MEMOIR OF LAMARCK. 27 
of the temperament of his mind. He seems for a 
time to have allowed the subject wholly to engross 
his thoughts ; to have occupied himself with nothing 
but plants, and to have associated almost exclusively 
with botanists. lie was a frequent visitor at the house 
of M. de Jussieu, whose celebrity drew around him 
all who devoted themselves to this branch of science. 
Whenever a new collection of plants arrived in Paris, 
Lamarck was the first to inspect it ; and when the 
celebrated Sonnerat returned from India in 1781, 
he was so much pleased with Lamarck’s enthusiasm, 
as contrasted with the comparative indifference of 
most other naturalists, that he presented him with 
the magnificent herbarium which he had made in 
the east. It is to zeal like this that we are entitled 
to look for the achievement of the highest results in 
science. 
Notwithstanding the patronage of Buffon, and 
others having the greatest influence with the go- 
vernment, it was long before Lamarck succeeded in 
obtaining any permanent and lucrative appointment. 
His chief dependence was on the casual and preca- 
rious engagements which he formed with booksellers, 
according to whose direction he was obliged to 
labour ; a painful restraint to a man of genius, im- 
patient to developc his own conceptions in whatever 
way he judged best fitted to render them effective. 
He was at length nominated by M. de la Billardiere, 
a relation of his own, to a place which seems to 
have been created expressly for him, by which the 
duty was assigned him of keeping the herbaria in 
