22 HISTORY OF THE MtJSEUM. 



» which he procured numerous collections, pro- 

 » per places to receive and preserve them , and, 

 » above all , professors who reflected honour on 

 » the establishment. » 



Poirier , superintendant at the death of Fa- 

 gon , survived him but a few days , and was suc- 

 ceeded by Dodart ; but the administration of the 

 garden , which had been detached from the place 

 of first physician by a declaration of the king in 

 1718 , was given to Chirac, physician to the duke 

 of Orleans. Chirac , solely occupied with the prac- 

 tice of medicine, took little interest in the natu- 

 ral sciences : he would allow nothing however 

 to be done without his orders ; and wished to 

 subject the professors to a dependance on him- 

 self , and a conformity to impracticable regula- 

 tions. At last, seeing the impossibility of directing 

 every thing in person, he placed in the garden, 

 with the title of inspector, a man destitute of 

 knowledge , whom he was soon obliged by su- 

 perior authority to dismiss. The correspondance 

 was shackled, the cultivation neglected, and the 

 funds destined for the establishment diverted to 

 other uses. The power of Chirac being increased 

 by his succeeding to the place of first physician 

 on the death of Dodart, the professors could no 

 longer make kxuown their grievances; and the 

 establishment, notwithstanding the exertions of 



