48 HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM. 



own writings, it should present a picture of 

 the most remarkable things in nature , inde- 

 pendant of system, which he regarded as the 

 artifice of man. This manner of considering natu- 

 ral history was particularly pleasing, to a mind 

 that delighted in contemplating the universe 

 of things as a w hole : and indeed, in nature where 

 all is harmony , the most different beings are 

 placed side by side , and the imagination seizes at 

 once the links which unite, and the characters 

 which separate them. 



According to Buffon , the end of a general col- 

 lection was attained, when it captivated the at- 

 tention, and led the beholder to seek in living 

 nature what was thus imperfectly represented ; 

 it was even deemed a useful exercise to sepa- 

 rate what related to a peculiar study, from the 

 crowd of objects that surrounded it. 



We do not pretend to defend this view, which 

 would not be at all admissible, now that we have 

 objects enough to form a series and room for 

 their exhibition, and that each branch of natural 

 history is studied as a separate science. One of 

 its necessary consequences was the neglect of 

 whatever was not calculated to interest the pu- 

 blic ; when a collection arrived the most re- 

 markable objects were selected to fill the empty 

 spaces^ and the rest were preserved in boxes. 



