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 spent in 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 efi'ort 

 is now being made to do what undoubtedly has been too long 

 neglected. 



" Denmark was one of the first countries in which a col- 

 lection 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 



