450 Natural' Historical Collections^ 



to Rome, he relates that he was struck with the quantity of peacocks that were in 

 that city. 



It was at the period of the dispersion of the learned men, that the library of 

 Pergamus began to increase. It had been commenced under Eumenes II. grand, 

 son of Eumenes, founder of the kingdom. There was soon an emulation between 

 the kings of this country and those of Egypt as to who should have the most 

 books ; whence there was an order not to carry any paper out of Egypt. The 

 learned men of Pergamus then made the discovery of parchment, a most impor- 

 tant discovery, and one to which we are indebted for the preservation of almost 

 all the works of antiquity. At the revival of letters, in fact, few or no manu- 

 scripts were found on papyrus, which may easily be conceived, since these leaves 

 were much more easily injured than our own paper. Since that time, some have 

 been found preserved with the mummies ; but their contents have hitherto given 

 us very little information. 



After Physcon, a still more barbarous prince reigned, and who pushed stupidi- 

 ty so far as to destroy the monuments of ancient Egypt. Thebes having risen 

 up against him, he gave orders that the temples and the palaces, of which that 

 city was full, should be thrown down. He only left standing what he could not 

 overthrow. 



He showed himself a greater enemy to learned men than even his predecessor 

 had been, and finished by driving out the few that still remained in Egypt. It 

 was nevertheless in his reign that Agatharchidas flourished, a peripatetic philoso- 

 pher, who, as weU as we can judge from a fragment preserved by Phocion, had 

 occupied himself with much success with natural history. 



Agatharchidas was a native of Gnidos, and probably belonged to the family of 

 Asclepiadae. He passed all his life in Egypt, and was even tutor of the tenth Ptole- 

 my, Alexander II. The fragment which we possess, relates to the history of the Red 

 Sea. The author describes the different nations that inhabit the borders of that 

 sea. He makes us acquainted with their manners and the nature of their food. 

 People were met with at that time on the coast of Abyssinia who fed on grass- 

 hoppers ; others eat the flesh of wild beasts. He also speaks of the animals of 

 these dift'erent countries, especially of those which had been brought to Alexandria. 

 Thus he describes pretty accurately the rhinoceros, the giraffe, which he calls 

 camelo-pardalis, a species of hya;na called crocutta, and some other quadrupeds ; 

 he describes also the pintado. He speaks of the hot springs that are met with 

 in some of the provinces ; of the gold mines, and of the manner in which this 

 metal is wrought. In one word, this fragment is very precious for the natural 

 history of Africa. Agatharchidas was the last naturalist of the Grecian period at 

 Alexandria. Different causes had combined to stifle the natural sciences in Egypt. 

 In the first place, the furious stupidity of the last Ptolemys, and the increasing 

 influence of the Romans, who only prized the branches of human knowledge tliat 

 were applicable to war ; but, above all, the introduction of a new philosophy, the 

 new Platonism, a mixture of Jewish ideas with the notions of the Platonists. 



Before Egypt fell entirely under the yoke of the Romans, the famous library 

 of Alexandria was consumed by fire. Cffisar, attacked by the inhabitants of that 

 city, was obliged to fire their fleet to effect his escape. The fire communicated 

 itself to the houses near the harbour, and at length reached the edifice where the 

 books were preserved. What is very singular is, that Casar, who speaks of the 

 burning of the fleet, does not mention a word of that of the library. Lucan, in 

 his Pharsalia, does not speak of it either. It would have been nevertheless a 

 fine subject for poetry with him, and quite to his turn of mind. The first writer 

 who speaks of this destruction is Plutarch, who lived 200 years afterwards. It 

 further appears that every thing was not lost, and that the library consisted of 

 two buildings, only one of which was consumed. Antony, to repair this disaster, 

 gave, it is said, to Cleopatra, the books of the kings of Pergamus. After the 

 death of Antony, Egypt ceased to be an independent kingdom, and in future we 

 shall only have to mention it as a part of the Roman empire* Soon afterwards 



