COLLECTION OF ARTICULATED ANIMALS. 4% 



We shall 'now proceed to the collection of 

 arachnides and insects. It begins at the extre- 

 mity of the chest of drawers placed in the gal- 

 lery of the birds. It occupies its whole length, 

 extending to the middle of the other chest in 

 which are the Crustacea, and is composed of 

 about fifty thousand specimens belonging to more 

 than twenty thousand different species. As it 

 would have required a great deal of room to 

 exhibit so great a number of objects, and as 

 the colours of many of the insects are liable 

 to change when exposed to the light, this col- 

 lection has been so divided as to form two. The 

 first consists of the old collection and the dupli- 

 cates of the new acquisitions, and is displayed 

 in the vertical frames which are on the top of 

 the drawers. The genera alone are indicated, 

 and a number affixed to each species refers to 

 a catalogue by M. Latreille ; this is communi- 

 cated to those who wish to study the nomen- 

 clature. The second collection, by far the more 

 complete, is shut up, in order to ensure its pre- 

 servation, in the drawers placed below the 

 chests. This collection is arranged according to 

 the most recent and approved methods ; the spe- 

 cies afford the type of those described by M. La- 

 treille, and it is shewn to those who wish to 

 examine the characters ; but as it is not exposed 



