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 naturalist 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 already 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 obtained the means of settling, peaceably and happily, to literary labours. I shall limit myself on this occasion to mention their extent and high importance; what can I communicate to my present audi-
