CHAPTER I
JARDIN DES PLANTES, PARIS: DIRECTOR, PROFESSOR MILNE EDWARDS
This Garden, the father of Zoological Gardens, is the oldest of the Zoological Gardens of Europe.
Many of the greatest naturalists have been connected with the Jardin des Plantes, and have studied within its gates.
The botanical portion is more than one hundred years older than the zoological. It was founded in 1626 by Louis XIII., who bought a plot of uncultivated ground in Saint-Victor, twenty-four acres in extent, and laid out a flower-garden and built a little greenhouse upon it. Fagon, the King’s doctor, Gaston of Orleans, Colbert, and Tournefort all helped it along, and caused the Garden to grow in extent and popularity.
A museum of natural history was established, and eleven professors appointed in mineralogy, botany, two courses of zoology, human and animal anatomy, geology, chemistry, etc. A library was formed in the museum. On the death of the Duc d’Orleans in 1660, Colbert bought for the library the celebrated paintings of flowers on vellum by Robert.
In 1730 the Garden became neglected, but in 1732 M. Buffon became Director, and from that moment success was assured for them. He was well backed by M. Daubenton. Every year the Garden was improved, the old houses were demolished and new ones built. The whole of the ground was put under cultivation. Trees were planted, and the Garden extended to the bank of the Seine. Valuable gifts of plants, minerals and zoological specimens were received from the Academy of Sciences, Comte d’Angevilliers, Chinese missionaries, the King of Poland and M. Bougainville, who brought back from his voyage round the world a magnificent collection of animals and birds. Whilst Director of the Garden, Buffon wrote his chef-d’œuvre—a natural history—and after a splendid career he died in 1788.
Bernardin de Saint-Pierre was the next Director. In 1794 the large and valuable collection of the Palais de Versailles was offered to the Jardin des Plantes, and accepted on its behalf by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre. This collection contained five specimens which had never been seen in Paris before—namely, a quagga, now unhappily extinct, a hartebeest, a crested pigeon from the Isle of Banga, an Indian rhinoceros and a lion from Senegal, which latter had as a companion a dog, with which it lived on terms of the greatest friendship. The remainder of the collection at Versailles had been pillaged by the mob in the French Revolution.
In 1796 the Jardin des Plantes received a letter from Captain Baudin asking for a ship and men to convey to France a rich collection of animals and plants which he had gathered together in the island of Trinidad. A vessel was sent out, and, after being shipwrecked on the Canaries, the collection was finally brought home the next year. It was augmented by a collection of birds made by M. le Vaillant in Africa, and a collection brought back from La Guiana by M. Bragton. The Emperor Napoleon added several animals which he bought in England, and among which were a pair of tigers, two lynx, a mandril, a leopard, a hyæna, and a handsome panther, or hunting leopard, besides several birds and plants.
M. Fourcroi, who now made his appearance, collected for the institution animals, birds, precious stones, plants and books from all parts of the world. The collection of minerals of M. Warisse was bought, and 150,000 books were added to the library. The Emperor Napoleon during his wanderings never forgot the museum, and sent back to it fossil-fish from Verona and specimens of rock from the island of Corsica. M. Lesneeur, the painter and historian, and M. Peron brought back from the South 100,000 specimens of animals, large and small, representing many species. They brought home a zebra and a monkey for the Empress Joséphine and plants without number. About this time M. Cuvier, the celebrated naturalist, made his appearance; M. Geoffroy arrived from Lisbon with new animals; M. Michamx brought specimens from the forests of America; and M. Marcel de Serres brought from Italy and Germany all sorts of minerals.
Great progress was made in the Jardin des Plantes until 1815, when there came a climax in France. Then commenced a series of miseries and an almost incredible history of disaster. Cossacks, Russians, Germans, and Italians filled Paris, and brought ruin and devastation with them; but, happily, of all the monuments of Paris, the only one which was not insulted was the Jardin des Plantes. The Garden was respected; it was neutral territory, where all sides came to seek rest from war.
In 1820 M. Milbert made large collections of natural history specimens and minerals in America for the Jardin des Plantes. In 1829 M. Victor Jacquemont appeared, and made a name for himself in natural history, but died when quite a young man in the island of Salsette.
In 1841 the Garden contained a zoological museum, a museum of comparative anatomy, a botanical museum, a geological museum and a museum of minerals. Besides a library containing 28,000 books devoted to travel and to physical and natural sciences, such as natural history, botany, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, comparative anatomy, human anatomy and zoology, there were memoirs of learned societies and a collection of paintings on vellum. This library was founded in June, 1793.
In 1841 M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was Professor of Zoology, M. Brouguiart Professor of Botany, M. Serres Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, and M. de Mirbel Professor of Agriculture.
During the Siege of Paris in 1870 the Garden suffered terribly. Nearly a hundred shells fell within its boundaries; most of the glass-houses were battered to ruins, and a great number of the animals were, by the direction of the authorities, handed over to the butchers, killed and sold at fabulous prices. Lion, bear, giraffe and hippopotamus flesh realized 25 francs per pound during the last few months, and was very difficult to obtain even at that price.
This Garden, which runs close by the side of the Seine bank, is open free to the public. It is somewhat of a bewildering place to find one’s way about in. Its collection of animals is very fine, and contains two or three especially good things. There are some pretty spots in it, and plenty of trees and shade. A fine lion house of no less than twenty-two cages contains a good collection of the big cats and bears, a number of the latter coming from Tonquin. Besides these bears, there are others in old but well-built bear-pits in another part of the Garden. Again, we find a pair of hartebeests, so seldom seen in captivity.[A] Deer and antelopes, sheep and goats, are very well represented in the Jardin des Plantes.
I was busily engaged in taking photographs, when I was pounced upon by the inevitable gendarme, and was obliged to ‘box up’ in front of a large and sympathizing crowd. The elephant house contained three Indian elephants and one African, which is the largest to be found in captivity. Unfortunately, he has only stumps of tusks, and is, in consequence, not half such an imposing animal as the magnificent African elephant at Berlin. There was quite a number of zebras, including a mountain zebra with a foal, born in the Gardens, and a hybrid between a zebra and a kiang (Equus hemionus). There was a good collection of swine, including a Red River hog and an enormous European boar.
There were crowds of people in the Garden, and no wonder, for seldom is such a fine collection of animals to be seen without paying anything.
MARKHOR, JARDIN DES PLANTES, PARIS.
According to the Matin, palatial accommodation is to be provided for the animals in the Jardin des Plantes. The new premises will consist of a series of rotundas, or gigantic cages, 15 metres high, which will be reserved for the pachyderms. A laboratory of animal psychology for the study of character among the brute beasts is shortly to be opened under the direction of M. Hachet Souplet, assisted by M. Oustallet. It has also been arranged by M. Perrier, a Director of the Gardens, to give popular lectures in the amphitheatre every Sunday afternoon.