56 Geographical Collections. 
found, and of what could be observed of their properties, were registered in books 
appointed for that purpose. This methodical and continued attention was so 
much the more interesting, as, with the exception of Bourbon and Pondicherry, 
the shores and seas which the Chevrette has visited, are little frequented by our 
vessels, and none of our scientific expeditions had yet been there. 
We allude particularly to Ceylon, to the country of the Birmans, and of the 
river of the Irraouadi, which waters it. 
The Chevrette left Toulon on the 29th of May 1827, and stopped the 27th of 
August at the island of Bourbon; remained from the 21st of September to the 
Ast of October at Pondicherry ; and from the 3d of November to the 1st Decem- 
ber at Calcutta. She entered into Rangoon, a harbour of the Birman empire, 
upon the Irraouadi, the 21st of December, and remained there to the 9th of Ja- 
nuary 1828. After a second stay at Pondicherry, and another at Karical, she 
harboured from the 28th of January to the 17th of February at Trinquemale, 
(Trincomalee, ) on the north-east coast of the island of Ceylon; came back again 
to Pondicherry, from whence she went to Batavia, remaining there from the 20th 
of May to the 10th of June; traversed the Straits of Sunda, and, after a fourth 
stay at Pondicherry, went to the Cape, harbouring in False Bay on the 2d of 
October, and remaining there to the 11th, when she took her departure to return 
into France. It is at these different points, and during the intermediate voy- 
ages, that the observations and collections were made. 
From the authentic catalogues made in the museum of Natural History, by 
MM. Isidore St. Hilaire, Valenciennes, Latreille, and Audouin, the collections 
brought back by the Chevrette, comprehend 16 species of mammifere, 236 species 
of birds, 37 of reptiles, 238 of fish, 271 of mollusce, 16 of annelides, 132 of 
crustacee, 590 of insects and arachnides, and 161 of zoophytes. There are more 
than 108 species of shells. ‘The number of individuals of each species varies ; 
but is in general very considerable, and the total amounts to several thousands, 
The most precious parts for science, consist of objects preserved in spirits. Many 
among those which we already possessed in a dry state, are now presented more 
completely to the observer, and offer to him the means of detailing their internal 
organization, as well as the details of their exterior. This is peculiarly advanta- 
geous in the classes of fish, of mollusce, and of zoophytes. We thus obtain a 
multitude of species which had never been dissected, and which their excellent 
state of preservation now allow to be examined under every point of view. There 
are moreover in these collections, numerous species which the king’s cabinet did 
not pessess, and others also, pretty numerous, which, never having been describ- 
ed, are new to science itself. Three are presumed to be in this situation among 
the mammifere; 24 among the birds, of which there is a new genus in the fa- 
mily of Dentirostres ; 20 among the reptiles, offering a new genus in the family 
of the Chelonia ; more than 60 among the fish; 35 among the mollusce; 12 
among the annelides, of which 3 genera are certainly new; 95 among the crus- 
tacez, and, at the least, 20 new genera among the microscopic species. Such are, 
for zoology, the results of an expedition which bad not natural histery as an ob- 
ject—results in one way accidental, and arising solely from the zeal and spirit 
which animated the officers, as well as from the scientific knowledge which, in 
the present day, the medical officers of the navy acqnire, in the excellent schoels 
created by the ministry, and directed by the inspector-general, Mr. Keraudren. 
This spirit is such, that Mr. Brossard on his side, though engaged in another 
duty, would not remain behind his companions, but made also some interesting 
collections, from which he allowed the professor of the museum to select what 
might be useful to the establishment. The terrestrial productions, as might be 
expected in an expedition of this nature, have been less abundant than those of 
the sea, and this remark must naturally apply itself to the vegetable kingdom. 
Nevertheless, among the nearly 900 species of which the herbarium of Mr. Rey- 
naud is composed, there are several new ones. The borders of the Iraouady espe- 
cially, which have not been visited by botanists, have offered many curious plants, 
of which the principal belong to the grasses. Several Gramine and Apocyne, 
