M. Martin ; it is an excellent swimmer, and retires into bur- rows by the waterside : the safeguard of Ame- rica, a beautiful lizard spotted with blue on a % black ground, with rings of the same colour on its tail ; the flesh of this and of the former is much esteemed : lastly, the iguana of South Ame- rica, so remarkable on account of the crest which it has on its back, and for its indented dewlap. This animal is most always found on trees, where it attracts attention by the brilliancy of its co- lours ; it lives on insects and vegetables, is of a gentle nature and easy to tame ; but during the pairing season the male is fierce, watches con- stantly over the female, and becomes furious if any one approaches her. The iguanas are highly esteemed, and are hunted for the sake of their * flesh and eggs, which are considered an excellent food ; one of the species we see here has on this account been named iguana delicatissima. The 3g6 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. cases contain both the young and eggs of the species we have just mentioned ; but before de- scribing them we must examine the serpents, which like the crocodiles and tortoises, have been placed against the wall. The largest species are : the boa anacundo, sent from Cayenne by M. Banon ; the amethistine pi- thon, or the ular~sawa of Java, brought by M. Leschenault ; and the pithon of Senegal. It is said that these serpents grow to the length of 3o feet ; the longest of those in the cabinet .is only 19. They inhabit swamps and marshes, and feed upon quadrupeds, which they swallow entire, after having crushed them to death by writhing themselves round them ; they smear the body all over with a glutinous slime, and then take it little by little into their mouth, which is susceptible of great dilatation, their jaw bones not being articulated, but simply Con- nected by elastic ligaments. In this manner they swallow antelopes, goats and deers ; and their skin is capable of expanding sufficiently to con- tain them. When the animal they have thus taken in, exceeds their own size, they remain in *a torpid state, and are several days without eating. Amongst the serpents of an inferior size which are stuffed, we shall mention, as worthy of re- COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 3gy mark, the rattle snake, or boiquira, sent from New York by M. Milbert ; it is five feet long. This serpent is considered as more venomous than any other ; it is called the rattle snake, be- cause its tail is terminated by hollow scaly and horny processes, loosely jointed together, and which on being shaken, occasion a sound very much like that produced by dry seeds in their envelope. The yellow or spear-headed viper (trigonocephalus] from Martinico, a very dan- gerous serpent, given by M. Servile ; this specimen is 8 feet 9 inches long. The lachesis of Cayenne (crotalus mutus^ brought by M. Poiteau, the tail of which is terminated by a horny, very hard, and sharp point. Let us now go round the room from left to right, in order to point out the principal objects contained in the cases. We shall follow the scientific arrangement, which is also that ob- served in the distribution of the genera in the cabinet. We shall state the number of species in our possession belonging to each genus, and dwell upon those only which appear to deserve peculiar attention. The tortoises are divided into land tortoises^ or emyds ; box tortoises; and trionyx, or soft tortoises. In the Museum are sixteen species of the land 898 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. tortoises. The most common is the Grecian, which is found in Italy, Sardinia, etc. It is of this species that broth is made for consumptive persons; its carapace is much arched, and is seldom more than one foot in length ; it feeds on leaves, fruits, and snails ; passes the winter under ground, pairs in the spring, and lays from four to six eggs. Amongst the exotics we may mention the geometrical from the Cape, and the spotted from South America. The carapace of the latter is speckled with a variety of colours. The emydsy or fresh water tortoises, are web- footed, which enables them to swim with great facility. We have twenty species of them ; amongst which the yellow and the mud tortoises are European, and found in the temperate re- gions as far north as Berlin. They assemble in numbers, and feed upon frogs and fish. They are kept on account of the quality of their flesh, which is excellent food. The most remarkable amongst the exotic species, for its varied and beautiful colours, is the testudo pulchella. The box tortoise is so called from the peculiar formation of its breastplate ; the front part of which, and sometimes also the hind part, move backwards and forwards upon the centre as if they were hinged on it ; so that when the animal has drawn its head and feet under the carapace, COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 30g the two moveablc parts of the breastplate are brought close to it, and the tortoise is shut in as completely as if it were in a box. The Museum possesses five species of this kind of tortoise : we shall only mention two ; the striated tortoise (t. virgulata) from South America, and the couro, brought from Java by M. Leschenault. We have already seen the most remarkable species of the sea tortoises, or chelonice. Some young and eggs of the caretta my das and coriacea or leather tor- toise are placed in their regular order under the emyds. The last genus of this family is that of the tor- toises whose carapace and breastplate are covered with a soft skin ; we have five species of them ; they live in fresh water and feed on aquatic ani- mals. M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire has named them trionyxy because they have only three claws on each foot. There are several young of the soft tortoise of the Mle, called tyrse; a large carapace of which species is placed against the wall. The soft tortoise of America, called the ferocious, lies in ambush in order to seize on ducks and other water fowl, which it drowns, and devours under water. Here ends the first order of rep- tiles, chelonians or tortoises, of which there are a great number in the cabinet to exemplify the differences resulting from age and the varieties. 40O DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. We proceed to the saurians. The first genus is that of the crocodile, of which we have twelve species, belonging to the same family as those we have already noticed in our inspection of the large specimens attached to the ceiling; but here they are of a smaller size and of different ages ; some which were just hatched are preserved in spirits of wine. We also see on the shelves the eggs of the crocodile : these eggs are of a regular form, their shell is granulated, and their small- ness, when compared to the bulk of the full grown animal, is quite surprising. In the se- cond genus are comprised the monitors, or tupi- nambis, of which we have already spoken ; the Museum possesses fifteen species of them. After the tupinambis come the lizards; of these there are in the Museum fifty- three species; nearly one fourth of which belong to the climates of Europe. The greater number have been pre- served in spirits. This tribe is remarkable for its swiftness and agility ; they retire to the clefts of rocks and walls, or to holes under ground ; they feed on flies and other insects, which they will not eat unless they are living. The least shock breaks off their tail, and when this hap- pens a new one grows out, and soon acquires the length of the old one. The lizards are in general speckled with vivid and varied colours, COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 4O1E \vhich become dull after death. The lacerta agilis, found on our walls in France, is the most common ; it feeds on worms and small insects, shaking them rapidly before it devours them. The female lays from eight to ten eggs, which are hatched eleven or twelve days afterwards. But the most beautiful amongst the lizards of Europe, is the lacerta viridis, or green lizard, commonly found in Spain arid the south of France; its length is more than one foot; its body is regularly striated, and speckled with black on a fine glossy green ground. There exists still a sort of confusion in the systematical arrangement of the lizards, which are very nu- merous, and the species of which are so nearly allied, that it is sometimes difficult to ascertain them. It would be desirable that a monograph on this family were written; for the completing of which, the collection now in the Museum might afford no inconsiderable help. The fourth genus is that of the stellio, of which there are thirteen species in the Museum. They are distinguished by rings formed of erected and sharp scales on their tail. The stellion of the Levant (lacerta stellio), so common in Egypt, fur- nishes, according to Belon, the matter used for a cosmetic, known under the name of cordylea, or sterciis lacerti. The mahometans kill this animal 26 >02 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. wherever they find it, being displeased with the motion of its head downwards, which they con- sider as a gross imitation of them when they pray. The species named cordyla is covered with very hard scales, and inhabits the Cape ; that which is called the whiptail of Egypt, is found in the deserts of that country, and reaches some- times two or three feet in length. The agames, the name given to the fifth genus, are found in every part of the world ; there are twenty-one species of them in the collection ; some are covered with small rhomboidal scales. The varying or changeable agame, discovered in Egypt by M. Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, changes its colour with still more rapidity than the cha- maeleon. Next to the agames are placed the basilisks, or long-tailed lizards (i), the only species of the saurian tribe with radiated dorsal and caudal fins. We know but two species of this genus, living in fresh water ponds and rivers of the East India islands ; they are remarkable for their form, but we are totally ignorant of their habits ; there is some reason to believe that they feed on vegetables. (i) The basilisk, properly so called, is in no respect the basilisk of" the ancients. This was the serpent of which so many ridiculous storie* have been reported. COLLECTION OF REPTILES. The seventh genus is that of the dragon (draco volans), to whom a lateral extended membrane gives a very different aspect from that of other lizards. This kind of wing, of a peculiar me- chanism, although it does not adhere to the legs of the animal, as in the flying mammalia, can nevertheless be extended at pleasure, and must aid considerably in the act of springing from one tree or branch to another, or when it pursues insects. The three species in the cabinet were sent from the East Indies; their eggs are quite round, and not larger than a common pea. The eighth genus is formed of the iguanas. They are very large lizards, some of which mea- sure more than six feet from the tip of the nose to the extremity of the tail, which is sometimes twice the length of the trunk. They climb trees with an amazing agility, and feed on leaves and seeds. Eight species of them have been sent from India and America. After the iguanas come the anolis, of which there are in the cabinet fourteen species, all na- tives of America. The striated swelling they have under each toe, and which is formed by the widening of the second phalanx, enables them to walk on the most polished surface, and even to run on the ceilings of apartments. They have under the throat a sort of wen or swelling, DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. which when inflated, especially at the pairing season, shows the most vivid colours, and is as large as a cherry in the a. bullaris. These lizards change their colour in the same way as the cha- maeleon, and when two males meet they are said to fight with great fury. M. Cuvier has made several important divisions in the very numerous genus of the geckos, which comes next. They inhabit the warm regions of both continents, and are allied to the anolis in this respect, that they have the same striated swelling under their toes, but with this remark- able difference, that it occupies their whole length, and enables them to \valk with still more facility on ceilings; they differ also from the anolis by the flattened and elongated shape of their body, which is more like that of the lizards. They have a kind of heavy and crawling walk ; their eyes are large, and are affected by light in the same way as are the eyes of cats, and their claws are also retractile like theirs. There are forty-six species of geckos in the collection. The two most commonly found in the southern coun- tries of Europe, and which are considered as venomous in a high degree, are the lacerta mau- ritanica and the I. gecko. We are assured that the skin becomes red from a mere contact with them, and that on this account the second spe- COLLECTION OF R KPT I L MS. cies is, iii Egypt, vulgarly called the father of leprosy. The eleventh genus in the present systematical arrangement of the saurians is composed of the chameleons. These reptiles are celebrated from the facility with which they can change their colour. It was long believed that they could receive and transmit the colour of the object they stood nearest to; but it is now well ascertained, that they owe this faculty to the capacity of their lungs; and that according to the quantity of air they take in, their blood acquires a more or less vivid hue, by which their transparency is aug- mented or lessened. This phenomenon takes place by the simple act of breathing, but is more striking in the pairing season. The chamseleons have a very extraordinary appearance, if we con- sider their flat body, angular and sharp on the back ; the pyramidal helmet on their head ; their long prehensile tail ; their fingers, five in number, but separated, three on one side, and two on the other ; and the mobility of their eyes, which they can move in all directions, and keep open or shut the one independent of the other. Their tongue, which they can stretch and move with vivacity, has a glutinous covering, by means of which they catch insects. These animals keep constantly on the trees. Fourteen species of 4o6 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. them are in the collection, some from the south of Europe and from Africa, others from the East Indies. The European species is nearly a foot long, whilst that of the Cape is very small, and the Molucca species has two long promi- nences on the muzzle. The scinks, which are the last in the order of the saurians, have very short legs, their body shaped as a spindle, is covered with fish-like scales, and has no contraction at the head and tail. The family of the scinks, of which there are forty-five species in the collection, is very numerous, and inhabits the warm countries of both continents. It has been distributed accord- ing to the number and situation of their feet into five genera : the scinks proper, the seps, the two- footed scinks, the chalcides, and the scinks with two hands. The Nubian and Abyssinian, or common offici- nal scink, is celebrated for the quickness with which it burrows in the sand to conceal itself from its pursuers, and also for its medicinal powers. It was long employed as a specific remedy for restoring the enfeebled vital func- tions, and enters into the compound medicine known by the name of theriaca. The species of scink found in the \Vest India islands is more than a foot long, and is as thick as the arm ; the COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 4°7 planters name it the land-pike. Out of the four species in the collection, one is African, and has five fingers to each foot ; the second, which was brought from New Holland by Pcron, has only four; the third species found in Italy is vivi- parous, and has hut three ; and the fourth, which is from the Cape, has only one finger to each foot. The species belonging to the genus chalcides present the same irregularity. The two-handed scinks, of which we know but one single species from Mexico, want the hind feet, whilst that with two feet wants the fore ones. The only species we know of this last genus are : the lepidopode, brought from the Cape by Peron, with two scales at each foot : a species discovered in the Brazils by M. Auguste Saint-IIilaire ; and the sheltopusik of Pallas, from the banks of the Volga, the feet of which are re- duced to a very short scaly and scarce visible appendage. This specimen was given by M. d'Ur- ville ; it is the largest of the three species, and is said to be sometimes six feet long. The mere inspection of these animals will readily satisfy us, as to their forming the passage from the saurians or lizards to the ophidians or serpents, which come immediately after in the general classification adopted by M. Cuvier. The two first genera of this order, those that. 4o8 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. are more nearly allied to the saurians, are the slow-worms (ophisaurus and orvet, Daud.). The glass slow-worm (anguis ventralis, Sh.) inha- bits the southern states of North America ; it is remarkable for the deep furrow which separates its dorsal and ventral scales ; its tail is much longer than the abdomen, and it breaks with such facility, that it has been named on this ac- count the glass snake', and the same remark is made of the common slow-worm (anguis fra- giliSy Sh.). These animals feed on worms, in- sects, and young snails. There are in the collec- tion several foreign species of this family ; that which comes next is composed of the ophidians or serpents. The amphisb&nce] which constitute the first order amongst them, are much allied to the chalcides by the verticillated arrangement of their scales. The Museum possesses several va- rieties of amphisbaene ; all are inhabitants of the warmer regions of America, where they are found concealed in the nests of ants. We shall now describe the ophidians, the col- lection of which amounts to five hundred and fifty specimens belonging to upwards of two hundred species. The greater number have been preserved in spirits of wine, and are contained in long cylindrical glasses, through which they can be perfectly well seen. This mode of preserve- COLLECTION OF REPtlLKS. /|O() lion is undoubtedly preferable to the stuffing of the skins, as it maintains the natural form of the animal, whilst it injures its colour but little. The ophidians are divided into two tribes; those that are not poisonous and those \vhich are; the upper jaw of which last is furnished with fangs implanted into a gland which con- tains the venom : these fangs being hollow ad- mit the liquid, and carry it into the wound they make. We shall only cite the species which are most deserving our notice. The largest amongst them are the boas and the pithons. \Ve possess fourteen species of the first, and three only of the last. Young individuals of the species we have seen on the wall are placed in the cases. The genus coluber is the most numerous of all. We shall mention only five species amongst those that inhabit our climate, ist. The ringed snake (coluber natrix), lives in the meadows, and feeds upon frogs; it is kept in Sardinia for the purpose of destroying the mice ; women and children often play with it, and in some parts of Italy it is dressed for eating under the name of the bush-eel, sd. The French snake (c. atrovirens}, which acquires sometimes four feet in length, and is easily tamed. 3d. The smooth snake (c. aus- triacus}. 4th. The dun snake (c.elaphis], which is from five to six feet long, 5th. The aesculapian 4lO DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. snake, which in all probability is the same with the serpent of Epidaurus of the ancients. This species is still more easily tamed than the pre- ceding. Near it has been placed an old skin of one of them, to shew the manner in which they cast it, rolling it outward from the head to the tail. Amongst the foreign species we shall cite the ibiboca of India; the coach- whip (f.Jlagelkan), whose length is three feet, and its diameter only a fewr lines; the iridescent snake (c. ahcetitlla}. No reptiles have such vivid colours as these two, their scales show the varied hues of gold and precious stones ; the iridescent is of a surprising agility; children in India play with it, and put it round their neck. Arfd lastly, we shall cite the long-snouted snakes (c. mycterizans and c. na- sutus), very remarkable for their very sharp and Jong snout. We shall now pass on to the poisonous ser- pents, whose bite is so dreadful and mortal. Some have a flattened tail, and inhabit the Indian seas, where they prove most fatal to fishermen, when they happen to take them in their nets. They are named hydrus, or water snake. There are two species in the collection ; one of which, the black-backed hydrus (anguis platura, Lin.), although it is extremely poisonous, is eaten by the natives of Otaheite. The most renowned COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 411 amongst the land serpents is the rattle snake (crotalus}, of which the Museum possesses four species. The banded rattle snake (c.horridus], common in the United States, and the striped rattle snake (c. durissus) of Guyana, are the largest, and measure sometimes six feet; their hite proves mortal in a few minutes. The vipers and analogous genera, such as the trigonocephales , twelve species of which are in the cabinet, are classed immediately after the crotalus. The spe- cimen of the rnegccj'a, which we see here, was caught in the act of swallowing a very large frog which it had not yet entirely taken in, it shows at once the length of its fangs, and the disproportionate size of the prey it can eat. Next to these is the platurus, much resembling the hydras from its flattened tail and poisonous fangs. The only species we know inhabits the Indian seas. The naja is a very remarkable snake, from the thickness of its neck and the straight- ness of its cervical ribs. We have two specie* of these serpents : they can draw their head in and out of their neck, and exhibit the most fan- tastical attitudes. The coluber naja, or spectacle snake, is so named from the large spot on its neck much resembling the figure of a pair of spectacles. The Portuguese call it cobra de ca- pello. The Indian jugglers, after they have de- 4l2 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. prived it of its fangs, play with it, and manage it so as to make it assume a sort of dancing motion. The other species is the coluber haje from Egypt ; it was procured by M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. It is said that by simply pressing on its head, this snake can be deprived of all motion. This spe- cies is thought to be the asp of the ancients. The common viper (c. berus) is found at Fon- tainebleau, near Paris. The individuals of this species vary so much, as to the arrangement of the black and white spots and stripes on their skins, that they have been taken for as many species, whilst they constitute but one and the same. The cerastes, or horned vipers, are distinguished by a pair of curved processes, situated above the eyes ; they are frequently seen represented on Egyptian monuments. This snake has a great resemblance in form and colour to the erix of the Turks ; but this being deprived of horns and venom, the Egyptian jugglers engraft the spurs of birds on its head, and exhibit it afterwards for a cerastes , to show how they can prevent the effect of its poison on themselves. A specimen arranged in this way is seen in the collection. The last genus amongst the ophidians is the genus ccecilia; thus named from the srnallness of their eyes. The two species in the cabinet inhabit Guyana, and are found in the nests of ants. The COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 4!^ reptiles comprised in the third and last division are the batracians (i). Their body is destitute of scales : their form and habits are for the first age, those of the fish, and their feet appear but at a second period. They are divided into two families, and each of these into four genera. The batracians belonging to the first family have no tail; they are the frogs (rana), the tree frogs (hflce), the toads (bufo], and the pipas. The sala- manders, the tritons, the sirens, and the proteus, compose the second family. All the species be- longing to the first are oviparous; the young or tadpoles have no feet, live in the water, and respire by means of branchice (2) ; their head is very large. As they grow in size the branchice become obliterated, and drop off; the feet shoot out, and the tail shortens and disappears totally, \Ve may observe here tadpoles of almost every species, and in every degree of their developc- ment. Their size varies according to the state of metamorphosis, and according as the time at which that takes place approaches the period of their birth. The vital strength with which these animals are endowed is very great, and has fur- (i) From the Greek batracho^^ which signifies a frog. ^2) Branchice is the name given to the lamellated organ, situated on each side of the head of fishes, and partly exterior, by means of which they separate and respire the air contained in the water. 4l4 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. nished the most interesting experiments on the phenomena of the animal economy. It was by dissecting frogs that galvanism was discovered. The Museum possesses more than twenty-five species of frogs. The two most common in France are the green and brown frogs : the thighs of the first are esteemed good food. The American species, called the bull- frog, is four times larger than the green, and feeds on water- fowl ; which it seizes by the feet, and drags under water. A specimen of this voracious frog is here seen, preserved in spirits of wine, into which it was thrown when taken, at the time it was endeavouring to swallow a duck, one half of which had not yet been gorged. The Cayenne frog, which is called Jackie, presents the singularity of being smaller when at the complete state of frog, than when at that of tad- pole, owing to the transformation ; for when it takes place, the bronchia, skin and tail, fall off at once, and consequently the animal is reduced to a smaller volume. To this difference of size, existing between the perfect animal and its tad- pole, may be attributed the errors some people have fallen into, in taking the tadpole for the full grown frog, and believing this last was changed into a fish. The tree frogs (hylce) , which come next, differ from the rana; they have the COLLECTION OF REPTILES. last phalanx of the fingers widened into a disk, by means of which they can walk and fix on smooth surfaces with their body downwards. More than thirty species of this genus are in the collection. That which is more commonly found in France is of a green colour, with a yellow and black stripe on each side ; it climbs on trees and fixes on the leaves, and it does not pair before four years old. The colours in the foreign spe- cies are generally more varied ; the most cele- brated amongst them is the frog, the blood of which is employed for colouring the feathers of birds, and which we mentioned in speaking of the parrot of the Moluccas. The toads (bufo) are more squabby than the frogs ; their body is covered with a sort of foetid humour ; they are the most hideous and disgust- ing of the reptiles, but are not venomous. Of the thirty species in the collection, we shall only mention the four following amongst the Euro- pean. The common toad (b. vulgaris], which is found in dark recesses, and pairs in the water ; its female is of a surprising fecundity; the spawn is enveloped in two gelatinous strings from 20 to 3o feet long, which the male draws off with its legs. The bufo calamita, or rush toad, which has a strong smell of gunpowder ; lives in the clefts of walls, and takes to the water 4l6 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. only in the pairing time. The alliaceous toad (i^ alliacea\ which smells of garlick ; its tadpoles are very large, and are eaten as fish in some countries. The bufo obstetricans, common in the rocky soil near Paris, helps the female to exclude its ova ; collects them round its legs, after having covered them with gluten, and carries them about until the time of their birth draws near, when it seeks for a pond or ditch of stagnant water ; the young then come forth and swim instanta- neously. Amongst the foreign species are : the b. agua, its body is from 8 to 10 inches long, and covered with warts as large as beans ; the horned frog (b. cornutus), which has a kind of callous process, resembling a horn, on each eye- lid; and the crested toad (b. margaritifera) . We know but one species of the genus pipa, or toad of Surinam ; it inhabits the dark and humid parts of houses ; it has a flattened body, and its way of reproduction is so different from that of the whole tribe of frogs, that it ought to be men- tioned here. When the spawn is milted, the male places it on the back of the female, which goes instantly to the water ; there its skin swells^ and a great number of cellular tubercles are formed in it; the young are hatched and undergo their metamorphosis in these cells, in which they remain. When their legs are well formed. COLLECTION OF REPTILES. 