262 STUDIES ON AUSTRALIAN MOLLUSCA, xi., 



Delessert Collection, in 1869, to the city of Geneva, the native 

 town of the Delesserts.* 



When Drs. Quoy and Gaimard referred to the Lamarckian 

 Collection! for the purpose of naming the shells gathered by the 

 Astrolabe Expedition, it was the property of " M. le prince 

 d'Essling." 



Deshayes complained that while writing the second edition of 

 the Animaux sans vertebres, he was at first unable to refer to the 

 Lamarckian specimens.! But on p. 214 of the ninth volume 

 (1843), he remarked that, by the kindness of the new owner of 

 the Collection, Baron B. Delessert, he was then able to consult 

 them. 



Davidson acknowledged the generous assistance he received in 

 his study of the Lamarckian brachiopods.§ When he wrote, the 

 Collection had been purchased from Prince Massena by Baron 

 Delessert, and Chenu was then Curator of this " extensive and 

 celebrated Museum." 



To examine this celebrated Collection, I visited Geneva, in 

 October, 1912. Dr. M. Bedot, the Director of the Museum, 

 received me most hospitably, and afforded facilities for study. 

 It is pleasant to record how the Lamarckian Collection is held in 

 trust for science, not only in safety but in veneration. It is 

 preserved apart, locked up in four cabinets, and only shown with 

 due precautions. The shells are gummed to wooden tablets, the 

 margins of which are coloured to indicate geographical distribu- 

 tion. Blue, yellow, red, green, and violet indicate, respectively, 

 an European, Asiatic, African, American, or Oceanic habitat. 

 This mounting was probably done by Chenu. || Frequently a label 

 in Lamarck s own writing is attached to the tablet. It is 

 intended that photographs of all Lamarck's species will be pub- 

 lished by the Museum. 



♦Crosse, Journ. de Conch., xvii., 1869, p. 208; Gray, Ann. Mag. Nat. 

 Hist , April, 1869, pp.319 and 396. 



f Quoy & Gaim., Zool. Astrolabe, ii., 1833, p.444. 

 X Deshayes, Journ. de Conch., i., 1850, p. 418. 

 § Davidson, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., June, 1850, p. 434. 

 || Chenu died at an advanced age, in 1879. Journ. de Conch., xxviii., 1880, 

 p. 106. 



