50 MEMOIR OF LATREILLE. 
which pleased him best, that is to say, not in the 
galleries or ateliers of the Museum, nor in his own 
confined chamber, but in the boundless extent of the 
fields, in the woods and meadows. It was there, 
under the vault of heaven, that the greatest number 
and most valuable of his observations were made. 
It was on his return from these frequent and labo- 
rious excursions that he meditated on the relations of 
the creatures he had studied, hastening, as soon as 
he had entered, to verify anew and commit to writ- 
ing the result of his thoughts and studies, which he 
did on the corner of a pretty large table, which he 
had scarcely ever time to put in order, and which 
was almost always encumbered with books lying in 
disorderly heaps, along with boxes of insects, pincers, 
magnifying glasses, and all the other implements of 
the entomologist. 
" He spoke with difficulty, owing to a mal-forma- 
tion of the lower jaw, which advanced beyond the 
upper ; but his conversation was lively, instructive, 
and animated, indicating great sagacity, soundness 
of judgment, and, above all, a candid, sincere, and 
upright heart. 
" He was late in obtaining an appointment, which 
at last secured him what every other person would 
have considered a position of moderate importance, 
but which was to him brilliant and splendid. 
" Respexit tamen, et longo post tempore venit." 
Like the old man in Virgil, he might likewise have 
reposed under the shade of his small possession, and 
