MUSEUM. 
enabled to resist the actioji of ■water, 
l)ai't!y by tlie compactness of its texture, 
and partly by the viscidity of the gelatine 
of whicii it is formed ; for those skins which 
dissolve most readily in boiling water aflbrd 
the worst glne. The skin of the cel is very 
flexible, and affords very readily a great 
proportion of gelatine. The skin of the 
shark also readily yields abundance of gela- 
tine; and the same remark ajiplies to the 
skins of the hare, rabbit, calf, and ox ; the 
difficulty of obtaining tlic glne, and its 
goodness, always increasing with the tough- 
ness of the hide, llie hide of the ridnoce- 
ros, which is exceedingly strong and tough, 
fiir surpasses the rest in the difficulty of 
solution and in the goodness of its glue. 
When skins are boiled, they gradually swell, 
and assume the appearance of horn ; tlien 
tliey dissolve slowly. 
MUSEUM, a collection of rare and inte- 
resting objects, selected from the whole 
circle of natural history and the arts, and 
deposited in apartments or buildings, eitlier 
by the commendable generosity of rich in- 
dividuals, general governments, or mo- 
narchs, for the inspection of the learned and 
tlie great mass of tJie public. 
The term which means, literally, a study, 
or place of retirement, is said to have been 
applied originally to that part of the Royal 
Palace at Alexandria appropriated for the 
use of learned men, and the reception of 
the literary works then extant. According 
to ancient writers, they were formed into 
classes or colleges, each of which had a 
competent sum assigned for their support ; 
and we are furtlier informed, that the esta- 
blishment was founded by Ptolemy Phi- 
liidelphus, who added a most extensive 
library. 
It would answer little purpose to trace 
the history of museums, as the earlier part 
of it is involved in much obscurity, and as 
we. approach our own time they multiply 
beyond a possibility of noticing even the 
most important. Within onr brief limits we 
sliall, therefore, confine ourselves to those 
at the Vatican, Florence, Paris, Oxford, 
and London. That of the Vatican might 
Originally have been said to occupy every 
apartment of the palace, which are more 
numerous than in any other royal residence 
in the world ; the pictures, the books, the 
manuscripts, statues, has reliefs, and ^very 
other description of the labours of ancient 
artists, were select, uncommon, and valu- 
able, in the extreme, particularly the Lao- 
cnon, which some authors assert is the saute 
that adorned the palace of the Emperor 
Titus, and mentioned by Pliny, as Opus 
omnibus et picturce, et statuance, artis, frra- 
Jhendum, who adds, that it was made by 
Agesander, Pelydorns, and Athenodoriis, 
natives of Rhodes, from a single mass of 
marble, w'hich circumstance lias since caus- 
ed a doubt whether the gronpe of the 
Vatican is really the original, as Michael 
Angelo discovered that it is composed of 
more than one piece. It was found in 1606, 
near tlie baths of Titus, and, whether an 
original or a copy, has obtained and deserves 
eveiy possible admiration. 
This invaluable collection continued to 
increase for several ccuturies, and till nearly 
the present period, when Rome narrowly 
escaped another sacking; but as a taste for 
the arts has fortunately distinguished the 
French, in some jiarticular instances, it 
appeared in this, as a transfer of the richest 
articles to France has happily been prefer- 
red to destroying them. 
The Grand Dukes of Tuscany were for a 
long series of years ardent admirers of the 
arts, ancient and modern, and regretted no 
expense in obtaining the most rare and 
beautiful objects which vast treasures were 
capable of procuring; consequently their 
museum at Florence vied witli that at 
Rome, and, in some instajices, the value of 
particular articles exceeded any possibility 
of rivalship; we allude to the Venus de 
Medicis, of which Keysler speaks thus, in his 
excellent account of part of the continent, 
“ I shall conclude this short criticism on the 
celebrated Venus de Medicis with the fol- 
lowing observation, made by some able 
connoisseurs, namely, that if the different 
parts of this famous statue be examined 
separately, as the head, nose, Ac. and com- 
pai ed with the like parts of others, it would 
not he impossible to find similar parts equal, 
if not superior to those of the Venus de 
Medicis ; but, if the delicacy of tlie shape, 
the attitude, and symmetry of the whole be 
considered as one assemblage of beauties, it 
cannot be paralleled in the whole wot Id. 
This beaiitifnl statue is placed between two 
others of the same goddess, botli which 
w'ould be admired by spectators in any 
other place; but here ail their beauties are 
eclipsed by those of the Venus de Medicis, 
to which they can be considered only as 
foils to augment the lustre of that admired 
statue.” The efiects of tlie present dread- 
ful, and apparently endless war, were severe- 
ly felt at Florence; nor was it to be sup- 
posed that the museum of tlie Grand Duke 
