EAST DAVS AND DEATH 55 
Lamarck never had any long, lingering illness or 
suffered from overwork, though his life had little sun- 
shine or playtime in it. He must have had a strong 
constitution, his only infirmity being the terrible one 
(especially to an observer of nature) of total blind- 
ness. 
Lamarck’s greatest work in systematic zodlogy 
would never have been completed had it not been for 
the self-sacrificing spirit and devotion of his eldest 
daughter. 
A part of the sixth and the whole of the last 
volume of the Anximaux sans Vertibres were pre- 
sented to the Assembly of Professors September Io, 
1822. This volume was dictated to and written out 
by one of his daughters, Mlle. Cornelie De Lamarck. 
On her the aged savant leaned during the last ten 
years of his life—those years of failing strength and 
of blindness finally becoming total. The frail woman 
accompanied him in his hours of exercise, and when 
he was confined to his house she never left him. It 
is stated by Cuvier, in his eulogy, that at her first 
walk out of doors after the end came she was nearly 
overcome by the fresh air, to which she had become 
so unaccustomed. She, indeed, practically sacrificed 
her life to her father. It is one of the rarest and 
most striking instances of filial devotion known in the 
annals of science or literature, and is a noticeable con- 
his condition did not permit him to lecture, asked to have Audouin 
take his place, as Latreille’s health did not allow him to take up the 
work. The next week (26th) he was likewise present. On May 10 
he was present, as also on June 28, October 11, and also through De- 
cember, 1825. His last appearance at these business meetings was 
on July 11, 1828. 
