Pierre Andre Latreille, a French naturalist, born in Brives, Nov. 29, 1762, died in Paris, Feb. 6, 1833. He belonged to a poor though distinguished family, and owed his education to friends, one of whom, a merchant, by lending him works on natural history, awoke in him a love for that study. In 1778 the baron d'Espagnac, governor of the Hotel des Inva-lides, placed him in the college of Cardinal Lemoine. He studied theology, and was ordained priest in 1786, after which he retired to Brives, where he passed his leisure in the study of entomology. In 1788 he returned to Paris, where he became intimate with Fabricius, Olivier, and Bosc, and brought to the notice of Lamarck several rare and curious plants. He published at this time a treatise on entomology, and contributed to the Encyclopedie methodique. The revolution drove him from Paris. He was arrested and sentenced to transportation, but the naturalists Bory de Saint-Vincent and Dargelas obtained his freedom. He was again arrested in 1797 as an emigre, but was once more saved by influential friends. In 1798 he was placed in charge of the entomological department of the museum of natural history. In 1814 he was elected a member of the academy of sciences.

He was appointed assistant professor to Lamarck, and succeeded him in 1829. His writings are very volumi-nous. Those best known are: Histoire natu-relle des crustaces et des insectes (14 vols., 1802-'5); Histoire naturelle des fourmis (1802); Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum (4 vols., 1806-'9); and Cours d'entomologie (1831). He also wrote parts of the "Natural History" of Buffon, and of the entomological part of the Regne animal of Cuvier.