THIRD PERIOD. 79 



greatly to the riches of the cabinets. The herba- 

 rium was increased by a vast number of speci- 

 mens carefully gathered and dried by MM. Ledou 

 and Riedley. Fiiedley had besides made a collec- 

 tion of all the different kinds of wood of Saint- 

 Thomas and Porto-Rico, with numbers affixed 

 referring to the flower in the herbarium ; which 

 enabled the professor of botany to determine 

 the species of the tree. The two zoologists 

 brought back a numerous collection of quadru- 

 peds, birds and insects. That of birds made by 

 Mauge was particularly interesting , from their 

 perfect preservation , and from the fact that the 

 greater part of them were new to the Museum. 

 The success of this voyage occasionned the plan- 

 ning of another, of which we shall soon have 

 occasion to speak, and which was attended with 

 results still more beneficial. 



In 1798 the professors presented a memoir to 

 the government exposing the wants of the Mu- 

 seum. The magnificent collections which had been 

 received were still in their cases, liable to be 

 destroyed by insects and comparatively useless, 

 for want of room to display them. There were 

 no means of nourishing the animals, because the 

 contractors who were not paid refused to make 

 further advances. The same distress existed in 

 1799, and it was the more to be regretted from 



