This establishment, formerly called _Le Jardin du Roi_, and now more
commonly known by the name of _Le Jardin des Plantes_, received its
present denomination by a decree of the National Convention, dated
the 10th of June 1793. It is situated on the south bank of the Seine,
nearly facing the Arsenal, and consists of a botanical garden, a
collection of natural history, a library of works relating to that
science, an amphitheatre for the lectures, and a _ménagerie_ of
living animals.
Originally, it was nothing more than a garden for medicinal plants,
formed under that title, in 1626, by GUY DE LA BROSSE, principal
physician to Lewis XIII, who sanctioned the establishment by letters
patent. The king's physicians were almost always intendants of this
garden till the year 1739, when it was placed under the direction of
BUFFON. Before his time, the cabinet was trifling. It consisted only
of some curiosities collected by GEOFFROY, and a few shells which had
belonged to TOURNEFORT; but, through the zeal of BUFFON, and the care
of his co-operator DAUBENTON, it became a general _dépôt_ of natural
history, and its riches had increased still more than its utility. On
the breaking out of the revolution, it had been protected through
that sort of respect which the rudest men have for the productions of
nature, whence they either receive or expect relief for their
sufferings. It had even been constantly defended by the revolutionary
administration, under whose control and dependence it was placed.
Regarding it, in some measure, as their private property, their pride
was interested in its preservation; and had any attempt been made to
injure it, they would infallibly have caused an insurrection among
the inhabitants of the surrounding _faubourg_. These singular
circumstances, joined to the good understanding prevailing among the
professors, had maintained this fine establishment in a state, if not
increasing, at least stationary. On the revival of order, ideas were
entertained of giving to it an extension which had already been
projected and decreed, even during the reign of terror.
The botanical garden was enlarged; the extent of the ground intended
for the establishment was doubled; a _ménagerie_ was formed; new
hot-houses and new galleries were constructed; the addition of new
professors was confirmed, and all the necessary disbursements were
made with magnificence. Thus, in the same place where every
production of nature was assembled, natural history was for the first
time taught in its aggregate; and these courses of lectures, become
celebrated by the brilliancy of the facts illustrated in them, the
number of pupils who frequent them, and the great works of which they
have been the cause or the motive, have rendered the MUSEUM OF
NATURAL HISTORY one of the first establishments of instruction
existing in Europe.
Formerly, there were but three professors attached to this
establishment. At present, there are no less than thirteen, who each
give a course of forty lectures. The courses of zoology and
mineralogy take place in the halls of the cabinet containing the
collections corresponding to each of those sciences. The courses of
botany, anatomy, and chemistry are delivered in the great
amphitheatre, and that of natural iconography in the library. The
days and hours of the lectures are announced every year by particular
advertisements.
The establishment is administered, under the authority of the
Minister of the Interior, by the professors, who choose, annually,
from among themselves, a director. At present, that situation is held
by FOURCROY. Although this celebrated professor, in his lectures on
chemistry, must principally attach himself to minerals, the
particular object of chemical inquiry, he is far from neglecting
vegetable and animal substances, the analysis of which will, in time,
spread great light on organic bodies. The most recent discoveries on
the exact constitution of bodies are made known in the course of
these lectures, and a series of experiments, calculated for
elucidating the demonstrations, takes place under the eyes of the
auditors.
No one possesses more than FOURCROY the rare talent of classing well
his subjects, of presenting facts in a striking point of view, and of
connecting them by a succession of ideas extremely rapid, and
expressed in a voice whose melody gives an additional charm to
eloquence. The pleasure of hearing him is peculiarly gratifying; and,
indeed, when he delivers a lecture, the amphitheatre, spacious as it
is, is much too small to contain the crowd of auditors. Then, the
young pupils are seen with their eyes stedfastly fixed on their
master, catching his word with avidity, and fearing to lose one of
them; thus paying by their attention the most flattering tribute to
the astonishing facility of this orator of science, from whose lips
naturally flow, as from a spring, the most just and most select
expressions. Frequently too, carried away by the torrent of his
eloquence, they forget what they have just heard, to think only of
what he is saying. FOURCROY speaks in this manner for upwards of two
hours, without any interruption, and, what is more, without tiring
either his auditors or himself. He writes with no less facility than
he speaks. This is proved by the great number of works which he has
published. But in his writings, his style is more calm, more smooth
than that of his lectures.
