LETTER FROM PROFESSOR DE SHAVES. 685 



We should not now be lying stagnant in a 

 space so insufficient that our buildings, by the 

 mere force of circumstances, are transformed 

 into store-houses, where objects of study are 

 heaped together, and can be of no use to any 

 one. . . . You can fancy how much I envy 

 your organization. It depressed me to read 

 your letter, with its brilliant proposals of ex- 

 change, remembering how powerless we are 

 to meet even a small number of them. Your 

 project is certainly an admirable one ; to find 

 the scientific nomenclature where it is best es- 

 tablished, and by the help of good specimens 

 transport it to your own doors. Nothing 

 could be better, and I would gladly assist in 

 it. But to succeed in this excellent enterprise 

 one must have good duplicate specimens ; not 

 having them, one must have money. As a 

 conclusion to your letter, the question of 

 money was brought before my assembled col- 

 leagues, but the answer was vague and uncer- 

 tain. I must, then, find resources in some 

 other way, and this is what I propose to do. 

 . . . [Here follow some plans for exchange.] 

 Beside this, I will busy myself in getting to- 

 gether authentic collections from our French 

 seas, both Oceanic and Mediterranean, and 

 even from other points in the European seas. 