41? the female leaves the water. We have several spe- cimens of this toad preserved in spirits of wine. The first genus of the second family is that of the salamander. This animal, when in its per- fect state, has a cylindric tail ; \vhen young, the branchiae are loosely floating on the neck, and the fore feet are formed before there is any trace of the hind ones. The land salamander is viviparous; it lives in holes, and deposits its young in some neighbouring pond. The salamander is furnished with pores and small foraminae through which exudes a foetid liquor, considered as ve- nomous. It has long been believed that it could resist the action of fire ; but it is now ascer- tained, that it can be consumed in the flames as well as any other animal. The tritons belong to the second genus ; their tail is compressed, and they inhabit the water. If a limb, or the portion of a limb, is severed from a triton, it is replaced by a new one. There is in the collection a specimen, which lived four months after its head had been cut off: it was kept in a bottle fillet with water, which was renewed every day, and the wound was completely healed. When a triton happens to be enclosed in the ice, it remains in it as long as the winter lasts, and swims off the instant the ice is melted. There are more than twelve species of this genus in the 4l8 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. cabinet; the largest of which is from i5 to 18 inches in length, of a deep blue colour, and in- habits America. Amongst the tadpoles of the tritons we shall observe that of the crested tri- ton ; the branchiae of which remained on the animal, although its metamorphosis had been in other respects completed. We see close to the salamanders and tritons the axolotl of Mexico, presented by M. de Hum- bolt. M. Cuvier, who published a description of this animal, after having dissected every part of it, could not decide whether it was a perfect ani- mal, or a large species of salamander. Next to the axolotl, is the anguine siren (proieus anguinus) ; it retains during life the external branchiae, which the salamanders preserve only when they are young. This singular animal inhabits the sub- terraneous waters of the duchy of Carniola in Austria, Dr. Schreibers, director of the imperial museum of Vienna, made our Museum a present of a good representation in wax of the proteus anguinus, several specimens of which are pre- served in spirits of wine. The last genus of the siren, is the eel-shaped siren ; its branchiae are exactly like those of the proteus ; but it has no hind legs ; it inhabits the rivers of Carolina, and feeds on insects. The specimens we see here were sent by M. L'Herminier. § VII. COLLECTION OF FISH, COLLECTIONS of natural history are generally designed to unite the most interesting and the most curious amongst the productions of nature; to show in each family the objects best calculated to give an idea of its characteristic forms, and those which indicate the link between one fa- mily and another ; to establish the principles of classification ; and also to show the natural state and the origin of the different substances circu- lated by means of commerce. To this end they must be well classed, but it is not necessary that they should be very numerous. A garden con- taining fifteen hundred well chosen plants is suf- ficient to give an idea of the vegetable kingdom ; and all that is essential to be examined, in order to have a notion of zoology, may be contained in one room. But the collections of the Museum are destined to a much more extended and important purpose ; namely, the progress of science. The object for which they were formed, that towards which 27. 420 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. they ought to tend, is to assemble the greatest possible number of species, taken at different ages and in different places, in order to deter- mine the essential characters which, being com- mon to several species, unite them into genera ; to afford, in short, the means of considering beings under every relation they bear to each other and to man ; and to enable us to write their history. Considered in this point of view, the collec- tion under our inspection is not only the most considerable that ever existed in this class of animals, but also the most complete of zoology in general. It comprehends about five thou- sand specimens, belonging to more than two thousand two hundred species; that is to say, a number nearly double that of the species dis- tinctly described and figured by naturalists. It offers the elements of the classification which M. Cuvier has established in his Regne Minimal; the type of the ichthyological memoirs which he has inserted in our Annals; the far greater part of the fishes wrhich M. de Lacepede has described or figured in his great work, and almost all the known genera. Of each species, it possesses ge- nerally one preserved in spirits of wine, which affords the facility of examining its interior or- ganization in case of necessity. The greater COLLECTION OF FISH. 421 number of those \vhich are dried have been co- vered \vith a varnish which has revived the colours, and they appear almost as brilliant as they were some hours after being taken out of the water. This collection has been newly arranged ac- cording to the method of M. Cuvier, and all the species have been ticketed with the greatest exactness. The oldest specimens are those found by Commerson, at Madagascar, the island of Bourbon, and the isle of France. AVhen, after the death of that traveller, they arrived at the King's Garden, there was no place in which to exhibit them, and they remained shut up in the boxes in which they had been sent, and were in a manner forgotten : fortunately Commerson had made drawings of them, and it was from those drawings, and the notes which accompa- nied them, that M. de Lacepede described them in his history of fishes. We feel the advantage of possessing the originals in studying the work of the historian. The collection was afterwards enriched by MM. Peron and Lesueur, and by the other naturalists who accompanied captain Bau- din to the Pacific ocean. More recently it has been considerably augmented by collections sent from New York by M. Milbert, from South Ca- rolina and from Guadalupe by M. L'Herminier, 4^2 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. from Martinique J)y general Donzelot and M. Plee, from Brazil and the Cape by M. Delalande, from Coromandel and from Bengal by M. Leschenault, and from different places, particularly the Ma- rian islands, the Sandwich islands and New Guinea, by the naturalists embarked with captain Freycinet. Through all these channels a great number of new species have been obtained. Whilst other travellers were sending us the rarest productions of the seas, lakes and rivers they had visited in the most distant countries, we have not neglected on our part to procure all the species of France, Germany and Italy, from the Northern ocean and from the Mediterra- nean; and although the fish of these seas had long been studied, they have afforded us many species which naturalists had confounded, be- cause they had not been able to collect in order to compare them. This collection has only been formed a few years, and we have no doubt but it wrill soon be augmented. What we have said is sufficient to show its importance; but it is im- possible on a superficial view to appreciate its value ; for its greatest utility is not that which attracts the eye, it can only be felt by the natu- ralist. We shall confine ourselves to pointing out the order in which it is disposed, showing the principal differences which exist between COLLECTION OF FISH. * the forms of different families, which forms are more varied and more singular lhan in the reptiles; and noticing the rarest species, and those which arc most deserving of attention either on account of their singularity or their utility. Although this collection is extremely numerous, it is not convenient for those who are beginning the study of ichthyology. The objects cannot be all placed at the proper distance from the eye ; and of one genus, which sometimes compre- hends a hundred species and two or three hun- dred individuals, we cannot at first sight dis- tinguish those which present the most essential characters. The greater number of the speci- mens arc preserved inspirits of wine, in which they may be seen very well, but cannot be exa- mined without holding in the hand the bottle which contains them. As the Museum ought to facilitate the study of the elements as well as lhat of the details, a selection of one individual of each genus has been made from the general collection; this, as it is arranged and named after the method published by M. Cuvier, pre- sents the genera and sub-genera which have the greatest affinity with each other. It occupies twelve large frames, placed in the passage to the great room. All the specimens are dried with 42/j. DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. the greatest care, and so as to facilitate the exa- mination of them. On the floor of the great room is placed the basking shark (squalus maximus}-, several other specimens of which of considerable dimensions are attached to the ceiling ; we shall point them out when we have occasion to speak of them in their regular order. In this as in the preceding rooms we shall follow the cases from left to right. The fishes have been divided into two great series and into eight orders by M. Cuvier. We shall not touch upon this classification, of which full information may be obtained by examining the collection destined for study. We must follow the natural families, calling the attention to those genera and species which seem to us to merit it the most. The first family is composed of two genera : the lamprey (petromyzon, Lin.,) and gastrobranchus (niyxine, Lin.), united under the denomination of suckers, because they attach themselves closely to different bodies, fixing upon them their round and fleshy mouth, and their tongue which acts as a piston. We have eight species of lamprey. The only one which is sought after is the great lamprey; it is caught at the mouth of rivers, which it ascends in the spring : the other species COLLECTION OF FISH. live in fresh water. The fishes of this genus fix themselves upon others in the manner we have described, and penetrate into their bodies, which they devour by degrees with the sharp and pointed teeth placed at the bottom of their mouth. There are but two species of myxine known : the one, the blind gastrobranchus (myxine giutinosa> Lin.,) inhabits the North seas; the other, which M. de Lacepede has named dombeyan, because Dombey discovered it, is very rare. M. Dela- lande however has brought us several specimens from the Cape of Good Hope. The second family, that of the selacians, is com- posed of the sharks, rays, and fishes allied to them. It comprehends a great number of spe- cies which deserve our attention, either from their gigantic size and their voracity, or from the use which is made of them in the arts. The first genus is that of the sharks commonly known by the name of dog-fish ; their rough skin is em- ployed in polishing different surfaces, such as wood, ivory, etc. M. Cuvier has divided them into twelve sub-genera. We have forty-one spe- cies of them; the largest is the basking shark (squalus maximus], from the North seas, which is "sometimes upwards of 3o feet in length. The specimen in the middle of the room was cast upon our shores by a north west storm. The 426 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. species which is most celebrated for its vora- city is the white shark (squalus carcarias) ; its mouth is armed with a great number of teeth placed in five or six rows ; these teeth, which are extremely hard and white, are in a trian- gular form terminating in a sharp point, having the sides cut like a saw. After these follows the sub-genus of the hammer headed sharks (s. zy- gaena, Guv.), very remarkable for the form of their head, of which there is not another example in the animal kingdom ; it is flattened, and as it were truncated, with the, two sides extended like the head of a hammer, and the eyes at the extremities. We have five species of the zy- gaena ; that which is most common in our seas is sometimes 12 feet long. The genus most allied to the sharks is that of the saw-fish, whose distinguishing character con- sists in a very long depressed snout in the form of a beak, furnished at each side with strong prickles fixed in the manner of teeth. This beak is a powerful weapon, with which the saw- fish attacks the largest fish without fear. We have five species of them ; on the ceiling is a large specimen of the most common species (pristis antiquorum, Lath.). The sa w-fish con- nects the sharks and the rays, which M. Cuvicr has divided into seven sub-genera, and of which COLLECTION OF FISH. 427 we possess fifty-seven species. The first sub- genus is that of the lengthened shape ray (raia rhinobatos}, whose body resembles that of the saw -fish, and of which a species is found in the Mediterranean; the others inhabit the seas of South America, the Cape of Good Hope, and Coromandel. The torpedoes or cramp rays, \vhich form the second sub-genus, have the head flattened in the form of a quoit, the mouth large, short and fleshy. These forms ally them on one side to the rhinobatos, and on the other to the rays properly so called. The torpedo rays are celebrated for the fa- culty which they possess of giving violent shocks to those who touch them. The organ which performs the part of an electrifying machine is an apparatus of tubes divided by diaphragms into little hexagonal cells situated near the head, before the pectoral fins. The torpedoes give shocks to the animals which disturb them ; and it appears that in this manner they benumb those which they intend to make their prey ; they have no other weapons. Torpedoes are to be found in almost all the seas. The largest, and that which gives the most vio- lent shocks, lives upon the coast of the Cape of Good Hope. The torpedo with five spots,* the marbled torpedo, and the torpedo of Galvani in- 428 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. habit our coasts, but it is only lately that they have been distinguished from their congeners. The other species of the genus ray have the body extremely depressed, and very wide, with a long filiform tail. Their teeth, which are of different forms, serve to distinguish the sub- genera; in certain species the tail is smooth, in others it is armed with long prickles, furnished on each side with very deep notches These weapons are not venomous, but they inflict wounds which it is very difficult to cure. The thorn-back (raja clavata), and the rough ray (r. rubus), which are common in our mar- kets, are the species most esteemed as food. Of those which inhabit our seas, the skate (raja batis, Lin.,) arrives at the greatest size; it has been known to weigh more than two hun- dred pounds. Amongst the foreign species, one of the most remarkable is the pearled ray (r. sy- rhen), which belongs to the sub-genus of the pastinacce ; its body is covered with close set and hard tubercles; after they have been worn on a millstone, to polish them and render the skin smooth, it is used for covering various kinds of cases, and called shagreen. This species of ray is found on the coast of Coromandel, from whence it was sent by M. Leschenault. The Mediterranean furnishes also a gigantic . COLLECTION OF FISH. 429 species (r.cephaloptera), which from the singu- lar form of its fins has established the sub-genus cephaloptera ; its head is truncated, and the pec- toral fins, instead of uniting with it, are extended and give the animal the appearance of having two horns ; it is the giorna ray of Risso, Ichtyol. of Nice. On the ceiling is another species from Brazil. The last species of the selacians is that of the chimseras, of which we have two species: the one from our seas (c. borealis], which is called the king of the herrings, because it is found at the head of those wandering fish, is remarkable for having its tail continued into a long and slender filament, and for the short upright process with a fringed tip on its head ; the other from the An- tarctic seas (c .australis),much resembling the for- mer,but having its upper lip extended into a length- ened cartilaginous appendage bent downwards. After the chimaeras comes the family of the ^turgeons (accipenser] , which is divided into two genera. We have four species of sturgeon: two large specimens of the most common spe- cies are attached to the ceiling; of the swim- ming bladder of this fish isinglass is fabricated, and caviar', a dish much sought for amongst the inhabitants of the north, is made of its spawn. Near the sturgeons is a very rare fish which inhabits the fresh water in North America, 428 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. habit our coasts, but it is only lately that they have been distinguished from their congeners. The other species of the genus ray have the body extremely depressed, and very wide, with a long filiform tail. Their teeth, which are of different forms, serve to distinguish the sub- genera; in certain species the tail is smooth, in others it is armed with long prickles, furnished on each side with very deep notches These weapons are not venomous, but they inflict wounds which it is very difficult to cure. The thorn-back (raja clavata), and the rough ray (r. rubus], which are common in our mar- kets, are the species most esteemed as food. Of those which inhabit our seas, the skate (raja batis, Lin.,) arrives at the greatest size; it has been known to weigh more than two hun- dred pounds. Amongst the foreign species, one of the most remarkable is the pearled ray (r. sjr- rhe7i), which belongs to the sub-genus of the pastinacce ; its body is covered with close set and hard tubercles ; after they have been worn on a millstone, to polish them and render the skin smooth, it is used for covering various kinds of cases, and called shagreen. This species of ray is found on the coast of Coromandel, from whence it was sent by M. Leschenault. The Mediterranean furnishes also a gigantic COLLECTION OF FISH. 429 species (r.cephaloptera), which from the singu- lar form of its fins has established the sub-genus cephaloptera ; its head is truncated, and the pec- toral fins, instead of uniting with it, are extended and give the animal the appearance of having two horns; it is the giorna ray of Risso, Ichtyol. of Nice. On the ceiling is another species from Brazil. The last species of the selacians is that of the chimeras, of which we have two species: the one from our seas (c. borealis], which is called the king of the herrings, because it is found at the head of those wandering fish, is remarkable for having its tail continued into a long and slender filament, and for the short upright process with a fringed tip on its head ; the other from the An- tarctic seas (c.australis),much resembling the for- mer, but having its upper lip ex tended into a length- ened cartilaginous appendage bent downwards. After the chimaeras comes the family of the ^turgeons (accipenser], which is divided into two genera. We have four species of sturgeon: two large specimens of the most common spe- cies are attached to the ceiling; of the swim- ming bladder of this fish isinglass is fabricated, and caviar, a dish much sought for amongst the inhabitants of the north, is made of its spawn. Near the sturgeons is a very rare fish which inhabits the fresh water in North America, 43:2 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. From the lophobranchia we pass to the fifth order, which comprehends the greatest number of the fresh water fish, and of winch the first family is that of the salmon. This very nu- merous genus has been divided into many sub- genera, according to the form of their teeth. We have forty-four species in the cabinet : every one knows the salmon, the trout, the smelt, the grayling salmon, etc. Amongst the foreign spe- cies we shall only notice the piraya (salmo rhombeus), which lives in the rivers of South America, and seizes with its sharp teeth the ani- mals which bathe in the rivers. The second family, that of the clupece, com- prehends a great number of sea and river fish. The principal part of those which inhabit the sea go up the rivers to deposit their spawn. This family has been, divided into eight genera; we possess forty-three species. The first genus is that of the herrings, divided into seven sub- genera by M. Cuvier. We have nineteen species of the first division, to which belong the shad, the herring, the sprat, etc. Among the six others is the anchovy, of which we have six species, differing from the herrings in the lengthened form of the snout. The most remarkable of the migalopes is the king-fish of .the Carribee islands (clupea cyprinoides, Bl.) ; the beautiful COLLECTION OF FISH. specimen in the cabinet was sent from Guada- loupe by M. LTIerminier. The secojad genus comprehends only two spe- cies : one from the East Indies, sent by MM. Son- nerat and Leschenault; the other from South America, by M. Milbert. The genus cliirocentrum consists of only one species, from the Indian seas, called sabre, fish on account of its form; it was presented by M. Les- chenault. We have four species of the fourth genus, erythrinus, which are commonly found in the western and eastern seas ; and only one of the genus amia, a small fresh water fish, brought from Carolina by M. Bosc. The genus vastrea also consists of fresh water fish ; we have two undescribed species, the first of which was brought from Senegal by Adanson, and the other, a very large specimen, called the gigantic vastrea by M. Cuvier, was sent from the Brazils. The two species in the Museum, belonging to the genus lepisosteum, inhabit the lakes and rivers of America. The first, esox osseus, the bony- scaled pike, is known in North America by the name of caiman; the other is found in the more southern seas of America, and it has been de- scribed by M. de Lacepede. The eighth and last genus of the family clupea 434 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. is that of the polypteri, a species of which was discovered in the Nile by M. Geoffroy, who named it p. bicker (nilotic polypterus) ; it is described and figured in the Annals of the Museum, vol. i, p. Sy, fig. 5. The third family, that of the pikes (esoces], is divided into three genera. The pikes proper, the flying fishes, and the mormrri. These are all ex- tremely voracious ; the greater part of them live in the sea. We have twenty-five species in the cabinet, which M. Cuvier has subdivided into nine sub-genera ; one only of which (the chau- liodus] is wanting in the collection. The European pike is universally known. An- other fresh water species, from North America, sent to us by M. Lesueur, bears the name of reti- culated pike. The orphies are remarkable for their long snout and their green bones. We have four species of them ; one of which, the gar pike (esojc be- lone) , is a native of the European seas ; the three others, from the American coasts, have been de- scribed by M. Lesueur. The hemiramphi, Guv. , have a remarkable character; the lower jaw being considerably prolonged beyond the upper, into a long point without teeth. One of the three species we possess is from Brazil, the others are from India. I COLLECTION OF FISH. The flying fishes are to be found in every sea, but more particularly near the tropics. The size of their pectoral fins enables them to support themselves some minutes in the air ; when they spring out of the water to escape the fishes which pursue them, they often become the prey of sea birds. ' We possess three species of them. The genus of the mormyri comprehends eight species, all inhabitants of the Nile, from whence icy were brought by M. Geoffroy. One of them, rhich has a very long snout, was known and revered by the ancient Egyptians under the name of oxyrhynchus, and it is often seen depicted on their monuments. The fourth family, that of the carps (cyprini), consists of fresh water fish, found in all latitudes, of which we have thirty-five species. To the first genus, cyprinus, belong the barbel, the bream, the tench, and several white fish which have served as types of various sub-genera esta- blished by M. Cuvier. The gold-fish of China, which adorns our ponds, is a species of this genus, the domesticated varieties of which are very numerous. Next to the carps is the gono- rhynchus, of which only one very rare species is known, which was brought from the Cape by M. Delalande. The loches come next ; we have four species of them : the three first inhabit 28. 436^ DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. our rivers and ponds, and the last, which has not heen described, was sent us from North Ame- rica by M. Milbert. The genus anableps is very distinct from the loches, to which it has been united: the eyes are very projecting ; the cornea and iris are di- vided into two parts by transverse bands, thus forming two pupils, although there is but one crystalline humour and one retina; this con- formation is the only example amongst verte- bratcd animals. These species inhabit the rivers of the warmer regions of America, and are said to be viviparous. The genera pcecilia, cyprinodon, and lebia com- plete the family of the cy print. We have six spe- cies of the first, small fish which are found in the rivers of North and South America ; only one of the second, and two of the third, lately described by M. Valenciennes. Next to the cy print are the siluroidece : their skin, destitute of scales, is bare or covered with large bony plates : they almost all inhabit the rivers of hot climates. "We have fifty-seven spe- cies of them. The siluri, which are the first genus of this family, have the first ray of the dorsal and pectoral fins large, strong, and serrated; they erect it at pleasure, and it is a dangerous wea- pon: their mouth is furnished with numerous COLLECTION OF FISH. 4^7 and long cirri, and their bony head is not covered by the skin. The European silurus (s. glanis} is the only species found in northern elimates. It is common in the Danube, and is the largest ot our fresh water fish. The want of spiny pro- cesses to the dorsal fin has caused the separation from this genus of the electric silurus of the Nile, under the name of melapterurus. M. Geoi- froy brought it from Egypt ; the Arabs call it raaschy or thunder, and like the torpedo it is capable of giving shocks. The last genera of this family are the aspredos and loricaria, whose body is covered with large and angular plates. We have eight species of them. The first family of the fourth order is almost entirely composed of the genus gadus, which comprehends the cod, the whiting, the hake, etc. These fishes live in immense shoals in the European seas. A considerable number of vessels resort lo the North in search of cod-fish, which are salted and dried. This is a great article of commerce, particularly \vith the Dutch. We have twenty- six species of cod. The burbot (gadus lota] is the only species amongst them which inhabits the rivers. The grenadiers (lepidoleprus, Risso,) are nearly allied to the gadi. We have two species, which live in the deep waters of the Mediterra- nean ; they were given us by M. Risso. 