“ He was educated at the Central Schools, where, inspired by the lectures of G. Cuvier, Alexandre Brongniart and A. Duméril, he determined to devote himself to natural science. He took his degree in Letters and Sciences in 1811, and for a time pursued the study of medicine and anatomy. Mainly through the influence of Brongniart he turned his attention to geology, and during the years 1816–1819 made a special study of the Vienna Basin where he pointed out for the first time the presence of Tertiary strata like those of the Paris Basin, but including a series of later date. ”