“23 
456 
feted themfelves in the department of 
the Oife, where this {pecies of difeafe is in 
general.more frequent than in other parts. 
The caufe of this may be traced to the 
great quantity of cattle which are there 
reared and accumulated, and which are 
very injudicioufly expofed-to the incle- 
mency of the atmofphere. This diftem- 
per, which has raged chiefly in the vici- 
nity of Bray, appears to Citizen LAF- 
FOSSE to bear a ftrong affinity and re- 
femblance to. the rot /clavelée) among 
fheep. Various refearches which he has. 
"made, have enabled him to difcover the moft 
effeétual remedies forarrefting its progrefs. 
“At the prefent moment, when attempts 
are making to introduce the breed of buf- 
falos from Italy into France, the neceflity 
of inveftigating the nature of thefe ani- 
mals, and the proper methods of rendering 
them ferviceable, is enhanced in propor- 
tion to the difficulty of enuring them to 
the climate. .TEr1sstER remarks, that if 
_in warm climates it is cuftomary to leave 
them expofed to the cpen air all the year, 
it is neceffaryin France, during the win- 
ter months at leaft, to provide thelter. for 
them againft the inclemency of the feafon. 
Should the. attempt to enure the buf- 
falo to,a- French climate not fucceed, 
the experiments which it is intended to 
make, will, however, be attended with 
the happieft effeéts, as they muft neceffa- 
rily throw. confiderable light -upon the 
fubjeét, and tend to improve the breed of 
indigenous cattle, and thereby confiderably 
promote the advancement of agricultural 
knowledge in France, 
_ [The memoirs. of the three other cloffes 
will be given in our next Number. | 

DFSCRIPTION OF THE HALLIN WHICH 
THE PUBLIC SITTINGs OF THE Na- 
TIONAL INSTITUTE ARE HELD. 
(With a Copper-plate, copied from a late 
Number of “Ua DECADE Puizo- 
SOPHIQUE,” &c. . 
— hall in which the public fittings 
of the National Inftitute are held, 
forms part of the weit wing of the Old 
Louvre, at préfent called the Mufeum: 
It formerly went by the appellation of 
the Hall of Antiques (Salle des Antiques ),. 
and as long as the kings inhabited this 
part of the palace, was occupied by their 
guards, from which circumftance it ob- 
tained the name ef the Hall ces Cent 
Sufles. It was likewrfe appropriated 
#0 banquets and entertamgmnents, given 
by the court on gala days; ‘and it was co 
‘this place taat Henry 2¥ was ‘conveyed, 
; L p ; 
Defeription of the Hall of the National Inffitute. 
[Dee. 
on his affaffination by Ravaillac, in the Rué 
dela Ferronnerie. °  * a) Se 
It is not eafy to afcertain the precife. 
period when this hall was firft appro- 
riated for the reception of monuments 
of antiquity. The ancient ftatues, bufts, 
and bof/o-rclievos, colleéted by Francis L 
and his fucceffors, were originally depo- 
fited in a faloon belonging to the queen’s 
apartments, on the ground-floor, under 
the elegant faloon where at prefent the 
annual exhibitions of the paintings of liv- 
ing artifts take place. For this purpofe 
the faloon was decorated with niches, 
columns, and incruftations of coftly _ 
marble, which are fill extant, though 
fome change has been effected in their 
arrangement. It is probable that the 
antiques remained in this faloon tilt 
Anne of Auftria fixed her refidence in. 
the apartments of which it formed an 
apendage : and there is room for con- 
jecture, that the antiques were not re- 
moved frcem thence till the year 2722, 
when this part of the palace was fitted 
up for the reception of the Spanifh In- 
fanta, a young princefs, five years of 
age, who was brought from Spain to be 
efpoufed to Louis XV3, an event, howe * 
ever, which never took place. 
Be this as it may, fo much is certain, 
that at one or the other of thefe periods 
the antiques were removed to the’ hall 
des Cent Sues, which on this occafion 
changed its name to the Hall of Antiques. 
There they remained configned to ob- 
livion, till the memorable epocha of the 
revolution, when they were brought to 
light, and converted into the chief orna- 
ments of the public halls of the mufeum. 
‘The faloon was then fitted “up for-the 
public fittings of the National Inftitute 
of Arts and Sciences. Its dimenfions, 
elegance, and beauty, render it deferv- 
ing of this honour. | 
Tt was built at the fame time-with the 
reft of this part of the Louvre, about the 
year 1528, after the defigns of “Pierre 
Lefcot, abbot of Ciagny. Itis sq feet 
in length, and 4o-in breadth, and holds. 
from 1000 to 1200 perfons. The en- 
trances are at the two extremities of the 
hall. Above. the door which opens on 
the fide of the pavillion of thé Tele- 
graph, is a tribune, fupported. by four 
elegant caryatides, which is deftined for 
the reception of the ambafladors .of the 
different. powers in alliance with the 
republic. Facing thefe caryatides were 
erected the five magnificent feats of the 
Direétory, when the ceremony of open- 
ing the National Inftitute. took place. 