438 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. The second family of the same order, vulgarly called Jlat-Jish, is composed of the great genus of the floundets (pleuronectes)^ of which we have fifty-nine species. To this genus belong the tur- bot, the dab, the sole, etc. These are the only vertebrate d animals that are not symmetrical; both the eyes and both the nostrils are placed on the same side of the head, and the mouth is unequally divided. A very large hippoglos- sus. Guv. , from the North seas, is fixed to the ceiling; it was caught at St.Valery, and sent to us by M. Baillan. The third family, that of the discolobi, com- prehends four genera not very numerous in spe- cies. The two first (lepndogdster, Gouan, and cy- clopterus, Lin.,) are most of them very small fish, which hide themselves under the stones ; there are eight species in the collection. The eche- neides, Lin., are remarkable for the lamellated and flat discus on their head, by means of which they attach themselves to different bodies, either to large fishes or to the bottom of vessels, and are thus carried with them in their course. We have four species: the two most common are the e. remora and the e. naucrates ; the first from the Mediterranean, and the other from the Indian seas. It has been said of the remora, that it can arrest the progress of a ship. \7Ve have three COLLECTION OF FISH. species of the genus ophicephalus , all from the Indian seas. The seventh order of fishes forms only one family, the eel-shaped, of which we have sixty- five species divided into several sub-genera. The body of these fishes is linear, like that of the serpents ; they have no ventral fins, in con- sequence of which they have been named apodes, and the number of their other fins dif- fer according to the genus. The eels have them all, the ophisuri want those of the tail, the murcenophies are without the pectoral fins, and the apterichti have no fin whatever. The first genus is that of the eels : the common eel (murcena anguilla) is found in the rivers in every latitude ; the one which is attached to the ceil- ing is 5 feet long. The Romans were particu- larly fond of a species of muraenophis (niurena helena), and kept it in reservoirs appropriated to the purpose. A specimen of this genus, 4 fcet long, is attached to the ceiling. The gymnoti are distinguished from the eels by the v^ant of the dorsal fins ; they are fresh water fish, and inhabit the warmer regions of Africa and America. We have six species of them ; one of which, the elec- trical gymnotus is much celebrated for its electric powers, which are so great that it can give the most violent shocks at pleasure, at a considerable '44° DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. distance and in any direction, thus killing the small fish and other animals on which it feeds. If horses go into a pond where there are gym- noti, they immediately fall down, and are unable to rise. This power is exhausted if too much exercised, but it is renewed by repose : the or- gan in which it exists occupies the lower part of the tail. One of these gymnoti was brought alive to our menagerie, but it did not live long enough to enable us to repeat all the experi- ments which M. de Hum^oldt had made in America. We are now arrived at the eighth and last order of fishes, which is the most nume- rous of all : it has been divided into eight fa- milies. The tenioidece have been thus named from the resemblance of their long and flattened bodies to a ribbon. We have five species of them, amongst which lire the lopho'tes of Lacepede (glorna), a rare and beautiful fish from the gulph of Genoa, sent us by M. Martial Duvaucel ; the Cepedian gymnetrus of the Mediterranean, the colour of whose body is bright silver, and that of the fins, red: and the garter fish (hi/:idof>us)9 which was caught at La Rochelle. A specimen of each of these is attached to the ceiling. The family of the gobioidece comprehends the COLLECTION OF FISH. 441 blennies and the gobies : we have seventy-six spe- cies of the first genus and forty-six of the second. The fish of this family are generally small, and live in shoals on rocky shores. They exist a long time out of the water. Some species of the blennies from the Indian seas, remarkable for the number and smallness of their teeth, which are moveable as the keys of a pianoforte, are distinguished from the others by the name of salarias. The genus anarrhichas (wolf-fish) is nearly allied to the blennies ; those which are named sea- wolf or sea-cat are a great resource to the Irish, who eat them dry, make shagreen of the skin, and use the liver as soap. A large specimen is suspended from the ceiling. The periophthalmi, of which we have five species, are akin to the gobies. Their eyes are furnished with moveable eyelids, which meet at the top of the head. These fish can live a long time out of the water, and by the help of their pectoral fins can run upon the mud. The specimen from Senegal was given to the cabinet by M. Delcambre, who took it for a lizard, and shot it. The other species are from the Moluccas. The sillagones belong to the same family ; the s. acuta. Guv. , and the s. domina, Cuv. , are the best fish of the Indian seas. The callio- ., the last of the family of the gobies, are 44^ DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. very pretty fish with a smooth skin. We have four species of them. The third family, that of the labroidece com- prehends several genera; they have long and scaly bodies. The first genus, that of the labrus, is characterized by the thickness of its fleshy lips. M. Cuvier has divided it into seven sub- genera. The first, that of the labrus proper (rainbow fish), to which belong the varying la- brus (l.turdus], the louche of the Mediterranean, and the anile labrus (/. vetula) from the North seas, a beautiful fish striped with blue and orange. 2d. The julis, Guv., which differs from the labrus in not having scales on its head. We have forty- seven species ; one of which from the Mediter- ranean (/. julis], jurella labrus, is distinguished by its colour, which is a fine blue or violet on the upper parts with an undulating orange stripe on each side. 3d. The crenilabri, Guv., of which we have forty-nine species, mostly from the Medi- terranean, and all beautifully coloured. 4^. The ephibuli, Guv. ; amongst which is the insidious sparus, (spams insidiator), remarkable for the great elasticity of its snout, to which it suddenly gives the form of a tube to catch the small fish \vithin its reach. This species is rarely found in collections of natural history. 5th. The e/o/.-ey, Lin., which have a long snout, like the ephi- COLLECTION OF FISH. 44^ buli, but a very small mouth, incapable of ex- tension. The only two species known are from the Indian seas, and were brought home by Com- merson. The second genus of this family (novacula, Guv.,) are distinguished by the sharpness of their forehead, which descends almost vertically to the mouth. We have six species ; one of which is from the Mediterranean, and the others from the equatorial seas. Next comes the ge- nus chromis, Cuv. We have seventeen species, one of which, from the North American seas, has been named sparus aitritus, because its skin is prolonged beyond the gills. The last genus is that of the scarus. We have seven species which inhabit the seas of hot climates. The singular form of their snout and the brilliancy of their colours has caused them to be called parrot-fish. The next family is that of the sparoidece, of which we have about three hundred and fifty species. M. Cuvicr has divided them into twenty- five genera, which arc characterized by the form of the jaws, teeth, and operculum. AVe have twenty-two species of the genus smarts, Cuv., to which belong the smare sparus (spa- rus smarts, Lin.) and the mendole sparus (smaena, Lin.), which arc found in the Medi- 444 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM terranean. The most remarkable of the others are: ist. The spari, Guv., which have round teeth placed close together in the manner of a pavement. We have eighteen species. That which is most celebrated for the flavour of its flesh and the beauty of its colours is the gilt- headed sparus (s. auratus, Lin.), which is found in almost all seas. 2d. The bodiani, Cuv., which have a spiny operculum without notches, and the serrani, Cuv., whose operculum is both spiny and notched. These two genera compre- hend the greater number of the sparoi'deae. We have thirty-one species of the first and fifty- four of the second. During life they have all very brilliant colours, and their body is gene- rally spotted or marked with transverse stripes. The s.anthid^ Cuv., is remarkable for its beau- tiful red colour. 3d. The scorpoence, Lin., are divided into four sub-genera, and we have twenty-two species of them. The spines with which their head is covered, and the cirri which hang from their body give thernjj hideous ap- pearance ; they are vulgarly callecRea-hogs. Two species of them are found in our climates, the others are exotic. The sub-genus pterois, Cuv., comprehends fishes which inhabit the fresh wa- ters of India and the Moluccas ; they are of a very singular form, but elegantly coloured; they COLLECTION OF FISH. arc particularly remarkable for the extension of their pectoral fins, which has been the cause of the surnames of DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. are two large luminous spots. The next genus is that of the elater, Lin. ; when placed on their back these insects cannot turn themselves, on account of the shortness of their feet; they spring perpendicularly until they regain their proper position ; to do which they contract their feet close to the body, then causing the head and the abdomen to approach, they unbend themselves like a spring, striking briskly on the ground, and rebound into the air. The greatest number of the elaters are deficient in that richness of or- nament which distinguishes the preceding co- leoptera. Many species are nevertheless re- markable; such as the e.Jlabellicornis^ixi. (n° i), speciosus (n° 7), ocellatus (n* 9), ferrugineus (n°i8), etc. This last is indigenous. The e.iwc- tilucus (n° 10), called cocuja in South America, and the species nos n and i3 have luminous spots, by the light of which, it is said, that the smallest print may be read. This luminous pro- perty which characterizes some species of the two preceding genera, the object of which ap- pears to be the union of the two sexes, is com- mon to all those of the genus lampyris, Lin., commonly called glow-worms, and by the Ita- lians lucciolaj but in these the phosphoric effect is produced by the last rings of the body; in some species it is peculiar to the females, which COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 4?1 have no wings at all, or so short as to be useless for flight. The luminous part forms a whitish or yellowish spot, and the lustre which it sheds appears to vary at the pleasure of the insect. The lampyres are very abundant in hot countries; they fly only by night, when their swarms illuminate the sky. On traversing the Alps towards Italy, the traveller is presented with this spectacle produced by the /. italica, Lin. (n° i4), the males and females of which are winged. The females of our native glow- worms are without wings, and the males pre- sent scarcely any phosphoric light. Next to the lampyres come the genera mala- chius, Fabr., telephorus, Schaeff., and lymexylon, Fabr. The malachii, when taken in the hand, protrude on each side of the thorax, a little be- low the base of the elytra, irregular and red vesicles, which Geoffroy has named cockades. The telephori, when in the larva state, live gre- garious under ground. The lymexylon navale, Oliv. (n° i), commits great ravages in ship-build- ing timbers. In all the coleoptera which we have hitherto examined the extremity of the feet or tarsi have five joints ; those of the following section have one joint less in the two hinder tarsi. The greatest part of these insects are peculiar to the 472 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. sandy countries of the south of Europe, to Af- rica, and the south west part of Asia. Some of them avoid the light ; such as the opatrum, Fabr., the tenebrio, Fabr., the blapsy the pimelia, the scaurus, and the erodius.^abr., of which Linnaeus formed but one genus, tenebrio. They gene- rally conceal themselves in the sand or under stones, crawl slowly, and are often incapable of flight. We frequently see in our houses the tenebrio molitor (n° 27), the larva of which is known by the name of meal-worm. The t. mor- tisagus (n° 5) is found in the damp and obscure recesses of houses ; it is of a coal-black colour, and when crushed or even handled diffuses a highly unpleasant smell. Some other coleop- tera belonging to this section have wings, and varied colours; they are most of them herbi- vorous. Many, such as the crodalon, Fabr., dia- peris, Geoff., cistela. Fabr., mordella, Lin., have some affinity with the preceding; the others differ from them in having the head large, and in the shape of a heart, in the softness of their abdomen, and wing-shells, and in their blistering properties : such is the cantharis (nieloe vesicatorius , Lin.), n° 2 to and following. In Italy and China the physicians use for the same pur- pose the species of the genus mylabris, amongst which we shall notice the nieloe cichorii, Lin. COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. (n° 1 5). The insects belonging to the genus meloe of Linnaeus were formerly considered as a spe- cific against madness; M. Latreille is of opinion that they were the buprestis of the ancients. Those of the genus pyj*ochroa, Geoff., live in the forests, and are distinguished by their fine scarlet colour. The chrysomela boleti, Lin. (n° i), is to be sought for in the fungi of trees, particularly in that called the boletus. We come to a new division of the coleoptera, those which have four joints to all their tarsi ; they feed upon vegetables during all the pe- riods of their lives. They are divided into seve- ral families, the principal of which are, first, those with long antennae : the larvae of this family live in the inside of trees, which they hollow in such a manner as to cause them to pe- rish. The genera priamus, QeofL,cerambj-jcyLin. , callidium, Fabr., necydalis, Lin., saperda, Fabr., stenocorus, Geoff., leptura, Lin., and sporutylis, Fabr., belong to this family. The cerambfjc gi- gas (n° i) is one of the largest exotic insects known. The males of some species, as the cervi- cornis(n°2,] and maxillaris (nos 7 and 12), are dis- tinguished from their females by the strength of their mandibles. There are but three species in France : the scabricornis (n° 20 \ ihefaber (n° 26) , and the coriarius (n° 27). During the day they DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. keep under the bark or at the foot of trees, and fly only hy night. Amongst the exotic species some, such as the speciosus (n° 28) , are ornamented with very brilliant metallic colours. The genus cerambyx, to which that of the lamia, Fabr., is here united, comprehends a great number of species which have their thorax tuberculated, and are in general very large insects. The c. he- rosj Fabr. (n° 2), is common in oak forests ; its larva is probably that known by the Romans under the name of cossus* and which they esteemed a delicacy. The c. moschatus, Lin. (n° 8), lives on willows, etc. This species, which is of a bronze or bluish green colour, diffuses a strong odour of roses and musk which can be smelt at a considerable distance, and even after the insect is dead. Another, which has a little tuft of hair at each joint of its antennae, the c. ro- salia (n°y), has the same properties, and is found on the Alps and Pyrennees. The same remark has been made of several exotic species. That which is named after M. Desfontaines (n° 26) was in the collection that professor brought over from Barbary. The c. longimanus (n° 45), or long- limbed cerambyx is easily recognized by its mar- bled wing-sheaths, the extreme length of its an- terior feet, and its extraordinary size. The larva of lamia gigas (n° 78) lives on the baobab tree of COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. Senegal. Other genera of the same family pre- sent various combinations of form and colour. The trogosita carabo'ides, Oliv. (n°5), or tenebrio niauritanicus , Lin., is very noxious; its larva, which is called cadelle in Provence, feeds upon corn, and the insect in its perfect state is often found in flour, bread, etc. The second division, that of the cycloidece, so named from the rounded form of their body, comprehends the genera cassida, hispa, and chrysomela, Lin. This last has been divided to form the genera galeruca and crioceris. They are all small round insects, which feed only on the tender parts of plants ; they are not the less distructive on this account, as they are equally voracious in their larva state, and assemble in great numbers on the same plant. It is thus that the galeruca of the elm (chrysomela calmarien- sisy Lin.,) sometimes strips the tree almost en- tirely of its leaves. The insects of the genus al- ticay Geoff., which devour the plants in our kitchen gardens, and which are called garden fleas, are here united to the galeruca, but they are placed at the end of the genus. Several co- leoptera belong to this division, having longer bodies, and their wing-shells frequently spotted, compose the genus crioceris. Such of their larvae as are known to us conceal themselves under a DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. covering of their excrements. The larvae of the cassidce have similar habits; their bodies are spiny, and a posterior appendage supports the substances with which they cover themselves. This particular may easily be proved by observ- ing the c. viridis, which is very common on the leaves of artichokes, and which differs but little from the c. equestris (n°3g). The equatorial re- gions of America abound most in species of this genus. Their body is almost round in the form of a buckler, elevated in the middle, and bor- dered all round by the edge of the thorax and wing-shells, and as they are flat beneath, they fix themselves closely to the plants on which they feed. The exterior angle of the basis of their wing-shells is sometimes lengthened into a point, which in the c. spinifex (n° 16) is perforated. The rhincophori, so called on account of the length of their snout, are the first family of the third division of the coleoptera. The principal genus is that of the weevils (curculio), which has been divided into several sub-genera. Few in- sects are more destructive in their larva state than these. The bruchus eats the seeds of several le- guminous plants, those of coffee, and the kernels of many stone-fruits. Two species, the curculio granarius (n° i5) and c. oryzce (n° i4)» when they get into our granaries, are amongst the COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 4? 7 greatest scourges with which we are afflicted. Others, such as the c.palmarum (n09 3 and 4) live in the palm-trees, and its larva is much esteemed in the West India islands. Its nest, woven of the fibres of the tree, is placed here along with the larvae. That of the attelabus (rhynchites bacchus, Herbot, n°3), lives in the curled leaves of the vine, and if the weather is favourable to its in- crease, whole vineyards are in a short time de- prived of their verdure through the ravages of these insects. Other larvae of the same genus destroy the buds of flowers. The females lay their eggs in the buds while they are yet tender, and they always appear at the same time as the vegetables upon which their posterity are to be supported. They live also upon plants when in their perfect state, and we frequently see the leaves perforated by their proboscis. Many wee- vils remain constantly on the ground: these, such as the brachyceri, are almost always rough and of an ashy colour ; others, like the brenti, have the body, and particularly the head and the tho- rax elongated. In some it is the snout only which arrives at these extraordinary dimensions, as in the hazel-nut-weevil (rhynchcenus , Fabr.), nos 191 and 19^. Some of the rhyncophori placed here amongst the weevils, and which form the division D, DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. more particularly attack the composite and um- belliferous plants. These are called lixos by Olivier. Many of the short snouted weevils are ornamented with the most brilliant colours, as their specific names denote: such as the c. impe- rialis, or diamond beetle (n° g3), the splendid (n° 04), the chrysis (n° 96), the regalis (nos 1 01 and 102), etc. This last, with gold coloured patches on a bluish green ground, is so brilliant that some persons use it for ornament instead of precious stones. The male of the curculio (n°i6) has the snout covered with down. The larvae of the bostrichiy Geoff., feed on the woody parts of trees. One of these, the destructor (n° 1 1), par- ticularly attacks the elm, and forms diverging furrows under the bark; the curculio (n° 160) and several analogous species do much injury to the resinous trees. The third and last division amongst the coleop- tera is composed of insects having three joints to their tarsi. They are almost all small spotted hemispherical insects, known by the vulgar name of lady-birds , and which naturalists have named coccinella. The most common is the seven-spotted lady-bird (c. septempunctata) , n° 10. The collec- tion of coleoptera which we have examined is contained in twenty-five frames; the three last of which exhibit their several metamorphoses. COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 479 The next order, that of the orthoptera, is com- posed of the genera earwig (forficula), cock- roach (blatta), camel-cricket (mantis), locust (gryllus) , and other insects which have soft wing- sheaths, and the wings folded longitudinally like a fan. Many of these orthoptera, such as the locust and camel-cricket, feed upon other insects, but the greatest number live on vege- tables. Being provided with very large wings which they can keep unfolded for a great length of time, they are able to transport themselves to great distances, and they emigrate like birds of passage and with the same view. They unite in such numbers that they darken the skies. The camel-crickets, and especially the acridium lineola (n° 24) and a. moratorium (n°28), often bring destruction upon the most fertile coun- tries; they devour every thing, and their dead bodies sometimes even infect the air. The in- habitants of some parts of Africa and the Levant pick them up, take off their wings and feet, pickle them and sell them for food. The spe- cies bearing the first numbers are remarkable for the form of their thorax. The American cock-roaches are extremely voracious and have a foetid smell. There are some species equally troublesome in Europe ; such as the b. orien- talis (nos 1 6 and 17), the b. lapponica (n° 26), 48o DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. which has spread itself even into the smoky cabins of the Laplanders. The giyllus mon- struosus (n° i) is the most extraordinary spe- cies ; its wings are rolled in a spiral form, and its tarsi are much widened. The male of the g. umbraculatus (n°n), a species peculiar to Spain and Barhary, has a sort of veil on its head. It would be useless to speak here of the species of our own country (nos 8, 9 and 12). To this genus is united the gryllus gryllotalpa, or mole- cricket, which burrows under ground in the manner of a mole. These insects are spread in every part of the world: they, together with the genera gryllus, acridium, and truxalis, form a division remarkable for two important cha- racters, the faculty of hopping, and that of pro- ducing a monotonous sound by means of friction, which is commonly called chirping. Among the grasshoppers the males alone enjoy this property, and nature has converted a part of their ,wing- shells into a musical instrument : the hinder legs of the acridiinnaclthe part of the bow of a vio- lin, which the animal passes rapidly over the ex- terior surface of its wing-sheaths. The abdo- men of the female locust terminates in a long sword-shaped process, with which she pierces the ground in order to deposit her eggs. The prevailing shades among the grasshoppers and COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 4&* the camel-crickets (mantis) are green or ash- coloured. The insects of the genus phasma are almost all exotics ; they are in general of a very singular shape, and of very great dimensions. The mantis siccifolia (n09 1 to 3) resembles a parcel of dried leaves ; others look like the small branch of a tree, whose twigs are represented by the feet. We see here seventeen species of mantis or phasma sent from the East Indies or from South America. One of the largest species of phasma (the serripes), brought from New Hol- land by Peron and Lesueur, is contained in a separate frame. The camel-crickets are not less curious than the phasmata ; one of them (m. ora- toria, n° 27) well known in the South of France, has the fore legs much longer than the others, serrated, and armed with a claw, with which it seizes the small insects on which it feeds. The proportions and forms of the different parts of the body are very various in this genus. The fe- male lays a great number of eggs symmetrically arranged in the manner of a honey-comb ; an idea of which may be formed from the specimens here exhibited. The leading characters of the insects which compose the two orders we have been consi- dering are, the existence of jaws and of wing- sheaths, which are hard or horny in the coleop- 3i 482 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. tera, and soft in the orthoptcra. Those of the following orders are also provided with jaws, but their wings are four in number, of a mem- branaceous texture, and unprotected by a sheath, These wings are nearly of equal length, coria- ceous and reticulated in the neuroptera; softer, and the two lower ones shorter, in the hyme- noptera. The family of the dragon flies (libellulce) is very numerous ; species of them are to be found in every country ; they are remarkable for their elegant light form, for the variety of their co- lours, and above all for the rapidity of their flight. They seize in the air upon their prey, which consists of flies and other insects. Those which constitute the genus agrion have a filiform abdo- men; we shall notice among them the varieties of the l.virgo (nos 91 to 98), and those of the /. puella (nos TOO to 106, 1 17 to 119). The termes is frequently mentioned by travellers under the denomination of white ant. The population of our European ant-hills is nothing in comparison with the dwellings of the exotic white ants. The habitations of several species are raised above the surface of the ground in the form of a py- ramid or small tower, and placed near one an- other like houses in a village. They make the more havock from their working together in COLLECTION OF ABTTCULATED ANIMALS. communities, and always under cover. They form subterraneous roads or galleries in order to reach the trunks of trees, the interior of which they devour. Nothing but metal or stone can arrest their progress. N° 2 is a white ant in its Jarva state, wrhen it is designated by the name of labourer. The myrmeleons are well known from the singular habits of the larva, described in so in- teresting a manner by Reaumur. Persons who have not observed these insects may form some idea of their history upon inspecting the frame in which they are placed ; it contains the larvae, the sandy funnel which serves them as a trap for other insects and particularly for ants, the cocoon in which they pass to the state of nymph, and the relicks of their transformation. The phryganece are distinguished by the fold- ing of their lower wings; they proceed from aquatic larvae, which reside in tubular cases formed by agglutinating any materials that come in their way. Several specimens are seen nos 1 7 to 22. The order of the neuroptera is terminated by the ephemera, which are extremely short-lived insects. Their existence, considered from the time their wings are developed, being of only a few hours' duration, has been the cause of their 484 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. being thus called. The males and females die a few hours after they have perpetuated their race. But before they arrive at this state they live two or three years in the water, and when in their last stage myriads of them quit the liquid ele- ment, and fixing upon different bodies, divest themselves of their newly acquired pellicle and wings, and display new ones. They may then be seen fluttering in the air and over the surface of the water, pairing, laying their eggs, and fall- ing to the ground, sometimes in such quantities as to cover it an inch thick. When the white may-flies (eph. albipennis) are very abundant, they present the appearance of snow on falling to the ground. The e. longicauda, Oliv. (n° i), is the largest species of the genus, and on this Swam- merdam made his very interesting remarks. It is frequently found at the entrance of the rivers of Holland and Germany. The first genus of the hymenoptera is the ten- thredo, so named from the saw-edged piercer with which the females are provided, and with which they make incisions in different parts of plants in order to deposit their eggs. The divi- sion cimbex of this genus comprehend the largest species of the family. We shall cite as examples the c.femorata (n° i), \ c. lutea (n° 3), arid c. vitel- lina (n° 6). Their larvae when disturbed emit a COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS, greenish fluid, which they dart to the distance of a foot. The hymenoptera which follow have, for the most part, a piercer composed of three filaments, of which the two lateral ones serve as a covering to the other, which is the oviduct properly so called. The ichneumons deposit their eggs in the body of other insects, and particularly in that of the caterpillars and their chrysalis. In their larva state they do not injure the vital parts of the animal, and kill it only when they ap- proach the time of their transformation. The cynipes make incisions in certain parts of plants, and cause those tubercles known by the name of galls, which we see on rose-trees, oaks, etc. ; and which become a habitation and food for their posterity. The cluy sides, whose brilliancy of co- lour is so remarkable, are associated with those hymenoptera which destroy the larvae or nymphs of insects. There are other hymenoptera which form a second section remarkable for their instinctive faculties, and w^hich instead of a piercer have a sting. To this section belong several well known insects, in whose history we must necessarily feel interested, such as the ant, the wasp, the sphex, the bee, etc. We shall fix our attention however less upon the insects than upon their productions, which are here exhibited in three 486 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. frames. In the first we see the honey-comb of a bee of Bengal (n° i ), the nest of the vespa crabro of Cayenne (nos 2 and 3), and several other nests belonging to European species (nos 4, 5, 6, 7). The second frame is devoted to our domestic bee. In the upper part of the third case are several nests of earth, bored with linear holes, which are the work either of the sphex spirifex or of the apis lapidaria, Lin. Below these are the galls and cocoons of different species of ich- neumon and cimbex, and also a soft substance or down which is gathered by the formica fun- gosa of Cayenne. The sphex compress a (n° 5i), known in the isle of France by the name of blue-fly, wages a continual war with the cock- roaches. The insects which we have hitherto noticed are all furnished with jaws; in those which follow the mouth is simply a tube of varied structure, calculated to suck or pump liquid sub- stances. We shall begin with those which have been mast favoured by nature, and which are decked with her richest ornaments, the butter- flies, sphinxes and moths, collectively called lepi- doptera by naturalists. Those which fly by day, and whose antennae increase towards I he point, are called butterflies ; those which fly by night, and whose antennae diminish gradually from the COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. base to the tip, are called moths. The antennae of the sphinxes are in the form of a spindle ; M. Latrcille has named them crepuscularia. The