Each professor superintends and arranges the part of the collections
corresponding to the science which he is charged to teach. For this
purpose, there are also assistant naturalists, whose employment is to
prepare the various articles of natural history. The keeper of the
cabinet, under the authority of the director, takes all the measures
necessary for the preservation of the collections. The principal ones
are:
1. The cabinet of natural history, containing the animal kingdom,
divided into its classes; the mineral kingdom; the fossils, woods,
fruits, and other vegetable productions, together with the herbals.
This cabinet, which occupies the buildings on the right, on entering
from the street, is open to students on Mondays, Wednesdays, and
Saturdays, from eleven o'clock till two, and to the public in general
every Tuesday and Friday in the afternoon.
2. The library, chiefly composed of works relating to natural
history, contains, among other valuable articles, an immense
collection of animals and plants, painted on vellum. Three painters
are charged to continue this collection under the superintendance of
the professors. The library is open to the public every day from
eleven o'clock to two.
3. The cabinet of anatomy, containing the preparations relative to
the human race and to animals. It is situated in a separate building,
and for the present open to students only.
4. The botanical school, containing the plants growing in the open
ground, and the numerous hot-houses in which are cultivated those
peculiar to warm countries.
5. The _ménagerie_ of foreign animals. At the present moment, they
are dispersed in various parts of the garden; but they are shortly to
be assembled in a spacious and agreeable place.
6. The chemical laboratory and the collection of chemical
productions.
To these may be added a laboratory for the preparation of objects of
natural history, and another for that of objects of anatomy.
Notwithstanding the improved state to which BUFFON had brought this
establishment, yet, through the united care of the several scientific
men who have since had the direction of it, the constant attention
bestowed on it by the government, and even by the conquests of the
French armies, its riches have been so much increased, that its
collection of natural history may at this day be considered as the
finest in being. The department of the minerals and that of the
quadrupeds are nearly complete; that of the birds is one of the most
considerable and the handsomest known; and the other classes, without
answering yet the idea which a naturalist might conceive of thenm,
are, nevertheless, superior to what other countries have to offer.
Among the curious or scarce articles in this Museum, the following
claim particular notice:
In the class of quadrupeds, adult individuals, stuffed, such as the
camelopard, the hippopotamus, the single-horned rhinoceros, the
Madagascar squirrel, the Senegal lemur, two varieties of the
oran-outang, the proboscis-monkey, different specimens of the indri,
some new species of bats and opossums, the Batavian kangaroo, and
several antelopes, ant-eaters, &c.
In the class of birds, a great number of new or rare species, and
among those remarkable either for size or beauty, are the golden
vulture, the great American eagle, the Impey peacock, the Ju[<blot>]
pheasant or argus, the plantain-eater, &c.
Among the reptiles, the crocodile of the Ganges, the fimbriated
tortoise of Cayenne, &c.
Among the shells, the glass patella, and a number of valuable,
scarce, or new species.
The collection of insects has just been completed through the
assiduity of the estimable LAMARCK, the professor who has charge of
that department.
In the mineral kingdom, independently of the numerous and select
choice of all the specimens, are to be remarked as objects of
particular curiosity, the petrifactions of crocodiles' bones found in
the mountain of St. Pierre at Maëstricht, and the collection of
impressions of fishes from Mount Bolca, near Verona.
At the present moment, the _ménagerie_ contains a female elephant
only, the male having died since my arrival in Paris, three
dromedaries, two camels, five lions, male and female, a white bear, a
brown bear, a mangousta, a civet, an alligator, an ostrich, and
several other scarce and curious animals, the number and variety of
which receive frequent additions. In other parts of the garden are
inclosures for land and sea fowls, as well as ponds for fishes.
The denomination of _Jardin des Plantes_ is very appropriate to this
garden, as it furnishes to all the botanical establishments
throughout France seeds of trees and plants useful to the
p[<blot>]ess of agriculture and of the arts; and hence the indigent
poor are supplied with such medicinal plants as are proper for the
cure or relief of their complaints.