64 
lat point, the clafs has a great influence, 
by its correfpondence. Your committee 
therefore propofes 1. &c. &c. 
(Zo be concluded in our next. ) 
——— ae 
MUSEUM or NATURAL HISTORY. 
HE two firftt volumes of the Annals 
of this efiablifhment are finifhed, 
and it appears to an'wer perieétly to tie 
announcement that had been made of it 
in the profpectus. In faé&t, there is no 
compilation, on the nacural fciences, fo 
remarkable for its fele€tion of memoirs, 
and the beauty of the engravings. As 
Cr 
the zeal of the co-operatois has not relax-_ 
ed, and as there is no want of materials, 
the public may reft affured that the fuc- 
ceeding volumes will not be lefs intereft- 
ing. The Mufeum poffeffles the richet 
collection of materials in the three king- 
doms of nature, that has ever exifted. 
This colleGtion, due to-the fucceffive 
labours of a number of paturalifls, to the 
refearches of a multitude of voyagers, and 
to the donations received from all coun- 
tries, has been prodigioufly increafed, of 
late years, by the combination and aflem 
blage of a number of cabinets of Holland 
and Italy, and by the acquifitions which 
the Firft Conful has made, with a view 
to complete it. The general defcrip- 
tion of its contents, of {uch articles 
as are little known, and of the novel 
ones it bas received, would be fuffi- 
cient to fill up a great number of vo- 
Jumes; but the curators of this depo- 
fitory have not confined themfeives to de- 
feriptions and chemical analyfes; they 
are conftantly employed in the purtuit of 
fuch refults, as may be applicable to the 
pregrefs of agriculture and the arts; to 
the theory of the earth, and to the ad- 
vancement of that philofophy which ftu- 
dies the relations that nature has efta- 
blifhed among the different orders ot beings. 
Renouncing all hypothefes, they admit 
nothing which is not {upported by obler- 
vation and experience. Thus the Annals 
of the Mufeum contain the actual hittory 
of the eftablifhments they exhib a con- 
pettus of its curiofities, its new daily ac- 
quifitions and the means of deducing ad- 
vantageous refults from them ; and, laftly, 
they are intended to publifh the obferva- 
tions and difcoveries of the prcfeffors of 
the Muftum, and thefe of their corref- 
pondents, who concur with them in their 
-Jabours, for the progrefs of the fciences. 
Some hiftorical notices are annexed, rela- 
tive to fuch celebrated naturalifts as have 
made important difcoveries, and of whom 
2 
Proceedings of learned Societies. 
[July 1, 
nothing has been written in France. The 
defcriptions of new objects are accom- 
panied with figures, engraved by the bef 
artifts. There are 31 plates in each of 
the two volumes that have juft appeared. 
Thefe plates are finifhed in a ftyle more or 
lefs exquifite, according. to the nature of 
the fubjcét; they are even done in colours, 
when the colour forms an effentia! charac- 
ter: in this manner are executed the 
ficurcs of certain ftones, that have been 
found in the bodies of men, and other 
animals ; and the engravings of the mol- 
lufce ave of a moft exquifite finifhing. It 
is intended to give, in a feries of me- 
moirs, the hiftory of fuch animals as are 
no longer to be met with im the living 
ftate, but whofe foffil remains atteft 
their exifence anterior to all authen- 
tic human monuments. In digefting or 
arranging the promifcuous mals of thele 
remains, means have been found to recom- 
pofe the fkeletons of a number of animals, 
to determine their charaéters, to decide 
whether they were herbivorous, or carni- 
vorous, and to afcertain the place which 
they occupy in the fcaie of beings. It is 
likewife intended to publifh cccafional en- 
gravings of all fuch new plants as are 
now flourifhing in the garden, with all the 
details of their fruétification.. Notices 
will alfo be given on the foreign plants 
acquired by the Mufeum, and which are 
meant to be naturalized in France, from 
their being ufeful, and becaufe they will 
live in that climate. This has been al- 
ready done with refpeét to the jalap plant, 
together with the New Zealand flax; and 
it is alfo meant to be done with the batatas, 
wih certain fruits. &c. &c. 
There will likewife be publifhed, in 
one of the next numbers, three f{pecies 
belonging to the fame genus, of the molt 
beautiful flowers that can be cultivated, 
which will be engraved in colours, the 
better to difplay their lultre and beauty. 
——ES 
COLLEGE or FORT WILLIAM. 
N Tuefday, the 29th of March, 1803, 
being the day appointed by his Ex- 
cellency the Vifitor, for the public difpu- 
tations in the oriental language, the go- 
vernors, officers, profeffors, and ftudents, 
ot the college aflembled at nine o'clock, — 
at the new government-houfle. ‘ 
At a little before ten, his Excellency 
the Vifitor, accompanied by the honourable 
the Chief Juftice, the Members of the Su- 
preme Council, the Members of the Coun- 
cil of the College, and the officers of his 
Excel- 
ce 
