SKETCH OF M, DE QUATBEFAGES. 697 



SKETCH OF M. DE QUxiTREFAGES. 



JEAN LOUIS ARMAND DE QUATREFAGES DE BRl^AU was 

 born at Berthezeme, near Villerauge (Gard), France, February 10, 

 1810. His family was of the Protestant faith, and allied to the family 

 of the publicist La Bauraelle. His father was an educated agricultur- 

 ist, who had served with distinction in Holland previous to the Revolu- 

 tion, but had returned to France on the breaking out of war between the 

 two countries. Having received careful elementary instruction, young 

 Quatrefages entered the medical course at Strasbourg, where he re- 

 ceived the double diploma of Doctor of Medicine and Doctor in Science. 

 On November 29, 1829, he sustained a thesis on the " Theory of a 

 Cannon-Shot " ; the next year he published at Strasbourg a work on 

 aeroliths ; and in 1832 a medical thesis on " Extraversion of the Blad- 

 der." He was appointed an examination preparator of chemistry to 

 the Faculty of Medicine at Strasbourg ; and at a later period estab- 

 lished himself at Toulouse, where he brought the study of the natural 

 sciences and ^medical practice to the front, and published a number of 

 articles in the " Journal of Medicine and Surgery " of Toulouse, and 

 memoirs in the "Annals of the Natural Sciences" from 1834 to 1836. 

 His essay on the " Axodontes," published in 1835, was the subject of a 

 favorable report by a Commission of the Academy of Sciences, and 

 attracted attention to his capacity as a naturalist. At the end of 

 1838, M. de Quatrefages was called on the nomination of M. de Sal- 

 vandy, then minister, to the chair of Zoology in the Scientific Faculty 

 of Toulouse ; but that provincial town not offering the conveniences 

 he desired for pursuing the researches on which he had become en- 

 gaged, he resigned his position there in a short time and went to 

 reside in Paris, where he enjoyed the friendship and had the assist- 

 ance of M. Milne-Edwards, and, supporting himself by means of his 

 books and the scientific articles he wrote for the periodical press, was 

 able to pursue his studies with ardor and to publish the results of 

 them. 



In 1850, he was appointed Professor of Natural History in the 

 Lycee Napoleon. In April, 1852, he was elected a member, in the 

 Zoological Section of the Academy of Sciences, where he took the 

 place of Savigny. In August, 1855, he was called to the chair of An- 

 thropology and Ethnology in the Museum of Natural History ; and it 

 is in these fields of science that the work by which he is most distin- 

 guished has been performed. 



In 1872 M. de Quatrefages participated in the organization of the 

 French Association for the Promotion of Science which that year held 

 its first meeting at Bordeaux, and in the absence of the designated 

 president, Claude Bernard, who was prevented by the state of his 

 health from attending, served as acting president. His opening ad- 



