268 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



water-color drawing is about 270 years old, one marvels at its freshness 

 and clear-cut outlines. That it is wonderfully accurate, the present 

 writer, who has devoted considerable study to this fish, can attest. 



Along with the preceding lot of drawings in the Royal Library of 

 Berlin is a large number of oil paintings bearing the following title: 

 "Theatrum rerum Naturalium Brasilia?. (Icones) in 4 Banden. 

 Libri picturati A. 32-35." The first reference to these in the litera- 

 ture is in an anonymous article, in Neue Zeitungen von Gelehrten 

 Saclien, Erster Theil, No. 4, 1717, bearing the title "... Ausser 

 diesen Ost-Indianischen Wereke ist in der Konigl-Bibliotheck auch ein 

 West-Indianisches unter folgenden Titel enthalten, Theatrum rerum 

 naturalium Brasilia?, imagines, etc." This author notes that these oil 

 paintings are in four banden and that in the first are 357 fishes, in the 

 second 303 birds, in the third 245 " other animals from men to insects," 

 and in the fourth 555 plants, 1,460 in all. He refers to a smaller col- 

 lection in water-colors but does not give the number of drawings in it. 



In 1785, Boehmer in his "Bibliotheca Historise Naturalis," etc., 

 gives a brief abstract of the preceding notice. The next reference is 

 even still more obscure. Lichtenstein tells us that in 1811 Illiger 

 brought these to the attention of the modern scientific world. Just 

 what he did can not be said for in spite of every effort it has been im- 

 possible to run down this reference. From this fact we may perhaps 

 judge it of little importance. Last of all Lichtenstein (1814-15) 

 found them and has described them at length. His paper will be re- 

 ferred to later. 



There can be no doubt that all these figures were made in Brazil and 

 that Count Maurice brought them back with him in 1644. On his re- 

 turn this illustrious man was received in a manner befitting his dis- 

 tinguished services to the Dutch people and honor after honor was 

 heaped upon him. In 1652 he entered the service of the great Elector 

 of Brandenburg, by whom he was raised to the rank of prince. Be- 

 tween these two illustrious men a strong friendship arose, which was 

 not broken until the death of the prince in 1679 at the age of 76, at 

 which time he was governor of Berlin. 



The two sets of drawings of Brazilian objects, from the smaller of 

 which in the meantime the figures for the Natural History of Brazil 

 had been made, were bequeathed by him to the knowledge-fostering 

 Elector. By the latter they were placed in the hands of Dr. Christns 

 Mentzel, the court physician and great favorite of the Elector, who was 

 a skilled linguist, that they might be arranged in order, bound in vol- 

 umes and preserved in the library of his capital, Berlin. 



The oil paintings, which were on separate sheets, were collected by 

 Dr. Mentzel into 4 volumes now labelled "Libri Picturati A. 32-33- 

 34-35," and the sheets were arranged in logical order and accom- 

 panied by the Brazilian names and the references to Marcgrave and 



