Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/571

Rh published several detached parts of his system in the Journal dfs Savants for the months of June, October, and December , and of February. These he afterwards collected and published, first in Lalande s Astronomy, and then in a separate volume in 4to. , under the title of Memoire sur VOrigine des Constellations et sur I Explication de la Fable par I Astronomic. The theory propounded in this memoir was refuted by Bailly, in the fifth volume of his History of Astronomy, but, at the same time, with a just acknowledgment of the erudition and ingenuity exhibited by the author. Condorcet proposed Dupuis to Frederick the Great of Prussia as a fit person to succeed Thiebault in the professorship of literature at Berlin ; and Dupuis had accepted the invitation, when the death of the king put an end to the engagement. The chair of humanity in the college of France having at the same time become vacant by the death of Bejot, it was conferred on Dupuis ; and in he became a member of the Academy of Inscrip tions. He now resigned his professorship at Lisieux, and was appointed by the administrators of the department of Paris one of the four commissioners of public instruction. At the commencement of the Evolutionary troubles Dupuis sought an asylum at Evreux ; and, having been chosen a member of the National Convention by the department of Seine-et-Oise, he distinguished himself by the modera tion of his speeches and public conduct. In the third year of the republic he was elected secretary to the Assembly, and in the fourth he was chosen a member of the Council of Five Hundred. After the memorable 18th Brumaire he was elected by the department of Seine-et-Oise a member of the legislative body, of which he became the president. He had been proposed as a candidate for the senate when he resolved to abandon politics, devoting himself during the rest of his life to his favourite studies. He died September 29,.

1em  DUPUYTREN,, (–), one of the most distinguished of French anatomists and surgeons, was born October 6,, at Pierre Buffiere, a small town of Limousin. He was sprung from poor parents, and was furnished with the means of receiving an ordinary education at the College de la Marche by seme charitable persons to whom he had been introduced. At the newly established Ecole de MeYlecine, under Fourcroy, he began the study of medicine with great diligence, and was appointed by com petition prosector of the faculty when only eighteen years of age. His early studies were directed chiefly to morbid anatomy, which he did much to establish on a scientific basis, though many of his theories were unsound. In he was appointed assistant-surgeon at the Hotel-Dieu ; and he was appointed professor of operative surgery in succession to Sabbatier in. In he was appointed to the chair of clinical surgery, and three years later he became he; id surgeon at the Hotel-Dieu. Many other offices were conferred upon him ; he became inspector of the university, a chevalier and afterwards an officer in the Legion of Honour, chevalier of St Michel, baron, member of the Institute, and first surgeon to the king. Dupuytren s energy and industry were alike remarkable. He visited the Hotel-Dieu morning and evening, performing at each time several operations, lectured to vast throngs of students, gave advice to his out-door patients, and fulfilled the duties consequent upon one of the largest practices of modern times. By his indefatigable activity he amassed a fortune of /300,000, the bulk of which he bequeathed to his daughter, with the deduction of considerable sums for the endowment of the anatomical chair in the Ecole de Medecine, and the establishment of a benevolent institution for dis tressed medical men. The most important of Dupuytren s writings is his Treatise on Artificial Amis, in which the principles laid down by John Hunter are happily applied. In his operations he was remarkable for the skill and dexterity with which he overcame the niimerous difficulties incidental to so extensive a practice as he enjoyed. He had complete control over his feelings, and great readiness of resource. Instead of attempting to introduce new methods of procedure, he commonly limited himself to modifying and adapting to his particular exigencies tho established laws of surgery. He was thus led to invent several new surgical instruments. In private life Dupuytren was cold and reserved ; and this was perhaps increased by his constant struggle against a consumptive tendency, which ultimately carried him off, 8th February . In November 1833 he had suffered a slight shock of apoplexy, but he continued in practice almost until the day of his death.  DUQUESNE,, (–), one of the most distinguished naval officers in the history of France, was born at Dieppe in. Born in a stirring seaport, the son of a distinguished naval officer, he naturally adopted the profession of a sailor. He spent his youth in the merchant service, and obtained his first distinction in naval warfare by the capture of the island of Lerins from the Spaniards in May. About his father was killed in an engagement with the Spaniards, and the news raised his hatred of the national enemy to the pitch of a personal and bitter animosity. For the next five s he sought every opportunity of inflicting defeat and humiliation on the Spanish navy, and he distinguished him self by his bravery in the engagement at Gattari , the expedition to Corufia, and in battles at Tarragona , Barcelona, and the Cape de Gata. The French navy being left unemployed during the minority of Louis XIV., Duquesne obtained leave to offer his services to the king of Sweden, who gave him a commission as vice- admiral in. In this capacity he defeated the Danish fleet near Gottenburg and thus raised the siege of the city. The Danes returned to the struggle with increased forces under the command of King Christiern in person, but they were again defeated, their admiral being killed and his ship taken. Peace having been concluded between Sweden and Denmark in, Duquesne returned to France. The revolt at Bordeaux, supported as it was by material aid from Spain, gave him the opportunity of at once serving his country and gratifying his long cherished hatred of the Spaniards. In he fitted out at his own expense a squadron with which he blockaded the mouth of the Gironde, and compelled the city to surrender. For this service he was promoted in rank, and received a gift of the castle and isle of Indre, near Nantes. Peace with Spain was concluded in, and for some years afterwards Duquesne was occupied in endeavours to suppress piracy in the Mediterranean. On the revolt of Messina from Holland, he was sent to support the insurgents, and had to encounter the united fleets of Spain and Holland under the command of the celebrated Admiral De Ruyter. 