454 DESCRIPTION OF THE MUSEUM. 



in the former cabinet there were only one thou- 

 sand five hundred specimens, almost all belong- 

 ing to the arachnides and insects; these came 

 mostly from Reaumur's private collection, and 

 were sent either to that celebrated entomologist 

 or to Buffon by Cossigny, Duhamel, Poivre, Adan- 

 son, Granger, Chavalon, Commerson, Sonnerat 

 and several other correspondents. They were 

 exhibited with a view to give an idea of this 

 branch of zoology, rather than as objects of cu- 

 riosity. It began to present an interesting series 

 when M. Desfontaines enriched it in the year 

 1796 with the insects which he had collected 

 in Africa. It was considerably augmented from 

 the cabinet of the Stadtholder, and was after- 

 wards much increased by specimens belonging 

 to all the classes which Dombey, Mange, Peron, 

 Lesueur, Mace, Hogard, and Olivier collected in 

 their travels. Still more recently it has been 

 greatly augmented by those which MM. Dela- 

 lande, Leschenault, and Auguste Saint-Hilaire 

 have found, the first at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 the second in the Peninsula of India, and the third 

 in the Brazils. 



In consequence of the presents which have 

 been made us, the exchanges with naturalists, and 

 the zeal of many of our correspondents, among 

 whom we are happy to enumerate MM. L'Her- 



