The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-10
A FORGOTTEN WONDER.
ONCE WORLD-FAMOUs JARDIN DIES
PLANTES Is NEGLECTED NOW.

1t is suII Beautiful and StiII Won
derfuI-The Birthplace of Modern
BOtany-Here Button Wrote His
Natural History and Here CuvieF
Lived and worked.
Paris Letter in ST. Louis Giobe-D Democrat.
People don't visit it since the siege,
when they ate up the elephants and the
giraffe. the monkeys and the dromedaries,
and tried their best to eat the hyenas, but
could not!'
For many years this has been the answer
to inquiring tourists whose curiosity has
been aroused by some old-time book about
what was once the most famous botanical
and geological garden of the world. Many
are contented with what they are told and
go off to the spick-and-span Jardin dAc-
chmatation, organized as money-malzing
concern by a private corporation in a cor
ner of the Bots de Boulogne,
There they can view conveniently the
great mandrill ape, can ride on the NINA
ture tramway drawn by ponies through the
trees and by the lakes, and on Sundays
and Thursdays listen to one of the good
concerts of instrumental music for a few
sous. So they forget all about the old
fashioned Jardin des Plantes, which is far
away in a part Of the great city which no
one who is anybody ever visits.
The loss is their own, for it is still beau
tiful, it is fun of "reminiscences of some of
the worlds best men, 1t has many things
to show which are not found elsewhere,
and the crowd that saunters and chatters
ana opens wide eyes without shame of
their wonder are things to see in Paris by
&g,xrr f1gcT
the boulevard and the foreigners quarter.
The Jardin des Plantes covers nearly
seventy-seven acres of land in the south
east corner of Paris, stretching back from
the River Seine. II is the lowland across
which the troops of Julius Caesar had
their first sight of the Gauls, camped on
the hill above under their native king,
Camu,ogenes. The Romans did not have
the best OF it that time, but the leader of
the Gauls was killed
On the hill. only a step from the upper
entrance of the Jardn des Plantes, there
has been recently dug out one-half of the
amphitheater which the conquerng Ro-
mans built for their gladiatorial games,
when they came back to take final pos
session of PARISH
The stone benches and the steps leading
down to the arena have been restored, and
children play about them. The visitor
can figure to himself the fine-Parislan Ia
dies of that time looking down on the
combats between the men and wild beasts.
Nowadays, they scruple to allow a mod
crate bull fight, and the beasts are con-
fined in cages here in the buildings that
surround the famous Jardin.
Across the street TO the west is the
great wine market-Hales des Vins-a
town by itself, carefully inclosed with
streets along which are the warehouses,
cellars and offices, through which must
oil ha tt-ipq "
drinking city.
1t is a strange history how the garden
of plants became also a gardensof beast
and fishes. stuffed and alive. 1t took sew.
eral centuries of progress and revolution
to do it, Long ago, when it was no easy
task to get around the world, only kings
could pretend to menageries. The good
Harounal-Raschid, when he was caliph
sent to the mighty Emperor Charlemagne
a monkey and an elephant. Many centu-
ries later. Boccacio, the story-teller reck-
ons it one of the greatest happinesses of
riches that they allow one to keep mon
key
In Paris itself, it was the reverend can
ons of the Cathedral church Of Notre
Dame who kept the beasts inside the clois-
ter. or part Of the island which was re-
served to the clergy. But in 1915 along
came a delegate from the pope, who or
dered the lonely canons to get rid of their
dicuous distraction for men of serious
profession.
Then the French kings went into the
show business, and we can follow the
court through the different royal palaces
Of Paris by keeping track of the where
abouts Of the royal menagerie, 1t was
first on the island, where visitors now
40 TO see the Sainte Chapelle Then IL
wandered successfully to the old Louvre /;
TO St Paul Of Dumas novels; and final
~, when America was discovered and be-
gan astonishing Europeans with its pro
ducts, to Versailles.
There Louis XIV built a home for his
beasts, just as he built the richest of the
palaces of Europe for himself When the
great revolution came and swept royalty
from France, It brought the beasts back
in triumph 10 Paris, where all the people
could see them They were placed in what
had been known until then as "the kings
garden OF Medicinal Herbs" and that is
how the place, though greatly enlarged