﻿xi 
  

  

  Lambeet 
  Aeolphe 
  Jacques 
  Quetelet 
  was 
  bom 
  at 
  Ghent 
  on 
  the 
  

   22nd 
  of 
  February, 
  1796. 
  He 
  had 
  the 
  misfortune 
  of 
  losing 
  his 
  father 
  at 
  

   the 
  early 
  age 
  of 
  seven 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  poverty 
  of 
  his 
  family 
  obliged 
  him 
  to 
  seek 
  

   his 
  own 
  livelihood 
  at 
  once 
  on 
  leaving 
  the 
  Lycee. 
  He 
  obtained 
  an 
  appoint- 
  

   ment 
  as 
  teacher 
  of 
  mathematics, 
  drawing, 
  grammar, 
  &c. 
  in 
  a 
  school 
  at 
  

   Oudenarde. 
  At 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  a 
  year 
  he 
  returned 
  to 
  Ghent 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  February 
  

   1815, 
  the 
  very 
  day 
  on 
  which 
  he 
  completed 
  his 
  nineteenth 
  year, 
  he 
  was 
  

   appointed 
  to 
  the 
  Chair 
  of 
  Mathematics 
  at 
  the 
  New 
  College, 
  which 
  had 
  

   replaced 
  the 
  Lycee. 
  This 
  appointment 
  was 
  not 
  a 
  brilliant 
  one 
  ; 
  but 
  with 
  

   the 
  private 
  lessons 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  the 
  opportunity 
  of 
  giving, 
  it 
  afforded 
  

   him 
  a 
  subsistence, 
  and 
  he 
  had 
  the 
  satisfaction 
  of 
  feeling 
  himself 
  inde- 
  

   pendent. 
  He 
  had 
  even 
  some 
  leisure 
  to 
  devote 
  to 
  science, 
  his 
  flute, 
  

   drawing, 
  and 
  to 
  literary 
  composition. 
  About 
  this 
  time 
  he, 
  in 
  conjunc- 
  

   tion 
  with 
  his 
  intimate 
  friend 
  and 
  former 
  schoolfellow 
  Dandelin, 
  wrote 
  

   an 
  opera, 
  entitled 
  " 
  Jean 
  Second 
  ou 
  Charles 
  Quint 
  dans 
  les 
  murs 
  de 
  

   Gand," 
  which 
  was 
  favourably 
  spoken 
  of. 
  Dandelin 
  soon 
  afterwards 
  left 
  

   Ghent 
  ; 
  and 
  Gamier, 
  who 
  had 
  become 
  Professor 
  of 
  Mathematics 
  at 
  the 
  

   University 
  of 
  Ghent, 
  persuaded 
  Quetelet 
  to 
  return 
  to 
  science. 
  He 
  

   studied 
  the 
  higher 
  mathematics 
  under 
  Gamier, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  

   assisted 
  the 
  latter 
  by 
  giving 
  some 
  of 
  his 
  lectures. 
  

  

  In 
  1819 
  he 
  took 
  the 
  degree 
  of 
  Doctor 
  of 
  Science, 
  the 
  first 
  conferred 
  

   in 
  that 
  University. 
  On 
  this 
  occasion 
  he 
  gave 
  a 
  brilliant 
  inaugural 
  

   address, 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  made 
  known 
  his 
  discovery 
  of 
  a 
  new 
  curve 
  of 
  the 
  

   third 
  degree. 
  

  

  This 
  discovery 
  of 
  the 
  "focale" 
  was 
  much 
  noticed 
  in 
  the 
  'Annales 
  

   Belgiques 
  ' 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  4 
  Mercure 
  Beige,' 
  and 
  was 
  spoken 
  of 
  by 
  Gamier 
  

   and 
  Raoul 
  as 
  a 
  great 
  honour 
  to 
  the 
  newly 
  founded 
  university. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  August, 
  M. 
  Falck, 
  Minister 
  of 
  Public 
  Instruction, 
  

   came 
  to 
  Ghent, 
  and 
  was 
  present 
  at 
  the 
  laying 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  stone 
  of 
  the 
  

   Xew 
  University 
  Buildings. 
  Quetelet 
  was 
  on 
  this 
  occasion 
  presented 
  to 
  

   M. 
  Falck, 
  and 
  the 
  strong 
  recommendation 
  of 
  him 
  by 
  two 
  such 
  men 
  as 
  

   Gamier 
  and 
  Raoul 
  led 
  to 
  his 
  appointment 
  shortly 
  afterwards 
  to 
  a 
  Pro- 
  

   fessorship 
  of 
  Elementary 
  Mathematics 
  at 
  the 
  Athenaaum 
  of 
  Brussels. 
  

  

  This 
  appointment 
  was 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  October; 
  and 
  by 
  a 
  

   private 
  arrangement 
  Quetelet 
  engaged 
  to 
  give 
  one 
  quarter 
  of 
  his 
  salary 
  

   to 
  his 
  aged 
  predecessor, 
  M. 
  Delhaye, 
  as 
  a 
  retiring 
  pension. 
  

  

  In 
  Brussels 
  Quetelet 
  soon 
  became 
  intimate 
  with 
  the 
  French 
  refugees, 
  

   David, 
  Arnault, 
  &c, 
  besides 
  frequenting 
  the 
  society 
  of 
  artists 
  and 
  literary 
  

   men, 
  and 
  the 
  theatres, 
  where 
  Talma, 
  Mademoiselle 
  Mars, 
  &c. 
  gave 
  a 
  

   series 
  of 
  performances 
  each 
  year. 
  

  

  At 
  this 
  period 
  he 
  composed 
  various 
  verses, 
  and 
  published, 
  in 
  the 
  

   4 
  Annales 
  Belgiques,' 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1825, 
  an 
  " 
  Essai 
  sur 
  la 
  Romance."' 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  24th 
  of 
  February 
  Quetelet 
  was 
  made 
  a 
  Member 
  of 
  the 
  Royal 
  

   Belgian 
  Academy 
  of 
  Science, 
  receiving 
  the 
  diploma 
  from 
  Van 
  Hulthem. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  memoir 
  he 
  presented 
  to 
  the 
  Academy, 
  after 
  his 
  reception, 
  

   vol. 
  xxttt. 
  c 
  

  

  