HENRI DE SAUSSURE. 167 



Henri de Saussure (n-itli plati'). 



(Born November 27th, 1829— Died February 20th. 1905.) 



Science has lost a very eminent servant in the person of Henri de 

 Saussure. The famous Swiss entomologist, who had been for some 

 years in failing health, passed away peacefully at his residence at 

 Geneva, on the morning of Monday, February 20th. 



He was a distinguished member of a distinguished family. Mongin 

 de Saussure (1469 to 1541), Seigneur of Dompmartin, filled a high 

 position at the Court of Lorraine in the sixteenth century. His son, 

 Antoine (1514 to 1569), embraced the Reform, was persecuted and 

 thrown into prison, from which he succeeded in escaping. He took 

 refuge at Neuchatel, then at Geneva, and finally at Lausanne. HiiS 

 great grandson, Elie, lord of Morrens, took up his abode at Geneva,, 

 where he became a burgher of the Republic in 1635. Many of his 

 descendants played a prominent and important part in the public 

 affairs of their country. Six were members of the Council of Two 

 Hundred, and one was Syndic, whilst another was a famous ambassador 

 at the Court of St. James. The first man to climb to the summit of 

 Mont Blanc was Horace Benedict de Saussure, the noted geologist, 

 and his grandson, Henri de Saussure, Avas not one whit less dis- 

 tinguished by his scientific achievements. 



Born at Geneva, on November 27th, 1829, he received his elemen- 

 tary education at Briquet, and, later, at the celebrated institute of 

 Fellenberg, at Hofwyl. The years he spent at Hofwyl had a marked 

 effect upon the development of his character. His love of nature and 

 grand scenery, of the open air, and of exercise were encouraged by 

 his instructors, who were astonished at the variety and depth of 

 learning of the young naturalist, who was not versed in zoology only, 

 but in geology, archteology, history, and geography, and he took au 

 appreciative sympathetic interest in agriculture and mountaineering. 

 On returning to Geneva, young de Saussure commenced his academic 

 studies under Fran9ois Jules Pictet de la Rive. It was Pictet who 

 exercised so great an influence over Edward Claparede, Hermann Fol, 

 and Alois Humbert, and directed de Saussure's attention to the 

 study of insects. It was at this period that he began his great mono- 

 graph of the Solitary Wasps, which he completed at Paris, where he 

 lived for several years, taking the course of instruction at Sorbonne. 

 During his stay in the French capital he was a constant visitor at the 

 museum, where he won the friendship of H. Milne-Edwards, Emile 

 P)lanchard, and of many colleagues whose names were destined to 

 become famous. In 1852, he took the degree of licentiate of the 

 Faculty of Paris, and, in 1854, the University of Giessen granted him 

 the diploma of Doctor. 



In 1854, in the company of his friend Henri Peyrot, de Saussure 

 started on his travels. After visiting the West Indies, the adven- 

 turous couple went to Mexico, where, in spite of the unsettled and 

 dangerous condition of the country, then in a state of unceasing 

 revolution, they succeeded in making large and valuable collections. 

 De Saussure was no narrow entomologist ; he paid as much attention 

 to hydrology, volcanoes, myriapoda, and to antiquities, as to his 

 beloved wasps and orthoptera. To this period of his life belong his 

 classic 1 >escrijitwn (rim ndraii etcint dii Me.i'i/jKc (Bull. Soc. Geol. de 

 July 1st, 1905. 



