412 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
he erroneously designated himself), was born at Pouilly-sur- 
Saone, in the canton of Seurre, and arrondissement of 
Beaune, (Céte d’Or), on the 20th of January, 1796. His edu- 
cation was conducted at the College of Seurre, where he was 
one of the most distinguished pupils, and on his quitting 
this institution he was placed with a lawyer, with whom he 
continued a year anda half, when his love for chemistry, 
and a strong desire to obtain a commission as an army 
apothecary, at a period when it was difficult to escape the 
conscription, induced him to abandon the study of the law. 
In 1812, he became a pupil of an Apothecary at Dijon, and 
after remaining two years in that city, he proceeded to 
Geneva. There, in 1815, Guillemin made the acquaint- 
ance of M. De Candolle, whose instructions, joined to the 
learner’s innate partiality for the natural sciences, finally 
decided his future career. From this period may be dated 
an ardour, which never abated for the study of plants, and 
which, on one occasion, had like to have proved fatal; for 
while botanizing on the Alps, he fell and broke his right arm. 
The fracture was very serious, and occasioned long and 
severe suffering ; ampt:tation was at one time threatened; 
but though Guillemin was so happy as to escape this mis- 
fortune, he never entirely recovered from the consequences 
of the accident, but experienced a permanent stiffness in the 
elbow joint. 
In 1820, Guillemin decided on settling in Paris, where 
though personally unknown, the patronage of M. De Candolle . 
obtained for him the notice of M. Benjamin Delessert, who 
offered to him, in conjunction with M. Achille Richard, the 
charge of his botanical library and herbaria; collections 
which have been since so greatly augmented. Guillemin 
gladly accepted a proposal which should decide the com- 
plexion of his future life; aware how great was the ad- 
vantage that would thence accrue for completing his botanical 
education, and perfecting himself in that very branch of 
natural history which he henceforth desired to make his 
exclusive study. M. Delessert’s gracious reception was 
