588 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN" INSTITUTION, 1916. 



diplomas, and his early achievements, and despite the favor of Minis- 

 ter Duruy, who decorated him and sought to make him a preceptor 

 of the Imperial Prince, he abandoned his alma mater and retired to 

 Orange, then to Serignan. He must be independent, for official reg- 

 ulations were displeasing to his unrestrained nature; he needed the 

 open air of the country, for his first researches had inflamed him and 

 kindled a desire to catch the mysteries of life in their actual un- 

 folding. 



He was now free, but without means, and the expenses of his 

 family were heavy. How then, could he supply the needs of his 

 nestlings? This he did by ceaseless toil and an inimitable talent; 

 the day was given to researches, the twilight and the night to works 

 of instruction. Though he broke the chains that belonged to the 

 professorship he still remained an apt teacher, delightfully enter- 

 taining, and so he continued to the end of his days, teaching only 

 through his writings. In this way there appeared one after another 

 many popular and instructive works which have been the charm of 

 scholars since about 1870; such works as " Eavageurs des Cultures," 

 " Auxiliaires," " Cosmographie," " Physique," " Chimie," and many 

 other publications where the author made it a pleasure to render 

 the most abstract scientific questions plain and attractive. Under 

 the impetus given by Duruy, these books were introduced through- 

 out the schools, and such were their charms that they instructed 

 parents as well as pupils. But, apart from some didactic treatises, 

 these smaller works were intended more to arouse interest and to 

 attract toward science, than to lead to a diploma. They were aban- 

 doned by the schools for the undigested manuals that are laid aside 

 with pleasure after one examination, and to the great detriment of 

 true culture our students no longer use them. Thanks to our 

 teachers they have been in some measure reintroduced, so that they at 

 least find a place in the agricultural and school libraries. 



That talent of explaining, that wonderful clearness, that power 

 of arousing enthusiasm, were qualities which belonged to himself, 

 and were part of his very nature. They are shown in the scientific 

 works to which he owes the best of his reputation, but here combined 

 with other qualities more striking still, a rich vocabulary and a 

 special gift of imparting life to the subjects concerning which he 

 wrote. He devoted his whole soul to his task, and with a passion 

 that very quickly became communicative. His favorites were insects, 

 those strange animals with peculiar habits. He loved them from his 

 earliest boyhood, and had always burned with the desire to scrutinize 

 the mysteries of their existence. Once engi'ossed in the fascinating 

 subject, he was not contented to scientifically describe his heroes, 

 but he made them alive to our gaze, in their native environment. 

 Maurice Maeterlink said of him, " He is one of the most learned 



