128 HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM. 



tiles and fishes ; M. de Lamarck has described the 

 fossils of the environs of Paris ; M. Cuvier has 

 made known the anatomy of mollusca, and the 

 skeletons of extinct animals, whose bones he had 

 collected ; and the professors in general have 

 contributed extracts from their correspondence 

 with other establishments, or with travellers and 

 foreign naturalists. 



As in each branch of instruction the under- 

 standing is led from the first rudiments of know- 

 ledge to the profoundest principles: so all the 

 parts are aptly connected by a mutual dependance, 

 and unite in the same result of promoting the pro- 

 gress of natural science, and rendering it con- 

 ducive to the well-being of society. 



Two thousand pupils yearly attend the lectures 

 of the Museum, of whom a few only become dis- 

 tinguished naturalists ; but all acquire a share of 

 useful knowledge, and a talent for observation. 

 It has been said by Bacon, that ignorance in phi- 

 losophy is preferable to superficial knowledge ; 

 and it cannot be denied that shallow notions of 

 history and philosophy are often employed to 

 sap the foundations of morality and politics. But 

 it is otherwise with the knowledge of nature ; 

 in this unbounded science every acquisition is 

 useful, from the simplest perception the deepest 

 researches, and from the minutest details to the 



