' . Natural History in Foreign Coimtries. 469 



from the ground, 5 ft. ; estimated age, 360 years. It was cut down on the 

 3d of June, 181.6, the branches having begun to wither at the top, and the 

 trunk to decay at the centre. There is another silver fir tree standing near 

 where this one stood, nearly of the same height, and estimated to be of 

 the same age. The forest of Hochwald (High-wood, in allusion probably 

 to the height of the trees) consists almost entirely of silver firs, and before 

 the revolution belonged to the town of Strasburg. 



There is a good collection of specimens of different kinds of timber, 

 which, instead of exhibiting a series of polished tablets, as is generally the 

 case, consists of oblique sections of the trunk with the bark on, of the ave- 

 rage size which the trunk attains. Specimens polished, and otherwise 

 manufactured, are also exhibited ; so that the collection becomes at once 

 instructive to the botanist, and to the cabinet-maker and joiner. It also 

 contains a collection of seeds, with their pods and other integuments or 

 receptacles, arranged according to the natural system, amongst which the 

 different cones of the Coniferae, and the pods of Leguminosae, form very 

 interesting assemblages j and a herbarium, arranged after the manner of 

 Jussieu. , : 



The whole of this museum is in excellent order. Among the quadrupeds 

 and birds there is no appearance of moths, and at the same time no smell 

 of camphor, or other preservative ingredients. On enquiring of M. Vinet 

 what means he used to preserve in such excellent condition the objects un- 

 der his care, he answered, " Nothing more than frequently inspecting them, 

 airing them, gently brushing them over, or wiping off any thing extraneous, 

 and keeping the cases perfectly clean.'^ He observed that camphor, pepper, 

 cedar wood, savine, &c., which were used by some housewives to keep moths 

 from clothes, had been found perfectly useless if the clothes were not fre- 

 quently taken out, brushed, and aired ; and that if clothes were taken out 

 frequently, and brushed and aired, no camphor or "other ingredient was ne- 

 cessary to keep them from the moth, or other insects. The idea occurred to 

 him that what held good in keeping furs, leather, woollen cloth, feathers, and 

 other articles of dress, free from moths, might hold good in preserving the 

 same articles in their unmanufactured state, and he tried it and was success- 

 ful. The same idea has been applied in England to the keeping of speci- 

 mens of plants, which require to be frequently turned over. To convince 

 himself and others of the uselessness of camphor and other nostrums alone, 

 M. Vinet has hatched moths in an atmosphere impregnated with camphor, 

 and the other substances mentioned. This hint, as to the preservation 

 of articles of dress made from animal substances, will, we know, not be lost 

 on our female readers. . 



M. Vinet, besides being the keeper of this museum, collects and prepares 

 objects of natural history for sale, and sends the natural productions of Al- 

 satia to other countries. 



The Botanic Garden here contains a tolerable collection, the hardy 

 plants arranged in the Jussieuean manner. There are some good specimens 

 of exotic trees and shrubs, of which the most remarkable is a iSalisbuna 

 adiantifolia, the male plant, as in England, and almost every where else in 

 Europe, which flowers freely every year ! It is about 18 ft. high, and has 

 no leading shoot, having been completely overshadowed for many years by 

 an immense Populus angulata, which was taken down about twelve years 

 ago. Professor Nestler conjectures that the change of circumstances pro- 

 duced by the removal of the poplar, may probably be the cause of the 

 inflorescence. A female Salisbiiria is now planted beside the male, raised 

 from a bud received from Professor Decandolle, who, some years ago, found 

 accidentally, in a garden near Geneva, the only female plant at that time 

 known in Europe. We suggested the idea of inserting buds of the female 

 plant on the points of the extreme shoots of the male, thinking it probable 

 that, by becoming a part of the same tree, it will become subject to the 



