306 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



the rival candidate, was elected, in spite of the hearty support 

 De Candolle received from his comrades of the " Bulletin 

 Philomathique " and his eminent associates of the Soeiete 

 d'Arcueil, Berthollet, Chaptal, La Place, Cuvier, etc., — to 

 say nothing of his scientific superiority over his rival, which 

 De Candolle naturally regarded as very great. At that time, 

 according to De Candolle, Beauvois had produced, " ni la 

 ' Flore d'Oware,' ni le 4 Prodrome de l'Etheogamie,' ni en un 

 mot aucun de ses ouvrages qui," etc. But in this De Can- 

 dolle's memory was perhaps at fault ; for, while this election 

 took place in the autumn of 1806, the latter of these works 

 of Beauvois, according to Pritzel, was published in 1805, and 

 the first volume of the former in 1804. 



Evidently the disappointment was keenly felt. Member- 

 ship in the Institute secured not only an assured position but 

 also a comfortable little annuity. This, and the prospective 

 needs of an increasing family, disposed De Candolle to look 

 elsewhere, and to accept, after some hesitation, the botanical 

 chair at the University of Montpellier, which in 1807 became 

 vacant by the death of Broussonet. Hardly was he estab- 

 lished there when the death of Ventenat, in the autumn of 

 1808, made him again a candidate for a seat in the Institute ; 

 — again an unsuccessful one, but now chiefly because a con- 

 siderable number of his particular friends in the Institute 

 required a promise that if chosen he would reside at Paris, 

 which he could not with propriety give. So they voted for 

 Mirbel ; — and De Candolle took root at Montpellier, where 

 he flourished from 1808 to the year 1816. 



That De Candolle, full of ambition and with a good opin- 

 ion of his abilities, should have disliked to give up Paris is 

 natural ; but he himself afterwards records the opinion 

 (which we share) that his removal from the metropolis was 

 the best thing for him, as enabling him to accomplish more 

 for botany. And as to the honors of the Institute, his dis- 

 appointments were more than made up to him in the sequel 

 by his election as one of the eight foreign associates of the 

 Academy of Sciences. 



At Montpellier, De Candolle was heartily welcomed by his 



