i|[792« anecdotes of Artedi. il.t 



:lilh his work on fifties. Artedi went to join him at Am- 

 sterdam. 



" Scarcely had I finifhed my fundamenta botaniccu 

 I communicated it to him j he let me see his phdoso- 



phia ichthyologica. He proposed to finiflu as quickly as pof- 

 sible the work of Seba, and to put the last hand to it. He 

 fliowed me all his manuscripts which I had not seen : I 

 -was prefsed in point of time, and began to be impatient 

 at being detained so long. Alas ! if I bad known this 

 was the last time I ftiould see him, how (hould I have pro- 

 longed, it ! 



" Some days after, as he returned to sup with Seba, th^ 

 night being dark, he fell into the canal. Nobody per- 

 ceived it, and he perifhed. Thus died, by water, this 

 great ichthyologist, who had ever delighted in that ele- 

 ment. 



" I learned his fate — I flew — I saw his melancholy remains. 

 I ftied tears : at last I resolved to preserve his glory, and 

 to fulfil my engagements. I procured his papers with a 

 good deal of difficulty from his host, who wanted to sell 

 them by auction. Mr Ciiffort bought • them, and gave 

 them to me. In spite of businefs, with which I was then 

 overwhelmed, I stole from it the time that was required 

 for revising the works of my unfortunate friend. Who 

 could better edit Iiis works than him who was full of his 

 stile, of his ideas, of his method and manner ? I pafsed 

 tijc months in Holland to complete this edition j happjr, 

 if I have been able properly to fulfil this last duty to my 

 friend, and to secure an eternal fame for him, who was 

 carried off by such a premature fate. I ftiall rejoice in 

 having snatched from oblivion, the greatest work of that 



•kind which exists. Artedi has rendered that science the 

 most tasy of all, which before bis time was the most dif- 



-icult." 



