266 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



time Dutch Brazils, had made and had annotated in his own handwriting and 

 finally after his return had given to the great Elector of Brandenburg, that I 

 was desirous once for all to see these Eandschriften. Finally in the early part of 

 this year, my wish was realized. I found this collection in the Royal Library 

 at Berlin in 2 folio btinden of different sizes collected under the title "Icones 

 Berum Brasiliensium. ' ' All the sheets are designated by numbers, however 

 without a perfect arrangement having been brought about in the two different 

 btinden separated the one from the other. . . . By comparing them with (the 

 figures in) Marcgrave 's Natural History of Brazil, it is plainly shown that 

 Marcgrave had all the best painted figures copied as wood cuts in the same size. 

 How faithfully? Thereon we have his own word. The added remarks are in 

 Dutch and we know certainly by the Prince's own hand, 16 and everywhere agree 

 with Marcgrave 's text. However, they are extremely brief and indicate only the 

 sizes and relationships of the animals with one another. The collection itself 

 may no longer be complete, at any rate I have in vain sought therein for some 

 of Marcgrave 's sketches, however there are to be sure some sketches which 

 Marcgrave did not copy, and some few animals which he did not know. In the 

 main I note that on careful comparison this collection explains Marcgrave 's 

 text in general. This also can not be in error, since Marcgrave has only been 

 able to afford woodcuts, and his draughtsman has not seldom copied the original 

 figure entirely wrong; in the annotated collection on the contrary all the animals 

 have their natural colors whose differentiation so often must give the essential 

 points of distinction between nearly related species and genera. 16 



Next Schneider goes on to express the wish that more authors like 

 Bloch might illustrate their books from this magnificent set of paint- 

 ings. Bloch not only was acquainted with these drawings but copied a 

 large number of them in his " Auslandische Fische" and in his grand 

 " Ichthyologie." In the preface to volume 6 of this latter work (1788). 

 Bloch describes this collection of drawings as made on white parch- 

 ment and consisting of two sets. 



The first contains 32 quadrupeds, 87 birds, 9 amphibians, 80 fishes, 31 

 insects, some shells and star fishes and one cuttlefish; in all 183 sheets. On each 

 is a figure of a fish, bird, quadruped, amphibian, insect or worm. All are very 

 beautifully designed and painted in part with very bright and beautiful colors. 

 Above the animal one finds the name which it bears in Brazil, and below mention 

 is often made in the Dutch language of its size. 17 The second part also on white 

 parchment . . . contains two quadrupeds, 15 birds, 46 amphibians, 45 fishes, 

 46 insects and several pages of plants ... it consists of 114 sheets on which 

 one finds the designs mentioned which have been made by the same hand as 

 those in the first part. 



That Bloch's reproduction of these paintings went far to make them 

 known to the world is not to be denied, indeed, the present writer first 



15 Lichtenstein comments on the characteristic half jocular notes added by 

 Count Maurice, of which the following may be quoted. On the sheet containing 

 the figure of the ant-eater, Tamandua guacu, the Count has written: "This is 

 the great ant-eater, as large as # an otter. He sticks his tongue into a hole, the 

 ants sit down on it, and then he draws it into his mouth. The tongue is about 

 one half an ell long. ... He can not run at all." 



16 For this transcript I am indebted to the courtesy of Dr. Perlbach, of the 

 Royal Library of Berlin. 



17 See Fig. 3. 



