THE PHILADELPHIA ACADEMY. 533 



might be supposed to resemble something, but generally not the thing 

 intended. But with the gradual intellectual development of the world 

 these collections became more and more systematic and useful, and 

 the resulting publications acquired a higher character, discarding fic- 

 tion and old wives' tales, and presenting only facts acquired by obser- 

 vation. About the middle of the last century arose a man, Carl Linne 

 (or Carol us Linnaeus), abundantly blessed with the powers of gener- 

 alization, who, by introducing system into the previous chaotic mass, 

 placed the study of nature on a firm foundation ; and from his time 

 the progress of natural science has been astonishing. Naturalists im- 

 mediately arose in all parts of the civilized globe, collectors were sent 

 to those pai'ts which were so unfortunate as not to be civilized, and 

 soon almost every city in Europe boasted a museum. 



America, however, was a young country, and, between its wars with 

 the Indians and with England, its settlers had but little time to devote 

 to study. An occasional naturalist from Europe landed on its shores 

 to explore its wonders, and isolated persons made collections, which 

 were duly forwarded to the Old World. It was not until some time 

 after the Revolution that America possessed a single museum. Prob- 

 ably the first was Peale's Museum, in Philadelphia, which was estab- 

 lished in the last century, and where might have been seen side by 

 side a mastodon and a machine for producing perpetual motion. The 

 Museum of the East India Marine Society, at Salem, Massachusetts, 

 was begun but a few years later, and until a dozen years ago retained 

 many of the characteristics of those comparatively primitive times. 



Leaving these early museums, with their lack of system, the first 

 which was strictly scientific was that of the Philadelphia Academy of 

 Natural Sciences, and to give a brief account of that institution is the 

 object of the present paper. 



Before the War of 1812 Philadelphia was the only city in the Union 

 which could make the slightest pretensions to being a scientific center ; 

 the Bartons, Bartrams, and Muhlenberg, were enthusiastic botanists ; 

 William Maclure had just published his " Geology of the United 

 States " ; and Alexander Wilson had just begun his " American Orni- 

 thology," which was left unfinished at the author's death. During the 

 year 1812 several young men occasionally met for the purpose of mut- 

 ual amusement and instruction, and at one of these meetings the proj- 

 ect of a scientific society was proposed, discussed, and finally (Janu- 

 ary 12, 1812) Drs. Gerard Troost and C. M. Mann, and Messrs. Jacob 

 Gilliams, John Shinn, N. D. Parmentier, and John Speakman, met at 

 the house of the latter and instituted the Academy of Natural Sci- 

 ences of Philadelphia. Thomas Say joined them a few weeks later, 

 but has always been regarded as one of the founders. 



Dr. Troost was a native of Holland, and for a time was a pupil of 

 the celebrated mineralogist, the Abbe Hatiy. Subsequently he was 

 sent by Louis Bonaparte, then King of Holland, to Java as naturalist, 



