84 LIFE OF HORACE BENEDICT DE SAUSSURE 



on its day, so I ought to go to the mountains when I stand in need 

 of observations." For how many years this feeling will last I cannot 

 tell, but rest assured, my dear angel I tell you this to remove the 

 doubt you express in your letter that when I have to give up you 

 will not find me yawning in our daily life and sighing after the moun- 

 tains. This long solitude does not give one a presentable figure. I see 

 as I write my travelling coat hanging on its peg ; it has the look of a 

 clown, of a peasant, which makes me die of laughter : never would the 

 elegant Minette confess herself the sister-in-law of a man who wore 

 such a garment ; yet under it is a heart that loves her and would 

 assuredly make for her and her sisters far greater sacrifices than the 

 wearers of the most fashionable waistcoats of Versailles.' 



His wife was not alone in her remonstrances. At another 

 moment Bonnet, the anxious uncle, is ready with a suitable 

 caution. ' Take care of your health, above all, run no risks ; you 

 are now the head of a household, you are no longer your own 

 property, you belong to your family, to your parents, and your 

 friends. Never, then, put yourself in the case of becoming a 

 martyr of natural science.' 



The argument may sound familiar to modern mountaineers, to 

 some of whom it has been addressed, possibly with more reason. 

 Yet, despite her frequent remonstrances, Madame de Saussure 

 does not seem to have been given any serious ground for com- 

 plaint. Her husband's journeys in the Pennine or Bernese Alps 

 seldom went beyond the limits of a few weeks, and on his longer 

 tours she was, as a rule, his companion. 



For the moment, however, it was physiological rather than 

 Alpine studies that occupied the young husband's time. In 

 September 1765, he is attacking deep problems. He writes to 

 Bonnet : 



' I find very great difficulties in fixing the exact limit of animal 

 life. I recognise clearly the movements of a We which is in appearance 

 spontaneous, but since it appears to pass by insensible degrees from 

 this movement to true life, I trace the similarity but fail to fix the 

 interval. I wish, however, to go as far as my powers can take me. 

 The further I advance, the better I see that as you, sir, used to say, 

 one must embrace little in order to grasp firmly.' 



Here speaks the nephew of Bonnet. It was through his uncle 

 that de Saussure was brought into correspondence and personal 



