THE LAST YEARS 375 



For the three years following (1794-6) a private diary written 

 by de Saussure, mostly in Greek, with occasional lapses into Latin, 

 has been preserved and kindly put in my hands byM. Henri Necker. 

 The handwriting is that of a scholar, small and fairly clear, but 

 varies greatly with the state of the writer's health, and towards 

 the close (November 1796) becomes hi places almost illegible. 



Unfortunately the contents are in the main medical. De 

 Saussure recorded his daily actions and his own symptoms with 

 singular and curt preciseness. Each day's entry begins with an 

 account of the past night, of the baths, the exercise, and medicine 

 taken. From time to time there are pathetic notes, such as 

 ' weaker and thinner,' ' legs giving way,' * writing difficult.' 

 He was obviously ordered gentle exercise, and records his daily 

 ' walks in the house ' or out of doors, always with his devoted 

 wife or daughter. In the earlier portion he records the public 

 committees he was still attending. But the political entries are 

 very few and brief ; for example, ' Murder of the Seven,' ' Murder 

 of Baudit and Pradier ' are the only record of the two most tragic 

 moments in Genevese history. For the rest we find notes of 

 incidents of daily life, his visitors' calls, and his correspondence. 

 His literary occupation is carefully set out, and the reader can 

 follow week by week the composition of the two latter volumes of 

 the Voyages, through the chapters on Mont Blanc, the Col du 

 Geant, Monte Rosa, and Mont Cervin, to the Agenda and Index. 

 A trip to Neuchatel, probably to see his publisher, in the spring 

 of 1795 is mentioned. At the same time he was writing to a de 

 Saussure at Charleston, South Carolina, and seeing a good deal 

 of his brother geologist Dolomieu. 



The diary gives details as to his daily strolls from Conches, 

 such as ' under the oaks to the weir,' * through the island to the 

 river,' and ' to the bridge.' Since he was too much of an invalid 

 to go more than a few hundred yards, these entries may serve to 

 identify the exact site of the old farmhouse where his earliest and 

 last days were passed. 



One entry runs : ' The Neckers [his daughter and son-in-law] 

 leave, tears of my wife.' It is not the only occasion on which 

 Madame de Saussure's famous tears figure in the diary. Every 

 page of it bears witness to the devotion of a wife who idolised 

 him, and of a daughter who understood and entered into his 



