MEMOIR OP HUBER. 25 



To him, whose life had been almost exclusively de- 

 voted to the study and admiration of these insects, 

 we may conceive how great a source of enjoyment 

 this gift must have proved. His feeling towards his 

 bees was not a feeling of fondness in an ordinary 

 degree ; it was a.passion, as it almost invariably be- 

 comes with every one who makes them his study. 

 " Beaucoup de gens aiment les abeilles," says the 

 enthusiastic Gelieu, " je n'ai vu personne qui les 

 aima mediocrement ; on se passionne pour elles." 

 The days of Huber were now drawing to a close. 

 In the full possession of his mental faculties, he was 

 able to converse with his friends with his accustomed 

 ease and tranquillity, and even to correspond by let* 

 ter with those at a distance, within two days of his 

 death. He died in the arms of his daughter on the 

 22d of December 1831, in the 81st year of his age. 



