BE CANDOLLE. 10/ 



and dignity of manner impressed everybody, and 

 he made the acquaintance of the still greater 

 Lamarck in a very curious manner. De Candolle 

 had seen M. de Lamarck at the French Academy 

 of Sciences, but he did not know anybody who 

 could introduce him to the great man. However, 

 he found out that Lamarck used to dine at the same 

 little restaurant which he patronized. So a little 

 plan was adopted to draw the celebrated zoologist 

 and botanist into conversation. De Candolle 

 asked his friend Pictet, who afterwards became a 

 professor at Geneva and a great man, to come by 

 chance as it were and sit beside him at the same 

 table as Lamarck, and they began a conversation 

 about botany. De Candolle especially stated how 

 useful he had found a book called the " Description 

 of the French Plants" in his studies. This was 

 overheard by Lamarck, who was the author of it, 

 and he joined in the conversation. Lamarck asked 

 the young man to come and see him, and a friend- 

 ship commenced ; and although they did not have 

 at that time much to say to one another about 

 botany, still the distinguished French naturalist 

 gave good advice, and, when De Candolle left Paris, 

 presented him with a letter and a book to give to 

 M. Senebier, of Geneva, whose friendship probably 

 decided the future career of the rising young 

 botanist. Certainly the acquaintance of Lamarck 

 stimulated De Candolle to study the physiology 

 of plants — how they grow, breathe, how the sap 

 circulates, how the colours are produced, and how 



