14 Tra7isactions of the Society. 



which 1 reproduce in Plate VII what must have been tlie reflec- 

 tions of the sitter — whether it ever occui-red to him that he was 

 face to face with an agency which was destined to revolutionize 

 the study of microscopic life. His own account of the matter in 

 1825 was as follows:^ "With a view to giving greater publicity 

 to the work I liad undertaken, and with the object of making it 

 available to everybody without entailing the necessity of observing 

 the numerous genera of Foraminifera under the Microscope, 1 

 have had the idea of sculpting a shell of each genus and each 

 sub-genus of this order about 1 in. (Fr.) in size; from these I 

 have made matrices by means of whicli we can have many speci- 

 mens of each shell, and, in accordance with a desire expressed by 

 many persons to have this collection, I have determined to issue 

 it by instalments ; two of these instalments have appeared for 

 some time and the two remaining ones are on the point of publica- 

 tion : the four constitute a collection of 100 models wdiich comprise 

 all the genera and sub-genera, and even the principal species of 

 the order of the Foraminifera." 



The first instalment — Models Nos. 1 to 25 — was ready and 

 was delivered early in 1823. The labels for all four instalments, 

 which were delivered in sets of twenty-five, were all printed at 

 once, so that the label of the fourth is identical with that of the 

 first, excepting for the number of the instalment.- The label, of 

 Avhich a translation has been published by Messrs. Parker and 

 Jones,^ is not uninstructive ; it reads : " Models / of / Microscopic 

 Cephalopods, / living and fossil / representing one individual only 

 of each of the principal divisions of a / new Method based on the 

 plan of growth of the shells./ The diameter of these Models has 

 been enlarged to from 40 to 200 times that of the original shells 

 in order to / make all their characters more recognizable. / By 

 M. Alcide Dessalines d'Orbigny Fils. / The Subscription will 

 entitle to four instalments, each of which will comprise 25 Models, 

 and in addition 3 to / 4 shells, for the first 60 subsciibers : the 

 extreme rarity of the originals does not justify / the promise of 

 more at the present time. (They are here enclosed in glass boxes 

 which must only be opened / with the greatest precaution.) / 

 Tlie four instalments will be sent out during the course of the first 

 6 months of the year 1823 ; the price of / each one is 20 francs, 

 and will be payable either at La Eochelle, to the Author (Jardin 

 des Capucins) or / in Paris to M , by prepaid letters with 



1 I., pp. 247-8. See also I., p. 98. 



- A footnote in I., p. 99, tells us: — " The work consists of four instalments. 

 Each instalment consists of twenty-five models contained in a box with compart- 

 ments, and is sold at 20 fr. The depot is established at Paris, at M. Guerin, rue 

 des FoEses-Saint-Victor, No. 14." This M. Guerin was one of the persons who 

 had supplied him with " des sables des di verses localit^s" (I., p. 250), and he was 

 probably a trader in objects of natural history and scientific appliances. 



3 XIX., p. 16. 



