10 
Proceedings of the Royal Society 
ant branches of natural history, which he had had peculiar oppor- 
tunities of studying at the Mauritius and at the Cape ; and he had 
made extensive collections of specimens, some of which were of 
great value. Though not an artist, like his distinguished brother, 
he had a great love of art, and a fine and critical taste in painting. 
He had been ailing for some little time before his death, but had 
not felt any serious alarm about his case. At last, however, he came 
to Edinburgh for medical advice, when it was found that he had 
acute inflammation of the lungs. It was hoped that it might easily 
be subdued; but the disease suddenly took an unfavourable turn, and 
he died in Edinburgh, 11th January 1869, in his seventy-first year. 
Among our Honorary Members whom we have lost I have to 
notice the eminent physiologist M. Flourens, lately deceased. He 
is well known among us, both by his reputation and by his works ; 
and notices of the principal events of his life are to be found in 
the usual books of contemporary biography. I am sorry that I 
have been unable to ascertain any particulars as to the cause or 
circumstances of his death, a matter which, in his case, and in con- 
nection with his own speculations, might be thought to possess a 
special interest. 
He was born in the district of Herault, in France, in 1794, and 
early devoted himself to medical science, and particularly to phy- 
siology and biology. He made various researches and experiments 
on the nervous system, and on the several functions of the great 
sources of nervous power ; and his countrymen consider that the 
disclosures thus made by him, preceding, as they did, the pro- 
mulgation of the discoveries of Sir Charles Bell, entitle him to high 
praise, and form the best foundation of his scientific reputation. 
He published a variety of works on other cognate subjects from 
time to time, one of the most remarkable of these being upon 
u Longevity, and the amount of life diffused over the globe,” in which 
he vindicated for man the period of 100 years as the normal 
duration of his existence under favourable circumstances. He 
was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences, of which he 
afterwards became one of the secretaries. He was also after- 
wards elected a member of the Academie Fran^aise, and had 
numerous other honours conferred upon him, both scientific and 
