674 
flicted with a fit of the gout, Tilenus re- 
paired to Paris. 
Soon after this, he had a conference 
of four days at the Castle of PIsle, near 
Orleans, with some of the chief leaders. 
of the Gomarists, which ended as con- 
ferences of this kind usually do, eaeh, at 
the conclusion, retaining his own parti- 
cular notions, and each giving an account 
of the interview according to his own es- 
timate of it. 
It was not long posterior to this event 
that he addressed a letter to the Scotch, 
charging them with having made too great 
a change in respect to the article of reli- 
zion: he, at the same time, praised the 
yeformation which had taken place in 
England, observing, “ that the practices 
of the Anglican Church were in strict 
conformity to those of the ancient Chris- 
tians.” Tilenus passed the remainder of 
his life in the French capital, and died 
there on the first cf August, 1633. He 
was certainly married, for he makes men- 
tion of his wife in the Paralipomena. 
During the course of his life, he com- 
osed no less than nineteen works, some 
in French and some in Latin, and we be- 
lieve all of these were controversial. 
<* Notices sur Michel Adanson, Mem- 
bre de VAncienne Académie des Sci- 
ences,” &c.—Notes relative to Michael 
Adanson, Member of the Ancient Aca- 
demy of. Sciences, of the French Insti- 
tute, of the Royal Society of London, 
&c. 
Michael Adanson was born at Aix, in 
Provence, on the 7th of April, 1727, and 
brought to Paris when only three years 
of age. Being destined for an ecclesias- 
tic, while yet very young he obtained a 
trifling living as canon of Champeaux en 
Brie; but his genius did not fail in a 
short time to take-a very different direc- 
tion: in fine, his ardour for study pro- 
cured to him the surname of the “ Inde- 
fatigable,” and became at length an irre- 
sistible passion. His particular taste is 
said to have developed itself so early as 
the year 1732, when he began to exa- 
mime the smallest plants, such as the 
mosses, &c.: these he cultivated oi the 
ledges of the windows, and at tle same 
time took a fancy to collect the most nu- 
mute insects, particularly those consider-~ 
ed as useful. During the period spent 
by him in the cclleges of St. Barbe and 
Duplessis, he distinguished himself by 
his Greek and Latin poetry, and was 
presented with a Pliny and an Aristotle, 
as a recompence, on account of his at- 
tainments. 
1 
Retrospect of French Literature—Biography. 
At the age of thirteen, Adanson began 
to make notes and observations on cer- 
tain valuable books, He then applied 
himself to study the works of nature, and 
soon evinced an amazing avidity for 
knowledge. Having procured thirty-three 
thousand ditferent specimens, out of these 
he composed a series different from any 
hitherto known, and instead of a scieace 
of names, he endeavoured to construct 
a science founded on principles. Such 
was the manner in which he arranged his 
collection, after eight years’ continual la- 
bour. He was about to publish the re- 
sult of his studies, when he refiected that 
the number of thirty-three thousand spe- 
cies, however great it might appear to 
the ablest naturalists of that day, who 
bounded their catalogues to forty or 
fifty thousand, left a vacuity of at least 
two-thirds, which was to be filled up by 
means of new researches. 
To complete his vast designs, the ne- 
cessity of travelling abroad now became 
evident to him; and having, in 1745, re+ 
signed his benefice at Champeaux, in 
1748 he sacrificed his patrimony to gras 
tify the ruling passion of his heart. He, 
at the same time, risked his life; for 
having determined to visit those countries 
that were most fertile in proauctions such 
as he wished to acquire, he was naturally 
induced: to repair to the regions situate 
within the torrid zone. 
“The centre of Africa having the pre- - 
ference, Adanson accordingly left Paris’ 
for Senegal, in October, 1748. In his 
way thither, he visited the Canaries, and 
transmitted the result of his observations 
to the Academy of Sciences. On his ar- 
rival at Senegal, where he spent five years 
in the acquisition of knowledge of vari- 
ous kinds, M. Adanson applied himself 
with his usual zeal to the study of what- 
soever that country afforded either new 
or curious. But he did not confine him- 
self to this species of knowledge alone; 
for he endeavoured, at the same time, 
to render himself acquainted with every 
thing relative to commerce and the arts. 
For this purpose, he traversed the most 
fertile portions of Senegal, formed a geo- 
graphical chart of it, traced-the course of 
the Niger, and conceived the project of 
a colony, which was intended to occupy 
a settlement of six leagues along its 
banks. 
His enquiries and researches at length 
led him to discover two kinds of trees, 
both of which produced the real gum 
Arabic ; while, by experiments of various 
sorts, he was enabled to obtain from the 
natural 
