Mr. Swainson's Memoir o/Laccpede. 73 



Art. VI. Shetch of the Life and Character of the late 

 Count de Lacepede. Bj/ William Swainson, Esq. 

 F.R.S., Sfc, 



[To tlie Conductors of the Zoological Journal.] 



Gentlemen, 

 It has been too justly observed, that the records of our Science* 

 are remarkably deficient in the biography of those eminent natu- 

 ralists who are now no more, but whose works we are continually 

 in the habit of consulting. The lives of men who have trodden 

 the *' sequestered vale" of Science, do not indeed furnish the 

 historian with those striking events, and splendid actions, which 

 belong to the Hero or to the Statesman ; but they frequently teach 

 us, that the wide circle of social duties may be performed, and the 

 mental powers exercised for the public good, without interfering 

 with the philosophic speculations of the closet. The character of 

 the late Count de Lacepede seems to have exemplified this, most 

 fully. His name has been long and justly celebrated in every 

 country where Science has spread ; and his funeral was honoured 

 by three distinct orations, pronounced by M. Ic Comte Chaptal, 

 M. Dumeril, and M. Geoffroy de St. Hilaire. From these public 

 testimonials, the following short biographic sketch of this dis- 

 tinguished and amiable man, has been compiled. As no similar 

 notice, I believe, has yet appeared in our language, it may be in- 

 teresting to many of your readers. 



I have the honour to be, &c. &c. 



William Swainson. 



M. le Comte de Lacepede (Bernard Germain Etienne) Mem- 

 ber of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and Keeper of the Cabinets 

 in the Garden of Plants, was born of a noble family, at Agen, in 

 1756. Naturally endowed with a passionate love of knowledge, he 

 devoted the early period of his life to the study of natural philoso- 

 phy, and the cultivation of music. On these subjects he published 

 two volumes; and he has likewise been supposed to be the author 



