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34 Before 1830, Sadi had formed part of a Réunion polytechnique industrielle, made up of old pupils of the school, with a plan of study in common. After 1830, he was a member of the Association polytechnique, consisting also of graduates, the object being the popular propagation of useful knowledge. The president of this association was M. de Choiseul-Praslin; the vice-presidents, MM. de Tracy, Auguste Comte, etc.

The hopes of the democracy meanwhile seeming to be in abeyance, Sadi devoted himself anew to study, and pursued his scientific labors with all the greater energy, as he brought to bear upon them the political ardor now so completely repressed. He undertook profound researches on the physical properties of gases and vapors, and especially on their elastic tensions. Unfortunately, the tables which he prepared from his comparative experiments were not completed; but happily the excellent works of Victor Regnault, so remarkable for their accuracy, have supplied to science, in this respect, the blanks of which Sadi Carnot was conscious.

His excessive application affected his health towards the end of June, 1832. Feeling temporarily better, he wrote gayly to one of his friends who had written several letters to him: "My delay this