LAST DAYS A. \'D DEATH 55 



Lamarck never had any long, lingering illness or 

 suffered from overwork, though his life had little sun- 

 shine or playtime in it. He must have had a strong 

 constitution, his only infirmity being the terrible one 

 (especially to an observer of nature) of total blind- 

 ness. 



Lamarck's greatest work in systematic zoology 

 would never have been completed had it not been for 

 the self-sacrificing spirit and devotion of his eldest 

 daughter. 



A part of the sixth and the whole of the last 

 volume of the Animaux sans Vertibres were pre- 

 sented to the Assembly of Professors September 10, 

 1822. ''''This volume was dictated to and written out 

 by one of his daughters, Mile. Cornelie De Lamarck. 

 On her the aged savant leaned during the last ten 

 years of his life — those years of failing strength and 

 of blindness finally becoming total. The frail woman 

 accompanied him in his hours of exercise, and when 

 he was confined to his house she never left him. V.It 

 is stated by Cuvier, in his eulogy, that at her first 

 walk out of doors after the end came she was nearly 

 overcome by the fresh air, to which she had become 

 so unaccustomed.J She, indeed, practically sacrificed 

 her life to her father. It is one of the rarest and 

 most striking instances of filial devotion known in the 

 annals of science or literature, and is a noticeable con- 



his condition did not permit him to lecture, asked to have Audouin 

 talte his place, as Latreille's health did not allow him to take up the 

 work. The next week (26th) he was likewise present. On May 10 

 he was present, as also on June 28, October 11, and also through De- 

 cember, 1825. His last appearance at these business meetings was 

 on July II, 1828. 



