S4 



POPTTLAR SCIENCE NEWS. 



[March, 1889 



bewildering numbers; yet, partly owing to the love 

 of uniformity that mars the landscape gardening of 

 the continent, and partly to the exigencies of a try- 

 ing climate, they make no harmonious whole. No 

 irregularity of arrangement relieves the eye, and no 

 stretches of grass give it rest. Gravel paths divide 

 and sub-divide the plots, and beds of brilliant flowers 

 glare from a setting of gravel. There are long lines 

 of lime and chestnut trees, but the ravages of the 

 aphis on the limes, and the pruning-shears on both, 

 have sadly impaired their beauty. There are ave- 

 nues of pomegranate trees, of orange, lemon, and 

 citron, but tlve shears have clipped them all to one 

 shape, and, having to be housed in winter, they 

 stand in wooden cases. The evergreens, whose 

 luxuriant growth forms one of the attractions of the 

 Royal Gardens at Kew, must be sought for here in 

 sheltered situations only. One fair specimen of 

 Sequoia gigantea may be found, and one very beau- 

 tiful Araucaria excelsa, which leaves the greenhouse 

 only in the summer. 



Nevertheless, there are in the Jardjn des Plantes 

 numerous hardy trees distinguished for their size 

 and foliage. Many of these, moreover, stand as 

 historical landmarks of the struggles of early bot- 

 anists in unexplored countries, and their attempts to 

 naturalize in Europe some of the beautiful trees that 

 they discovered. Planted in 1636, in the place 

 where it now stands, is the identical yellow locust, 

 Rohinia pseudacacia, sent by Jean Robin on his first 

 discovery of the genus in North America, in 1601. 

 So great is the care taken of this tree, that, although 

 a support of plaster has long since filled the place of 

 its inner woody structure, it will probably live to 

 celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of its 

 planting. A magnificent cedar of Lebanon, ten 

 feet in the circumference of its trunk, commemorates 

 the travels of the elder Jussieu in Syria, whence he 

 brought it, and planted it where we now see it, in 

 1735. A large Chinese sumach, Ailanthus glandu- 

 losa, marks the first introduction of the species into 

 Western gardens in 1751 ; while a fine Japanese cat- 

 alpa, Paulownia imperialis was first received as a 

 sapling in 1834. 



Standing on each side of the entrance to the Am- 

 phitheatre, where courses of lectures on Natural 

 History are yearly delivered by specialists, are two 

 specimens of the Mediterranean Palmetto, Cham- 

 aerops humilis, so tall that their crowns of fan-shaped 

 leaves must be supported by framework. These 

 were presented to Louis XIV. by Charles IIL, Mar- 

 grave of Bade Dombach. To the Grand Monarch 

 also once belonged many of the orange trees, some 

 of which, to judge from their size, and thick gnarled 

 stems, descended to him from his father, Louis 

 XIII., or even from his grandfather, the illustrious 

 * Henry of Navarre. 



The greenhouses, though large and numerous, 

 have become quite unequal to the demands made on 

 their hospitality, and a new building is being erect- 

 ed on a scale similar to that of the largest houses at 

 Kew. When it is finished and a new distribution of 

 plants is made, it is to be hoped that the straight 

 lines of the present artificial, stiff arrangement, will 

 give place to more pleasing outlines, and groupings 

 better adapted to the display of individual beauty. 



Great care is bestowed by the directors of the 

 Jardin des Plantes, on the Ecole Botanique, an ob- 

 long strip of the grounds enclosed by a hedge. In it 

 the plants are ranged so strictly according to the 

 divisions of systematic botany, that small tanks have 

 been sunk to accommodate water species in what- 

 ever order they may happen to occur. To visit this 

 herbaceous garden one must satisfy the authorities 

 that he is interested in botany, and then so polite are 

 they and willing to aid research, that full students' 

 privileges will be accorded to him, even to the extent I 



of gathering specimens for his own herbarium. l""or 

 medical students there is, moreover, a medical gar- 

 den also systematically arranged, and this represents 

 the oldest department of the gardens, having be^n 

 laid out by the botanist, Guy Labrosse, at their 

 founding in 1635. 



-The numerous Natural History Museums con- 

 tained in the Jardin des Plantes are a great attrac- 

 tion to foreigners. These date from the time of the 

 celebrated Bufton, who, the Institution falling into 

 his hands in 1732, entirely remodeled the gardens and 

 founded collections in every department of Natural 

 Science. His own stuffed animals still remain much 

 as he left them, and in passing through the rooms that 

 contain them, we marvel that such an immense num- 

 ber of specimens could have been studied and de- 

 scribed by one man. But the Museums are filled 

 with collections that testify to the genius and per- 

 sistent energy of the great men who made them, 

 and with specimens that may be termed "classic" 

 in the history of Science. Thus, in the Museum of 

 Pala;ontology are the very fossil animals found in 

 the immediate neighborhood of Paris, which ena- 

 bled Cuvier, in the early part of this century, to de- 

 monstrate beyond doubt, the close analogy between 

 present and past faunas of the globe. The Museum 

 of Comparative Anatomy contains the recent bones 

 on which the great anatomist worked, and which, 

 set up in perfect skeletons or otherwise arranged for 

 their comparative study, form the greatest part of an 

 osteological collection unsurpassed, if indeed equalled, 

 in the whole world. 



