34 LIFE OF SADI CARNOT. 



Before 1830, Sadi had formed part of a Reunion 

 poly technique industrielle, made up of old pupils 

 of the school, with a plan of study in common. 

 After 1830, he was a member of the Association 

 polyteclmique, consisting also of graduates, the 

 object being the popular propagation of useful 

 knowledge. The president of this association was 

 M. de Choiseul-Praslin; the vice-presidents, MM. 

 de Tracy, Auguste Comte, etc. 



The hopes of the democracy meanwhile seeming 

 to be in abeyance, Sadi devoted himself anew to 

 study, and pursued his scientific labors with all the 

 greater energy, as he brought to bear upon them 

 the political ardor now so completely repressed. 

 He undertook profound researches on the physical 

 properties of gases and vapors, and especially on 

 their elastic tensions. Unfortunately, the tables 

 which he prepared from his comparative experi- 

 ments were not completed; but happily the excel- 

 lent works of Victor Regnault, so remarkable for 

 their accuracy, have supplied to science, in this 

 respect, the blanks of which Sadi Carnot was con- 

 scious. 



His excessive application affected his health 

 towards the end of June, 1832. Feeling temporar- 

 ily better, he wrote gayly to one of his friends who 

 had written several letters to him : "My delay this 