number of species which compose this order is more than eight thousand. The three genera of Linnaeus have been considered as so many fami- lies, which have been subdivided into genera. The first cases contain the species of the genus sphinx of Linnaeus, from which the sesia and zygccna have been detached. The sesice have glazed wings, and their body is terminated by a brush of hair or scales; their caterpillars inhabit the interior of plants. That of the s. apiformis (n° i) feeds on the substance of the bark of the poplar-tree. We frequently see the s. stellata- i'um (n° i), particularly in the autumn, hovering around flowers, agitating its wings, passing with rapidity from one to another, and dipping its long trunk in their corolla. The s. tilice (nos 1 7 and 18) is more commonly found on the trunk of the elm ; on the poplar we find the species (11° 19) which takes its name from that tree. A very beautiful caterpillar, that of the s. eu- phorbice, Lin. (n°*25and 26), lives on the spurge. N° 54 is that of the sphinx, found upon the com- mon privet (s. llgustri)] the death-head sphinx (s,atropos, Lin.,) owes its name to the disposi- tion of the spots on its thorax. Among I be 488 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. European species we shall notice the s. celerio (n° 33), s. elpenor, Lin. (n° 23),s.porcellus (n° 40, s. convolvuli (n° So), and that of the oleander ( s. neriiy n° 60) ; the sphinx of the vine (n° 46) and the s. labruscce (n° £9) were brought from the West Indies hy M. Mauge. Most of the species which we have named are accompanied by the remain! of their caterpillar and chrysalis. The diurnal lepidoptera, or the genus butterfly, (papillo^-lin.) fill thirty cases. Almost all the names of the gods and demi-gods, as well as of the heroes and celebrated men of antiquity, have been adopted by Linnaeus and Fabricius to designate the species. They have been divided into groupes which have names derived from the same sources; such as the equites, divided into Greeks and Trojans ; the nymphales , danai, heliconii, and satyri. Some smaller species bor- dering on the sphinxes compose the plebeii, which are divided into urbicolce and rurales. The largest and most brilliant species come from the equatorial climates, especially from the Bra- zils and the Moluccas. The collection is too nu- merous to allow us to stop at every object worthy of attention ; we shall therefore confine ourselves to the indication of a few species of the different tribes. Among the nyinphales may be noticed the me* COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. nelaas (n° i), the achilles (11° 4), laertes (n° 8), hecuba (n° i4), and idomeneas (n° 21). The spe- cies fromnos477 to 556 have been collectively designated by the denominations of pearled and chequered: the heliconii are distinguished by their their graceful forms. In the beautiful di- vision of the equites, or butterflies properly so called, we shall point out \he priamus (n° i), of which M. Godart discovered the female (n° 3), before considered as a separate species under the name of panthous ; the remus (n°5), the Helena (n°g), the gambrisius (n°2i), the ceneas (n°54), the hector (n° 64), the ulysses (n° g3), the diomedes (n° 05), which last, the same naturalist discovered to be the female of the preceding one ; the pans (n° 98), and lastly, two French species, the ma- chaon (n° 122) and the podalirius (n° 120). An- other frame is filled with butterflies analogous in the form of their wings to those of the last divi- sion, and constituting the genus urania; among these, the ripheus from Madagascar (n° i54) is the most remarkable and rare. The leilus (nos j52 and i53), common to Brazil and Guyana, and the orontes of India (n° 149) are also very beautiful. Amongst the danai candidi, Lin., we shall notice two aurora coloured butterflies, the cardamines of our country (n°* 49 and 52), and the eupheno (nos 5y and 58) ; the males alone are DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. of this colour; they appear on the approach of spring, as does the p. rhamni (nos i55 and i5y). We may also notice four French lepidoptera, nearly allied to the danai : the two first, apollo (nos 17 and 18) and semi-apollo (nos 19 and 20), belonging to the genus parnassius, Latr., inhabit the Alps, and are much sought after by ama- teurs; the two others, rumina (n°75) and hyp- sipile (nos 76 and 77), of the genus thais, Fabr., are speckled with black and red on a yellow ground, and are found in the southern depart- ments of France. Next are the lepidoptera which, according to Linnaeus, compose the section oftheplebeii, sub- divided into urbicolce and rurales. The first, which are also named argus, fill two frames We shall notice as examples those little butter- flies which are common in meadows and lucerne fields (corydon, n° 1 3i), and which, at least in one of the sexes, have the upper side of the wings of a beautiful blue, and the under side of an ashy colour with spots like eyes. The urbicolae, keep their inferior wings nearly horizontal when at rest; they are here united with the castnicc under the generic name of hesperice, given at first by Fabricius to all the plcbeii. The third section, that of the moths of Lin- naeus, or nocturnal lepidoptera, is so numerous COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. j(JI liiat modern naturalists have been obliged to sub divide it into twenty-five or thirty genera ; the principal of which are the bombyx, noctua,pha- Icena, hepialus, pyralis, tinea, and pterophorus. The characters of these divisions have been de- rived from their simple or pectinated antennae, from the snout, the disposition of the wings, the form of the caterpillars and the number of their feet. These insects have not in general the bril- liant and varied colours which strike us in the diurnal lepidoptera, but their history is particu- larly interesting on account of their industry and habits in the caterpillar state, as well as^of the injury which we experience from some, and of the riches which we derive from others. Some species are remarkable also, when in their per- fect state, for their size, which almost equals that of our bat. Most of the caterpillars of this large family have within them two vessels filled with a substance of which they spin their silk ; these terminate at the lower lip, whence pro- ceed the delicate threads that compose the co- coon, in which they remain during the chrysalis state. The collection of nocturnal lepidoptera occu- pies eighteen frames, many of which are calcu- lated to afford information concerning the dif- ferent metamorphoses and the labours of these DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. insects. They contain the envelope of the cater- pillar carefully preserved, or its representation in wax, the chrysalis, the nymph drawn out of its envelope, and lastly, the cocoons in which the caterpillars enclose themselves, and the silky nests which they prepare for the residence of their community. In one of the frames is a nest formed of a multitude of cocoons symmetrically placed near each other like the cells of a honey- comb ; it is the work of a species, whose silk is used in Madagascar. The ten first frames enclose the genus bom- byx(i^ to which belong the bombyx mori, or silk-worm moth (n° 123). Amongst the nume- rous species of this genus we shall notice the phalcena pavonia major y Lin. (n09 3o and 3i), the largest of our indigenous lepidopterous insects, exhibited here in all its states, together with its work ; the p. atlas (n05 i and i3), a native of China, still larger than the preceding ; several species known by the name of luna (n°4), cecro-r pia (n° 21), promethei (n° 28), and tau (nos 3y to ' (i) The silk-worm lives in a wild state in several provinces of China ; its eggs were transported from that country to Constantinople by some Greek missionaries under the reign of Justinian ; from thence they were conveyed to Italy, and the silk-worm was first known in France in the middle of the fifteenth century ; but it was not cultivated till the time of Henry IV, when Sully caused plantations of mulberry- trees to be made for its support. COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 4o), the last only of which is indigenous; the b. pythio-campa (nos 78 to 81), the b. quercifdia (n° 98) ; and other species (n09 52 to 71) whose colours are disposed in stripes or chequers, and of which a section has been made under the name of scaly (i). The moths (phalence], properly so called, have been collectively designated by the name geo- metrce, in consequence of the manner in which their caterpillars crawl. A great number of spe- cies have angular* or denticulated wings ; such as the sambucaria (n° 100), alniaria (n°io3), sf- ringaria (n° 1 1 1). Amongst the noctuce, the agrippina (n° i ) is the largest species known ; it measures more than ten inches between the tips of the extended wings. We may also notice the odora (n°2), bubo (nc3) and crepuscularis (n°4). Several large species have the under wings red or blue with black stripes ; as they are very pretty, they have received endearing names, such as nupta (n° 28) i electa (n° 3o) , sponsa (n° 3 1 ). In these three spe- cies the ground colour of the wings is red, but (i) The caterpillars of the b. processioned, Lin., are very remarkable; they live gregarious under a tent. When they wish to remove from one tree to another they proceed in a regular triangle ; one of them keeping at the head of the column, two coming next, then three, until the column has attained a certain size, the whole band following their leader in all his windings on the way. 4 94 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. it is blue in that of the ash-tree (nos 2$ and 26). The pyralis fagana (n° 4) is one of the prettiest species of this genus: the caterpillar of the po- inona (n° n) feeds, on the seeds of apples and pears : the cocoons of several species of pyralis are in the form of a boat. The caterpillar of the cossus ligniperda (n° 6) and that of the horse- chesnut (cesculi, n° 7) live in the interior of different trees and often destroy them. The he- pialus humuli (n° 8) attacks the roots of the hop- plant. The name of tinece is given to those lepido- ptera which destroy fur and woollen cloths. The industry of the caterpillars is very singular ; of the remains of the hairs they feed upon, they make a tubular case to reside in, and lengthen or enlarge it by the addition of new materials, as they grow. The insects which are here united to the tineae or cloth-moths, and which are distin- guished by their white wings spotted with black, form at present the genus fponomeuta, Latr. ; their caterpillars, which are very small, live gre- garious under a silken tent, and they often en- tirely strip of their leaves the trees on which they establish themselves. N° 2 is the tinea evo- nymella, Fabr. The last frame of the lepidop- tera contains those species whose wings, from their division and their down, resemble thexplu- COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. mage of birds ; they constitute the genus ptero- phorus, Latr. The following order, that of the hemiptera, is composed of insects which resemble the co- leoptera and the orthoptera in their wings, but which have a snout or sort of jointed beak. To this order belong the lantern fly (fulgord), the cicada, the bug (cimeoc), the plant louse (aphis], and other analogous insects. In the lantern flies the extremity of the head is more or less ex- tended. The most remarkable in this respect is the falg. lanternaria, or Peruvian lantern fly (n° i), which is much sought after on account of its form and colour. We are assured that its snout is phosphoric, which has given rise to its name of lantern bearer. The f. diadema (n° 2) deserves also to be noticed. There are a great number of cicadse, all inha- biting hot countries, and differing much from the grasshoppers, which are called cicadae in the north of France. The inhabitants of our southern departments are often tormented by the stri- dulous noise made by the males of some species, such as the hcematodes (n° 12), and the c. orni (n° 25). This noise varies in different species. The description of the organ from which it pro- ceeds and of the oviduct of the female is found in Reaumur's Memoirs. The Greeks eat the nymphs DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. which they called tettigometrce , and even the per- fect insect. The c. orni (n° 25) makes an incision in the flowering ash, whence exudes the honied and purgative juice named manna. The genus eicadella is allied to the preceding. The bugs are divided into two great families, the terrestrial or geoconsce^ and the aquatic or hydrocorisce. They are generally carnivorous and of an highly unpleasant smell. The reduvii, Fabr., belonging to the family of the geocorisae, have a sharp snout and a formidable sting. The larva of the cimex per sonatas, Lin. (n° 5), inha- bits our houses ; it resembles a spider covered with dust, and feeds upon the common domestic bug. To the family of the hydrocorisce belong the genera hydrometra, nepa or water scorpion, notonecta^ naucoris, and corixa. The nepa maxima (n° i) is a very large insect, from South America. Those hemiptera in which the body of the fe- males increases very considerably towards the season for laying, when they acquire the form of a gall nut, are called gall-insects. To this fa- mily belongs the cochineal insect (coccus cacti), which yields so beautiful a colour, a native of South America, imported from Mexico with the cactus opuntia. The order of the hemiptera is COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 497 terminated by the genus aphis, or plant louse, which lives upon the leaves and tender shoots of plants and trees. The next order, that of the dlptera, compre- hends the musca, the culex, the tipula', the ta- banusy the oestrus, and a great number of other genera , not remarkable either in form or co- lour, but \vhose history is nevertheless worthy of attention. The gnats or musquitoes and the tabani are the scourges of men and domestic animals in hot countries ; it is with difficulty that we preserve our meat from the flies which lay their eggs in it ; the gadflies lay theirs on se- veral parts of cattle ; the cestrus bovinus (n° 5) attacks them, and draws blood by its bite ; the ce. maroccanus (n° 7) torments the dromedary. The bombflii, like several other lepidoptera, hover around flowering plants, making a hum- ming noise. The stratiomides are distinguished by their spiny scutellum ; their larvae, which are aquatic, as well as those of several syrphi, respire through the posterior extremity of their body, which has the form of a tube, and is shortened or lengthened by the insect at will. We cannot enter into more ample details, nor particularize a greater number of species; we shall content ourselves therefore with observing, that to the iipulce belong those numerous swarms of flies DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. which we often see hovering in the air on a summer's evening. The class of insects is termi- nated by the genus pulex (flea), which contains very few species, and of which M. de Lamarck has formed the order aptera. The collection which we have just gone through occupies two hundred and four frames, 1 6 inches wide and \[\ high, fifty-four of which are filled with Crustacea, twelve with arach- nides, and one hundred and thirty-eight with in- sects, that is to say, twenty-six of coleoptera, fourteen of orthoptera, six of neuroptera, ten of hymenoptera, seventy-four of lepidoptera, five of hemiptera and three of diptera. The annelides were formerly classed among the worms, which they resemble at first sight. They differ however in their organization and in the colour of their blood ; M. Cuvier made a distinct class of them, under the name of red- blooded worms, in a memoir read to the Insti- tute in 1802. M. de Lamarck has since named them annelides, and his nomenclature is generally adopted. M. Cuvier's observations upon the animals of this class led him to form a separate collection of them for the Museum, which has rapidly in- creased in consequence of the presents made by MM. Savigny and Dorbigny. M. Savigny has pre- COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 400 sented all the species which he collected in the Red Sea, and the series of the lumbrici, or com- mon worms, upon which he has written an ex- cellent treatise ; and lastly, the collection lately brought by him from the Italian seas. M. Dor- bigny has sent us a great number of species from La Rochelle. - M. de Lamarck divides the annelides into three orders : the first, that of the apoda, comprehends the family of the hirudinece, to which belongs the leech, and that of the echiurece. The second order, or that of the antennalce, comprehends four families, the aphroditcc, the ?iereidece, the eunicece and the amphinomi • among them we may remark the aphrodites, whose bodies are fur- nished on each side with numerous hairs with metallic reflections displaying all the colours of the rainbow. The animals of this order live in the sea ; their body is not protected by a tube, and on this account they can be preserved only in spirits. They have been placed in the lower part of the cases which contain the crustacese, by the side of the worms ; a still more nu- merous series of them is to be seen in the cabi- net of comparative anatomy. The animals of the third order, the sedentaria, have their body co- vered with a tube which is generally calcareous. These tubes are placed next to the shells in the 02. 500 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. cases opposite to the parrots. This order is also divided into four families ; that of the dor sales comprehends two genera, the arenicola and the siliquaria. The arenicola lives in the sand and makes no tube. There is but one species known, which has been named piscaloria, because fisher- men use it as a bait. It is found in abundance on our shores. The siliquariae form a calcareous tube ; we have seven species of them. The family of the maldanece comprehends the genera dentaliwn and clymene; we have eleven species of the first and none of the second. The family amphilrite consists of four genera, the pectinaria and the sabellaria, which form their tubes of grains of sand stuck together by a gluti- nous substance ; 'the terebelta, whose tube is com- posed of small shells, and the amphitrite with a membranous tube ; we have two species of this genus. The last family, that of the serpulece, comprehends, ist, the genus spirorbis, extremely small animals which attach their tube to shells and other marine substances: we have five spe- cies of them. sd. The serpula, of which there are nineteen species in the cabinet, and among them several very rare ones, brought from the South seas by MM. Peron and Lesueur. 3d. The vermilia, of which we have seven species : one of them, v. rostrata, enveloped in a madrepore, COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 5oi and remarkable for the spine which projects from the exterior edge of its tube, comes from the seas of New Holland. 4tn- The galeola- rlay from the same seas. 5th. The magilus, of which one of the two species in the cabinet, the m. antiquus* from the isle of France, forms tubes several feet in length with a spiral terr mination. The collection of intestinal worms was formed at Vienna by M. Bremser, who has made a par- ticular study of this class of animals, and sent to the administration of the Museum in exchange for other objects of natural history. It consists of six hundred and six species of worms, taken from the interior of two hundred and fifty-nine species of vertebrated animals belonging to the four classes. Each bottle is numbered in re- ference to a catalogue, in which is found the name of the worm and that of the animal from which it was taken. These worms are the more interesting, as each species belongs to a particular animal or to a particular part of the body, and produces a dif- ferent malady according to its nature. "We observe among this numerous series, the ascarides from the human body (n° 4) ; those of the horse (iViyS); the taenia(n°9); the hydatid from the sheep (n° i3i) ; and the echinococcus 502 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. (n° 12), found in the human liver, but happily very rare. The manner in which these worms are intro- duced and propagated in the brain, liver, etc., is a problem that has long attracted the attention of naturalists, but which is not yet resolved. The examination and comparison of many species may perhaps throw some light upon the subject. § XL COLLECTION OF IN ARTICULATED INVERTEBRATED ANIMALS: COMPREHENDING THE SHELLS, THE ECHIM, AND THE POLYPI. THE lovers of natural history have at all times taken pleasure in forming collections of shells, on account of the elegance of their forms and the beauty of their colours ; but these collections were objects only of luxury and of curiosity. As none but the most brilliant and rare shells were sought after, as their characters were even altered in order to augment their beauty by po- lishing them, and as the animals to which they belonged were not thought of, they were use- less in zoology. But this is no longer the case; the researches of M. de Lamarck on conchology have proved, that the characters of a shell indi- cate those of the animal to which it belonged, as the genus of a quadruped is indicated by its teeth. The distinction between terrestrial, river and sea-shells, and the comparison of those belonging to living subjects with those in a fossil state in DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. different strata of the earth, has also led phi- losophers to decide upon the origin of different formations. In consequence of the numerous re- searches and the classification of M. de Lamarck, a knowledge of conchology has become one of the principal bases of geology. The first shells in the cabinet were brought by Tournefort from the Levant, and presented by hirn to Louis XV. When Buff on had the su- perintendence of the Garden, he obtained per- mission to have them deposited there. Adanson presented those which he had collected at Sene- gal, and those which came from the cabinet of Reaumur were added. Since the organization of the Museum, the ac- quisition of the cabinet of the Stadtholder, the shells brought by the naturalists of captain Bau- din's expedition, those found by Richard at Cayenne, those collected by Olivier in the Levant and in Persia, those which have been recently sent from North America by MM. Milbert and Lesueur,and lastly, those which we have received from different correspondents, have made the collection very considerable ; and the comparison of the fossil species with the analogous living ones, renders it valuable for study. Those animals whose body is covered with a shell belong to the class of mollusca ; but though COLLECTION OF SHELLS. 5o5 several animals of this class have only an interior shell, and others have none at all, the affinity of their organization does not admit of their being separated. The animals belonging to certain shells are preserved in spirits of wine ; those of a large size, as also the naked mollusca, are placed at the bottom of the third division of the chest of drawers, immediately after the collection of insects. In going through the collection we shall fol- low the order adopted by M. de Lamarck; deviating only by proceeding from the most complicated animals to those which are more simple. The mollusca naturally form two divisions. The first comprehends the univalves, or those whose shell is formed of only one piece, and of some analogous genera without shells. The se- cond comprehends the bivalves, or those whose shells consist of two pieces, There are aquatic and terrestrial species belonging to the first divi- sion, but all those of the second are aquatic. The univalve mollusca are divided into five orders ; the heteropoda, the cephalopoda, the tra- chelipoda, the gasteropoda, and the pteropoda. The order heteropoda consists of the single genus carinaria. The most celebrated species 5o6 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. for its delicacy and rarity is the argonauta . vexil- lum. We shall also point out the v. diadema, fa- vanica, junonia, and mag7iijica of New Holland. There are several species marked with small spots on transversal and parallel lines, which have been named music shells. "We have eighty-five species of the genus mitra, ten of which are found in a fossil state in France and Italy. The initra papalis is remarkable for its size and its red spots. The in. cardinalis and the m. scmgui- nolenla are very rare species. 3d. The family of the purpurifera is divided into eleven genera, which comprehend two hun- dred species. Those of which the animals have been dissected have a vesicle filled with a colour- ing liquid. The species which has served for a type to the genus purpura, \ho, p.patula, is found in the Mediterranean. It was from this animal that the purple of the ancients was made; but since the introduction of cochineal it is no longer used. The rarest of these shells is the concho- lepas, which was brought from Peru by Dom- bey ; that which is most commonly found on our coasts is the buccinum undatiim. 4th. The family of the alata contains four ge- nera which are remarkable for the extension of the opening of the shell. In the strombi this edge is entire, it is cut in the pterocera, and extended 5lO DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. into a canal which is often as long as the shell itself in the rostellaria. The last genus, that of the struthiolaria, of which we have but two spe- cies, is very rare. 5th. The family of the canalifera is composed of three hundred and fourteen species, divided into eight genera, the most numerous of which are the cerithium and the murex. We have one hundred and twenty-three species of cerithium, sixty-four of which are fossil, and fifty species of murex. The murex cervicornis is the rarest of this last genus. The m. cornutus is known by the name of Hercules's club. The shells of the genus murex, which are carved and cut like leaves, are called endives. The rarest of this division is the murex radix. The calcareous stone, out of which the greater part of the houses in Paris are built, has been named cal- caire a cerites because it contains a prodigious quantity of the cerithium coronatum. The cer. ebe- ninum is a very rare shell from the seas of New Zealand, ^hzjusi are remarkable for their py- ramidal form, and the length of their tube. Of the sixty-four species in the collection, thirty are fossil. 6th. The family of the turbinacea comprehends eight genera, the greatest part of which are worthy of attention either on account of their ra- COLLECTION OF SHELLS. 5ll rity or the beauty of their shells. We have twenty- eight species of turritella, eight of which are fossil : these last are the more interesting to geologists, as they partly characterize the jura limestone. The genus phasianella consists of fif- teen species ; one of which, the bulimoides, was so scarce forty years ago, that three thousand francs were given for a single specimen. The naturalists who accompanied captain Baudin's expedition, brought so many from Mary's Isle, that it is now to be procured at a very moderate price. Of the thirty-eight species of turbo which we have in the cabinet, we shall only point out the t. marmoratus, t. coronatus, and the t. sar- maticus. Next to this genus are ninety-four spe- cies of monodonta, several of which, from New Holland, are ornamented with the most lively colours. Next come ninety-two species of tro- chus, the rarest of which are the t. Solaris, the t. indicus, the t. imperialts, and the t. gra?ia- tum. The last genus of this family is the sola- rium ; we have fifteen species, seven of which are fossil. The most singular is that known by the name of perspectiviirn. 7th. The family of the scalaria is composed of the genera ddphinula, scalaria , and vermetus. We have eleven species of the delphinula, three of which are fossil. The scalaria preliosa is one 5l2 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. of the rarest and most esteemed shells ; we have two specimens of it three inches long. The only known species of the genus vermetus was brought from Senegal by Adanson. 8th. The four genera which compose the fa- mily macrostoma are not very numerous ; that of the haliotideae consists of seventeen species, all very beautiful, amongst which the h. iris is un- doubtedly the most brilliant of shells. gth. The genera natica, nerita, neriiina, navi- cella, and janikina, belong to the family of the nerilacea: each of the three first comprehends more than thirty species. The neritinae and the navicellae are found in rivers ; the last are from isles of France and Bourbon. We have three species of janthina of a lilac colour. The animals belonging to this genus have a cellular bladder, which they draw into their shell or extend be- yond it, as they wish to remain under the water or to float upon its surface. We have a speci- men preserved in spirits. loth, nth, and i2th. The families of the pe- ristomatce, the melanice, and the tymncece, com- prehend nine genera which inhabit fresh waters. The rarest species is the cerithiumfluviatile, Lin., from Madagascar. We have twenty-seven spe- cies of the planorbis and twenty-five of the lymnaeae. These shells are interesting, because COLLECTION OF SHELLS. when met with in the fossil state, they prove the str ata to beof fresh water formation. 