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311 
will not be without interest to the Academy, if only in that 
respect, to get a short history of its foundation, progress, and 
present state, 
‘* About forty years ago, the general character of scientific 
pursuits was, in our country, much the same as in most other 
parts of Europe: great pains were spentin collecting all sorts 
of objects illustrating the changes of the globe upon which 
we live, and the distribution and habits of animals and plants, in 
short, all the departments of natural history ; whilst, strange 
to say, people for the most part neglected traces of men, the 
remains, not only of their own ancestors, but also of all the 
different races who have been spread over the world. ‘The 
antiquities, with the exception of those of Roman and Greek 
origin, were regarded as mere curiosities, without any scien- 
tific value ; and they were generally found in collections mixed 
up with petrifactions and other objects, with which they had 
little or no connexion. It was not until after the French Re- 
volution, that the value of ethnology, as a most important 
branch of science, was seen in its proper light. With a greater 
respect for the political rights of the people, there awakened 
in the nations themselves a deeper interest in their own 
history, language, and nationality. Since that time there 
have been formed antiquarian societies, and collections of na- 
tional antiquities, in most European countries; in Germany 
alone there exist at present more than eighty societies, formed 
for the preservation and ‘collection of national antiquities, 
which, as I hope, is sufficient to show that an earnest effort 
is now being made to do what undoubtedly has been too long 
neglected. 
** Denmark was one of the first countries in which a col- 
leetion of national antiquities was founded, and no wonder, 
because the olden time was that in which Denmark, together 
with the two other Scandinavian countries, Norway and Swe- 
den, was in its greatest power. I shall only recall to your 
memory, that the weapons of the Scandinavian warriors had 
