12- INTRODUCTION. 
from the four quarters of the world to be 
claffed methodically, as far as ispoffible, in 
a fpace always unluckily too confined. Du- 
ring a refidence of three years, I faw, ftudi- 
cd, and made myfelf acquainted with all the 
moft celebrated cabinets ; but their fuperb 
colle£tions foon made m.e uneafv : they left 
a vacuum in m.y mind which nothing could 
£1! up. I no longer beheld, in thefe, aflem- 
blagesof foreign fpoils, but general magazines, 
where dilferent beings, ranged without 
choice, and without tafte, were buried in 
profound fleep for fcience. Nothing gave 
me any precife information refpeftlng their 
manners, their cuftoms, ^nd their habitudes, 
which are things the moft efTential to be 
known. This was the ftudy which had en- 
gaged the greateft fhare of my attention in 
my youth. I had read, it is true, diflerent 
works upon natural hiftory, but filled Vv^ith 
contra didlicr.s fo difruftincr, that the tafte 
w^hich is not yet formed muft Icfe much by 
perufmg them. Above all, I had ftudied, 
with the utmoft avidity, thofe immortal maf- 
terpieces, confecrated for the ufe of pofte- 
4 ^^^7 
