10 CARNOT. 



pranks ; because he passed his time in the libraries 

 rather than at the cafe ; because, he read Thucydides, 

 Polybius, and Cnesav, rather than the licentious works of 

 that 2:)eriod ; because, if he were intimate with the Prince 

 de Croy, Commandant-General of Picardy, it was not for 

 the sake of obtaining leave from, or alleviations of, duty, 

 but in order to assist him in delicate geographical re- 

 searches, and to work at charts of the Southern Hemi- 

 sphere, showing the latest nautical discoveries. Carnot, 

 nevertheless, was anything but an ill-natured judge of 

 others. Severe towards himself, he had an inexhaustible 

 fund of indulgence to every one else. He employed his 

 hours of leisux'e or relaxation in composing little poems, 

 all impressed with a gentle and social gayety. To have 

 quoted ballads in the biography of a geometer would 

 certainly have had great novelty, and this weak merit, 

 quite within my grasp, had almost pei'suaded me to do 

 so ; a little reflection has caused me to give it up. A 

 great poet in our country having stamped that nature of 

 composition with his immortal seal, song should no longer 

 be lightly quoted. 



THE FIRST COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CARNOT AND 

 THE ACADEMT OF SCIENCES. AIR-BALLOONS. 



The first direct communication between Carnot and 

 the Academy of Sciences (this fact Avill be a novelty to 

 every one) was brought about by a problem which not 

 only has not yet been solved, but which, according to 

 many physical philosophers, appears as if it never can 

 be — " the problem of guiding balloons." 



Scientific discoveries, "even those from which mankind 

 might expect the greatest advantages — such, for instance, 

 as those of the mariner's compass and the steam-engine^ 



