Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Jean Baptiste George-Marie Bory de Saint-Vincent

BORY DE SAINT-VINCENT, Jean Baptiste George-Marie, a learned and industrious French naturalist, was born at Agen in 1780. While a mere boy he displayed the scientific bent of his genius and attracted attention by two memoirs addressed to the Society of Natural History at Bordeaux. I Having been sent as naturalist of Baudin s expedition to Australia in 1798, he left the vessel at the Mauritius, and spent two years in exploring Bourbon and the other islands of East Africa. Joining the army on his return, he was present at the battles of Ulm and Austerlitz, and in 1808 went to Spain with Marshal Soult. Hia attachment to the Napoleonic dynasty and dislike to the Bourbons were shown in various ways during 1815, and his name was consequently placed on the list of the proscribed ; but after wandering in disguise from one city to another he was allowed quietly to return to Paris in 1820. In 1829 he was placed at the head of a scientific expedition to the Morea, and in 1839 he had charge of the exploration of Algeria. Through all the vicissitudes of his life his literary activity was great, and he did a great deal for the popularization of his favourite science. He was editor of the Dictionnaire classique d hutoire naturelle, and one of the principal authors of the Annales des sciences physiques ; the official work on the Morea was produced under his care, and he contributed frequently to periodical publications The most important of his separate produc tions are Essais sur les Ues Fortunees, 1803; Voyage dans les ties d Afrique, 1804; Justification de la conduite et des opinions politiques de J. B. Bory de Saint- Vincent, 1816 ; Voyage Souterrain, being an account of the quarries in the neighbourhood of Maestricht, 1823 ; L Homme, essai zoologique sur le genre humain, 1827; Resume de la geographie de la Peninsule, 1838.