TRANSLATORS’ PREFACE. 
Tue present volume of the series of English 
translations of M. Arago’s works consists of his 
own autobiography and a selection of some of 
his memoirs of eminent scientific men, both con- 
tinental and British. 
It does not distinctly appear at what period 
of his life Arago composed the autobiography, 
but it bears throughout the characteristic stamp 
of his ardent and energetic disposition. The 
reader will, perhaps, hardly suppress a smile at 
the indications of self-satisfaction with which 
several of the incidents are brought forward, 
while the air of romance which invests some 
of the adventures may possibly give rise to 
some suspicion of occasional embellishment; on 
these points, however, we leave each reader to 
judge for himself. In relation to the history of 
science, this memoir gives some interesting par- 
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