D'ALEMBERT. 403 



contemplation a sufficient reward of his labour. This 

 most interesting circumstance was related by himself to 

 M. Condorcet, a profound and accomplished geometrician, 

 who enjoyed his entire confidence, and succeeded him in 

 the Academy. 



While, however, his time thus passed in tranquil 

 enjoyment, the very moderate income which he possessed 

 rendered it advisable that he should seek for some means 

 of increasing it and rendering himself independent, as 

 well as helping more actively those he cared for. He 

 was advised to study the law, and in the law he took his 

 degrees. But nothing could less suit his taste than this 

 study, and he changed it for that of medicine. 



Finding that his passion for the mathematics inter- 

 fered with this pursuit, he adopted the singular expe- 

 dient of sending his books to a friend's house, that he 

 might keep temptation out of his way. The resolution 

 was, that he should not be allowed to have them again 

 until he had taken his Doctor's degree. For some time 

 this arrangement succeeded ; but, his mind hankering after 

 the forbidden scene, he would be ever haunted with 

 the vision of some quantity, some function whose exact 

 exponents had escaped him, some formula of which he 

 could not recal the solution ; he would then get back a 

 volume, and thus one by one the whole of his little stock 

 of precious learning returned into his possession, while 

 the title of Doctor, the quantity, the arbitrary function 

 M.D., remained without any approximation. He then 

 fairly gave up the struggle, and devoted his life to geo- 

 metrical pursuits. 



The account which he always gave of his follow- 

 ing years was one glowing with the recollection of the 



2 D 2 



