628 ARAGO tain Adam first met Eve again, after a separa- tion of 120 years immediately following the expulsion from paradise. On the summit is a chapel, which, according to tradition, was built by Adam himself. ARAGO, I. Dominique Franfols, a French physicist and statesman, born at Estagel, near Perpignan, Feb. 26, 1786, died in Paris, Oct. 2, 1853. After studying mathematics at the col- lege of Perpignan, he entered in 1803 the poly- technic school. On leaving it in 1805, he was appointed secretary of the board of longitude, and in 1806 he was commissioned to finish in conjunction with Biot the measurement of an arc of the meridian in Spain, begun by Delam- bre and Mfichain, as the basis of the decimal metrical system of France. He was employed in the island of Majorca on the outbreak of war, taken for a spy, saved from the mob by some months' confinement in a fortress, after- ward taken by Spanish corsairs from an Al- gerine vessel and harshly treated, enlarged on the demand of the dey, shipwrecked on the coast of Sardinia, and after new perils reached Algiers in a Bedouin disguise. Here he was treated with suspicion by a new dey, but finally reached Marseilles in a French frigate in 1809. On his arrival in Paris he was elected a member of the institute, though only 23 years old, and soon afterward appointed professor at the poly- technic school. In 1830 he became perpetual sec- retary of the academy of sciences, and director of the observatory, a post which he retained till his death. He rendered special services to optics by his own experiments, and by his in- fluence over others, and especially by direct- ing the labors of Fresnel and Malus. He was the first to recognize the value of Young's op- tical papers. He investigated magnetical phe- nomena, and made some contributions to me- teorology, especially in connection with elec- tricity. He also successfully investigated the colors of polarized light, the application of polarization as a test of the origin of light, the experimental proof of the retardation of light in dense mediums, the apparent magnetism of copper rotating near a permanent magnet, and the influence of the aurora upon the needle. For the last three years of his life he was blind and otherwise a sufferer. He was the author of more than 60 distinct memoirs on various branches of science. He established, in con- cert with M. Gay-Lussac, in 1816, the Annales de chimie et de physique. The article in the "Edinburgh Encyclopedia " oV the polariza- tion of light is from the pen of Arago. His complete works appeared in Paris in 17 vols. (1855-'60), under the direction of Barral. From the royal society of London he received in 1829 the Copley medal, an honor never before conferred upon a French man of science. When Napoleon, after the battle of Waterloo, thought of emigrating to the United States, for the purpose of devoting the remainder of his life to scientific pursuits, he invited Arago to accompany him ; and when this intention was foiled by the English, Monge endeavored in vain to prevail upon Arago to follow the ex-empe- ror to St. Helena. On the outbreak of the revolution of 1830, Arago espoused the cause of the people. In 1831 he was elected member of the chamber of deputies by his native de- partment of Pyr6n6es-Orientales, and took his seat on the extreme left. He delivered mem- orable speeches in behalf of science and educa- tion, and in the political questions of the day he strenuously opposed all encroachments upon the rights of the people, and denounced the government monopoly of railways and the project of the fortifications of Paris. He was also a member of the council general of the Seine, of which he was president till 1849, and the declaration of the council in favor of the emancipation of slaves was due to him. He took a conspicuous part in the movement which led to the overthrow of Louis Philippe, and on Feb. 24, 1848, he became a member of the provisional government, and officiated first as minister of marine, and afterward added to the functions of this office the duties of the war department. He belonged to the republi- can wing of Marrast and Marie, who opposed the theories of the socialists, and advocated liberal institutions, as they exist in the United States. At the same time he represented his native department in the constituent assembly. When the provisional government surrendered the reins of power, the assembly appointed him member of the executive commission. In this position he displayed great personal courage during the bloody days of June, 1848. He opposed the election of Louis Napoleon to the presidency, and gradually ceased to take part in public affairs. But to the last he proved true to his republican creed, and after the coup d'etat of December, 1851, refused to take the oath to the government of Louis Napoleon. II< Jean, brother of the preceding, born in 1788, died in Mexico, July 9, 1836. He was a sub- treasurer in Perpignan, and, having been de- prived of his appointment on a denunciation which subsequently turned out to be false, he embarked for New Orleans, and, joining the younger Mina, became a general in the Mex- ican service in the war of independence. III. Jacques Kiinme Victor, brother of the preceding, born at Estagel, March 10, 1790, died in Brazil in January, 1855. When only 20 years of age he made an artist's tour through various coun- tries of the Mediterranean. In 1817 he sailed in the exploring vessel Uranie as draughtsman to the expedition. The ship was wrecked at the Moluccas, and Arago did not return to France till 1821. He afterward resided at Bordeaux and Toulouse, and lost his sight in 1837, which, however, did not prevent him from engaging in new voyages. His most interesting work is Souvenirs d'un ateugle: Voyage autour du monde (with illustrations and comments by Francois Arago, 2 vols., Paris, 1838 et teg.). IV. Klicnnc, brother of the preceding, born at Perpignan, Feb. 7,
