THE ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY 



No. 64. NOVEMBER 1842. 



XXIV.— On the Life and Writings of J. P. E. Vaucher. 

 ByALPHONSE DeCandolle *. 



Geneva, a few months since, witnessed the decease of the 

 eldest of her naturalists, the author of the e Histoire Natu- 

 relle des Conferves/ a work ranking as a classic, and cited uni- 

 versally and long since as a model of accurate observations. 



We have lost this venerable old man, whom age had not 

 robbed of his physical power, nor of the energy of his deep 

 convictions. We love to recall the rare qualities which distin- 

 guished him ; that nobleness of soul, which a frankness, some- 

 times bordering on rusticity, rendered prominent ; that sim- 

 plicity of manners so becoming to the man of learning and the 

 pastor ; that cordiality, devoid of vulgarity but abounding in 

 sincerity ; that constancy, that disinterestedness in the affec- 

 tions, which rendered M. Vaucher the best of relatives and the 

 best of friends. 



His presence amongst us operated as a moral protection and 

 a continual encouragement to study. In our eyes he was the 

 last representative of the school of Charles Bonnet, who cast 

 so great a lustre over our town. He, together with De Saus- 

 sure and his contemporaries, founded that Society of Natural 

 History and Physics, whose unpretending character and ame- 

 nity of discussion drew together the Genevese savans. At once 

 professor of theology and botanist, he was a connecting link 

 between two of the faculties of our Academy, and became an 

 example of that union of religion with science which so ad- 

 vantageously distinguishes our clergy. 



M. Vaucher had taught historical theology for a long time, 

 but his natural tendency was rather towards the religion of 

 the heart, and towards a profound study of the works of cre- 

 ation. The recital of so much strife caused by unintelligible 

 questions, of so many wars and persecutions brought about 

 by theological dogmas, was likely to produce this effect upon 



* From the Bibl. Universelle de Geneve for July 1841. 



Ann. fy Mag. N. Hist. Vol. x. M 



