that Mons. Picot, from a false impression, that the tyrants of his country would pursue him to this, changed his name to that of Girardin. As he already possessed a competent knowledge of the English language, he was advised to open a school. He was soon after invited to become a teacher in the college of Georgetown, D. C. Thence he removed to Virginia, where he presided at different times over several academies. He afterwards received the appointment to a Professorship in William and Mary College, where he commenced in 1804 the publication, in connection with a German artist, of a work entitled, Amoenitates Graphicae, in French and English, which work was not continued long. In 1805, he commenced the translation of the Revolutionary Annals. About this time also, he published his Latin poem, De Monomachia, which did him credit as a moralist and as a votary of the muses. He contributed also to the columns of the Old Bachelor, over the signature of T. Lovetruth, which papers are highly commended by Mr. Wirt. He likewise published a series of moral and literary essays in The Virginia Argus, which furnished fresh evidence of the extent and versatility of his talents. He was at one time, joint proprietor and sole editor of the Richmond Enquirer. About this time, he wrote a life of John Adams, at the solicitation of the classical Dennie, which was published in the Port Folio. In 1811, he lost his wife and only son, in the conflagration of the theatre at Richmond. This terrible calamity unnerved the man; he sank under the heavy blow; his health rapidly declined; he was forced to suspend his professional exertions and retired to the upper part of Virginia in pursuit of health and repose, neither of which he ever regained. Yet in this shattered state of body and mind, he completed his continuation of Burke's History of Virginia, one volume of which only has been published. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society, and the title of LL. D. was conferred on him by one of our universities. He was subsequently elected to the presidency of Baltimore College. He here wrote a pamphlet entitled, Pulaski Vindicated, in reply to some supposed misrepresentations of the character of that distinguished man, made by Judge Johnson in his life of Gen. Greene. He also prepared a course of lectures on botany for the Maryland Agricultural Society, but was more particularly engaged when taken ill, in writing a life of Lafayette, from documents furnished by the General himself. It was shortly after Mons. Girardin's arrival in this city, that proposals to organize a society for promoting the study of the natural sciences were started. He was elected its first president, and in a history of this institution it is but a matter of justice to record his extensive learning, his accomplishment as a scholar, his urbanity and the high esteem in which he was held by his associates. He died on the 17th of February, 1825, in the 54th year of his age.1 Let me now return to the narrative. When the academy removed into the Athenæum, everything promised continued prosperity and complete success. Through the agency of its then president, Robert Gilmor, Esq., a sum of money amounting to $1200, being the accumulated fund of a pre-existent society, was transferred by its surviving members to the academy. A portion of this fund was expended in the purchase of standard works of reference, and the library was also enlarged by the liberal donation of several costly and useful works by the president. Other presents were also received from various gentlemen, and the whole formed a collection of about 800 volumes of the best publications in the different branches of natural science. In the meanwhile, there was added to the cabinet an extensive series of geological specimens obtained from Germany, together with samples of the mineral formations occurring in this State; and subsequently, a considerable number of shells, recent and fossil, with numerous preserved specimens in other departments of natural history, had been procured, all of which, while it gave evidence of zeal on the part of the active members, had become an object of interest to the scientific traveller, and proved that the natural sciences were not altogether neglected in Maryland. But how soon and unexpectedly the highest hopes of men are blasted and how suddenly may the fruits of years of arduous labor be destroyed. In two hours the whole of this valuable property was consumed by fire. 1 Ducatel's Art. in Trans. Md. Acad. Sce. and Lit. This melancholy event occurred in 1835. The noble building was set on fire in broad daylight by an incendiary, and in a few hours it was a heap of smouldering ashes. Another valuable library belonging to another association and much other valuable property were destroyed at the same time. As far as can now be ascertained, nothing whatever of the academy's collection was saved, not even the book of records. At least it cannot be found anywhere at present. One solitary specimen was subsequently picked up out of the ruins by Dr. Cohen. It is a meteorite, still in his possession. He cherished it ardently when it was in the collection and after the fire; his search for his favorite was rewarded by discovering it among a mass of stone and mortar that had been thrown out of the cellar. This child of mysterious fire that fell to the earth, from an unknown region, has lost none of its fair proportions or