476 
He likewife requefted to be allowed to 
give lectures in the cabinet of Paris, 
wherein the labours of the ftudent might 
- be fo much facilitated by the colle&tions he 
had made; but not being able to fucceed in 
this defign under the old government, he 
united with his other colleagues in the 
garden of plants, to obtain from the Con- 
vention the converfion of this eflablif:- 
ment into a fpecial fchool of natural hif- 
tory. Daubenton was appointed to the 
profefforfhip of mineralogy, the duties of 
which he fulfilled with the fame zeal he 
difplayed in all his other undertakings. 
It was. truly an affecting fcene, to be- 
hold this venerable old man furrounded by 
his difciples liftening to him while he 
fpoke, with the fame refpectful attention, 
as to an oracle, to hear his feeble and tre- 
mulous voice reluming its wonted force 
and energy, when he was endeavouring to 
inculcate fome of thofe fundamental prin- 
ciples, which refult from the reflexions of 
genius, or attempting to unfold fome ufe- 
ful truths. 
The pleafure with which his pupils at- 
tended to his lectures, was fully equalled 
by the fatisfaétion which he himfelf expe- 
rienced, as was evident from the amiable 
vivacity he difplayed, and the promprtitude 
with which he refolved all their queftions ; 
his age and his weaknefies were all alike 
forgotten, while exerting bimfelf to fulfil 
his duties, or to prove uleful to thefe more 
immediately under his care. 
When one of his colleagues propofed, 
upon his nomination to the fenate, to aflit 
him in difcharging his duty as a leGurer, 
with the view of leflening his fatigue: 
s¢ My friend,’’ he replied, ‘* my place 
cannot be better fupplied than by you, 
~ and when age fhall compel me to relin- 
quifh my fituation, reft aflured, it is to 
you I will delegate this truft.”” He was 
then eighty years of age. 
Nothing could more fully difplay his 
zeal for his pupils, than the pains he took 
to render them acquainted with every im- 
provement in fcience, unlike thofe pro- 
teflors, who only repeat the fame thing 
from year to year. At eighty we have 
heard him explaining the difcoveries of 
one of his early pupils, and exerting him- 
felf to render them familiar to the ftudents 
who attended him. Similar examples 
are fo very rare among learned men, that 
it ought perhaps to be confidered as one of 
the moft exalted features in the character 
of Daubenton, 
He delivered occafional Iectures in the 
Normal School, during its fhort continu- 
ance ; here he was always greeted with 
Memoirs of MM. Dauhenton. 
[June 1, 
the moft lively enthufiafm, whenever he 
appeared, and each time received the 
plaudits of ‘a numerous audience, when 
they difcovered in his expreffions the fame 
fentiments which animated their own 
hearts, and which they were proud to 
fee participated by this venerable old 
man, 
This feems the proper place to fpeak of 
fome of his productions, which are lefs in- 
tended to unfold difcoveries, than to teach 
fyftematically a particular branch of | 
{cience : fuch are the articles he introduced 
into the two Encyclopedias, efpecially in-’ 
to the Excyclopédie Methodique, on quad-' 
rupeds, reptiles, and fifhes, his Minera 
logical Catalogue, and his lectures in the 
Normal School. Among tle pofthumous’ 
produ€@ions he has left behind him, dre 
complete manufcripts of the le€tures he de- 
livered in ‘the Veterinary School, in the 
French College, and inthe Mufeum : thefe, 
we trufl, will not be withheld from the 
public. ; 
Although thefe didactic works arecha- 
raerized by luminous views, juft prin- 
ciples, and a {crupulous attention to ex- 
clude every thing ambiguous or not fully 
afcertained, yet we are aftonifhed to re- 
mark that the fame man, who had fo 
ftrenoufly contended againft all fyftematic 
arrangement in natural hiftory, fhould 
finally adopt a method which neither ap- 
pears better, nor perhaps even fo perfect as 
thofe he had condemned. 
Laftly, exclufive of thefe works, and 
different le&tures, Daubenton had more- 
over affifted in the compilation of the 
Sournal des Savans ; and, towards the’ 
latter period of his life, had alfo, at there-. 
queft of the Committee of Public Inftruc- 
tion, undertaken to compofe an elementary 
work on natural hiftory, for the ufe of the 
primary {chools; a work, however, which 
was never completed. i 
It may be naturally afked, how, with 
a delicate frame, and conftantly oceupied 
in laborious and fedentary purfuits, 
Daubenton fhould arrive to fuch an ad- 
vanced period of life, without experiencing 
the preffure of any very painful infirmities > 
The anfwer is eafy; he never deviated 
from the ftri€teft rules of moderation and 
temperance. His regimen, without being 
auftere, was extremely uniform; poflefling 
an eafy independence, and eftimating jultly 
the gifts of fortune, he never exhaufted 
himtelf by ufelefs ftruggles to attain gran- 
deur or power. He befides poffefied that 
moderation of mind, which enabled him to 
avoid the rock on which almof all men of 
letters have fplitsan inordinate defire for 
2 premature 
