f the establishment; Daubenton placed in his hands the brochure
of 1790, written by Lamarck. The next day Lakanal, after a short
conference with his colleagues of the Committee of Public Instruction,
read in the tribune a short report and a decree which the Committee
adopted without discussion.

Their minds were elsewhere, for grave news had come in from all
quarters. The Austrians were bombarding Valenciennes, the Prussians had
invested Mayence, the Spanish were menacing Perpignan, and bands of
Vendeans had seized Saumur after a bloody battle; while at Caen, at
Evreux, at Bordeaux, at Marseilles, and elsewhere, muttered the thunders
of the outbreaks provoked by the proscription of the Girondins. So that
under these alarming conditions the decree of the 10th of June, in
spite of its importance to science and higher learning in France, was
passed without discussion.

In his _Lamarck_ De Mortillet states explicitly that Lamarck, in his
address of 1790, changed the name of the Jardin du Roi to Jardin des
Plantes.[30] As the article states, "Entirely devoted to his studies,
Lamarck entered into no intrigue under the falling monarchy, so he
always remained in a position straitened and inferior to his merits." It
was owing to this and his retired mode of life that the single-minded
student of nature was not disturbed in his studies and meditations by
the Revolution. And when the name of the Jardin du Roi threatened to be
fatal to this establishment, it was he who presented a memoir to
transform it, under the name of Jardin des Plantes, into an institution
of higher instruction, with six professors. In 1793, Lakanal adopted
Lamarck's plan, and, enlarging upon it, created twelve chairs for the
teaching of the natural sciences.

Bourguin thus puts the matter:

"In June, 1793, Lakanal, having learned that 'the Vandals' (that is
his expression) had demanded of the tribune of the Convention the
suppression of the Royal Garden, as being an annex of the king's
palace, recurred to the memoirs of Lamarck presented in 1790 and
gave his plan of organization. He inspired himself with Lamarck's
ideas, but enlarged upon them. Instead of six positions of
professors-administrative, which Lamarck asked for, Lakanal
established twelve chairs for the teaching of different branches of
natural science."[31]

FOOTNOTES:

[22] Another intended victim of La Billarderie, whose own salary had
been at the same time reduced, w