CHAPTER IV. 

 THE MENAGERIE. 



When Louis XIV fixed his residence at Ver- 

 sailles, the academy of sciences requested him to 

 establish a menagerie in the magnificent park 

 belonging to his palace. His consent being ob- 

 tained, a great number of rare animals were soon 

 assembled in a large space fitted for their re- 

 ception, and drawn by Perault with a correct- 

 ness hitherto unknown in France. 



The menagerie continued to be enriched under 

 the reigns of Louis XV and XVI. It was there 

 that Buffon and Daubenton saw most of the 

 foreign animals they have described from their 

 own observations ; and the fifteen first volumes 

 of the Natural History, which they published 

 together, owe to the menagerie of Versailles 

 most of the descriptions and original remarks 

 which render it a fundamental work in zoology. 



The unfortunate Louis XVI being obliged to 

 quit Versailles, the menagerie was neglected, 



