MEMOIR OF LATREILLE. 39 
and its consolations in like manner became to him 
the avenue to safety. 
" The medical attendant on the Bordeaux prisons 
was one day surprised to see a prisoner absorbed in 
the contemplation of an insect at a time when his 
life was in danger. ' It is a very rare insect,' M. 
Latreille replied to the questions he put to him ; 
the insect was asked for and obtained for a na- 
turalist of Bordeaux, then a young man of high 
promise, and now our fellow-member, M. Bory de 
Saint- Vincent. The latter, flattered by obtaining- 
this gift from an entomologist whose name was al- 
ready known by honourable works, undertook the 
task of liberating M. Latreille from the danger 
which threatened him, and soon had the happiness 
to see his exertions and those of their common 
friend, Dargelas, crowned with the most complete 
success. Latreille was restored to liberty and to 
Science. One trembles to think that, a month later, 
he might have perished with the companions of his 
misfortune, swallowed up by the waters of the 
Gironde. The deliverance was truly miraculous, 
if we refer to its cause, the accidental discovery of 
an insect ; and our illustrious co-member has taken 
care to commemorate the circumstances in the most 
important of his works, the Genera Crustaceorum 
et Insectorum. 
" A life so long exposed to agitation, at last ob- 
tained the means of settling, peaceably and happily, 
to literary labours. I shall limit myself on this 
occasion to mention their extent and high import- 
ance ; what can I communicate to my present audi- 
