MEMOIR OP RONDELET. 21 



He was not long, however, in again leaving Paris, 

 when he went to Maringues, a small town in Au- 

 vergne, where he resumed the practice of medicine, 

 and continued to carry it on with considerable suc- 

 cess for some years. We are not informed of the 

 cause of his leaving this place, but it was probably 

 for the purpose of advancing his professional studies, 

 for we find that he went to Montpellier in 1537, 

 and took the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Another 

 important event in his life occurred in the month of 

 January of the succeeding year, 1538, when he 

 married a young and beautiful woman of the name 

 of Jeanne Sandre. As the lady was without fortune, 

 and his own income scanty and precarious, his 

 friends considered this step precipitate and injudi- 

 cious, although, it may be remarked, he was ten 

 years older than his friend and cotemporary Gesner, 

 when that celebrated naturalist took a like step 

 under very similar circumstances. His prospects 

 at this time were even more unfavourable than 

 formerly, in consequence of the death of his eldest 

 brother, in whom he had long found an indulgent 

 and affectionate supporter. In these circumstances, 

 Rondelet was obliged for a time to become de- 

 pendent on his wife's relatives. She had a sister 

 married to a Florentine of considerable property, 

 named John Botegari, and as they had no family, 

 they agreed to offer a home to Rondelet and his 

 wife in their house for a period of four years. This 

 offer was gratefully accepted, in the hope that before 

 that time elapsed, some field would present itself, in 



