MEMOIR OP LATREILLE. 45 



who share in our grief, or who can at least under- 

 stand it. 



" On the occasion of the bust of M. Latreille 

 being presented to you, I again congratulate myself 

 on the honour of having been elected to preside at 

 your meetings for the ensuing year, since I am 

 thereby called upon to express, in your name, the 

 satisfaction we al] enjoy in contemplating the like- 

 ness of that individual whose works gave such an 

 impulse to the science you cultivate. For the same 

 reason I likewise become the medium of expressing 

 your gratitude to the gentleman whose affectionate 

 regard has enriched the place of your meeting with 

 so precious an ornament. 



" The sight of it reminds me of the well merited 

 eulogium the individual it represents received from 

 his associates in the Academy of Sciences, as well 

 as from many of yourselves, and intimates to me in 

 particular to be cautious how I add my own, which 

 can neither possess the same authority nor be ex- 

 pressed with the same eloquence. 



" But it may be affirmed that the highest pane- 

 gyrics on M. Latreille, the most beautiful flowers 

 that can surround his bust, or can be placed on his 

 tomb, are those which it is in your power, gentle- 

 men, to offer. It is your labours in the branch of 

 human knowledge to which he owed his celebrity ; 

 it is your successful efforts daily to extend its 

 boundaries, which confer more honour on the name 

 and memory of this illustrious man than can be 

 done by the best expressed eulogies. 