1 3th. The animals composing the numerous family helicoidea are very noxious on cultivated ground. The species most esteemed by concho- logists belong to the genera bulimus, achatina^ and auricula. We have one hundred and ninety- two species of helices ; these are terrestrial shells from all countries, the most curious of which is the h. vesicalis. Our knowledge of the next order, gasteropoda^ is due to the anatomical labours of M. Cuvier, and from his observations M. de Lamarck has di- divided it into families. The greater number of the animals which compose it are destitute of a shell ; we shall notice only those which are provided with one. The Umax arid other genera which have no shell are preserved in spirits of wine among the naked mollusca. The family of the bullcecK is very numerous , bu t owing to the lightness and fragility of their shell, they are rare in collections ; on this account that of the Museum which has twenty-four species is valuable to the student. The family calyptrece is composed of eight ge- nera: the crepidulce to the number of fourteen species, and the calyptn&ce to that of twenty, are distinguished by the interior partition of their 53, DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. shell. In \hQfissurellce there exists no partition, but the apex is pierced. To the family of the phyllidice belong the genus umbrella, vulgarly called Chinese parasol, a very rare shell of which we have four beautiful spe- cimens ; the patella of which we have seventy- five species and more than three hundred spe- cimens, mostly exotics ; the chiton, whose shell is formed of several small pieces so adapted as to admit of the animal's rolling itself into a ball in the manner of the woodlouse ; we have twenty- five species. The last order of univalve mollusca (ptero- poda] is divided into five genera. We Shall only mention the hyalcea and the clio : we have seven species of the first ; the most common is the tri- deritata (anomia tridentata, Forsk.) which is seen in great quantities swimming on the surface of the water between the tropics. The clio borealis is so abundant in the North seas, that it forms the principal food of the whales and other large cetaceae. Here ends the series of univalve : we shall now examine those whose shell consists of two pieces, and which are named conchifera. The first family, the tubicola, comprehends the genera aspergillum, fistulana and teredo. The two first come from the Moluccas, and are very COLLECTION OF SHELLS. 5l5 rare. We have two species. The teredinae, which form their tube in the interior of sub- marine wood, are natives of the same country; hut they thrive as well in our seas, particularly on the Dutch coasts, where they do much mis- chief to the dikes. The the family of the pho- ladaria have the same habits, but they penetrate into the hardest substances, such as limestone- rocks and pebbles. They form two genera ; the pholas, which has a white and often a very large shell, and the gastrochcena, of which the shell is small and rather rare. We have but two species of this last. The solenacece live under the sand : we shall particularize among them, the solen, vulgarly called razor shell, of which there are nine- teen species in the collection ; the panopcea , a fossil shell found at Placentia in Italy; the ana- tifice , very fragile and much esteemed shells. The anat. subrostrata, the largest of the six spe- cies we possess , comes from the seas of New Holland. The family of the mactracea consists of seven genera ; the most numerous is the mactra, of which we have twenty-seven species. The m. triangularis and the in. spengleri are very rare shells. The genus crassatella was known onlf in a fossil state when captain Baudin's expedition 33. 5l6 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. procured six species from New Holland. The genera ungulina and solemya are very rare : of the first we have only one species, and two of the second, one from the South seas and the other from the Mediterranean. This last specimen, which served M. de Lamarck as a type of the genus, was found on the sea shore at Hieres hy M. Olf Lacepede. The genera corbula and pandora compose the family of the corbulece. We have ten species of corbula, of which four are fossil. The three spe- cies of pandora known (tellina incequivalvis , Lin.) are found at St. Malo. The lithophagi comprehend the genera saxl- cava,petricola, and venerupis ; they inhabit stones which they have bored, as may be perceived by the specimens of the genus petricola. Ten genera comprising more than eighty spe- cies, compose the family of the nymphacece. The genus sangitinolaria comprehends four species, one of which, known by the name of sol occi- dens, is a rare shell. Forty-seven species belong to the genus tellina ; they are for the most part of a beautiful rose colour, from which circum- stance they have been named rising suns. The tel.Joliacea is much sought after, and the tel. lin- gua fells, as well as some other species, are re- markable for the asperity of their external surface. COLLECTION OF SHELLS. 5iy The family of the conchce comprehends one hundred and seventy-two species, divided into sea and river shells. These last compose three genera ; the cyclas, which are very small shells, inhabiting our ponds and rivers ; the cyrena, more especially found in India and America ; and the galathea, a very valuable shell from Cey- lon. The sea or marine concha, of which there are more than a hundred and sixty species, are distributed into four genera, the cyprina, the cytherea, the venus, and the venericardia. The venericardia is known only in a fossil state; it is very common at Grignon and throughout Champagne. There are more than seventy spe- cies of the genera cytherea and venus, all very remarkable from their form and the variety of their colours. The rarest among them are the v. erycma, the v.dionce, the v.plicata, the v. la- mellata, which are all foreign; and the v. de- cussata, known in Provence under the name of clovis. The cardiacea consist of more than one him- - dred and fifty species, divided into five genera, of which the cardium is the most numerous. It is seldom that the two valves of the cardium cos- tatum are found belonging to the same individual: the specimen in the Museum is of an uncommon size. The c. ceolicumy cardissa, junonice, and nncdo 5l8 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. inhabit the seas of hot countries : they are not very common, and are remarkable for their form and colour. The isocardice are very singular shells in the form of a heart, the extremities of which are pointed and twisted like ram's horns. The is., cor inhabits the Mediterranean ; another, the is. moltkiana, a very rare species, was brought by M. Dussumier, from the Chinese seas ; a third, the is. semi-sulcata, comes from New Holland : and a fourth, the is. arietina, is found in a fos- sil state in Italy, whence it was brought by M. Cuvier. The four genera, cucullcea, area, pectunculus and nucula, compose the family of the arcacece. There are only two species of the genus cucullcea known. The c. auriculifera, which is recent and rare, inhabits the Indian seas: the other, found in the fossil state near Beauvais, was presented by M. Lucas, junr. W"e have twenty-nine species of the genus area; we shall point out as among the rarest the arc. semi-torta, the ovata and the tortuosa. The shells which belong to the genus nucula are very small and brilliant: we have seven species, one of which, the area nucleus., Lin., is common on the coasts of France. Next to the arcacece are. the trigonice; to which belongs the trig, pectinata, a very valuable shell, from its rarity, and its being the only recent spe- COLLECTION OF SHELLS. cies known ; it was brought from New Holland by Peron. Many others are found in the same strata with the ammonites. The family of the nayades is altogether com- posed of river shells. Of the four genera into which it is divided, the most numerous is the unio, of which there are forty-six species in the collection, nearly all inhabiting the lakes and rivers of North America. We are indebted for them to MM. Michaux, Lesueur and Milbert. The unio pictorum and the littoralis are found in the Seine. The two species of the genus hyria come from Ceylon. Amongst the Jiine species of the genus anodonta the a. cignorum lives in our ponds, and is so named because it is eaten by swans. The etherice, the chamce, and the dicerates com- pose the family of the chamacece. We have but one species ofetheria, the elliptica, from the Per- sian gulph, which is the rarest, largest, and most beautiful of the genus The second and last order of the conchifera is that of the monomyaria, which is divided into seven families. i st. That of the tridacneae, formed of the two genera tridacna and hippopus. "We have six spe- cies of the tridacna, one of which, the chama gigas, Lin., is sometimes more than 6 feet in cir- 520 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. cumference, and weighs upwards of six hundred pounds. Peron mentions having seen at Timor, specimens of this shell which two men could with difficulty move. There is but one species of the hippopus in the collection. 2d. The mylilacece comprising the genera pinna, modiola and mytilus. The animals of this family, as also those of the next, attach themselves to marine substances by means of filaments called byssus, which being very delicate and silky in two species inhabiting the Mediterranean, are wrought into gloves and other articles, and when mixed with wool and woven into cloth they give it a sort of golden lustre. The pinna squamosa is sometimes found three feet long. Amongst the modiolce, of which we have six spe- cies, we shall notice the m. tulipa, whfch is of a pearly white, tinged with red, and the m. litho- phaga, which penetrates into calcareous rocks. There are twenty-seven species of mytilus in the collection: that from Japan, that from the straights of Magellan, and the opal muscle, are much va- lued on account of their rarity and the beauty of their colour. 3d. The family of the malleacece, comprehend- ing the genera crenatula, perna, malleus, avicula and meleagrina. W^e have four species of cr.ena- tula, found in the seas of New Holland ; and ten COLLECTION OF SHELLS. 521 of perna, the largest of which is the p. maxilla- ris, found fossil in Italy and America. The genus malleus derives its name from its form, which is like that of a hammer or the letter T : these shells are remarkable for their size and the small- ness of the cavity in which the animal is lodged. The white species is very scarce ; we have only two specimens from the Molucca islands. The shells belonging to the genus avicula have one side only of the valves very much extended, and when open they appear like two wings borne on a long tail. The largest of the eleven species in the collection is the a. macroptera : of the ligaments of these shells are made the jewels known by the name of peacocks' eyes, a specimen of which is here seen. The species of the genus meleagrina are not very numerous, but they deserve to be noticed, as one of them is the pearl oyster (mytilus margaritiferus , Lin.), which is taken at the depth of many fathoms in the Persian gulph. The pearls are produced by an exudation from the interior of the shell, which is itself wrought into sundry small utensils, ge- nerally known under the name, of mother of pearl. One of these shells is remarkable for the great number of pearls adhering to it. This spe- cies, or one nearly allied to it,, is also found on the coast of Cumana. 522 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. 4th. The family of the pectinidece comprehend- ing seven genera. The first , peditm, is composed of only one very valuable species from the Indian seas. We have forty-six species of the genus pecten, all fine and brilliant shells. The most rare and beautiful amongst them are the ducal mantle, the sole, and the bishop's mantle (p. bifrons, Lam). The spondyli \\a\z still more brilliant co- lours; there are nineteen species in the collec- tion, amongst which we shall notice the radians and the longispina. 5th. The family of the ostracece, composed of the genera gryphcea, ostrea, vulsella, placuna and anomia. We have sixty species of the second genus and five or six of each of the others. It was long supposed that these shells existed only in a fossil state ; but we now have one, the giy- phcea angulata which is recent and is considered as very rare and valuable. The vulsellce are found in sponges. The species of placuna, vulgarly called the saddle oyster, is much sought after on account of its form ; our specimen is of an ex- traordinary size. The anomice are particularly remarkable for the hole at the extremity of their lower valve, from whence issues the pe- dicle with which the animal fixes itself on the rocks. 6th. The six genera which compose the family COLLECTION OF TUNICIERS. 523 of the rudistce, which are all fossil, except one lately sent us from the isle of France. The yth and last family, that of the branchio- poda, has but two genera, the lingula and the terebratula. Only one species of the first is known under the name of duck's bill ; it is a very singular shell, from its two valves being supported on a long peduncle, by means of which it fixes itself upon different bodies. "We have seventy- two species of the genus terebratula, sixty of which are fossil ; the recent species are sought after by c on cholo gists. The following class is the tuniciers, which M. de Lamarck has placed betwreen the conchi- fera and radiaria, conformably to the recent ob- servations of Savigny, Lesueur and Desmarest. The greater number of its genera are known only by their descriptions, and we possess only about thirty species, which are preserved in bottles next to the naked mollusca. They are marine animals, without heads, and not symmetrical. Some of them are free, others are attached to fuci and various substances. They are divided into two sections, the combined tuniciers or bo- tryllariae, and the free tuniciers or ascidiae. The first order contains those that are agglomme- rated, so that several individuals appear to be animated by a common life, and to form but one DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. animal ; the second, those that are disunited, and which have no internal communication, although they are often grouped together or lie very close to each other. YV"e observe among those of the first section, ist, the pyrosoma atlantica, discovered by Peron : it is an hollow cylinder, closed at one end, open at the other, and covered with tubercles, which are so many little animals. It is so highly phosphorescent, that where it abounds the sea appears covered with burning coals, from whence its name, which signifies body of fire. When its phosphorescence ceases, it assumes various colours. 2d. The sinoicum aurantiacum, brought from New Holland by Pe- ron, and of which M. Lamouroux has formed the genus telesto: a dried specimen may be seen in one of the cases of madrepores near the tubula- riae. 3d. A new genus brought by M. Delalande from the seas near the Cape. Examples of the second section will be found in the salpce, which float like long ribbons and form garlands on the surface of the sea in warm climates ; and in se- veral ascidice, such as the a. mammillaris , which is found on our own shores, and the a. conchilega from the Cape. The class of the radiaria^ to which we shall next proceed, has been so named on account of the body's being formed in the manner of rays. COLLECTION OF RADIARIA. M. dc Lamarck, availing himself of the labours of Peron on these animals, has divided them into two orders, the soft radiaria and the echinoder- rnata. Those of the first order have been divided into two sections, the anomala and the medu- saria. They have all gelatinous bodies. There is a numerous series of them in the cabinet of anatomy. Amongst those under our inspection we shall point out in the first section the beroe and the noctiluca, which are the principal cause of the phosphorescence of the sea. The phy- salia, a specimen of which, placed near the echini, shows its internal and cartilaginous blad- der. Persons who have travelled beyond the tro- pics have been struck with the beautiful colours of this animal, as well as with its form, which is like the hull of a ship. In the second section we remark the cephea rhizostoma, Peron, whose gelatinous body, skirted with purple, is often found on the shores of the English channel. The radiaria of the second order have a hard and tough skin, frequently crustaceous ; they are divided into three sections, the stelleridce, the echmides and thejistulides. The stelleridcc or sea-stars have a flattened and circular body, whence issue five principal rays which are sometimes subdivided. These animals feed on worms and small crustaccae. They pre- D26 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. sent a striking phenomenon in the rapid repro- duction of such parts as they have lost. In very hot weather two or three days suffice for com- pleting the process ; and what is much more ex- traordinary, if one of the rays is severed from the body, it soon after becomes a star-fish similar to the one from which it was separated. By considering the form and the disposition of the rays, the characters of the four genera which compose this family have been determined : these are the comatula, euryale, ophiura, and asterias* The comatulce are contained in six cases ; we have seven species, four of which were brought from the South seas by Peron and Lesueur. The c. so- laris is the largest, and measures 12 inches in diameter. From one specimen of the c. rotularis we may see the attitude which these animals adopt in order to seize their prey ; suspending themselves to the fuci or madrepores by means of their dorsal rays, and extending the others, they catch the small crabs which happen to swim within their reach. Various species of euryale, vulgarly called medusas' heads, occupy the four next cases ; they are remarkable for the great number of divisions in their principal rays: we have four species of them. The rays of the ophiurce are sometimes smooth and sometimes rough ; there are seven species and a great num- COLLECTION OF RADIARIA. her of varieties in the collection. There are thirty-seven species of asterias which occupy twenty-seven frames. The lobes of some of them are so very short as hardly to surpass the disk, as is seen in the ast. discoidea, rosacea and cal- car; but they are long in the greater number. The most common species on our coasts is the a. rubens. We shall also point out the a. helian- thus and the a. echinites. The echinides, otherwise called urchins, have a calcareous shell covered with long spines, which are sometimes articulated, and fixed upon move- able tubercles. This shell is pierced with a great number of small holes, from each of which issues a tube or retractile sucker, through which the animal breathes ; they are regularly set, and have been named ambulacra; sometimes they extend all round the body and sometimes only over a part : their number, their form, and the respec- tive position of the two intestinal canals, serve to characterize the eleven genera of this section. The very complicated apparatus of the mouth of the urchins has been named lanthorn. We may here see a specimen of the whole apparatus as well as of its several parts. The echinides feed on small shell fish. There are one hundred and seven species in the collection : among which we shall particularly notice the sculella latissima; 528 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. the ananchites striata, which is found in a fossil state in the chalk at Meudon, near Paris; the echinus melo, which is sometimes more than 8 inches in diameter ; the echinus esculentus and the lividus, which are eaten by the inhabitants of Mediterranean coasts; the ech. variegatus, ra- diatus and atrctius, which have variegated colours, and the ech. tuberculatus,* whose spines are im- planted on large round tubercles; the cidarites imperialis, verticillaris , calamarius, baculosus, whose spines are very remarkable ; and the cid. tri- buloides, which has close to its mouth a short spine in the form of a club : this remark acquires a degree of interest from the great number of ^ similar bodies which are found in a fossil state. The Jistulides, which compose the third sec- tion, have a tough fleshy skin: they have been divided into five genera ; twenty species of them are placed next to the radiaria and to the mol- lusca preserved in spirits. \Ve shall only notice the sipunculus edulis, which lives buried under the sand in the Indian seas. The class we have ^et to examine is that of the polypi, the last in the animal kingdom ; they are complex animals, some of them naked, others protected by an envelope which they construct and inhabit in common, and which is extremely remarkable, COLLECTION OF POLYPI. £29 The general aspect of these habitations, which are called polypi, and the interior form and distri- bution of the cells, are so diversified that they have furnished the grounds of a division into orders and genera. We have a very numerous series of them: but it may be proper to say something of the animal itself, before we speak of the characters of the orders. The animals we have hitherto considered, are provided with an interior system of organs more or less complicated ; their size, and the consis- tency of their flesh or envelopes, have admitted of their being preserved dried or in spirits ; but so excessively small, soft, and glutinous are the polypi, that the instant they are taken out of the element in which they live, they dissolve into a watery substance, in which it is with the greatest difficulty that any trace of their organization can be seen. However it has been observed through the transparency of the water, that their body is of a cylindrical form, like a tube, shut at one end, and furnished at the other with moveable tentaculae, by means of which the animal seizes its food, rejecting the superfluous parts by the help of the same tentaculae and by the same aperture. These tubes considered separately are so many distinct animals, but as they are in a manner 34 53o DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. grafted together by the lower extremity, and partake of the same nutriment, they may he said to constitute but one complex animal. Although the polypi are the most simple in their organization of all living beings, their vital phenomena, when first described by Trembley, excited to the highest degree the interest and astonishment of naturalists. We shall here men- tion some of the observations made on the naked or soft polypi, and more particularly on a spe- cies of the genus hydra, which is common in our stagnant waters. The hydrce propagate them- selves by means of gemmce. A small bud grows on the tube, lengthens and becomes a new animal, which either remains fixed on the first, or falls off, and in turn becomes the parent stalk on which new individuals branch in the same manner. They also multiply by being severed, and however small the parts into which an hydra is cut, they soon become complete animals. The hydra vi- ridis, the form of which is that of a bag, can be turned inside out without the least inconve- nience to the life or habits of the animal, the exterior surface, now become the interior, per- forming the function of digestion, The second order of the polypi is composed of those which have a calcareous or horny enve- lope, the result of an exudation from their body, COLLECTION OF POLYPI. 53l by which they are protected, as the mollusca by their shells. As these tubes, which by their assem- blage compose what is generally called a polypus, have been moulded upon the animal itself, they give us an idea of its form ; but this notion being too imperfect for naturalists, M. Savigny lately undertook to examine several species of this order, and discovered in their organization the most curious and extraordinary phenomena. A very remarkable circumstance amongst the numberless animals which unite to construct a polypus, is the regularity and order writh which they work and branch their cells, so as to obtain for the whole set a general form or outline, which, differing in the various species, is uniform in each. Some are wrought into rounded masses, others into blades or leaves, the shape of a cup, or that of a shrub. Nothing can be more curious than to observe, at low \vater. on the shores of the tropical islands, the polypi so diversified in their form and colour, with their surface in perpetual motion from the activity of the small animals half protruded from their cells. The polypi act a very important part in the creation from the prodigious facility with which they multiply. To them is due the existence, ex- tent, and rapid increase of those shoals which 34. 532 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. are so frequently met with and are so dangerous to navigators in the equatorial seas, and more particularly in the latitude of New Guinea. They fill up straits, unite islands, which rest upon heaps of these polypi ; and, as Peron says, whilst man is, with the utmost labour and dif- ficulty, endeavouring to build on the surface of the earth fabricks which at once betray his weakness and the power of time, a small insect, of whose existence he was not aware, erects in in the depths of the ocean those astonishing mo- numents of a power that bids defiance to ages. Geologists frequently meet with whole strata formed of the remains of polypi, so that the his- tory of this class of animals presents the most curious problems, and is connected with the ear- liest revolutions of the globe. There are two sorts of polypi, those which are formed of one substance only, with the cells running through the whole mass of the common receptacle ; and those which consist of two sub- stances, one forming the axis and the other its bark or envelope. The animals belonging to this second sort are lodged betwixt the bark and the axis. They are called dendroides from their simi- litude to small trees, which has induced several naturalists, and Linnaeus himself, to think that they partake of the nature of plants as well as of ani- COLLECTION OF POLYPI. 533 mals. But Bernard de Jussieu, Ellis, and others convinced themselves that these envelopes are destitute of organization, and serve only to pro- tect the delicate animals which construct them ; and their opinion, adopted by M. de Lamarck, is now generally received. The collection in the Museum is composed of one thousand specimens belonging to five hun- dred and fifty species. It was begun in 1795 with those procured from the Dutch cabinet, to which were added the beautiful collections made by Mauge, Peron, and Lesueur in the West Indies and the South seas, and some no less cu- rious specimens presented by other travellers. They are arranged in the lower part of the chests of drawers, and divided into five orders accord- ing to the method of M. de Lamarck. The first is that of the floating polypi, which are nearly allied to the radiaria. They are united into an elongated, fleshy, living mass, adhering to a calcareous or cartilaginous axis. Several species of the genera 'veretillum)funiculina, and pennatula are preserved in spirits ; and dried du- plicates of them are placed in the frames with the axis of the virgularia australis, procured by M. Leschenault from the island of Bali. By the side of the urchins we see the osseous trunk of a pennatula upwards of 5 feet long, from the 534 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. Brasilian coast, presented to the Museum by M. Langsdorff, Next to it is placed the encrinus or medusa-head, one of the rarest specimens in the cabinet ; it was caught in the gulph of Mexico at a considerable depth ; there is only one other known in Europe ; its form is that of a tree with the branches horizontally spread. Fossil encrini are abundant in the strata of secondary forma- tion. The name of fossil palm-tree is given to the entire animal, and to its separate parts according to their form, those of trochites and star-stone. The second order, the tubiferi, has been esta- blished after the observations of M. Savigny We have but two species of the order lobularia, all the others belonging to that order are wanting in the collection. The /. digitata was found in the Atlantic, and the Lpalmata in the Mediterranean. The third order, that of the polypi with a solid envelope, is by far the most numerous, and our collection is very rich. We shall begin with those of a small size placed in the frames, and afterwards examine the larger specimens ar- ranged in the chests below. M. de Lamarck has subdivided this order into seven sections: the polypi incrmtatiy corticati, lamelliferi, forami- nosi, reticulati, vaginiformes , andjluviatiles. The genera alcyoniwn, spongia, jlcibellaria, and penicillus compose the first section. We COLLECTION OF POLYPI. 