A F R I C A. - t4s 
he fcen at citizen Venzel's, the moft celebrated 
artift of the kind in Paris. It was in a houfe 
in the metrdpoUs of France that I faw, for the 
firft time, fome of thefe artificial plants, the 
flowers, fruits, ftalks, leaves, and even roots of 
which were executed with aftonifhing fidelity^ 
and of their natural fize. To deceive the eye 
more effeftually, moft of thefe plants were 
placed in pots filled with fand or dry mould. 
Never was nature more perfedly imitated hf 
art ; here we have neither the glaring falfehood 
of the graver, nor the dead appearance of the 
hortus ficcus : all is life y the plant Teems to ve- 
getate ; and at one glance you take iri the 
whole, and the various parts of which it is 
compofed. In this ftate, I have feen at Paris 
African plants v/hich I could not recognife in. 
herbals, but which I inftantly knew in this col- 
ledion. The botanift indeed muft decide how 
far this method may contribute to the advance-* 
ment of his extenfive fcience. No doubt it 
would be impoffible for him to preferve every 
known plant in this manner in his cabinetj 
however fpacious it might be : but could he 
not at leaft find room for the different genera. 
Vol. IL h with 
