PROFESSOR OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 



49 



ten on the subject. I have some strength left to 

 sacrifice for the common advantage ; I have had some 

 experience and practice in writing works of this kind ; 

 my herbarium is one of the richest in existence ; my 

 numerous collection of shells is almost the only one 

 in France the specimens of which are determined and 

 named according to the method adopted by modern 

 naturalists — finally, I am in a position to profit by all 

 the aid which is to be found in the National Museum 

 of Natural History. With these means brought to- 

 gether, I can then hope to prepare in a suitable man- 

 ner this interesting work. 



" I had at first thought that the work should be 

 executed by a society of naturalists ; but after having 

 given this idea much thought, and having already the 

 example of the new encyclopeedia, I am convinced 

 that in such a case the work would be very defective 

 in arrangement, without unity or plan, without any 

 harmony of principles, and that its composition might 

 be interminable. 



" Written with the greatest possible conciseness, 

 this work could not be comprised in less than eight 

 volumes in 8vo, namely : One volume for the quad- 

 rupeds and birds; one volume for the reptiles and 

 fishes ; two volumes for the insects ; one volume for 

 the worms (the molluscs, madrepores, lithophytes, 

 and naked worms) ; two volumes for the plants ; one 

 volume for the minerals : eight volumes in all. 



" It is impossible to prepare in France a work of 

 this nature without having special aid from the na-/ 

 tion, because the expense of printing (on account of\ 

 the enormous quantity of citations and figures which 

 it would contain) would be such that any arrange- 

 ment with the printer or the manager of the edition 

 could not remunerate the author for writing such an 

 immense work. 



" If the nation should wish to print the work at its 

 own expense, and then give to the author the profits 



