IV. COLLECTION OF MAMMALIA. 



ASCENDING to the upper story of the cabinet, 

 by the grand staircase to the right, we enter the 

 rooms which contain the zoological collections. 

 The three first and that at the furthest end con- 

 tain the mammalia, arranged according to the 

 system of M. Cuvier. The intermediate gallery 

 is occupied by the birds and animals without ver- 

 tebrae. The number of mammalia now amounts 

 to about one thousand five hundred individuals, 

 belonging to more than five hundred species. 



The first room contains the family of monkies. 

 Between the two windows is a case containing 

 five species of the genus oran-otan (i). The first, 

 placed on the upper shelf, is the chimpanzee, 

 (simia troglodytes, Lin.) a native of Congo and 

 Guinea. This animal was brought to Paris, alive, 

 to M. de Buffon. It was remarkable for its gen- 

 tleness, and adroitness in walking upright, wait- 

 ing at table, sitting down, and in taking its food 

 like a human being. 



(i) These words oran-otan signify, in the Malay tongue, a reasonable 

 being , and were given to these monkies, because they resemble man. 



