INTRODUCTORY RMIARKS. 281 



Volta, who has been immortalized by his electric pile ; 

 Davy, equally celebrated for the decomposition of the 

 alkalies and for the invaluable safety lamp of the miner ; 

 Wollaston, whom the English called the pope, because he 

 never proved fallible in any of his numerous experiments, 

 or of his subtile theoretical speculations ; Jenner, lastly, 

 whose discovery I have no need to extol in the presence 

 of fathers of families. To pay to such of its distin- 

 guished ornaments the legitimate tribute of the regret, of 

 the admiration, and the gratitude of all men devoted to 

 study, is one of the principal duties which the Academy 

 imposes on those whom it invests with the responsible 

 honour of speaking in its name in these solemn meetings. 

 To pay this grand debt with the least possible delay, 

 seems an obligation not less imperative. Gentlemen, the 

 native academician always leaves behind him, among the 

 colleagues with whom he has been united by the election 

 of the Academy, many confidants of his secret thoughts, 

 of the origin and course of his researches, of the vicissi- 

 tudes which he has gone through. The foreign associate 

 on the contrary resides far away from us ; he rarely joins 

 in our meetings ; we know nothing of his life, his habits, 

 his character, unless from the reports of travellers. When 

 several years have passed over such fugitive documents, 

 if we still find any traces of them, we cannot reckon on 

 their accuracy. Literary intelligence which has not found 

 a record in print is a sort of coin, the circulation of which 

 alters at the same time the impression, the weight, and 

 the inscription. 



These reflections tend to show why the names of such 

 men as Herschel, Davy, or Volta ought to be mentioned 

 in our assemblies before those of many celebrated acade- 

 micians whom death has snatched from our more imme- 



