2 Memoir of M. D' Aubuisson de Voisins. 



our notice, although science occupied the principal part of it. 

 He was an officer of artillery previously to the Revolution of 

 1791, and at that time his career was interrupted ; after 

 numerous vicissitudes, it was not till the age of 38 that he 

 again obtained a settled occupation by joining, under circum- 

 stances which formed an exception to the existing practice, 

 the department of mining engineers, where he has since occu- 

 pied so honourable a place, during almost an equal length of 

 time. "We must be brief, however, on the early portion of 

 M. D'Aubuisson's life, as science did not then occupy the prin- 

 cipal part of it. In a biography of a less special nature, and 

 less rich in other respects, this no doubt would be a blank 

 to be regi'etted : a man of merit ought to be viewed in every 

 aspect, and this, perhaps, in the present instance, would have 

 been particularly desirable ; for M. D'Aubuisson was not 

 only a distinguished savant, but also a man of heart and 

 spirit, possessed of a generous and elevated mind, and the 

 stormy seasons in which he spent his youth must have brought 

 these qualities into prominent exercise. We shall not hesi- 

 tate to sketch a few traits, without forgetting at the same 

 time that this simple notice must be principally devoted to 

 the scientific life of M. D'Aubuisson, — that it is chiefly to 

 the memory of the engineer and man of science that we are 

 called upon to pay a tribute. 



Jean-Fkan^ois D'Aubuisson de Voisins, Engineer-in- 

 Chief and Director to the Corps Royal des Mines, Officer of 

 the Legion of Honour, Chevalier of St Louis, corresponding 

 member of the Institute of France, and perpetual Secretary 

 to the Academy of Sciences of Toulouse, was born in that 

 town on the 16th of April 1769.* He entered upon his 

 earliest studies at Soreze, a school renowned in the south, 

 where education, although conducted by priests and monks, 

 was established on a broad basis, and directed pai"ticularly 

 to the exact sciences, and such as are preparatory for the 

 military art. On leaving his first studies, at the age of 18, 



* The year 1769, famous for the birth of Napoleon, is remarkable in the 

 history of geology ; MM. Ouvier, Humboldt, De Bucb, Alex. Brongniart, belong 

 to it, as well as M. D'Aubuisson. 