535 have only one species of the penicillus, the p. ca- pltatus, from the American seas. Amongst the twenty- eight species of the genus alcyonium, which are contained in five frames, is the a. purpureum,) from the seas of New Holland. Sixty-five species of the genus spongia arc ar- ranged in nineteen frames; they all differ in their form and texture. The animals which in- habit them are still unknown ; but it has been ob- served, that, when in their element, the sponges have a glutinous envelope or pulp which is irri- table, and by comparing them with the alcyonia, there is no doubt that they are formed by very small, pellucid animals. When taken out of the sea this glutinous pulp becomes brittle and soon falls off; the main body of the sponge is still flexible because it is composed of elastic fibres, and the numerous holes or vacuities in its texture admit and retain the water. We may have a still better idea of the manner in which a sponge is formed by comparing it, with the gorgonia, a genus of the following section, of which we have twenty-six species, occupying twelve frames. The gorgonia is composed of a horny axis co- vered with a glutinous and calcareous paste, which becomes crisp by desication : if we ima- gine this axis reduced to the thinness of a horny thread and ramified with the branches crossing 536 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. each other and uniting by the end ad infinitum, we shall form an exact idea of a sponge. The holes, which are seen in every direction, let in the water to the animals, which occupy the interior. The genera corallium,melitcea, isis,antipathes, and corallina compose, with the gorgojiia, the second section, or the polypi corticati. Of the melitaea we have but four species ; they are very various in their colour and occupy nine frames. Several specimens of the white and of the red corallium are placed in one frame ; some of them have their marine envelope, others are without it, polished, or even carved to shew the different forms that are given to that production. Six frames are filled with seventeen species of the ge- nus corallina, and one contains five species of the genus anthipathes; their appearance is much like that of branches of heath, cypress, etc. The axis of the genus isis, is articulated and composed of horny and calcareous substances. One of the five species in the collection, is is encrinula, from the seas of New Holland, is very rare. The lamelliferi are placed in the lower part of the chests with \heforaminosi andjluviatiles. In the section of the reticulati, we may re- mark the genera cellepora and discopora, whose fibres are excessively delicate, and the retepora cellulosa, vulgarly known under the name of nep- COLLECTION OF POLYPI. tune's ruffles, several varieties of which were brought home by Peron and Lesueur. Amongst the vaginifbrmes are the polyphysa australis, the sertularice procured by the same travellers from New Holland, and the acetabutum marinwn, Tournef., very remarkable on account of its form, which is that of a funnel supported by a long and thread-like pedicle, round which many young polypi shooting give it the appear- ance of a cluster of mushrooms. Among the rarest and most curious species in the lower part of the chests we shall cite, of the incrustati, the alcyonium cidaris from the Mediterranean ; the a. cuspidiferum, which re- sembles an assemblage of stalactites ; the a. ar- bor ewn from the Indian seas ; the a. vesparium from the same latitudes, whose form is that of a wasp's nest; a specimen of it, sawn length ways, shews its interior structure ; the tethia asbestella, procured by Bougainville, at the entrance of the Rio de la Plata, and several specie of sponge, such as the penicillata,flabelliformis, perfoliata, pella, calix, and mesenterica, brought from the South seas by Peron and Lesueur ; the spongia basta from the Indian seas, the s. lacunosa and bur- sarla; and the licheniformis which includes a great number of varieties : of the corticati, the gorgonia pinnata, the g. laxispina from the Ame- 538 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. rican seas, and the g.flammea, a native of the Indian seas, so remarkable for its scarlet hue : in the third section that of the lamelliferi, a heautiful specimen of the oculinaflabelliformis, a very rare species from India ; and many fine madrepores, such as the palmata, plantagijicea, corjrmbosa and cervicornis,some from the Indian, others from the American seas, the seriatopora subulata from India, the pavonia agaricites, and the lactuca from America, the astrea punctifera, the caryophyllia truncularis , sinuosa, zndfasci- culata, thefungia limacinaand agariciformis , the meandrina cerebriformis and labyrinthica from the American seas: among the foraminosi, the millepora complanata and alcicornis, and the tu- bipora musica, which was observed by Peron on the shores of Timor ; this polypus exists in half rounded masses of a vivid red colour, on which the animals expand their fringed tentaculae of a glossy green, and these orbs floating on the sur- face of the waters have the appearance of ver- dant sods upon a coral ground. Lastly, among thejluviatiles we may remark a beautiful spe- cimen of the alcyonella stagnarum, found by M* Robineau in a pond in Burgundy. CHAPTER III. CABINET OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. THE zoological department has presented us with the remains of animals so prepared, that we may recognize at the first view all the species, and observe the slighter differences which distin- guish them, as well as the more striking charac- ters which mark the groupes designated by the names of classes, orders, families and genera ; but the external forms are only a developement of the internal organization, and our general notions are always derived from the indications afforded by these outward forms. Therefore, to establish a general classification in zoology, we are obliged to call comparative anatomy to our aid, in order to ascertain its principles : it is anatomy which determines the relation of the different species, shews the affinities and demonstrates the respec- tive importance of the organs to the general form of the animal, its food, manners and habits. In short, anatomy enables us to compare living ani- 54-0 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. mals with the remains found in a fossil state, belonging to races that are extinct, but which existed at separate and very remote periods. But the plan of classing animals according to their organization was attended with insuperable dif- ficulties, as details were wanting to resolve the most important questions, and as the labours of several anatomists only made more evident the necessity of a complete system of comparative anatomy. Anatomy was for the first time methodically applied to zoology in the King's Garden ; and the association of the anatomical works of Dau- benton with the general views and descriptions of Buff on, gave celebrity to their joint labours. It was however confined to quadrupeds, and il- lustrated only such of them as Daubenton had been enabled to dissect with the assistance of Mertrud. A new career wras opened for the study of the natural sciences when, at the organization of the Museum, a chair was instituted for the anatomy of animals. Mertrud, who had been thirty years demonstrator of anatomy in the King's Garden, was named to fill it ; but as his declining age did not permit him to deliver his lectures, M. Cuvier, at his request, was appointed his substitute in 1795. CABINET OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 54 1 M. Cuvier, desirous of embracing anatomy in its greatest extent, undertook to form a collection which should not only present the skeletons of all animals, as "well as their soft parts preserved in spirits, but also comparative series of the organs of the same nature taken from each animal. He began by arranging all that the Museum possessed, setting apart what was most important for study, as also what was intended to serve as a basis for the general collection, such as the skeletons pre- pared by Daubenton and Mertrud, to which were added those made at the menagerie of Versailles for the Royal Academy of Sciences, by Perrault, La Hire and Duverney. After the pub- lication of Buffon's work these skeletons were stowed in the upper part of the building, which has been since converted into the library. They were mostly broken and in very bad condition, except a few large ones, such as the camel, the African elephant and the rhinoceros, which had been prepared by Mertrud and Vicq-d'Azyr in i793. The closets of the cabinet contained only a few skeletons, sculls, and preparations in spirits ; some very incorrect imitations in wax from the human body, by Zumbo ; the bones of the ear and injec- tions by Duverney and Hunault; and other imi- tations in wax of several parts of the human 542 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. body, executed and presented to the Museum by Pinson M. Cuvier was riot deterred by the immensity of the enterprise, the difficulties that were to attend it, nor the time required for its execu- tion. He set about it in 1796, upon as large a scale as if he had actually had every desirable re- source at his disposal. He instructed and formed assistants ; and having inflamed the zeal of his pupils by his lectures, he soon found amongst them, men of distinguished merit who zealously aided in his dissections. Such was the activity of their labours, that as early as 1806 students were admitted to the cabinet of anatomy. The series were then numerous, they have increased every year, and they are now so extensive as to form incomparably the richest collection in existence. All the objects with a very few exceptions, were prepared at the Museum, and were pro- cured from the animals of the menagerie, or pur- chased in markets or ports, or furnished by tra- vellers. They were reduced to their present or- der by M. Cuvier himself, or under his direction by M. Rousseau and other anatomists ; and M.Lau- rillard, a pupil of M. Cuvier's, is charged with the care of their preservation and the guardian- ship of the cabinet. The first room on the ground floor contains CABINET OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 5:'|3 the skeletons of the horse, the ass, the /ebra and the quaccha, also those of the American tapir, of the common hog, of the dicoljies, Cuv., and of a new species of tapir, sent from the East Indies by MM. Diard and Duvaucel. In the next room we see the skeletons of the large carnivo- rous animals, those of the pacliyderrnata and of the cetacea, such as the male and female ele- phants from India, which lived in the menagerie, and the female of the African species, which was prepared by Duverney : these last shew the error of several travellers, who have maintained that the elephant has no joint in the leg like other quadrupeds. There are also a skeleton of the hip- popotamus, one of the rhinoceros from the Cape, recently brought by M. Delalande, and one of the species from Senegal, sent by M. Roger, governor of that settlement. There are also six other ske- letons of the rhinoceros ; one prepared by Mer- trud, three new species from the island of Java, and two others procured at Sumatra by MM. Diard and Duvaucel, and a complete skeleton of a ca- meleopard more than \[\ feet high, sent to Eu- rope by colonel Gordon. The skeletons of the carnivorous animals, such as the bear, dog, wolf, hyaena, lion, tiger, panther and the seal, are ar- ranged upon the shelves on one side of the room ; and on the other, several species of dolphin, the 544 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. rarest of which is the dolphin of the Ganges, sent by M. Wallick, director of the East India com- pany's botanical garden at Calcutta. We see amongst them also the delphinus globiceps* which we owe to M. Lemaout, who selected it from a number of the same species run aground on the coast of Britany ; and lastly, the skeleton of a large seal (inanatus), and that of the dugong (halicore, Illig.), lately sent from Sumatra by MM. Diard and Duvaucel. In the middle of the rooms are supported by iron bars, three whales, procured at the Cape by M. Delalande. The horny substance called whalebone, which lines the interior face and the edges of the upper jaw, when the animal is alive, has been preserved in its proper place. The extremity is divided into numerous filaments, which serve as a net, by means of which the whale catches the small fish and mollusca on which it feeds. This substance is much employed in the arts, and is produced only by the largest and the smallest of the three species in our possession. On each side of the window, at the upper end of the room, we see the head of a whale and that of a cachalot (phy- seter macrocephalus , Cuv.),each measuring i4feet in length : an entire skeleton of this last, more than 60 feet long, is seen in the adjoining court. The substance known under the name of sper- CABINET OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 545 maceti is taken from the cavity in the head of this animal, and ambergris is a concretion formed in its intestines. To the left of this large room, and parallel with it, are three others filled with skeletons of the ruminating quadrupeds. In the first are those of the ox, sheep, goat and antelope, the horns of which arc hollow and permanent ; in the second, those of the stag tribe, or animals with deciduous horns; and in the third, those of the dromedary, camel, lama, and vicunna, which are destitute of horns. In retracing our steps and crossing the room containing the whales, we enter another occu- pied by human skeletons of different ages and nations : among them we remark that of an Ita- lian with one additional lumbar vertebra ; that of an ancient Egyptian, prepared from a mummy, on which are observed a great number of frac- tures perfectly cured ; the skeleton of a Boschis- mari female, known in Paris by the name of the Hottentot Ycnus, with a cast of her standing by that of the Celebrated dwarf of Stanislaus king of Poland; and also a model in wax of the ske- leton of a woman named Supiot, whose bones had become so soft that they were all distorted. A series of foetuses, shews the growth from the first month of conception to the birth. On the 35 546 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. shelves we see human skulls of different ages, from one day old to a hundred years, some of them remarkable for the singularity of their form, and chosen for the most part from amongst the prodigious quantity preserved in the catacombs. From the walls of the staircase leading to the first floor are suspended many heads of the horse, the stag, the dolphin, the hippopotamus, and several species of the ox tribe of different ages and varieties. The first room above stairs is devoted to a se- ries of entire heads of vertebrated animals — a great number of those of the human species, Eu- ropeans, Tartars, Chinese, New Zealanders, Ne- groes, Hottentots and of several American na- tions ; all the monkeys, amongst which are an an old and a young oran-outang, the examination of which led to the opinion, that the pongo of the island of Borneo is of the same genus and perhaps of the same species with the oran- outang ; several of the simia lar lately sent over from India by MM. Diard and Duvaucel ; a considerably number of all the carnivorous ani- mals, amongst which are those of several species of seal; every known species of the edentata, and almost all the rodentia: some in the first of these families belong to newly discovered spe- cies. Amongst the pachydermata we remark CABINET OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. the heads of the phascochcerus africanus and of the sus larvatus; three elephants' heads, one of which is sawn vertically to shew its internal structure ; and four of the rhinoceros belonging to three different species. Here are every genus and a great number of species of the ruminantia, with three cameleopards, one of which is very young, and many buffaloes. Near them is the skull, found in an Egyptian tomb, of the bos apis which was an object of worship. Lastly, the heads of many cetacea, amongst which those of the manatus, of the halicore, Illig., and of the monodon, deserve to be noticed. The second room on the same floor contains, on the right, the remainder of the series of heads; namely, those of birds, reptiles and fishes. We remark among .those of the reptiles, three of the crocodile of the Ganges, sent by M. Wallick. In collecting these heads attention has been paid to the difference of age to shew their gradual de- velopement. The remainder of this room is des- tined to the study of bones, separately considered ; on one side of it and in the middle are many glass-cases containing those entering into the formation of the head ; their number is very con- siderable, especially in the fish, of which a large variety is exposed to view. The bones of the foot are also placed in several boxes, and classed 35. 548 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. according to their nature, so that we see in one frame those of the heel, etc., of all the animals. There are similar series of the large bones and of the vertebrae in the two adjoining rooms, where we may compare those of the thigh, the arm, etc. In the third room are the skeletons of the small quadrupeds, comprising those of almost all the monkey tribe, those of the simia troglodites , Lin., of the pongo, several of the simia lar, and that of the galeopithecus ; a most complete series of the carnivorous animals, all the species of kan- guroo and didelphis known; the rodentia, the beavers, etc. ; every known genus of the edentata, amongst which is the myrmecophaga jubatay sent from Guyana by M. Martin ; the m. tamandua, procured by M. Gaimard, and the m. capensis, by M. Delalande ; lastly, the skeletons of the echidna and ornithorkynchus. Above the cases are affixed to the wall, the horns of the ruminantia, and on both tables are methodically arranged a complete series of teeth, from man to the horse. In the fourth room we see the skeletons of birds. Those which most deserve our attention are the African and American ostriches, the Indian casuary and the emu of New Holland; the skele- ton of an ibis, taken out of the tomb of a mummy, which M. Geoffroy procured in Egypt, and the CABINET OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. skeletons of the humming birds. The two last cases contain the tortoises, amongst which is a very large specimen of the sea and also one of the Indian land tortoise, the largest known at this day. The series of teeth, beginning with those of the horse and terminating with those of fishes, is here continued and shewn in small boxes placed on the tables. Above the cases we see the ske- letons of four large crocodiles, and near the one sent by M. Wallick are bracelets which were found in the stomach of this animal, and which must have belonged to an Indian woman. The skeletons of the reptiles, such as lizards, serpents, toads, frogs, and salamanders, with those of all the genera and of a great number of species offish, occupy the cases in the fifth room. On the top of the front cases we see the skeleton of a boa constrictor, 1 5 feet long, brought from Java by M. Leschenault, those of a shark and of a sword-fish from the Mediterranean, and on each side a series of snouts of the saw-fish, jaws of several species of shark, the ray, etc. On the tables in this room are the dried larynx and hyoid bones of quadrupeds ; amongst which is that of the simia seniculus, which is inflated like a bladder : it is this peculiar form which gives the voice of this animal the great extent and extraor- dinary sound for which it is remarkable. 55o DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. The five rooms we have been inspecting con- tain all that relates to osteology, and may be con- sidered as the first part of the collection. The second part, although it occupies a smaller space, is not less interesting nor less numerous than the first. The sixth room is devoted to myology. In the centre is a cast of the human body deprived of the skin, and on which the muscles are painted of their natural colour. The cases on one side contain small flayed figures in wax of human arms and legs : on the other are two small sta- tues of horses and the limbs of many quadrupeds, and in the remaining cases the dissected muscles of several animals preserved in spirits. Here we may study the myology of all the mammalia, and that of the birds, reptiles, and fishes. The seventh room contains the organs of sen- sation : the larynx and trachea of birds are also seen on the tables of this room. The cases contain a quantity of flagons, in which are pre- served in spirits a series of brains and eyes, which for the most part are dissected ; also the bones of the ear of all the animals from man to the rep- tiles and fishes. We also see here well prepared specimens of skins, furs, feathers, scales, nails, and hoofs; others of the tongue, nostrils, and different preparations of the nervous system ; CABINET OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 55 1 and a few heads of savages with their tatooed skin dried on them. Preparations of the viscera in general, but more especially of those belonging to the func- tion of digestion, are placed in the eighth room. In one of the two large glass frames is a model in wax of a child twelve years old, with the breast and abdomen laid open to shew the rela- tive situation of the viscera and of the intestines ; and in the other the anatomy of the hen, exhibit- ting the several periods of the formation of the egg, as well as the internal organs of the fowl. The ninth room is dedicated to the organs of circulation, and to those of different secretions. It contains a series of hearts of the mammalia, reptiles and fishes, some injected preparations, a great number of dissected tongues and larynxes ; the glands belonging to several parts of the body, swimming bladders, and the organs of gene- ration; next to which are some very delicate preparations of foetuses belonging to viviparous and oviparous animals. There are besides, on the table in this room, injected and dried viscera, which shew the degree of fineness to which the vessels arrive, that serve to carry on the cir- culation of the fluids. The tenth and last room contains a series of monstrosities and foetuses of different ages. It 552 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. may be here observed, that variations in nature are quite as frequent amongst the inferior animals as in the human species ; thus the opinion that they are the result of the mother's imagination falls to the ground, as it cannot be supposed that infe- rior animals, as the rabbit, etc., amongst which monsters are not uncommon, are susceptible of these impressions. This room contains also pre- parations of different orders of mollusca, arti- culated animals and zoophytes; comprising all those which M. Cuvier has had engraved for his work on the anatomy of mollusca. On the tables are twenty-four frames containing a series of preparations of shell-fish in wax, made at Naples under the direction of Poli, and procured by professor Hermann of Strasburg. Some very interesting and delicate preparations of the hard parts of Crustacea and insects, made by M. Straus, should be seen here ; but for want of space they are deposited in the fourth room, next to the frames which contain the teeth of fishes. To this rapid description of the cabinet of comparative anatomy, and of the order of its ar- rangement, we shall add a numerical list of the preparations, which in December 1822 amounted to 11,486. CABINET OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. 553 OSSEOUS AND DRIED PREPARATIONS : Human skeletons 41 16 of foetuses. 2 young subjects. 2 French adults. 6 European d°. 5 Egyptian mummies. i Gouanche mummy. 1 1 Negroes and Hottentots. Human skulls !/4 Go shewing the differences of age. 5o of varied forms. 64 of different nations. Skeletons of mammalia 36o birds ooo reptiles i65 fishes 48o Heads of all sorts of animals i,o4o with the bones separate 5oo Bones classed according to their species 690 of the hand and foot . 5oo Preparations of teeth 870 the bones of the ear 4^2 hair, feathers, nails, ere a4o intestines, dried and injected 58 the larynx 200 the branchia of fish 42 the hyoid i33 external envelopes of Crustacea and insects a5o wax and plaster casts of the muscles and viscera of man and animals J.6 6,231 554 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. SOFT PREPARATIONS PRESERVED IN SPIRITS : Muscles 172 Brains 216 Medulla oblongata and nerves 66 Organs of vision $37 hearing 44 smelling 3o feeling 34 taste 54 circulation 220 The viscera 916 Larynxes, lungs, etc 253 Organs of secretion g5 generation 34a Foetuses with their envelopes 80 Developement of the egg in birds, reptiles, and fish . . 83 Eggs of mollusca 38 Foetuses without their envelopes 167 Monstrosities ^ 161 Anatomy of mollusca 881 Crustacea »44 worms 92 insects 268 zoophytes 5g3 5,255 CHAPTER IV. THE MENAGERIE. WHEN Louis XIV fixed his residence at Ver- sailles, the academy of sciences requested him to establish a menagerie in the magnificent park belonging to his palace. His consent being ob- tained, a great number of rare animals were soon assembled in a large space fitted for their re- ception, and drawn by Perault with a correct- ness hitherto unknown in France. The menagerie continued to be enriched under the reigns of Louis XV and XVI. It was there that Buffon and Daubenton saw most of the foreign animals they have described from their own observations ; and the fifteen first volumes of the Natural History, which they published together, owe to the menagerie of Versailles most of the descriptions and original remarks which render it a fundamental work in zoology. The unfortunate Louis XVI being obliged to quit Versailles, the menagerie was neglected, 556 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. and several of the animals perished for want of food. Those which remained in 1792 were of- fered to M. de Saint-Pierre, intendant of the garden, with a view to their dissection. He refused to accept them on such terms, and pre- sented a memorial to the government on the ne- cessity of adding a menagerie to the Garden of Plants (i). This memorial produced the de- sired effect ; and six months subsequent to the new organization of the establishment, the ani- mals were removed to the Museum (2). At the same time, by a decree of the corporation of (1) This memorial is printed in the lath vol. of M. de Saint-Pierre's works, page 635 to 669. The author urges the motives which should determine the government to adopt the measure, and answers the ob- jections of those who regarded it merely as wasteful magnificence. He shews that the establishment, being designed for instruction in natural history, ought to represent a picture of the three kingdoms; that the study of zoology absolutely requires living subjects ; that the idea formed of them from their skins and skeletons is as incomplete as that formed of vegetation by turning over the leaves of an herbarium ; that there should exist means of preserving the animals sent as presents by foreign governments ; that several wild animals might one day be usefully domesticated, if methods were contrived for rearing and mul- tiplying them ; that by the crossing of different breeds new ones might be obtained to the increase of agricultural riches ; that most of the animals in our farm yards were thus reclaimed from a state of nature. In short he suggests some very wise plans, which no doubt had great influence on the new organization of the Museum. (2) There were but five of them : a very tame lion, the anlilopc, bubalis, the antilope corinna, the equus qnaccha, and the columba coro- nala. The lion in particular attracted the attention of the public from THE MENAGERIE. 557 Paris, all itinerant menageries were forbidden, and those who gained their livelihood by exhi- biting animals were obliged to send them to the Museum, which was at once possessed of a con- siderable number. Some were placed in tem- porary dwellings, others in the groves, and the plan of a menagerie Avas immediately laid out. But it was only by degrees, and as circumstances \vould permit, that the necessary ground was obtained, and the enclosure did not attain its ac- tual extent until the year 1822. In the historical part of this work we gave an account of the buildings which were con- structed, and of the acquisitions by which the menagerie had been enriched. We shall not re- turn to this subject, but shall limit ourselves to describing its present state, and the order which reigns in it. As collections of animals are liable to so much fluctuation from death and other causes, we shall not mention all the animals which are at present in the menagerie, but only the most remarkable species, and those which we hope to preserve. Neither shall we point out the places where they are to be found, as his attachment to a dog with which he constantly played. It was the same lion of which the librarian, M. Toscan, has given a very in- teresting history : see I' Ami de la Nature, page i5-4j. In the same work, published in 1801, we find, page 265, some observations on the animals then existing in the menagerie. 558 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. they are removed from one park to another ac- cording to circumstances : and as a label is placed over the gate of the park or lodge of each ani- mal, designating its name, the country from which it comes, and the name of the person who gave or sent it to the Museum. The menagerie is 220 fathoms in length from East to West, or from the esplanade in front of the amphitheatre to the terrace along the quay ; its greatest width from North to South is 1 10 fa- thoms, and it communicates with the garden by four principal entrances, one on the ^West, two on the South, one of which is in the centre of the chesnut walk and the other at the extremity, and the fourth on the North near the cabinet of comparative anatomy. These gates are open to the public every day from 1 1 to 6 in the summer, and from 1 1 to 3 in the winter. No person is admitted into the interior of the parks or lodges, unless he is conducted by a member of the ad- ministration. The space destined for tame animals, which walk about at liberty, is divided into fourteen parks or enclosures, six to the west and eight to the east of the edifice called the rotunda. These parks, round which the public can walk, are subdivided into compartments, each termi- nated by one side of a building into which the , J/nj> . ThfTtTn*/ , 7mp • THE MENAGERIE. 