22 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



Biot was the last survivor of a brilliant epoch in science, made illus- 

 trious by the names of Laplace, Gay-Lussac, Cuvier, De Candolle, 

 and Humboldt, and inspired to extraordinary activity by the spirit of 

 the early French Revolution. Biot outlived, by ten years, his own son, 

 Edward Constant Biot, who shared his father's love of knowledge, rose 

 to be a member of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres 

 in 1847, was distinguished by his acquaintance with the Chinese lan- 

 guage, and is well known as an explorer among the archives of 

 Chinese science. 



When Biot and Arago were engaged in Spain upon their geodetic 

 survey, they had an interview with the Archbishop of Valencia, to seek 

 his protection. Biot left the liall of reception without kissing the hand 

 of the Franciscan. Before Arago could escape, he was recalled, and 

 obliged to submit, though he confesses he had in mind chiefly the suc- 

 cess of the survey, and the beautiful stone in the ring of the Archbishop, 

 which he coveted for optical experiments. Late in life Biot returned 

 to the bosom of the mother Church, and received the rite of confirma- 

 tion at the hands of his own grandson. 



Biot was able to accomplish a task, enormous even when measured 

 by his long hfe, in consequence of his simple and regular habits of 

 study and recreation, and the singleness of heart with which he dedi- 

 cated himself to the study of physical laws. He wrote during the 

 forenoon, took a walk at noon, read in the afternoon, and passed the 

 evening in the family circle. 



The Journal des Dehats of February 6 has the following notice : 

 " To-day, at noon, the obsequies of Biot were attended by a crowd of 

 the colleagues and friends of the deceased. The entire Faculty of Sci- 

 ences, and many members of the Institute, assisted at the sad ceremony. 

 The Normal and Polytechnic Schools were represented by large depu- 

 tations. The funeral cortege was directed from the Church of St. 

 Etienne-du-Mont to the cemetery Montparnasse, where many eulogies 

 were pronounced. Viennet spoke in the name of the French Academy, 

 Bertrand for the Academy of Sciences, M. de Rouge for the Academy 

 of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, Serret for the College of France, 

 and Puiseux for the Faculty of Sciences. 



A distinguished French litterateur writes to one of our own acade- 

 micians : " Biot's death is a sad loss to our scientific world. He was 

 the only member of the Institute who belonged to the consular period. 

 His successor as Doyen de Reception, the astronomer Matthieu, dates 



