214 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
the letters of Rousseau on Botany, which, as is well known, 
were addressed to M. Delessert's mother, and “ la petite,” 
for whose improvement these letters were more immediately 
written, was his sister, afterwards Madame Gautier. 
There is still preserved in the family the Herbarium formed 
by Rousseau expressly for Madame Gautier. Each specimen 
is beautifully preserved, fastened upon ornamented paper 
with gilded straps or bands, and the names written in French 
and in Latin by Rousseau's own hand. 
M. Benjamin Delessert soon resolved to increase the collec- 
tion by every means in his power, to form likewise a library rich 
in works of botany in all languages, and to render his noble mu- 
seum available to all who study this part of Natural History. 
In 1817, M. Achille Richard was charged with the care of these 
collections till 1827, and in 1820, M. Guillemin was appointed 
Assistant Curator, an office he held till his lamented death in 
1842; since which period, the author of the work now under 
notice has performed these important duties. 
vui. Botanic Galleries of M. Delessert.—1. Arrangement 
and Classification of the Herbarium. The specimens are fas- 
tened down with small straps and pins (not glued) on folio 
paper, being each enclosed in an envelope or doubled sheet, 
and the whole are placed in light cabinets, and arranged ac- 
cording to the Systema Vegetabilium of Sprengel, the only 
work that professed to be a tolerably complete catalogue of 
the plants known at the time the chief arrangement took place. 
The great mass of the specimens form one vast general 
Herbarium ; others, however, it is found desirable to keep 
separate. 2. Number of Plants in the Museum. This is reck- 
oned at about 86,000 species, represented by 250,000 speci- 
mens. Many apartments (“galeries”) are devoted to this 
vast collection, where they are arranged in the most convenient 
manner for consultation. 3. Collection of fruits and seeds. 
Of these, 400 different fruits, of a large size, and remarkable 
for their structure or the uses to which they are applied, are 
arranged in glazed cabinets. Fruits of smaller size and : 
amounting to 6000 kinds, occupy 102 drawers. Specimens of 
