LifeofDcfauJfure. 281 



its elevation; his diaphanometerj'or his method of meafuring the diaphaneity of the air; and 

 his. anemometer, in which, by me^ns-ofa Icind of balance, he weighs the power of the wind. 



Some years after the publication of hisfecond volume, DefaufTure was received as a foreign 

 affoclate of the academy of fciences, and Geneva could boaft of having two of its citizens in 

 thefe fc-ven eminent fituations. Defauilure not only honoured, but was defirousof ferving his 

 country. He founded the f jciety of arts, to which Geneva is indebted for that profperity it 

 has gained through its induftry within the lail thirty years. He prefidcd in this fociety to the 

 very laft ; and it was one of his principal objedfs to fupport that ufeful eftablifiiment. 



He alfo {howed his zeal to ferve his country while he was member of the Council of Five 

 Hundred, and of the National AfTembly. It was from his (tffiduous labour in that afiembly 

 that his health firft began to fail ; and in 1794 a paralytic ftroke deprived him of the ufe of one 

 fide of his body. However painful his fuuation might then be, he loft nothing of the a6li- 

 ty of his mind; for it was after this accident that he drew up the two laft volumes cf his 

 Travels, which appeared in 1796. They c.ntain an account of his travels in the mountains 

 of Piedmont, Switzerland, and in ]-articular of his afcent to the fummit of JVIont Blanc. 

 Thcfe two laft volumes, fo far from appearing to partake of the weaknefs of his condition, 

 offer a confiderable mafs of important fails and obfervations in natural philofophy. 



He gave the laft proof of his attachment to fcience in publiftiing the Agenda, which com- 

 pletes the fourth volume. Here this great man has furpafted hirafelf. He condufSIs the 

 young naturalift amidft the inountains, and tfiaches him to obferve them to advantage. This 

 Agenda is a proof of his genius, and the ftrength of mind he preferved amidft all his fuffer- 

 ings. During his illnefs, he alfo pub!iflied his obfervations on the fufibility of JI ones with 

 the blowpipe ; and he direfled the experiments on the height of the bed of the Arve. When he 

 •was at the baths of Plombieres for his health, he obferved the mountains at a diftance, and 

 procured fpccimens of the ftrata he perceived in the moft fteep rocks. He had announced 

 to the public, that he intended to complete his Travels by his ideas on the primitive ftate of the 

 earth; but the more new fails he acquired, and the more he meditated on this fubjeift, the 

 lefs could he determine with regard to thofc great revolutions which have proceeded the pre- 

 fent epoch. In genera], his was a Neptunian, that is to fay, he attributed to water the revo- 

 lutions of this globe. He admitted it to be poIEble that elaftic fluids, in difengaging them- , 

 felves from the cavities, might raife mountains. 



Though his health was gradually impaired by degrees, he ftill retained the hope of re- 

 eftabliftiing it. The French government having appointed him profeffor of natural philofo- 

 phy in the fchool of Paris, he did; npt defpair of pofTeffing that honourable office at fome 

 future day ; but his ftrength failed him, and a general want of energy fucceeded the adlivity 

 he had formerly enjoyed. His flow and embarraffed pronunciation no longer difplayed the 

 activity of his ujindj but formed a ftriking con.traft with the agreeable vivacity which fornj^rly 

 diftinguiftied him. It was an affeiling fight to behold this great man fo worn out at a time 

 <^f life when the mind is moft active in meditation, or at leaft when he ftiould have enjoyed 

 the fame and knowledge he had acquired. 



It 



