A French naturalist, born at Bazentin, Picardy; entered the army at the age of 17, and after serving in it a short time retired and devoted himself to botany; in his "Flora Francaise" published (1773) adopted a new method of classification of plants; in 1774 became keeper of what ultimately became the Jardin des Plantes, and was professor of Zoology, devoting himself to the study of particularly invertebrate animals, the fruits of which study appeared in his "Histoire Naturelle des Animaux sans Vertèbres"; he held very advanced views on the matter of biology, and it was not till the advent of Darwin they were appreciated (1744-1820).