C, 6.           ACADEMY   OF  SCIENCES.              IS?
moft to the French alone for accounts of the
Chinefe empire*. The amicable intetcourfe,
however, which has fojr fome time fubfifted be-
tween the courts of Peterfburgh and Pekin, has
facilitated the acquisition of Chinefe boqks;
and the,eftablfbmentof a feminary at Pekin has
led the Ruffians to obtain a more accurate know-
ledge of that country. Hence many interefting
publications have appeared at Peteriburgh, rela-
tive to the laws, hiftory, and geography of China,
extra&ed and tranflated from the originals pub-
lifted at Pekin.
The various branches of natural hiftory are
diftributed in different apartments. This mu*
feum, which is extremely rich in native product-
ions, has been confiderably augmented by mi*
merous fpecimens, colle&ed by Pallas, Gmelin,
Guldenftaedt, and other learned profeffors, dur*
ing their late expeditions through the Ruffian
empire.
The Huffed animals and birds, occupy one
apartment. Among the former I particularly
obferved the Equu$ Hemionus, a fpecies of wild
horfe, which bears the appearance of a mule; it
refembles an afs in the mane, ears, feet, and tail,
and principally in the black ftreak down the back j
• The account of lord Macartney's cmbafTy, by the late fir
9«orge $tau$t©n> has added to dur knowledge of that empire.
 i