55g animal retires at will in the day time, and is shut up during the night. At the extremity of these parks and near the river is the building for the wild beasts. On entering the menagerie at the door near the amphitheatre, we find an alley to the right which leads us all round it, and in front an- other alley which crosses it, winding round the parks, and passing between the rotunda and the aviary. Taking this path we see ist, on each side, the African sheep with a large tail, and the morvajit with very long legs. 2d. The camelus alpaca, a very remarkable animal for the length and fineness of its wool ; it was almost unknown at the time when it was presented to the Mu- seum by M. Pouydebat, a merchant of Bourdeaux. 3d. Male and female goats from Tartary, and also one which MM. Diard and Duvaucel sent from India, of the true race, the wool of which is used in making the Cashmere shawls. 4th- The goats from upper Egypt, to which the projection of their under jaw gives a very singular appear- ance ; and those of Napaul, which are remark- able for a very important character in zoology, that of having the curved forehead of the sheep. 5th. Some goats which scarcely differ from our European species, but which may give rise to a new breed. 56o DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. Observation having proved, that under certain circumstances animals, especially goats, loose a great part of their hair, and that the wool un- derneath is then developed in greater quantity, choice was made of a couple most abundantly furnished with wool, and from them a new domestic breed was obtained, covered with a down very similar to that of the goat of Cash- mere. It is easy to conceive the advantages to our manufactures that might be derived from their multiplication. We next arrive at an enclosure which ex- tends nearly as far as the aviary; it is divided into five compartments, in the middle of which stands a large circular fabrick, having its roof thatched with reeds, which serves as a stable. In the first compartment is a basin where all the smaller species of aquatic birds are assembled; here are also different species of tortoises, wThich either remain in the water or creep about on the grass. The second, third, and fourth com- partments are occupied by a great number of long-legged birds and gallinaceous fowls. We shall particularly notice amongst them the Euro- pean crane, the carunculated crane from the Cape, presented by M.Taunay,the crowned crane, and the mycteria argala, a species of stork, the feathers of which are in great request for ladies' THE MENAGERIE. 56l ornaments. The ostriches occupy the last com- partment. Large trees shade the whole extent of this park, and the numerous birds that walk about it in the day retire at night into the thatched hut. To the right of the park just mentioned is an- other with three divisions, towards the extre- mity of which is a building imitating a ruin. It was long inhabited by the wild goat (caprd cegagrus) ; other animals have been successively placed there. In the western compartment is a basin for the larger aquatic birds. To the south of this park, which is the lowest part of the menagerie, we see another more elongated, extending from the green-house to the rotunda, sloping towards the north and di- vided into five compartments. In the middle is a small picturesque building with four pavilions, each of which serves as a retreat to a species of deer. The cervus axis has been kept and has propagated here for several years. The winding walks which encircle these parks end at the rotunda and the aviary. Beyond, we find nine other parks constructed upon the same plan. In the middle of the first, opposite to the rotunda, we see a shed encircled with wooden pillars, in which is a mule produced from an ass and a female zebra. This animal is 36 562 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. striped like the zebra, particularly on the legs and thighs. The eight following parks are inhabited by different species of sheep and deer. We shall principally remark amongst them the male and female of the sheep of Astracan (ow aries va- rietas), which were presented to the Museum by the late Duke of Richelieu ; as they have pro- pagated, we have hopes of domesticating them; the wool of the young is a valuable object of com- merce. The male and female great deer of Canada (cervus strongyloceros , Schr.), sent us by M.Mil- bert; the stags of Louisiana and of Bengal, the last of which, supposed to be the hippelaphus of Ari- stotle, was given by M. de Montbron ; and several other species of deer, one of which is white. In the furthest park, and during summer only, we see the guepard (/dis jitbata), common to Asia and Africa. This animal, which the Asiatics train to hunting, resembles the panther in the elegance of its form and the agility of its move- ments ; it is as tame and mild as the most familiar dog ; it was given to the Museum by M. Lecoupe, governor of Senegal. Having made the tour of the different parks, we return to the rotunda. In this edifice, which has five large pavilions, we find a young elephant, sent from India by ^ s s N. Uttrand r/M/t THE MENAGERIE. 563 M. Leschenault ; five dromedaries, three of which were born in the menagerie ; the male and fe- male bison (bos bison, Lin.) ; the buffalo, and several small animals, such as the pecari, dico- tyles labiatits, and d. torquatus, Guv., etc. On leaving the rotunda we proceed to the cages where are kept the monkeys and the birds of prey, and to the aviary. Last year the cages of the monkeys formed a continuation with those of the birds of prey ; a road has been cut through, which is to lead round the menagerie. This new arrangement has made the place for the monkeys much too small ; but it is in contemplation to have a more convenient lodge consti acted for them. A great number of monkeys have existed in the menagerie, and many have had young, of which several are still living. The most remarkable spe- cies at present are, the simia leucophcea, Fr. Cuv., s. sphinx, s. pileata, Shaw, s. silenus, Lin., and the s. cynomolgos. On the other side of the new path is a small gallery, with glazed doors, which are kept open in fine weather, for such small quadrupeds as require heat, such as the viverra mungo and the viv.javanica, two American squirrels, a da- syurus, a phalangista, an arctomys empetra, two species of dasypus, etc. 36. 564 DESCRIPTION OP THE MUSEUM. Next come the birds of prey : here are vultures of different species, one of which (vultur papa) was presented to the Museum by the duke of Orleans; the vultur barbatus^ which, next to the condor, is the largest bird of prey known ; the falco ecaudatus of Senegal and several American owls. On turning to the left we arrive in front of the aviary, which is an inclosure planted with shrubs, with a building in the rear facing the south, and divided into compartments, for foreign birds. As this enclosure is destined for the pro- pagation of rare and wild birds, the public is not admitted into it. It contains at this moment the golden, silvery, and common pheasants, some foreign species of gallinaceous birds, such as the crax alector and galeata, the penelope marail, and many curious species of poultry. Going round the aviary we return to the ex- tremity of the menagerie to see the carnivorous animals. In the historical account it was ob- served, that all those which we had possessed since 1794 na^ been lodged in an old build- ing at the end of the chesnut walk, and that a new one had been erected in 1817, into which they were removed in 1821. This build- ing, of a simple and regular style of architec- ture, contains twenty-one lodges which have a / 3* X •V v THE MENAGERIE. 565 southern aspect ; behind is a gallery lighted from the top, sufficiently large to admit of two per- sons walking in it without danger, to see the animals in winter when the outside shutters are closed. It is also from this gallery that the ani- mals are fed and their apartments cleaned, by re* moving them from the lodge where they pass the night, to that adjoining. There are now in this building, lions and lionesses, one of which has a dog living with it ; the jaguar (fells onca] ; two species ot jackall (cams antlms and aureus) ; several black bears; the spotted and striped hyaena (cams hycena and crocuta) ; foxes, and wolves, one of which is no less sensible to the notice of those who approach its den than the most affectionate dog to the caresses of its master. The lions are from mount Atlas, and were pre- sented to the government by the emperor of Morocco and the dey of Algiers. One of the lionesses has had young several times, but the whelps have never survived dentition. The two jackalls were sent, the one from India by M. Leschenault, the other from Senegal. This last is a new species, remarkable for its slender make and tapering head. Although these animals are of different species they have produced young. The jaguar is a native of South America. Some years ago we had other individuals of the same 566 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. species, and were thus enabled to distinguish them from the leopard and the panther which existed at the same time. The menagerie having successively possessed a great number of foreign animals which have been dissected, has given rise to the most important researches in comparative anatomy : it has en- riched the collections with many new species, and the facility which it has afforded of observ- ing the animal^ during their lives has produced results still mure interesting. Iffcas furnished the means of discerning between constant and accidental characters, and of solving the impor- tant problem of the distinction of species. It has enabled the zoologist to study the instinct, intelligence and habits of animals ; the influence of education, confinement, domesticity , and change of nourishment ; the phenomena relative to their gestation, to the care which they take of their young, and to the developement and propagation of certain qualities, which in process of time con- stitute peculiar races. This institution has given rise to two impor- tant works. The first, entitled la Menagerie du Museum, or a description of the animals which have lived or still exist there, by MM.Lacepede, Cuvier and Geoffroy, with figures drawn from nature by M. Marechal, was published in 1804, THE MENAGERIE. 567 in folio and in 12°, by M. Miger, who engraved the plates. The second by MM. Geoffroy Saint- Hilaire and F. Cuvier was begun in 1819, and will be continued as opportunities occur of ob- serving new species. Forty numbers of this work, containing two hundred and forty figures, are published. The figures drawn on stone are coloured with the greatest care from living ani- mals. The text contains not only a scientific de- scription, but also a full account of all that has been observed in the habits and economy of each animal during its residence in the menagerie. To give an idea of the utility of this establish- ment to natural history, we shall add a list of the remarkable animals which have existed in it, and which have been described and drawn, and subsequently placed in the galleries of zoology and comparative anatomy. An asterisk designates those which were not at all or imperfectly known at the time they were received in the menagerie, and the letter L those which are living at the present moment (i). (i) We shall omit the names of those animals which are generally known. 568 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. MAMMALIA. Simla mona, Schr. petaurista, Gmel. t L. cephus, Linn. » entellus, Dufresne. rubra, Gmel. L. fuliginosa, Geoff. L, sethyops, Linn. L. faunus, Linn. * griseus, F. Cuv. * pygerythra, F. Cuv. L. sabaea, Linn. L.* rhesus, Geoff. jj. cynica. L. cynomolgos. L.* nemestrina, Linn. L. silenus, Linn. inuus, Linn. L. • sphinx. * cynocephalos, F. Cuv. hamadryas, Linn. * porcaria, Bodd. L.* leucophsea, F. Cuv. L. — > — mormon, Z.inn. L. paniscus, Lt'nn. * ateles niger, F. Cuv. L. capucina, Linn. apella, Linn. L.» fatuellus, Linn. cebus hypoleucus, Geoff. » robustus, New. — _ scitirea, Linn. rosalia, Linn. L. jacchus, Linn. midas ursulus, Geoff. L.* trivirgata, Humboldt. * Lemur ruber, Pcron. L.* murinus. raongos, Linn. ^,* albifrons (mas/ and fern,), Geoff. L,* nigrifrons, Geoff. calta, Linn. THE MENAGERIE. L. Ursus arctos, Linn. L. americanus, Linn. maritimus, Pall. L. lotor, Linn. L. Viverra nasua, Linn. L.* narica, Linn. L.* caudivolvula, Gmel. * vittata, Gmel. L. ichneumon, Linn. L.* mungos, Linn. L.* javanica, Desmarest. genetta. * tetradactyla. * paradoxurus typus, F. Cuv. L. civetta. L.* zibetha. L.* Canis aureus, Linn. L.* anthus, F. Cuv. * argenteus, Geoff. * cinereo argenteus, Geoff. L, hyaena. crocuta. L. Felis leo, Linn. tigris, Linn. L.* onca, Linn. * leopardus, Linn. L*. jubata, Linn. pardus, Linn. serval. discolor, Linn. melas, Pcron. * mitis, F.Cuv. canadensis, Geoff. Phoca vitulina. * nova species. Dasyurus maugeii, Geoff. L. Didelphis virginiana, Linn. * cancrivora, Linn. gigantea, Gmel. Phalangista Cookii. * Phascolomis ursina, Geoff. L.* Sciurus alpinus, F. Cuv. L. cinereus, Linn. L. • capistratus, Base, DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. * Sciurus arobatis, Linn. L.* Arctomys empetra, Pall. L. Cavia aguti, Linn. L. paca, Linn. Castor fiber, Linn. galliae, Geoff. Mus cricetus, Linn. L. Dasypus sex-cinctus. L.* nova species. L. Elephas inclicus, Linn. L. Dicotyles torquatus, G. Cuv. L.* labiatus, G. Cuv. Equus quaccha. zebra. — (hybrid). Camelus bactrianus. L, dromedarius. llacina, Linn. L.* alpaca. L.* Cervus strongiloceros, Schr. * alee, Linn. bengalensis, mzs.F. Cuv. fern. F. Cuv. axis, Linn. L.* virginianus, Linn. * Moschus napu. * Antilope gazella, Gmel. kevella, Gmel. corinna, Linn. • gnu, Gmel. bubalus. Linn. L.* grimmia, Gmel. L. Bos bubalis* Ltnn. L.* — bison, Linn. L. — taurus, var. L. Capra-hircus, varietas asiatica. L/ , . L. aegagrus. L. Ovisammon. L*. aries varietas. THE MENAGERIE. f>7 I AVES. L. Vultur fulvus. L. cinereus. L. monachus. L. papa. L. percnopterus. L. aura. L. barbatus. L. Falco chrysaetos. L. albicaudatus. L. leucocephalus. L. Strix virginiana. L. nyctea. L. Coracias tibicen. L. Loxia oryzivora. L. Psittacus (of each division). Corythaix paulina, Tcmm. L. Crax alector. L. galeata, Tcmm. L. Penelope marail. cumanensis. L. Phasianus nycthemerus. L. pictus. L. Tetrao borealis. umbellus. Columba coronata. nicobarica. cruentata. L. Struthio camelus. rhea. casuarius. Novae Hollandiac. Ardea pavonina. L. carunculata. L. crumenifera. L. Larus marinus. L. argentatus. Pelecanus onocrotalus. L. Anas canadensis. L. aegyptiaca. sponsa. 572 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. AMPHIBIA reptilia. PISCES. Testudo graeca. L. radiata. L.* cafra. * nova species (Guadeloupe). » (Brazil). indica. angulata. geometrica. europsea — picta. centrata. L. serpentina. viridis. imbricata. * nova species. Ernys punctata.v longicollis. — — pensylvanica. L.* nova species. L. — — variegata. Lacerta africana. Crotalus horridus. Proteus anguinus. Gynanotus electricus. Silurus callichtys. CHAPTER V. THE LIBRARY. THE library which was annexed to the Museum at the time of the new organization, was placed in the last room of the building ; the space it occupied having become necessary for the dis- play of the collections, and being too confined for the proper arrangement of the books, we have already expressed in the first part of this work a wish that it might be transported to the the large edifice in the centre of the menagerie, which is conveniently situated in the neighbour- hood of the amphitheatre, where the courses are delivered. An unexpected misfortune, the loss of M. Van Spaendonck, has obviated the ne- cessity of this measure, by leaving at the dispo- sition of the administration the lodgings he occu- pied, where it is now proposed to place the library. W^orks upon natural history being alone es- sential to the library of the Museum, it was to DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. be expected that the collection in that branch would be complete ; but circumstances since its formation having prevented our procuring fo- reign works, there are yet many gaps to fill up : that they will soon disappear, and that the library may answer to the collections connected with it, is to be earnestly hoped: it contains at present fifteen thousand volumes. As the generality of the printed works are to be met with in most public libraries, we shall mention only some manuscripts, accompanied with original designs, and the magnificent and unrivalled collection of paintings upon vellum. Amongst the manuscripts is the work of Plu- nder, entitled, Botanicum Americanum, seu His- toria Plantarwn in Americanis insulis nascen- tium; auctore R. P. Car. Plumier, ab anno 1689 usque ad annum 1697, 8 vols. folio. It consists of one thousand two hundred and twenty figures of plants, some of which are coloured, accom- panied with a descriptive text. There is besides a folio volume of American birds painted from nature ; the drawings are not very finished, but are exceedingly accurate. Amongst the plants figured in the manuscript of Plumier, five hundred and forty-nine have been published by himself or by Burmann, and the re- mainder have been since noticed by botanists THE LIBRARY. 575 who have visited the West India islands ; there are slill several unedited, which it would he in- teresting to be acquainted with(i). 2d. Tournefort's descriptions and designs of several plants observed by him in different coun- tries, and a part of his correspondence during his travels in the Levant. 3d. Commerson's relation of his voyage, one volume folio ; and what is exceedingly valuable, the original designs of objects deserving of notice in the countries he visited. These drawings, to the number of five hundred and thirty of zoological and six hundred and ten of botanical subjects, are upon sheets of different form according to the dimensions of the objects represented ; as far as possible, they are of the natural size and are accompanied with details of the characteristic distinctions ; their arrangement is in the order of the natural families. The descriptions of animals have not been bound together on account of the difference of size ; they fill a separate portfolio of about five hundred pages. M. de Lacepede in his History of fishes and (i) At the foundation of the library, Government had decided that Plumier's works should be removed thither from the Royal library ; a part only have been sent, and it is greatly to be desired that this precious collection should be united and placed in the Museum. DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. reptiles, M. Cuvier in his Regne animal, M. Geof- froy St. Hilaire in the Annals of the Museum, and M. de Jussieu in his Genera plantarum, have frequently made use of the designs of Commer- son. As the collection of this celebrated tra- veller has been given to the Museum, we possess the greater number of the objects he has figured. 4th. Description of the plants and animals of Java and the Philippines, with plates, by Norona, a Spanish physician and naturalist. This manuscript, which might form 2 vois. 4°, was given to the Museum by the academy of sciences. On his way home from Java, where he made a long stay, Norona stopped at the isle of France, and died there in 1788. M. de Cossigny, who had the charge of his manuscripts, presented them to the academy of sciences, on condition that M. de la Billardiere should arrange and publish them. The academy judging that the work contained many new and curious facts accepted it; but the publication, begun in 1790, was arrested the following year, when the editor embarked in search of La Peyrouse. It would be interesting to extract from NoronVs work what may have escaped the attention of naturalists that have since visited the same countries. THE LIBRARY. $77 5th. Oologf, or a description of the nests and eggs of a great number of European birds, with an account of their manners and habits, by the abbe Manesse, member of the academies of St. Petersburg, Erfurt, etc., 2 vol. 4% of three hun- dred and fifty pages each, with one volume of excellent designs representing several species of birds and one hundred and ninety-eight species of eggs. The author does not insist upon the characters of species already described and figured in works on ornithology, but he presents the most curious particulars of their habits, emigration, education of their young, etc. He had sent the collection of eggs figured by him, to the Museum, and these, amounting to one thousand and ninety-four, arc. now deposited in the galleries of zoology. 6th. Chinese paintings on rolls of paper con- sisting of a single sheet ; one of which, 24 feet in length, presents the figures of several fish not well known ; four others represent the city of Canton and Chinese edifices : there are also three folio parcels of portraits of men and women, and figures of plants and animals. 7th. \7Ve may cite as a curiosity, a Chinese manuscript in eight volumes small folio, with figures. The correctness of the writing is won- derful, and the designs bear a most striking re- 37 5y8 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. semblance to our copper-plate engravings. It is a work on anatomy, translated from French into Chinese, and sent from Pekin to the academy of sciences in 1 728 by father D. Parennin. The collection of paintings on vellum, of which we have given the history in the former part of this work, when removed from the Royal library to that of the Museum, consisted of sixty vo- lumes folio, at present it forms eighty-four; sixty of plants, twenty-two of the various branches of zoology, ajid two of comparative anatomy. The drawings amount to 4>?5o ; viz. 3,5oo of plants, 1 66 of mammiferous animals, 460 of birds, 38 of reptiles, 1 18 of fishes, i3o of Crustacea and shellfish, 100 of insects, 26 of radiaria and polypi, and 212 of comparative anatomy. They are ar- ranged according to the natural families, and the names of the objects are placed on the back of the volume. A great number of these drawings have been engraved, but those that represent familiar objects are still curious, as- furnishing examples for the different lectures, or as models for students in the art of painting objects of na- tural history. As there are at present six artists attached to l he Museum, each professor causes to be painted such objects as have not yet been figured, and THE LIBRARY. 5yg these designs have the advantage over those for- merly executed, of presenting in detail all the characteristic parts. The oldest artist that contributed to the col- lection, Nicolas Robert, who worked for Gaston of Orleans, and for whom subsequently the situ- ation of painter to the king's cabinet was created, was never surpassed in the style he adopted. His paintings in water-colours are remarkably delicate, of great fidelity, and though now a hundred and fifty years old, they have lost none of their brilliancy of colouring : there are five hundred of them in the portfolios. The designs of Aubriet, more numerous than those of Robert, are less highly finished, but are very true to na- ture. He accompanied Tournefort in his voyage to the Levant, and drew on the spot many new plants. By publishing these designs with de- scriptions formed upon the herbarium of Tour- nefort, M. Desfontaines has made known those plants that were only indicated by a corollary (i). During the old age of Aubriet, and after his death, less attention was paid to the collection ; but it received new lustre at the nomination of M. Van Spaendonck. The works of this cele- (i) The work of M. Desfontaines at first inserted in our Annals, has since been separately published under the title of a Selection of Plants from the corollary of Tournefort, i vol. 4to. Paris, 1808. 37. 58o DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. brated painter differ in style from those of Ro- bert ; they have not the finish which is the re- sult of patience, but we remark in them that boldness of pencil and harmony of tint that cha- racterize the superior artist, and they may be said to be perfect models of flower painting. They are not numerous ; for M. Van Spaendonck, whom the king often called upon for large paintings, devolved this part of his duties upon the distinguished artist who has since been en- trusted with the continuance of the work (i). M. Marechal, who at the new organization of the Museum was chosen by the administration to paint mammiferous animals and birds, sur- passed in this branch all his predecessors. Of his paintings, we possess £6 of mammalia, 80 of anatomy, and 3o of other objects of natural history. 1VL Oudinot has painted with great talent a vast number of insects, Crustacea and shells. (i) As examples of M. Van Spaendonck's works, see the Palava Mal- vcefolia, Pavonia Spinifex, and Hibiscus Palustris ,- three plants of the family of the Malvaceae, found in the same volume. \PPENDIX. N« 1. CHANGES M4DK IN THE MUSEUM DLB1NG THE PUBLICATION Of THE PRKSK^r WORK. HAVING given some idea of the origin of the Museum, its actual state, and the collections assembled in it, we may subjoin that it is becoming richer every day, in consequence of its organization and the influence it exercises on the progress of the natural sciences. It would be satis- factory to present in proof of this assertion, a table of the riches it has acquired since the period at which the publication of the present work was commenced. But in casting our eye over what has passed during this interval, we feel ourselves affected with sentiments of profound grief; in the space of one month, two of our most celebrated pro- fessors have been taken from us. Their names will always constitute the glory of the establishment, and the impetus they have given to it will not be weakened ; but to their pupils there is yet no consolation for their loss, and to their colleagues is recalled every day the charm of their society. It is not for us to pronounce their eulogium, the aca- demies of which they were members have already paid this tribute to their memory ; to us belongs the duty of expressing our regret, and adding a few words on the services rendered by them to the Museum. M.Van Spaendonck has fixed a limit to the art of flower painting, which is not to be surpassed ; in his paintings we see nature herself ex- pressed ; never in this style have the richness of composition, the beauty of colouring, the exactness of detail been carried to such a pitch. Bui I he works which for fifty years have established his reputation air not what most demand our gratitude. He was not less distinguished a? a professor than as a painter; and it is to the artists formed by him. that we owe the elegance of the ornaments that constitute the supe- 582 APPENDIX. riority of many of the manufactures of France, and especially the per- fection of the figures, that add so much to the beauty and utility of our works on natural history. The progress made in this art by his lectures is not less due to his character than to his talent ; never was there a more affectionate, a more atte.ntive master, he strove that each of his scholars should rival himself. During the latter years of his life he did not execute any large paintings, but employed his time in making mo- dels, that might gradually smooth away the difficulties to his pupils. The object of his labours was the school he has formed at the Museum ; and whilst admired in foreign countries, the only enjoyment he desired was the favourable opinion of his colleagues and students. At the age of seventy-six he still retained all his faculties, and would have rendered us still greater services had he not been suddenly car- ried off, on the i ith of May 1822. His chair has been suppressed, and the iconographical course is given jointly by MM. Redonte and Huet, the one taking the vegetable, the other the animal kingdom. Twenty days had scarcely elapsed when M. Haiiy, from whom his death had been concealed, followed him to the tomb. M. Haiiy had professed twenty years at the Museum ; he is the founder of the French school, and the methods of other countries have been modified by his; perhaps the last age has not witnessed a more remarkable discovery, and one more completely the work of its author, it may be applied to every mineral species, it places mineralogy in the rank of the exact sciences, in determining by a rigorous measure the form of the primitive nucleus, and by subsequent calculations all the resulting secondary forms (i). Once published, this theory could never be lost, but it would have presented many difficulties, had not the professor by the clearness and elegance of his explanations removed such a drawback. He not only confined himself to giving his lectures, but he united at his own house those who were fond of the study, displayed to them his collection, and superintended their labours ; his instructions were proportioned to the capacity of the student ; and many foreigners who I (i) I« our description of the rooms containing the minerals, we mentioned that the first armory contained wooden models, serving to render sensible to the eye and at the same linn1 to explain the crystalline structure. We may add here, that these models are the work of M. Beloeuf, at present residing in the garden. This artist executes with the most rigorous precision all »h e varieties of form determined and described by M. Haiiy He sells at a moderate price complete «*ts with additional models, representing the principal results of the mechanical division of rr.TMals and the gradation of decrease giving rise to them. APPENDIX. 