1 54 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM, 



leaves and shed the old, the number of external 

 rings indicates their age, like the concentric cir- 

 cles of ordinary trees (1). They grow also at the 

 base of the trunk, so that the first ring is now 

 more than a foot above the level of the soil — 

 a peculiarity that has been observed in no other 

 tree. 



Near the amphitheatre is the entrance of the 

 menagerie. The varied surface of the ground, 

 the diversity of the plantations, and the singu- 

 larity of the structures, give this part of the esta- 

 blishment the appearance of a landscape garden, 

 though the interest excited by it is different. 

 In English gardens, where the intention is solely 

 to produce picturesque scenery and to vary the 

 prospect, we are ready to ask if the effect repays 

 the expence ; and grow weary of magnificence 

 without utility. But here every thing has its use : 

 each of the numerous parks is appropriated to 

 some species of animals, and is proportioned in 

 extent to the exercise it requires. The trees are 

 disposed so as to afford it shade, and the building 

 for its retreat recalls the habits of the animal 

 and the country whence it came ; while the 



(1) This fact, however singular, is not an exception to the ordinary 

 laws of vegetation. The pivot being forced out by the inferior roots, 

 which were stopped in their descent, forms at present the base or pe- 

 destal of the column. Near the earth we observe a contraction of the 

 trunk, as if it was nourished only by the central roots. 



