■ 8 Remarks o?i M. Delamlre's [July, 



gained a deserved reputation in our own time, with the highest 

 esteem and regard. Condorcet alone was held in no estimation hy 

 him. He said that this academician " had done nothing tolerable 

 except his first work ; that his other productions were indifferent or 

 bad ; that he had not during Ins whole life integrated a new 

 equation ; that he would have destroyed analysis if he had been let 

 alone ; and that in his hands it became a complete barbarism." 



^ He reproached him, as well as Fontaine, fur having sought for 

 direct methods of integration, and appeared convinced that it was 

 a downright absurdity to expect to discover such. He blamed 

 d'Alembert likewise for having too carelessly discarded the question 

 of living forces, by affirming that it was merely a question about 

 words, ^ and proposed to elucidate more completely that famous 

 discussion. 



When he spoke of the system of the world, one of his favourite 

 remarks was the disparity between some of the constant quantities 

 representing the orbits, and other elements. " Nature," said he, 

 " seems to have disposed these orbits on purpose to enable mathe- 

 maticians to calculate them. Thus the eccentricity of the planets 

 is very small, and that of the comets enormous. Without this 

 disparity, so favourable for approximations, and unless the constants 

 were of a moderate greatness, farewell to mathematicians; it would 

 be impossible to do any thing." 



On some occasions he showed uneasiness at the imperfection 

 of the methods of approximation employed in physical astronomy, 

 and seemed to fear that they would become a kind of mine from 

 which any one might draw whatever he thought proper. But these 

 doubts were stated in a low voice, and alwaysVxompanied with his 

 favourite " I do not know." 



He regretted not having returned more frequently upon some 

 parts of his works which exhibited errors to correct, or omissions to 

 supply. " I did not do it," he said, " because it was the practice 

 of d'Alembert, and subjected him to ridicule. 1 allowed myself, 

 in consequence, to be deprived of a great many important disco- 

 veries, which followed from my memoirs." 



_ Ol all his works, that which he himself seemed to value most 

 "highly was his paper on the integral calculus of irrational functions, 

 published in the Turin Memoirs for 1784. But-he was not in the 

 habit of speaking of his own works ; and his modestv prevented 

 him from lecon.mending the study of them. 



In consequence of his great reputation, he was often consulted 

 by those who wished to study mathematics, and who were of 

 opinion that he could easily point out to them the best method of 

 regulating their studies. But he disliked giving advices of that 

 nature. He had himself studied without any assistance from others, 

 am' hence he thought that other men were"endowed with the same 

 capacity and industry as himself. His usual answer was, that in geo- 

 metry no master is necessary, and that nothing is well learned but 

 What pan learns by himself. When his opinion was still per- 

 sisted in, « Study Euler/' he would say, " and make a point of 



