128 EULOGY ON AMPERE. 



Tlie tutor, feariugtlie characters on the black-board are not sufficient- 

 ly distinct to be seen by the more distant members of the class, very 

 naturally endeavors to remedy the evil by increasing their size. In 

 the discussion which usually follows the lesson, with the young men 

 gathered around him, several of them, in a spirit of mischief, exagger- 

 ating their want of sight, induce the benevolent professor to increase 

 the size of the figures by degrees, until the immense black-board, far 

 from affording room for intricate calculations, can scarcely give place to 

 a few figures. 



Absorbed finally in the elucidation of a difficult theory, in the heat of 

 demonstration he mistakes the rubber covered with chalk for his hand- 

 kerchief. The.account of this certainly very innocent mistake, amplified 

 and magnified, i^asses from rank to rank, until, when he appeared again 

 before them, he was no longer the learned analyst of their admiration, 

 but the innocent object of their mirth ; his moments of abstraction, so 

 eagerly watched for, being but signals for ridicule too long anticipated 

 to be willingly relinquished. 



You now know, gentlemen, the rocks upon which the knowledge and 

 zeal of the worthy professor were so often wrecked. 



PSYCHOLOGrY, METAPHYSICS, AMPERE'S PASSION FOR THEM. 



At the same time as geometrician and metaphysician. Ampere, 

 from his first arrival in Paris, moved in two distinct societies 5 the only 

 feature of resemblance being the celebrity of their members. In one. 

 were to be found the first-class of the ancient Institute, the professors 

 and examiners of the Polytechnic school, and the professors of the col- 

 lege of France. In the other, Cabanis, Destutt de Tracy, Maine de 

 Birau, Degeraudo, &c. 



Here the effort was to fathom and analyze the mysteries of the mind. 

 There this mind, in such measure as nature has bestowed it, and as edu- 

 cation has improved and enlarged it, was each day producing new 

 marvels. The psychologists sought the paths that lead to discovery ; 

 the geometers, chemists, and physicists were actually making discover- 

 ies. Without devoting too much time to the manner in which it was 

 done, they discovered sometimes the analytical formulae now actually 

 including the laws of the movements of the stars ; sometimes the sub- 

 tile rules of molecular actions, which, while giving us the cine to the causes 

 of a great number of natural i)henomena, throw light upon the operations 

 of art, and developed national wealth. They made themselves mas- 

 ters finally, of the new properties of light, electricity and magnetism, which 

 have given so much brilliancy to the first years of this century. Vibrat- 

 ing between these two schools, if the term may be allowed. Ampere's ar- 

 dent imagination daily endured the severest trials. I am not able to 

 say, with any certainty, how the exact sciences were regarded by meta- 

 physicians ; but I know that geometers and chemists held in very slight 

 esteem, investigations purely psychological. 



