SECOND PERIOD. 45 



the establishment only rendered more sensible 

 the deficiencies of the rest. The cabinet was not 

 spacious enough to contain the vast accession 

 of objects, and the amphitheatre was both too 

 small , and in other respects inconvenient. As 

 every part of the garden had already an appro- 

 priate destination, farther additions became ne- 

 cessary; and these were made in 1787 , when 

 the king purchased , and annexed to the establish- 

 ment, the hotel de Magny, with its courts and 

 gardens , situated between the hill of ever greens 

 and the rue de Seine. 



On this ground Buff on constructed the amphi- 

 theatre, which now serves for the lectures of 

 botany and chemistry, and removed the lodging 

 of MM. Daubenton and Lacepede to the hotel 

 de Magny. The second floor of the cabinet, which 

 was thus left vacant , was fitted up for the re- 

 ception of the collections , and permission ob- 

 tained from the government to erect an ad- 

 dition to the former galleries : the work was 

 immediately begun , and continued without in- 

 termission; but it was not completed till after 

 the death of Buffon. 



As the buildings became more extensive and 

 the objects were disposed in a more striking 

 manner , more value was attached to the col- 

 lections , and the celebrity of the establishment 



