404 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



M. Bert was appointed in January, 1886, Frencli Governor- 

 General of Tonquin, and Minister-General to tlie court of Anam, 

 where his functions were to be largely those of organization. He 

 engaged himself with the duties of this mission with character- 

 istic enthusiasm, aj^plying himself almost equally to the perform- 

 ance of the civil work of his position, and to efforts for the encour- 

 agement of science in the new French dependency in which he 

 was stationed. One of the last occasions on which he appeared in 

 public in France was at the unveiling of the statue erected at the 

 entrance of the College de France to the memory of Claude Ber- 

 nard, where he delivered one of the addresses. At the ensuing 

 meeting of the Academy of Sciences he made a farewell address, 

 in anticipation of his departure, in which he expressed a hope 

 that the young naturalists of the West would begin to turn their 

 attention to the far East, and teach the learned classes of those 

 regions more fully to appreciate the superiority of European sci- 

 ence. " I rely on them," he added, " to increase our moral influ- 

 ence, and also to enlarge our knowledge of that region, in many 

 places still unexplored, to study its resources, and prepare the way 

 for the introduction of the great European industries. They will 

 thus at once promote the interests of science and of France, a task 

 enviable beyond all others." 



Shortly after he had settled himself in his office in Tonquin, 

 M. Bert published a decree to carry out a project, which he had 

 entertained and matured before leaving France, for founding a 

 Tonquinese Academy, on a plan similar to that on which Napoleon 

 created the Egyptian Institute in 1798. It was set forth, in the 

 preamble to this paper, that it was desirable to revive in the coun- 

 try which had been disturbed for so long a time the taste for lit- 

 erature and science, and to preserve to the people the vestiges of 

 its glorious past, as well as to collect the scattered evidences of its 

 ancient splendor. It was provided that the seat of the academy 

 should be at Hanoi ; and that its functions should be to inves- 

 tigate and collect everything of interest relating to Tonquin, to 

 preserve ancient monuments, to initiate the people into the knowl- 

 edge of modern sciences and civilization by translating and pub- 

 lishing in the Anamite language summaries of European works ; 

 to translate desirable Tonquinese works into French ; to aid in 

 forming a national library at Hanoi and public libraries in the 

 principal towns ; to publish monthly bulletins treating of scientific 

 and other questions ; and to put itself in relation with other Ori- 

 ental societies in Europe and Asia. Various degrees would be 

 given by the academy to Tonquinese, to be marked by a medal or 

 emblem to be worn on the dress. 



One of the last letters written by M, Bert from Hanoi was in 

 reference to the improved lighting of the city at night. Gas being 