Anthropology fills eleven rooms with an immense 

 number of skeletons, skulls, mummies, casts, pic- 

 tures, cases of hair, &c., illustrative of the physical 

 characteristics of past and present races of mankind. 

 Among the remains of prehistoric man, is the half- 

 fossilized skeleton discovered in 1882 by M. Riviere, 

 in the cavern called the Grotto of Menton. It lies 

 with folded arms and bent knees, its head still en- 

 circled with the shells that formed its funeral orna- 

 ment. Mummies, prehistoric and historic, are seen 

 on all sides, especially in the Egyptian room, where 

 babies and small animals still wrapped in their ban- 

 dages, hang in rows above the doors. Among the 

 mummies of other nations is that of the young boy 

 described by Buffon from the Puy de Dome, and 

 not far from him are the ancient pair of Guanches 

 from the island of Tenerifte. There is a group of 

 ancient Peruvians crouching as in their tomb, the 

 heads of the women artificially elongated ; and a 

 Peruvian of the time of the Incas sits as she was 

 found near Lima, her head bandaged, and her knees 

 drawn up under the cloth that wraps her shoulders. 

 Around her lie the household treasures taken from 

 her grave, a jar curiously fashioned with head and 

 hands, a gourd, some shells, a cob of corn, a mat, 

 and her implements for spinning. 



One leaves these Museums deeply impressed with 

 the amount and value ot the work that has been 

 done in France in the departments of Science that 

 they represent. The collection of Economic Botany 

 appears to be but small, but, as it is undergoing a 

 much needed re-arrangement, we cannot form an es- 

 timate of its value. We are greatly interested, how- 

 ever, in a magnificent representation in wax of the 

 common genera and species of Fungi, mounted on 

 the hosts on which they prey. 



The Zoological collections, now so large that the 

 Museums, even to their cellars, are packed with 

 specimens, are shortly to be removed to a spacious 

 fireproof building elected for them on the high 

 ground that rises gradually from the entrance oppo- 

 site the Pont d' Austerlitz. Seen through the vista 

 of lime trees, its facade of white limestone looks 

 imposing, as well it may, with a length of 

 three hundred and ten feet, and a height of two 



hundred and seventeen. The interior, planned to 

 secure the greatest possible amount of light, as well 

 as space, consists of an enormous central hall light- 

 ed entirely from above, and of sets of rooms be- 

 tween the hall and the outside halls. These rooms, 

 all forty feet in breadth, are intended for various 

 working collections. The central hall is to contain 

 a systematic arrangement of stuffed animals, and 

 shells, and other popular and instructive zoological 

 specimens. A more striking presentation of them 

 could scarcely be secured. By an extensive use of 

 glass in their fittings, the three rows of galleries 

 surrounding the hall appear open to the general 

 view, and the effect of an amphitheatre has been 

 further promoted by sinking the floor of the centre 

 of the hall for characteristic groups of the larger 

 mammals. Two whales already there look ridicu- 

 lously small in the vast space, though each would; 

 crowd an ordinary Museum ; and two or three ele- 

 phants, with a few giraffes arranged behind them om 

 a stand, appear to be merely toy animals from a 

 Noah's ark. 



From the time of the first Revolution, when the' 

 establishment was enriched with the Royal Menag- 

 eries from Versailles and Raney, the Jardin des; 

 Plantes has always contained a collection of living 

 animals. This department flourished under the 

 first and second Empire, but suffered with the rest of 

 the garden when, during the bombardment of the 

 city by the Prussians in 1870 — 71, ambulances were 

 established in it, as they were later under the Com- 

 mune. The number of the animals greatly de- 

 creased during the siege, as many, even of the most 

 valuable, were sold to the butchers when famine be- 

 gan to drive the citizens to extremities. 



Situated on the left bank of the Seine, in the 

 eastern quarter of the city, the Jardin des Plantes is, 

 largely frequented by the working classes. Women 

 bring their sewing and sit under the trees while; 

 their children play around them, and families stroll: 

 together among the flowers or linger around the 

 enclosures in which the animals enjoy the summer 

 air. Though to visit these animals in their houses,, 

 or any of the collections in the Museums, permission- 

 must be obtained at the oflice of management ini 

 the grounds, so much glass is used in building, that 

 it is not always necessary for the general public to. 

 enter in order to enjoy the refining and educating 

 influences of their contents. The children crowd- 

 ing around the serpent house, can gaze at the mag- 

 nificent boa constrictor, or watch the smaller snakes; 

 and lizards, as well from the outside as the inside; 

 and the little ragged urchins from the streets of 

 Paris may any day be seen looking through the 

 glass door of the Museum of Pala;ontology, at Cu- 

 vier's Megatherium and other fossil animals, gain- 

 ing thus preliminary ideas which, in the words of 

 the Professor who called our attention to the fact,, 

 are "absolutely necessary for the development of a 

 taste for Natural History." 



[Original in Tke Popular Science Ifaos.] 

 EXPERTS. 

 It is only a short time since the learned pro- 

 fessions open to man were three in number the 



law, theology and medicine. But of late years a 

 fourth profession has grown up, that of professional 

 witnesses or experts. Almost any person may be 

 called into court at some time during his life to give 

 evidence in regard to some point with which he is 

 familiar, and on such a point he may be regarded 

 as an expert. But the professional expert must go 

 much farther than this ; he must not only have a 

 full knowledge of the facts in a given case, but he 

 must have the power of drawing conclusions from 

 these facts and be able to present his conclusions in 

 such a manner that they will carry weight. Merely 



