﻿XV 
  

  

  Quetelet 
  had 
  been 
  deputed 
  by 
  Government 
  to 
  attend 
  the 
  Meeting 
  of 
  

   the 
  British 
  Association 
  for 
  the 
  Advancement 
  of 
  Science 
  which 
  was 
  to 
  

   be 
  held 
  at 
  Cambridge, 
  beginning 
  on 
  the 
  25th 
  of 
  June, 
  1833. 
  He 
  went 
  

   by 
  Paris, 
  where 
  he 
  read 
  at 
  the 
  Institute 
  his 
  memoir 
  on 
  Mortality. 
  

  

  At 
  Cambridge 
  he 
  took 
  a 
  warm 
  interest 
  in 
  the 
  establishment 
  of 
  the 
  

   Statistical 
  Section, 
  of 
  which 
  Malthus, 
  Babbage, 
  and 
  other 
  savants 
  became 
  

   members. 
  

  

  In 
  London 
  he 
  was 
  summoned 
  before 
  an 
  Inquiry 
  Commission 
  insti- 
  

   tuted 
  by 
  Parliament, 
  to 
  furnish 
  information 
  on 
  the 
  mode 
  of 
  keeping 
  

   the 
  Civil 
  Eegisters 
  of 
  Belgium, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  Census 
  of 
  the 
  1st 
  of 
  Januarv, 
  

   1830. 
  

  

  Quetelet 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  active 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  Academy 
  of 
  

   Sciences 
  at 
  Brussels, 
  and 
  was 
  always 
  very 
  desirous 
  of 
  promoting 
  its 
  inde- 
  

   pendence. 
  In 
  1834 
  he 
  was 
  appointed 
  Permanent 
  Secretary. 
  

  

  In 
  1835 
  he 
  brought 
  out 
  an 
  ' 
  Annuaire 
  de 
  1' 
  Academic' 
  About 
  this 
  

   time 
  also 
  he 
  wrote 
  for 
  the 
  British 
  Association 
  a 
  paper 
  of 
  great 
  interest, 
  

   entitled 
  " 
  Apercu 
  de 
  l'etat 
  actuel 
  des 
  Sciences 
  Matheinaticmes 
  chez 
  les 
  

   Beiges." 
  

  

  Quetelet 
  was 
  appointed 
  by 
  the 
  House 
  of 
  Representatives 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   Central 
  Jury 
  of 
  Science. 
  He 
  retained 
  these 
  f 
  mictions 
  for 
  some 
  time, 
  

   and 
  showed 
  great 
  kindliness 
  and 
  sagacity 
  in 
  discharging 
  them. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  1835 
  there 
  appeared 
  at 
  Paris 
  the 
  chief 
  of 
  all 
  

   Quetelet's 
  works, 
  " 
  Sur 
  l'homme 
  et 
  le 
  developpement 
  de 
  ses 
  facultes, 
  ou 
  

   Essai 
  de 
  Physique 
  Sociale." 
  It 
  was 
  a 
  resume 
  of 
  all 
  his 
  previous 
  works 
  

   on 
  Statistics. 
  

  

  In 
  February 
  1836 
  Quetelet 
  was 
  charged 
  with 
  the 
  execution 
  of 
  a 
  Royal 
  

   Decree 
  for 
  the 
  establishment 
  of 
  a 
  little 
  meridian 
  in 
  the 
  cities 
  of 
  Antwerp, 
  

   Ostend, 
  Bruges, 
  Ghent, 
  and 
  Liege, 
  and 
  for 
  placing 
  a 
  meridian-instrument 
  

   on 
  the 
  walls 
  of 
  the 
  Cathedrals, 
  Hotels 
  de 
  Yille, 
  or 
  other 
  suitable 
  buildings 
  

   of 
  forty-one 
  different 
  towns. 
  

  

  In 
  August 
  1839 
  Quetelet 
  made 
  a 
  journey, 
  in 
  company 
  with 
  his 
  wife, 
  

   in 
  Prance, 
  Italy, 
  and 
  Tyrol. 
  His 
  object 
  was 
  threefold. 
  In 
  the 
  first 
  

   place, 
  he 
  was 
  to 
  compare, 
  in 
  conjunction 
  with 
  his 
  fellow 
  commissioners, 
  

   Messrs. 
  Duinortier 
  and 
  Teichman, 
  the 
  standard 
  weights 
  and 
  measures 
  of 
  

   Belgium 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  France 
  ; 
  secondly, 
  he 
  was 
  to 
  attend 
  the 
  Congress 
  

   of 
  Savants 
  at 
  Pisa 
  ; 
  and 
  thirdly, 
  he 
  purposed 
  to 
  revise 
  the 
  determinations 
  

   of 
  magnetic 
  intensity 
  obtained 
  in 
  1830, 
  of 
  the 
  correctness 
  of 
  which 
  he 
  

   entertained 
  some 
  doubts. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  sitting 
  of 
  the 
  7th 
  December 
  the 
  Academy 
  received 
  a 
  report 
  of 
  

   the 
  proceedings 
  of 
  the 
  Commission 
  in 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  August 
  ; 
  and 
  Quetelet 
  

   also 
  presented 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  the 
  Magnetic 
  Observations 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  

   made 
  in 
  Tyrol 
  and 
  Italy. 
  

  

  In 
  1839 
  Quetelet 
  communicated 
  to 
  the 
  Academy 
  a 
  new 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  

   the 
  most 
  remarkable 
  appearances 
  of 
  falling 
  stars 
  — 
  the 
  second 
  which 
  he 
  

   had 
  made, 
  for 
  he 
  had 
  early 
  turned 
  his 
  attention 
  to 
  this 
  subject. 
  I 
  T 
  e 
  

  

  