1876.] The Origin and Development of Museums. 83 
It was the custom among the Assyrian people to preserve ` 
corpses in honey, and this did very well also for delicate objects, 
When Alexander the Great conquered Suza, he found a very 
large and expensive quantity of purple dye two hundred years 
old, preserved in an excellent condition by an external layer of 
honey. Covering the objects with wax preserved them well, but 
for scientific purposes not better than the mummies of animals 
found to this day in the Egyptian pyramids. The celebrated 
book of Numa Pompilius, found in his grave, was entirely covered | 
with wax, and, though five hundred years old, in perfect condition. 
The long space of time after Christ’s death, nearly twelve cent- 
uries, is entirely devoid of interest concerning natural history. 
Curious enough, and perhaps explaining this lack of interest, is 
the fact that in the earlier centuries of the Christian era the 
study of natural history was believed to be in some way a proof 
of religious infidelity. The reason of this will probably be found 
in the lack of education and study of the disciples and nearly all 
the apostles. Discussion would have been impossible, difficult, 
or of doubtful result. Simple faith covered all. So it happened 
that the prominent works of Aristotle were nearly lost in Europe. 
Translations of these into the Arabian language, introduced in 
the tenth century through Spain, and again translated into Latin, 
were used, and the original text was perhaps not known until 
the fifteenth century in the west of Europe. Except a few 
scanty pages in the works of Saint Isidorus, there was nothing 
Written about natural history before the time of Albert the 
Great, and of course no collections existed. We are told by 
Begin, in his work on the natural history of the Middle Ages, 
that rich abbeys and cloisters possessed indeed some collections 
of medicinal or poisonous plants, of fossils, minerals, and shells. 
Even in the time of the Crusaders, such collections were aug- 
mented by frequent voyages in foreign countries. Some of these 
curiosities are still preserved: for instance, in the treasury of 
St. Denis, in France, the feet of a griffin, sent to Charles the 
Great by the Persian Shah; some teeth of the hippopotamus, and 
similar objects. 
The vast erudition of the celebrated Albertus Magnus, a Cath- 
olie priest born in Bollstadt, in Germany, extended even to 
natural history. His works are in every way admirable. The 
manifold voyages of this savant, his long residence in very differ- 
ent places, Cologne, Paris, Rome, and Regensburg, facilitated 
the observation of different animals. The works of Aristotle 
