Il4 HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM. 



to soften his captivity, and the professors were, 

 ignorant of the probable period of his deliver- 

 ance ; but they preferred leaving the chair vacant 

 for a time, to foregoing an opportunity of render- 

 ing justice to a man, whose elevated character and 

 devotion to science had not shielded him from 

 the most absurd calumnies, and the most odious 

 persecution. M. Dolomieu was not informed of 

 this step till his liberation, on the 1 5th of March 

 1 80 1, by an article in the treaty between France 

 and Naples. He hastened to Paris, and on his first 

 appearance in the amphitheatre was received 

 by the audience with an enthusiasm which ma- 

 nifested their opinion of his merit, and their 

 interest in his sufferings. After finishing his 

 course, he wished to take advantage of the re- 

 mainder of the summer to visit the Alps, Swit- 

 zerland, andDauphiny, to collect minerals for the 

 cabinet; but his health, impaired by the hard- 

 ships he had undergone, yielded to the fatigues 

 of the journey. On his return he stopped at 

 Neuchatel in the Charolois, at the house of his 

 brother in law, and was there seized with an 

 illness, of which he died on the 26th of No- 

 vember 1801. 



The ingenious observations of Bergman and 

 Rome de Lille had for several years fixed the at- 

 tention of mineralogists on the regular and con- 



