THIRD PERIOD. 117 



three times a week during the months of May, 

 June, July, and August, and are generally attended 

 by five or six hundred pupils. 



Of all the branches of natural history, botany is 

 the best .suited to the female sex ; it presents 

 nothing to offend their delicacy ; it furnishes 

 them amusement in retirement, and lends interest 

 to their walks ; attaches them to the cultivation 

 of their gardens ; assists them to develope a habit 

 of observation in their children; and affords an 

 opportunity of gratifying their benevolence, by 

 making the poorer inhabitants of the country 

 acquainted with useful plants. The letters of 

 Rousseau first excited a taste for this science in 

 the ladies of France, which has increased with 

 the facility of obtaining instruction. A consi- 

 derable number repair to the garden at an early 

 hour to attend the lectures, and a separate space 

 has been reserved for them in the amphitheatre. 



Since 1770 M. de Jussieu has continued his her- 

 borisations during the summer. 



The course of agriculture is delivered by 

 M. Thouin, with such illustrations as are possible 

 from the practice in the garden and the collection 

 of models. M. Thouin is charged with the cor- 

 respondence with all the public gardens of France 

 and other countries, and with the yearly distri- 

 bution of more than 80,000 parcels of seeds r 



