3-12 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



Lim long since as one of our associates we honored ourselves more than 

 we honored him. 



He lived until his eighty-second year, retaining his tall erect form 

 and fiae head until the last. He died June 9, 1872, after about two 

 months of suffering nobly borne, beloved and respected by all, retaining 

 his mental faculties clearly till the last, and serene in his beautiful and 

 firm faith iu the " Good God," * who, as he believed, governs all things 

 ario'ht. 



I cannot conclude this sketch better than by quoting the closing 

 passages from the address already alluded to (Weillet) : " Such was the 

 life, full of supreme devotion to science, to professional duty, to family, 

 to friendship, showing an uprightness and probity without blemish, an 

 indefatigable energy in the search after truth, and leaving after it in the 

 world of science briUiant traces of its passage, as indelible as the regrets 

 which it has left in all loving hearts." 



Gentlemen of the Academy, by a happy coincidence I find that this 

 day of our meeting f is the anniversary of Louis' birth, eighty-seven 

 years ago. In these brief records of his life, I have wished to present 

 to you the portrait of a great and good man ; a devoted lover of the 

 truth; and a noble, religious soul. If I have failed in graphically 

 presenting to you that picture, so that you can ever bear it with you as 

 an example of devotedness and of self-sacrifice in the cause of truth 

 and of science, it is because of my imperfect use of language, which 

 prevents me from conveying to you an adequate idea of my love and 

 veneration for om* great associate, my most honored master in medicine, 

 and one of the dearest friends of my adult life. 



Philippe Edouard Poulletier de Verneuil was born in Paris 

 the 13th of February, 1805. Destined for public life, he became a 

 page at the court of Charles X., and afterwards occupied a position 

 in the Department of Justice till 1833. The events of 1830 turned 

 his thoughts from politics, and he began from that time to pay con- 

 siderable attention to scientific pursuits. He became interested in 

 geology, from attending the lectures of Elie de Beaumont. He became 



* " Croire en Dieu ! Mauvaise expression qui ne dit ce qu'elle doit dire. . . . 

 Croire en Dieu ? mais on ne croit pas au soleil ; on le voit, on le sent. Dieu ! est- 

 ii moins (Evident que le soleil 1 J'ai confiance en Dieu. Si je pense k lui, j'es- 

 pere ; et mes espe'rances ne sont pas dominees par la terreur. Dieu est notre 

 Pere. La bont^ est un de ses attributs essentiels." — Manuscript Notes. 



t This notice was read to the Academy at the meeting of April 14, 1874, by 

 Dr. H. I. Bowditch. 



