704 THE INSTITUTE OY FRANCE IN 1894. 



tiou of tnorouglily testing a scientific proposition, and wlien blood was 

 required in liis latest experiments lirowuSecpiard took his own. His 

 professional courage, carried to the point of hardihood, was well known. 

 Down to his last day his body bore the indelible marks left by experi- 

 ments which he had voluntarily undergone. 



In the iutellectual arena Browu-Sequard was one of the most fearless 

 champions. The endless array of scientific facts he has brought to 

 light and his surprisingly bold views have been the cause of passionate 

 debates and the origin of ardent enthusiasms. The scientific movement 

 thus started by him is an extensive one, and his many pupils, some of 

 whom have in their turn become masters, Avill for a long time to come 

 find material for deep reflection in his works. 



One of the most sudden losses sustained by the Academy of Sciences 

 during the year is beyond doubt the death of Ernest Mallard. His 

 engineering labors engrossed all his attention for many years, and he 

 could not, until late, enter the path of scientific research. It took but 

 a few years to place him above the ordinary level. His efforts have put 

 a new phase on crystallography and reduced to simple and general laws 

 a large number of facts for which no explanation had yet been found. 

 Mallard would have been justified in devoting his whole tinie to these 

 si)eculative studies which were so prolific of felicitous results. Con- 

 siderations of interest and humanity frequently interfered. Down to 

 his last day he followed up technical experiments on fire damp and 

 ex[)losive matters, at the cost of unceasing labor and danger. He 

 thought he could not i)ut his high mental faculties to better use than 

 by working for the better safety of the lowly miners. 



The death of the celebrated German physicist, Ilelmlioltz, which 

 occurred in the mouth of September, has brought to us especial grief. 

 The Academy of Sciences witnesses in his demise the disapi»earance 

 of one of its most genial associates, one of the most illustrious men of 

 the times. He first became known for his important physiological 

 investigations; but the prolific work accomplished by him in the 

 course of half a century embraces the whole domain of physical and 

 nuithematical sciences, and has had far-reaching consequences. Helm- 

 holtz was a veritable originator; his researches m geometry, his dis- 

 coveries in optics, acoustics and physiology liave secured invaluable 

 coiHpiests for science; it would be hard to say on which of those sci- 

 ences his genius cast the most brilliant light. 



Even among the most favored nations men gifted with so powerful 

 iutellectual faculties appear but rarely in the course of several gen- 

 erations. It is by reason of their majestic isolation that they exert a 

 dominating influence upon the civilization of their country. Helmholtz 

 maintained the most intimate intercourse with French savants through- 

 out his life. The universal cultivation of his mind, the elevation of his 

 thoughts, the nobleness of his heart won for him here the most sincere 

 friends. To our admiration for his genius Avas sui)eradded the regard 

 bred by the qualities of his fine nature. 



