« 
-1805.] 
with to penetrate beyond the mere furface 
ef organized beings, and who endeavour 
to render natural hittory a philofophical. 
icience, by illuftrating the phenomena it 
exhibits. 
The ftudy and a arrangement of thefe pro- 
duétions engroifed his -whole attention, 
and feemed to conftitute the only paffion 
he ‘ever experienced. Shut up for whole 
days in the cabinet, he inceflantly occu- 
pied himfelf in changing the diipofition of 
the objects he had accumulated, till bya 
icrupuious inveltigation of their feveral 
parts, and attempting every poffidle me- 
thod, he fell upon that arrangement 
which was equally confonant to true tatte 
ang accurate icience. 
This paflion fer arrangement was again 
Bet in full force, during his latter 
years ; when, in confequence of victories 
obtained by the republican arms, there 
was brought to the mufeum a freth ilore 
of nstural. curiofities, and when circum- 
{tances permitted him to give to the whole. 
a more complete illuftration. At cighty- 
four years of age, whea he tooped much, 
and botiy his hands and feet bad fuffered 
greatly from the gout, not being able to 
walk without afliftance, he was conducted, 
by two perfons, every morning to tue ca- 
binet, in order to {uperintend the arrange- 
ment of the minerals, the only depart- 
ment allotted to him accerding to tie 
new organization of the eftablifhment. 
Tebus it is principally to Daubenton, 
that France ftands indebted for that tem- 
ple, fo worthy of the deity to whom it is 
confecrated, and in which we {carcely 
know swtethog moft to, admire the afo- 
nifning fertilily of nature, or the indeia- 
tigavic patience of the man, who bas col- 
JeSted, named, and .claffed her various 
productions, characterized their relations, 
deicribed their parts, and explained their 
properties. 
: The fecond monument that Daubentoa 
ee left behind him, and which muft ever 
perpetuate his name, is nis Defcription of 
Quadrupeds. It muft, however, afford 
a fubjest of regret to every lover of {cience, 
that fomé circumftances, which we are 
about torelate, prevented him from ex- 
tending, as was his origiaal intention, 
that defcripticn to all the productions con- 
tained in the cabinet of natural 
tory. 
-Itisnot now our bufinefS to analyle 
the deferiptive part of the Natutal Hitory, 
a work as immenie in its details, as alto- 
nifhing in the boldne{s of the plan, norte 
charaSterize the “ew and important im 
Memoirs of M. Daudenton. 
hif.~ 
provements introduced by him into this, 
department of icience. - It may be fuffie 
cient, in order to convey fome idea of the 
immenfity of that work, to obferve, that 
it sempre: ids not only the external cha- 
racters, but the internal defcription of one 
hundred and eighty-two fpecies of quad- 
rupeds; of which fifty-eight had never 
been diffected, and thirteen were abfolutely, 
meucduleripie yu: ' It. contains, moreover, 
the external defeription of twenty-fix {pe- 
Cies, five of which were wholly unknown. 
The number of new {pecies there defcribed 
by him is eighteen ; but the new and in- 
tereling faéts which he has brought for- 
ward refpecting thofe {pecies of which we, 
had only before a very fuperficial know. 
ledge, are extremely numerous. | The 
greatett merit of the woik, however, COn- 
fits in the order, and difpofition, with 
which all the fpecies are defcribed. It 
delighted the pee ox repeat, that he was 
the frit who had eftablihed an accurate 
{yftem of comparative anatomy ; the truth 
of which mutt certainly be admit ed, in 
s fenfe, that as all his ob{ervations were 
conducted upon one. uniiorm plaa, and 
equally extended to every animal, it is 
extre mely. ealy to comprehend their reci- 
procal relations; that, as he was never 
biafied by any preconceived hypotheiis, he 
has befiowed an equal attention upon every 
part, and in no inftance ever omitted or 
concealed what could not be reconciled to 
his own fyitem. 
Natural, however, as his method may 
appear to individuals whole judgment 
is regulated by fimple principles, it is far 
from being ealy to follow it, fince a fmi- 
lar method has feldom been chofen by other. 
naturalifts, who are, in general, little. 
anxious to point out circumitances whica 
mee t induce others to purfue any cthec 
arrangement than that which they thein- 
felines | have adopted. 
Befides, this work of Daubenton may 
be confidered as a rich mine, which ail. 
who devote-themlelves to imilar purfuits, 
a it neceffary to ex xplore, and of whicta 
many have ‘profited without due acknow- 
ledgment. Nothing more is frequently 
neceflary than to exhibit a general view. of 
his obfervations, and to place toem under. 
different heads, in order to obtain refults. 
highly intereiting : it is in this fenfe that 
we muit underitand the expreflion of the 
celebrated Camper, ‘* that Daubeoton was 
uncon{cious of allthe difcoveries of which 
he was the author.’ 
ile has been repraac 
ing himielf given a 
hed with not hay- | 
al view of thele 
Pesulse 
pt Cia 