583 had come to Paris to study under him, have now spread his doctrine over the world. M. Haiiy was carried off at the moment bis reputation was univer- sally established ; he had the good fortune, to finish the structure of which he had laid the foundation. Not long before his death his crys- tallography had appeared, and the manuscript of the second edition of his treatise of mineralogy was in the printer's hands. Forty years of his life were spent in forming a complete series of crystals ; this collection is singular, it is the type of his great work, and is labelled by himself. It would be desirable that the Museum should obtain possession of it as an object of study, and a monument of the greatness and generality of the discovery. M. Haiiy has been replaced at the Museum by M. Brongniart, for several years his substitute at the faculty of sciences. This nomination, made by the king in accordance with the unanimous choice of the aca- demy of sciences and the professors of the Museum, leaves no doubt that our institution will continue to preserve the just reputation it has acquired. The description we have given of the collections of the Museum carry us to the close of 1822, but it would be incomplete if we did not notice the new riches acquired, and the changes lately made in the distribu- tion of the objects. At present the collection of fishes fills one part of the old room and that which contained the library. The cases emptied are now occupied by the reptiles, the species are in the order we have indicated. At the entrance to the cabinet on the landing place of the staircase, above the basalts, have been placed two fragments of columns of the temple of Serapis at Puozzola. These fragments have been pierced by pholades consequent to a most singular geological phenomenon (i). vThere is also to be seen a case enclosing a calcareous block from mount Bolca, divided into laminae, on each of which are seen fossil fishes. The objects which were formerly in the five armories to the left of the room containing the rocks have been distributed in the collection of minerals and rocks, beside the species of which they form the mat- ter. The saloon of rocks contains only at present the two collections that give it its name, viz, the methodical and geographical series. v (i) This phenomenon consists in the soil which supported the temple of Serapis, after hating l)«en for a lapse of time buried under the waters of the sea, again becoming dry. 584 APPENDIX. The former occupies the shelves that stretch along the room to the right of the entrance ; it has heen considerably augmented and com- pletely classed by the professor of geology. In this new classification the rocks arc arranged in natural series ; the name of each series is taken from the predominant component principle. The meteoric stones form the continuation. The geographic collections at present occupy the cabinets of which the upper part contains the methodical collection, and also those to the left on entering; it has been much enlarged ; ist. By a series of rocks of the Indian peninsula and island of Ceylon, brought home by M. Leschenault. ad. By a complete series of earths, constituting the soil of England, presented by M. Greenough, formerly president of the geological society of London. 3d. By a series of the rocks of the high Alps and Switzerland, presented by counsellor Escher of Zurich, cor- respondent of the Museum, and whose loss the sciences and humanity at present deplore. The collection of fossil bones has been augmented by the addition of »ome interesting fragments, among which we cite the head of a hippo- potamus, presented to the Museum by the grand duke of Tuscany, and a human skeleton enclosed in a calcareous aggregate formed of recent sea sand, and containing some terrestrial and marine shells. This ske- leton was sent from Guadeloupe by M. 1'Herminier, on the demand of his excellency the minister for naval affairs ; it is more complete than that in the museum of London. M. Brongniart has deemed it proper to make some arrangements in the distribution of the mineral species in the cabinets; thus several specimens are no longer in the place pointed out in our description of the gallery; but it will be easy to find them out, as in general the series of species remain the same. M. Brongniart having confined himself to the re-establishment of the methodical order in the varieties of each of those formerly placed on the shelves. These varieties are now grouped in vertical lines. Many duplicates have been removed from the cabinets to form the commencement of a nexs>collection for study, disposed in a set of drawers in the middle of the room containing the metals. In this collection, which is destined for the lectures of the professor, the order of the specimens corresponds exactly with that of his demonstrations ; but considering the small number of duplicates, the series would have been very incomplete had 'not APPENDIX. 1)85 M. Brongiiiart generously filled up the voids with specimens from his private cabinet. Amongst the objects more lately placed in the hall of mineralogy, we owe the following to M. Leschenault : ist. Superb specimens of moon stone, found by him in its gangue. ad. Some corundums also in their gangue and of large size. We may mention also a ferruginous and siliceous pudding stone named cascalho dos diamantes, or pebble of dia- monds, and which is the gangue of this precious gem in Brazil, whence it was brought by M. Augustc de Saint-Hilaire : it was not known in Europe. The galleries of zoology and botany are considerably enriched, as will be seen from what we are about to say concerning the acquisitions due to the zeal of our travellers and correspondents. M. Leschenault dela Tour and M. Auguste de Saint-Hilaire returned a few months ago ; the former, who during a stay of six years in the peninsula of India and in the island of Ceylon had sent us many speci- mens, has brought home a collection composed of objects from the three kingdoms. We have spoken of the minerals ; we may now cite among the mammifera the bear of the mountains of the Gates, two apes of Ceylon, the parailoxurus typus, which was wanting in the cabinet, and also some fishes and reptiles of the isle of Bourbon (i). M. Auguste de Saint-Hilaire has for six years been travelling through- out Brazil and the settlements of Paraguay, from the 1 2th to the 34th degree ; he has analyzed and described on the spot all the plants he could collect (2). He has taken notes upon the animals, and has brought home one of the most considerable and curious collections of botany and zoology that ever arrived at our Museum (3). ;j , Tin; puradoxurus lypui, Fr. (Juv.. was brought alive, also a small red maki of Madagascar, ^nd six species of tortoise. (a) II. Auguste de Saint-Hilaire has finished his manuscript of the history of the plants of Brazil. It would be important for the progress of botany that this work were published, with the engravings representing the most interesting new genera and species. (3) To shew how much this collection has enriched us, we shall here transcribe what the. pro- fessors have said in their report to the academy of sciences on the voyage of M. AugiiMc S.ifn i Hilairr. i The collection contains: i si. UUP hundred atvl twenty-nine individuals of the mauim ifet,i •forming forty-eight species, of which thirteen were not in the Museum. Among these are two • bals ; a new xiniiii seniculus; the apuarachay, a specie-; of ja-'k.il! known only by the description of • Azzara •, a porcupine with a prehensile tail, and a new species of the rodenlia named mn,\i. 586 APPENDIX. M. Duvaucel, \vho continues his researches in India, has just sent us the skeleton of a very large elephant, a gangetic dolphin more than 6 feet long, and a great number of birds, amongst which forty-three*species are unknown in the cabinet ; we expect from him a collection of fishes amounting to five hundred species and two thousand individuals. We have received from M. Lesueur the greater number of the fishes and mollusca described by him in the Journal of Sciences of Philadel- phia; and from M. Milbert, some fishes taken in the lakes of the United States, and which were unknown to us. Lastly, M. Dussumier, on his return from India, gave us a gazelle of Bassora, a species of dolphin, and twenty-eight species of birds not in the cabinet. LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL PERSONS EMPLOYED IN THE MUSEUM IN JANUARY l823, AND OF THEIR MOST IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS. IN the following list we shall follow the order of the chairs and places established by the decree for the organization of the Museum in 1795. We shall not particularize the memoirs inserted in the transactions of academies, in periodical works, or in dictionaries of science, which would exceed the limits of this article. MINERALOGY. Professor.— M. Brongniart (Alexander), bom at Paris the 5th of Fe- • ad. Two thousand and five birds, forming four hundred and fifty-one species, of which one > hundred and fifty-six were not in the Museum : the greater number of these make us belle* • acquainted wilh llie species described by Azzara. Amongst ihem we remark the chaja, akin to • the kamichi, a species of rhynchus ; the while swan with a black neck, of Paraguay ; the psit- • focus kyacynthus, of which there exist but one or two species in European cabinets ; the crowned ' eagle, several species of tangara, and the guirayetapa or little cock of Azzara. • .">d. Twenty-one reptiles, amongst which is a new species of lachesis. • 4th. About sixteen thousand well preserved insects, of which M. LatreiMe judges there are • eight hundred unknown. . 5tb. A herbal composed of about thirty thousand specimens, forming nearly seven thousand • species of plants in good preservation; two thirds of which 31. Desfontaines judges to be new, . and which will furnish new genera, and perhaps uew families, i APPK^DIX. bniary 1770 ; member of the academy of sciences in i8i5, principal engineer to the royal board of mines, named to the chair of the Museum in August i8aa. Elementary treatise on mineralogy applied to the arts, a vols. 8°, 1807 ; Natural history of fossil Crustacea, and particularly of the trilo- bites, i vol. 4% 1832. Attistant.—M.. de la Fosse (Gabriel), born at Saint Quentin in 1796. M. d< published any work. M. Hauy thus speaks of him in the introduction to his treatise on natural philosophy, p. 02 : • We have great reason to felicitate ourselves on the assistance of » M. de la Fosse, who has ably seconded us in the experiments designed • to prove the truth of the new facts we are about to lay befo • public He has aided in the composition of several articles.... By the • treatise on crystallography, which is about to appear, the public will • be able to judsre of the success with which he has cultivated that im- • portant branch of mineralogy. » GE5EBAL CHYMI6TBY. Profettor. — M. Laugier (Andrew}, born at Paris in 1770 ; member of the academy of medicine, attached to the Museum with the title of mt .Naturalist, charged with the analysis of bodies in June i8o5, and appointed substitute to M. Fourcroy in his lectures two years after. named professor on the 17th of February 1810. Numerous memoirs in the Transactions of the institute, the Academy of sciences, the Annals of chymistry and of the Museum. Asfistant.—}\. Dubois 'Anthony Charles), born at Paris in 1776 ; at- tached to the chymical laboratory in 1796. CHYMISTBY APPLIED TO THE AITS. • Profettor.— M. Vatiquelin (Nicholas Lewis), born at Hibertot, near Pont-lrEv«"que, in 1760; named to the academy of sciences in 1792, director of the school of pharmacy, elected professor at the Museum in i8o|. Ifumerous memoirs in the Transactions of the institute and tn- demy of sciences, in the Annals of t!»e Museum and those of chymistry, in the Journal of the mines and in the Bulletin of the philomattic society. Aftistant. — M. Chev/Mil Michael Eugene), born at Angers in 1786; named to the Museum in 1809. 588 APPENDIX. Author of several memoirs in the Annals of the Museum, of the chy- iiiical part of the Dictionary of natural sciences, of a work on the unc- tuous bodies, and of several memoirs in the Annals of the Museum. Professor. — M. Desfontaiiies (Rene Louiche), borne in 1782, at Trem- blay ; member of the faculty of medicine in 1782, and of the academy of sciences in ij83, professor of the faculty of sciences of the university, named" professor in the king's garden in 1786. Flora atlantica, 2 vols. 4°, with 260 plates, 1796; Description of the botanic garden of the Museum, i vol. 8°, two editions, i8o4 and 181 5 ; Selection of plants from the corollary of the institutes of Tournefort, i vol. 4°> with figures, 1808; History of the trees and shrubs which may be cultivated in the open air in France, 2 vols. 8°, 1809 ; Descrip- tion of a great number of new genera and other memoirs in the Annals of the Museum and in the Transactions of the academy of sciences and the institute ; of the last, that on the comparative organization of monocotyledon and dicotyledon plants, printed in 1797, is in the third volume of the Memoirs of the institute. Assistant. — M. Deleuze (Joseph Philip Francis), born in 1750, at Sisteron (Lower Alps) ; secretary of the association of professors for the publication of the Annals of the Museum, named assistant naturalist in February 1796. Translation of Darwin's Loves of the plants, i vol. 12°, 1799 ; Thomson's Seasons, two editions, 1801-6, 8° and 12°; Eudoxe, or Discourses on the study of sciences, belles-lettres and philosophy, •i. vols. 8", 1810 ; Critical history of animal magnetism, 2 vol. 8°, two editions, i8i3-ig; Defense of animal magnetism, i vol. 8°, 1819; several historical panegyricks, and some memoirs in the Annals of the Museum. Rr;RAL BOTANY. Professor. — M. de Jussieu (Anthony Laurence), born at Lyons in 1748 ; doctor of the faculty of medicine in 1772, member of the aca- demy of sciences in 1773, of the royal society of medicine in 1776, pro- fessor at the school of medicine in 1804, substitute to M. Lemonier at the king's garden from 1770 to 1787, named demonstrator at the death of his uncle Bernard in 1777? professor at the new organization of the Museum. Genera plantar it m sccundum ordinesnaluralesdisposita, i vol. 8°, Paris. i APPENDIX. 1789; numerous memoirs in the Transactions of the academy of sciences and in the Annals of the Museum, amongst the latter are to be found the characters of many natural families and the monogrophies of several others ; many articles in the Dictionary of natural sciences, of which he is one of the principal conductors. AGRICULTURE. Professor.— M. Thouin ( Andrew j, born in the king's garden in 1747 ; named chief gardener in 1768, member of the academy of sciences in 1786. professor of agriculture at the Museum since the creation of the chair at the new organization. His numerous writings, all relative to the principles or practice of agriculture, are inserted in the Memoirs of the academy of sciences of the institute and of the society of agriculture, in the Dictionary of na- tural history, printed by Deterville, in. the new edition of Rozier's Course of agriculture, and in the Annals of the Museum ; in which he has given a description of the garden of seeds, of that of agriculture, that of fruit-trees, etc. He has published separately a treatise on grafts, i vol 4°j Paris, 1820. The manuscript syllabus of his lectures are ex- posed in the library of the Museum, with permission to copy them. Assistant. — M. Leclerc (Oscar), born at Paris in 1798 ; attached to the Museum in 1818. Chief Gardener. — M. Thouin (John), brother to the professor, born at the king's garden in 1756. Mammiferous Animals and Birds. Professor.— M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (Stephen), born at Etampes, in 1772 ; member of the institute 1807, professor of the faculty of sciences of the university, professor of the Museum at the new organization. Anatomical philosophy, 2 vol. 8°, 1818-22; a great number of me- moirs on zoology and comparative anatomy in the Transactions of thr institute and of the academy of sciences, in the Annals of the Museum, and in the Description of Egypt. Assistant for the Preparation of Animals. — M. Delalande, who has made several voyages and added considerably to the riches of the Museum. 5go APPENDIX. Reptiles and Fishes* Professor. — M. de Lac^pede (Bernard Germain Stephen), born at Agen, in 1766; peer of France, grand cross of the legion of honour, member of the institute at its creation ; named keeper and demon- strator at the king's garden in 1786, and professor at the institution of the third chair of zoology in 1796. Essay on electricity, 2 vol. 8°, 1781 ; Natural philosophy, general and particular, 2 vol. 12°, 1782 ; Poetry of music, 2 vol. 12°, 1787 ; History of oviparous quadrupeds and of serpents, forming a continuation of Buffon's Natural history, 2 vol. 4% 1/88, reprinted in 8° and 12°; Na- tural history of fishes, 5 vol. 4bj 1798, reprinted in 8° and 12°, i8o5; Natural history of cetaceous animals, i vol. 4% 1804 ; the Menagerie of the Museum, in conjunction with MM. Geoffroy and G. Cuvier, i vol. folio, reprinted 12°; several memoirs in the Transactions of the aca- demy of sciences, the Dictionary of natural sciences, and the Annals of the Museum. Substitute. — M. Dumeril (Andrew Marie-Constant), born at Amiens, in 1774; member of the institute in i8i3, secretary to the medical division of the royal society of medicine. Digest and abridgment of the two first volumes of M.Cuvier's Lec- tures on comparative anatomy ; Analytic zoology, i vol. 8°, 1806 ; Ele- ments of natural history, two editions, the first i vol. 8°, i8o4> the second, 2 vols. 8°, 1807 ; several zoological memoirs in the Methodical Cyclopaedia, in the Register of the philomatic society, etc. He is author of the articles on entomology in the Dictionary of natural sciences. Assistant. — M. Valenciennes (Achilles), born in Paris in 1794 ; nomi- nated to succeed his father in the Museum in 1812. Several memoirs of his are inserted in the Annals of the Museum, and he has aided M. de Humboldt in the publication of his zoological ob- servations. Under the direction of the professors of zoology and com- parative anatomy, he has been charged, since the enlargement of the cabinet, with arranging and naming the collection of vertebrated animals. Animals without vertebra. Professor.— M.. de Lamarck, (John Baptist Peter Anthony), born at Bazantin, near Bapaume, in 1744 ; member of the academy of science* APPENDIX. 591 in 1779, attached to the king's garden with the title of Botanist of tin- Cabinet in 1789, professor of zoology for invertebrated animals at the creation of the chair. • French Flora, 3 vol. 8°, 1778; new edition with additions by M. De- candolle, 5 vol. 8«, 1796 ; Hydrogeology, i vol. 8°, 1801 ; Researches on the causes of the principal natural phenomena, 2 vol. 8° ; Zoological philosophy, 2 vol. 8°, 1809 ; Analytic system of the positive knowledge of man, i vol. 8°, 1820; System of invertebrated animals, i vol. 8°, 1801 ; the first volume of the Dictionary of botany and the Illnstrationcs gcnerum, forming a part of the Cyclopaedia; Natural history of the invertebrated animals, 7 vol. 8°, 1822 ; a great variety of memoirs among those of the institute, the academy of sciences and the Museum, in the Journal of natural history, in that of natural philosophy, etc. Adjunct Professor. — M. Latreille (Peter Andrew), born at Brive in 1762 ; elected to the academy of sciences in i8i4, attached to the Mu- seum in 1797. He has named and classed the entomological collection. Natural history of salamanders of France, i vol. 1800; Natural and general history of ants, with a collection of memoirs, i vol. 8°, 1822 ; Genera cruslaceorum et inscctorum, 4 vol. 8°, 1809 an^ tne following years; Natural history of reptiles, forming a continuation to the Buffon of Castel, 4 vol. 18°; Natural history of Crustacea and insects, forming a continuation to the Buffon of Sonnini, i4 vol. 8° ; the third volume, or entomological part of Cuvier's Regne animal ; many memoirs among those of the academy of sciences and of the Museum, and the principal articles on entomology in the Dictionary of natural history by Deterville. Assistant Naturalist and Cine f of the zoological Laboratories. — M. Du- fresne (Lewis), born at Champien in 1762 ; named in June 1793. Author of theJ^icle Taxidermicin the Dictionary of natural history, and of a memoinWnthe Annals of the Museum. HUMAN ANATOMY. Professor. — M. Portal (Anthony), born at Gaillac in 1742 ; doctor of the faculty of medicine of Montpellier in 1765, professor of anatomy at the college of France in 1768, member of the academy of sciences in 1 769 ; honorary president of the academy of medicine, first phy- sician to H. M., professor at the king's garden since 1778. The works of M. Portal are too numerous to be mentioned in this >9^ APPENDIX. place, we shall barely cite the following: — History of anatomy and surgery, etc. 6 vol. 8°, 17/0-77; Observations on the nature and treat- ment of madness, i vol. 12°, 1779; Observations on mephitic vapours, on cases of drowning, asphyxia, madness, etc. i vol. 8°, 1791 ; In- structions respecting the treatment of asphyxia and drowning, etc. i vol. 12°, many times reprinted by order of government : Observations on the nature and treatment of phthisis pulmonalis, first edit, i vol. 8°, 1792, second edit. 2 vol. 8°, with notes from German and Italian authors ; Observations on the nature and treatment of rickets, etc. i vol. 8°, 1796; Collection of memoirs on the nature and treatment of several maladies, etc. 2 vol. 8°, 1800; a great number of memoirs in the Transactions of the academy of sciences and the Institute, in the Annals of the Museum, and in scientifick journals. Assistant. — M. Martin (John Paul), born at Gahussac in 1788; named to the Museum in 1809. COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. Professor.— M. Cuvier (George), born at Montbeliard in 1769; counsellor of state, member of the royal council of public instruction, professor of natural history at the college of France, named member of the Institute at its creation, perpetual secretary of the class of natural sciences in i8o3, one of the two perpetual secretaries of the academy of sciences, member of the French academy in 1818, named assistant to M. Mertrud in 1796, professor in 1802. Elementary descriptiop of the animal kingdom, i vol. 8°, 1798; Lectures on comparative anatomy digested by MM. Dumeril and Duvernoy, 5 vol. 8° ; Historical report on the progress of the natural sciences since 1789, and on their actual state, i vol. 8°, 1810; Re- searches on fossil bones, first edit. 4 vol. 4°> 1812, «||pnd edit. 5 vol. 4°, 1822 ; Memoirs on the history and anatomy of monusca, i vol. 4°» 1817; the Regne animal, 4 vol. 8°, 1817; Collection of historical panegyrics of the members of the academy of sciences, 2 vol. 8°, 1819 ; Report on the state of public instruction in Holland and Italy, 2 vol. 8° ; Numerous memoirs among those of the academy of sciences and of the Museum ; and several articles in the Dictionary of natural sciences and in the Universal biography. Assistant.— M. Rousseau (Simon Peter), born at Belleville neat Paris in 1766; attached to the Museum in 1795. APPENDIX. 5g3 He prepared the greater part of the skeletons in the cabinet of com- parative anatomy. Keeper of the galleries of comparative anatomy. — M. Laurillard (Charles Leopold), born at Montbeliard in 1784 ; named in March 181 a. He has assisted M. Cuvier in his researches and furnished a great number of zoological and anatomical drawings, several of which are engraved in the works we have just cited. GEOLOGY. Professor. — M. Cordier (Peter Lewis 'Anthony), born at Abbeville in 1777; inspector at the royal college of mines, named professor in 1819. Memoirs on volcanic productions, i vol. 4% Paris, i8i5; Memoirs on the coal-mines of France, i vol. 8°, i8i5; memoirs in the Journal do physique^ in the Journal dcs mines, in the Annals of natural philosophy and chymistry, in the Description of Egypt, and in the Annals of the Museum. Assistant. — M. Regley (Francis Theophilus Marie), born at Paris in 1777; named to the Museum in 1812. DRAWING MASTERS. For plants. — Redoute (Peter Joseph), born at Saint-Hubert (Ar- dennes) in 1759; named to the chair in i8a3. He has been attached to the Museum ever since the new organization. The beautiful engravings of plants accompanying the works of 1'Heritier and Ventenat were executed after the designs of this artist ; he has contributed much to the perfection of coloured engravings, and has himself published some considerable works of botanical ico- nography. Lilies, 8 vol. fol. ; Plants of the family of Cacti, 2 vol. fol.; Roses, 3 vol. fol. and 4° ; more than 4oo of his drawings on vellum are found in the Museum. For animals. — M. Hiiet (Nicholas), born at Paris in 1770 ; attached to the Museum in i8o4, named to the chair of iconography jointly with M. Redoute. Besides the branch with which he was specially charged (the draw- ing of worms, insects and shells), he has furnished figures of qua- drupeds and birds, and has executed a great number of anatomical drawings for MM. Geoffrey and Cuvier. 38 ^94 APPENDIX. PAINTERS ATTACHED TO THE MUSEUM. M. Redoute (Henry Joseph), born at Saint-Hubert in 1762, brother to the former. He accompanied the expedition to Egypt, and executed more than 60 drawings for the great work which was the result of' it ; many of his designs are found in the portfolios of the Museum. M. Dewailly (Peter Francis), born at Paris in 1775; professor of drawing at the royal conservatory of arts and trades ; after a successful competition he was named painter of the Museum at the death of M. Marechal in iSo3, and has added to the collection of drawings such living animals as were designated by the professor of zoology. M. Bessa (Pancracius), born at Paris in 1772 ; named painter to the Museum in March iSaS. His principal works are : the drawings for the 5o last numbers of DuhamePs Tralte des arbres; those in the first 76 numbers de I'Herbier de I' amateur ; one half of the figures comprised in the first 20 numbers of Ferussac's works on shells ; a considerable number of his drawings are met with in the work on Egypt and many other productions, in which he has displayed great ability. In 1816 H. R. H. the duchess of Berry named him her painter of flowers, and since December 1820 he has had the honour of teaching her the art. M. Meunier (John Baptist), born at Orleans in 1786 ; named painter to the Museum in April i8a3. Has executed a great number of drawings for the work on Egypt ; those on entomology in Olivier's work and in M. Latreille's Genera ; the drawings of Crustacea and trilobites in the work MM. Brongniart and Desmarest published jointly ; and several no less important draw- ings all very remarkable for their accurate representation of nature. LIBRARIAN. M. Toscan (George), born at Grenoble in 1756; appointed librarian in 1794. The Friend of nature, or interresting observations on different objects of nature and art, i vol. 8°, 1800 ; Translation of Spallanzani's work, intitled Travels in Sicily and in several parts of the Appennines, 6 vol. 8° ; principal author of articles on natural history in the Philosophical and litterary Decade. M I I'l I. «M J lit All \ \i.\ till . M. (Inviei J'Yedeiiel, I). HI) .11 Monlheliaid ill 177"'; inspector ol' the academy ol' I'.nr,, n.iinrd keeper. . I' llir Menagerie in iSo.'.. (Natural hislor\ ol" mammalia, conjointly \-\illi IM . Ceolln^ S.ioil Mil. lire, <>!' \\ln.li jo nmnliei . \\illi '. pl.iles each ha vr appeared ; Of llir Teeth i>l' iii.iniin.ili.i consideied a-. /< " >!";• i< ;i I < li.n.n I. i • , i vol. 8", 1822; HCVri.il iiirnioii.-, in llic Ami.ils ol' llir IMiisrinn; llir /oology of in. MINK. ill. l ill llir DII IMIII.II \ ol' II. Mill. il i ii'llOOI. M i '.i-i us or nit .;AI i i IMI:S 01 i\ A i nit A i. mvrom . M. Lucas (.lolin IM .in« i -K l»oi 11 in llic kind's ••.n-«|rii in 171;; an |i, Milled lo the |>l.i< e lie n,i\\ net tipies a I I I, ni/.iliun M. l.in .is (John Aiulii \v III in\ l, son ol' the prei •cdin;- , limn al (he kind's garden in i -So ; ass... uled NM(|, his lalher on ihe i vlh ol'I'Y- Methodical tallies id' nnnei.il • vol. 8°, iSoG-lTi, e\ei;d iiln les ..n n.iiiei..l<,:'\ m Drli-i villr's Did lonary ol n.ilm.d history. AUMirflHTUATIOn. M. Th. MHO (.1 ainon), born at Paris in i7 » << 1-1 ,H \ md caaliier. MIL i i \ll^ ..i uu.. The service ol the < slahlihhnienl is ccnlided lo .1 ( iiiii|i:iny ol' mm eonnnissioned iill'n-ers, .it |iiesent under the command of INT . (^oiivcm Sain I <:M N" III. TRAVKI-MNd iN.ATMtM.ISTS. M. l/e ,t henanll de la Tone, attached .1 . hoi. mil lo (he expedition ul . .ipl.iin llandin, icsidi lle( I ion ol' Ii ,li and ( i u ,1 acca Motived; ihe 1. 20, for animals read animal. 169, note, before virgilia dele <^e. 181, 1. i4, before sect/ insert f/ie. 196, 1. 9, dele <'£. 200, note, for lemon read inelnn. 206, 1. 11, for Augustc read Augustus. 208, note, for a£ read o/". 227, 1. 9, for and read e(. 244» 1. 1 1) for polypis read polypi. 261, 1. 4» fo called read classed. 262, 1. 27, for diferent read different. a64) 1. i4> for fellow read follow. 278, 1. 28, for Harz read Hartz. 557, 1. 27, for bufaga read bitphaga. 434, 1. 3. read fa'c/it'r. 438, 1. 12, for Baillan read Baillon. 449» 1- 24, for Xyphius read Xyphias. 463, 1. 28, for scarabosus read scarabwi. 491, 1. 28, for metamorphoses read metamorphosis. 5o4, 1. 6, for Aases read ^a*«. 5 12, 1. i5, for /"rom w/es read from UNIVERSITY o~ LOCKED CASK RETURN BIOSCIENCE & NATURAL RESOURSES LIBRARY TO — *> 2101 VALLEY LIFE SCIENCES BLDG. 642-2531 LOAN PERIOD 1 2 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS DUE AS STAMPED BELOW *R^L-W^»^ •RFP'D Rir 2 DUE 1' -5 '96 -29.0PM tin 1 ~\ *Q7 -t AA Ar Aiifi 0 3 1995 i JG 1 -^ " ' ii oo M • . i CM IQ iFr^T TO REvALV ^yyjCv^ i «>' oc&Y .IbHAnY USE REU'U BIOS 1AY 0 9 2000 HEC'D BIGbAUG