namented his book with many plates, more than 

 half of which are in all respects foreign to his 

 subject, as they simply represent shells, and other 

 marine productions, with their descriptions. He 

 inserted the Memoir of M. Duhamel entire, en- 

 titled, " Instructions for the Transportation by Sea 

 of Living Plants, Seeds, &c." The author, in 

 doing justice to the good intentions of travellers, 

 complains that the stationary naturalists, and the 

 curious, often, after great expense, receive things 

 badly chosen and badly preserved, which they are 

 obliged to throw away. He gives some very in- 

 teresting details on this subject, but unfortunately 

 he has too much neglected the method of packing 

 fragile objects, such as madrepores, star-fish, echini, 

 butterflies, &c. ; for by a near calculation, we may, 

 for the objects alone which we have just mentioned, 

 value at one-fourth the loss which results from the 

 improper manner in which they have been packed. 

 We shall, in the course of this treatise, speak of 

 the means of remedying this inconvenience. 



In 1 786, the Abbe Manesse published a volume, 

 under the title of " Treatise on the Manner of 

 stuffing and preserving Animals and Skins." 

 He presented his work to the Academy, who made 

 a favourable report of it. It contained some very 

 useful advice, but the instructions it gave for 

 mounting and preserving birds, do not appear ad- 

 missible to us, however seducing the author may 

 B 3 



