68 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



The first establishment of the kind which xvas 

 used practically, and for the study of their natures, 

 was a menagerie founded at Versailles, by Louis 

 XIV., and which served for the schools of Button 

 and Daubenton ; and following this, the fine col- 

 lection in the Garden of Plants at Paris, formed 

 a source from which all Europe drew their re- 

 searches. In Britain, during this period, the collec- 

 tions of wild animals were confined to those of one or 

 two individuals, who made them sources of profit ; 

 and for many years that belonging to Mr Cross, in 

 Exeter Change, was well known as almost the only 

 place where a study could be obtained. Later years, 

 however, and an increasing knowledge of the utility 

 of Natural History, has raised up noble collections. 

 The Tower has been renovated ; London, Liverpool, 

 and Dublin, have now their zoological gardens, and 

 England can no longer be taunted that she was unable 

 to equal the menageries of the Continent. The vari- 

 ous zoological gardens which are established and esta- 

 blishing throughout the country, are now the schools 

 of Natural History; and the wild beasts of the forests, 

 and fowls of the air, instead of being destroyed in 

 savage and unnatural conflicts, are studied, to learn 

 the wonders of their structure, and to discover the 

 uses for which an all bountiful Creator has intended 

 them. 



Having thus attempted to trace one department 

 of the history of these animals from the older ages 

 * the present time, we shall describe the habits and 



