BLAINVILLE

blainville, henri marie ducrotay de (1777-1850), french naturalist, was born at arques, near dieppe, on the 12th of september 1777. about 1796 he went to paris to study painting, but he ultimately devoted himself to natural history, and attracted the attention of baron cuvier, for whom he occasionally lectured at the college de france and at the athenaeum. in 1812 he was aided by cuvier to obtain the chair of anatomy and zoology in the faculty of sciences at paris, but subsequently an estrangement grew up between the two men and ended in open enmity. in 1825 blainville was admitted a member of the academy of sciences; and in 1830 he was appointed to succeed j.b. lamarck in the chair of natural history at the museum. two years later, on the death of cuvier, he obtained the chair of comparative anatomy, which he continued to occupy for the space of eighteen years, proving himself no unworthy successor to his great teacher. he died at paris on the 1st of may 1850. besides many separate memoirs, he was the author of _prodrome d'une nouvelle distribution methodique du regne animal_ (1816); _osteographic ou description iconographique comparee du squelette, &c._ (1839-1864); _faune francaise_ (1821-1830); _corns de physiologie generale et comparee_ (1833); _manuel de malacologie et de conchyliologie_ (1825-1827); _histoire des sciences de l'organisme_ (1845).