ſuaded, that it is in the great book of Nature, that we ought to ſtudy her productions, and form a juſt idea of her phœnomena, when I had finiſhed my medical courſe, I took a journey into England, which was immediately followed by another into the Alps, where the different temperatures of a mountainous region preſent us with a prodigious variety of objects.
I next viſited a part of Aſia Minor, where I reſided two years, in order that I might examine thoſe plants, of which the Greek and Arabian phyſicians have left us very imperfect deſcriptions; and I had the ſatisfaction of bringing from that country very important collections.
Soon after my return from this laſt tour, the National Aſſembly decreed the equipment of two ſhips, in order to attempt to recover at leaſt a part of the wreck of the ſhips commanded by La Pérouſe.
It was an honourable diſtinction to be of the number of thoſe, whoſe duty it was to make every poſſible ſearch, which could contribute to reſtore to their country, men who had rendered her ſuch ſervices.
That voyage was, in other reſpects, very tempting to a naturaliſt. Countries newly diſcovered might be expected to increaſe our knowledge with