indestructible properties after having been subjected for days to the consuming heat of a terrible conflagration. What could the academy do now after this deplorable calamity, their cabinet, their library, their furniture, all burned? They paused for a while and we might excuse them for some hesitation, but we find them unintimidated by the calamity and to their credit be it recorded that they determined to reorganize the society. Persuaded of the intrinsic importance of their scheme, its utility and the character it would confer on the city, they resolutely set to work, not only to restore the academy to what it had been after twelve years of existence, but to re-establish it on a basis of permanent prosperity. The first recorded meeting after the destruction of their property was held in a private house on February 9, 1835, at which were present: Ducatel, McCauley, Geddings, Keener, Frick, Edmondson, Calvert, Alexander, Campbell and Gibson. At this meeting it was resolved to address a circular to the various scientific and literary societies of Europe and this country and to private individuals, setting forth the late loss of the academy and soliciting donations of books, minerals, shells and other objects. Some time after this the sum of $1300 insurance was paid over to the treasurer by the Firemen's Company, which enabled the academy to recommence the purchase of a library and other necessary articles. It was contemplated also to erect or purchase a suitable building for the academy, but this was never carried out. In the year 1836, the rooms on the second story of the building on the northeast corner of Fayette and North Streets were rented, where the academy met until its dissolution in 1843. At this early period, learned papers were read by some of the members, lectures were delivered before the academy, experiments were performed and reports made on nearly every book and object of natural history that was presented or purchased. The meetings were thus made instructive, for at every one, something interesting was laid on the table which became the subject of conversation or discussion and afterwards it passed the ordeal of an appropriate committee. The members were divided into various classes : 1. Mathematics, astronomy and physics. 2. Chemistry. 3. Mineralogy, geology, including physical geography and the history and classification of fossil remains. 4. Zoology, embracing the comparative anatomy and physiology of animals. 5. Botany, including vegetable physiology. All these classes were filled by able men. Donations of various kinds now came in every week and shelves and cases were erected for their reception. At one meeting an appropriation of $550 was made for such fixtures. I mention this to show the energy and zeal which characterized the academy at that time. To this society is due the honor of instituting the first series of popular public lectures ever delivered in Baltimore. The system has since become very general, but it owes its origin to the academy. Various individuals had delivered lectures before, but this was the first organized association that began it. The lectures were delivered in what was then known as Warfield's Church in St. Paul Street, which now constitutes a portion of N. C. Brooks' school buildings. This course was successful, although the system was not so popular then as it has since become. (This was in 1838-39). About this time a memorial was sent to the Legislature, petitioning for aid in promoting the objects of the academy, but it was unsuccessful. It would be interesting to speak in detail of the additions made to the library and cabinet, and especially of the numerous experiments in chemistry and physics performed before the academy by such men as Ducatel, Geddings, Edmondson, Green, Fisher and others, but it would require more space than can be allotted in this brief memoir. Some of the valuable papers which were read from time to time were published in Silliman's and other scientific journals. Some of them had been deposited among the archives, and in January, 1837, it was resolved that a volume of Transactions should be published. A committee made a selection of the papers and the volume appeared in print. It embraces: 1. A biographical notice of L. H. Girardin, first President of the Society, by Dr. Ducatel; 2. Outlines of the Physical Geography in Maryland, embracing its prominent Geological Features, by Dr. Ducatel; 3. A Catalogue of Phaenogamous Plants and Ferns, growing in the vicinity of Baltimore, by Dr. Wm. E. A. Aikin; 4. A description of the Frostburg Coal Formation of Allegany County, Md., with an account of its geological position, with a plate, by Philip T. Tyson; 5. A descriptive catalogue of the principal minerals of the State of Maryland, by P. T. Tyson; 6. On the Composition of Prussian Blue, prepared from different oxides of iron, by T. Phillips Allen; 7. On the Detection of Arsenic in Medico-Legal investigations, by Wm. R. Fisher; 8. The Latitude of Annapolis, by Hector Humphreys, D. D.; 9. Report of the Meteorological Committee; 10. Directions for preparing Specimens of Natural History; 11. On the Metallic Coating for Electric Rubbers, by Wm. R. Fisher; 12. Transactions of the Academy; 13. Donations to the Library. This volume gives abundant proof of the ability of the contributors and reflected creditably on the whole academy. Papers enough to fill several such volumes were on hand, but the academy |