THIRD PERIOD. 85 



serve their chairs when subjected to the controul 

 of a perpetual chief. 



The minister turned a deaf ear to these remon- 

 strances : he wished to appoint to the place of 

 director M. de Jussieu, who used his credit only 

 to enforce the reasons of the professors, and to 

 prevent the execution of a plan fraught with irre- 

 parable mischief. Happily nothing was decided 

 when in the month of November M. Chaptal, 

 minister of the interior ad interim, determined 

 the first consul to yield to their representations. 



The steady progress and harmonious concur- 

 rence of all the parts of the Museum demon- 

 strate the utility of the present form of admini- 

 stration, and it is to be hoped that the project 

 of concentring an authority which has no con- 

 nexion with politics, will not again be brought 

 forward under a more enlightened and paternal 

 government. At its foundation the garden was 

 of so small an extent, that a single man sufficed 

 for its administration and improvement ; and 

 at that time, though botany, anatomy and che- 

 mistry only were taught, with a view to mede- 

 cine, it was often necessary to solicit the favour 

 of the court. Its funds are now fixed by the 

 budget, and it is for the administrators to consider 

 how they may be the most usefully employed. 

 Each proposes improvements in his own de- 



