(Charles), was descended from a French family, who being compelled, on account of their religious principles, to emigrate from their native country, established themselves at Geneva in the year 1572. His grandfather was advanced to the magistracy in that city, and adorned by his integrity an eminent station. His father, who preferred the station of a private citizen, paid unremitting attention to the education of his son, who was born on the 13th of March 1720; and Charles, at a very early period, recompensed his father's affluence, by the amiablest of his disposition, and the rapid progress he made in general literature. When he was about 16 years of age, he applied himself, with great eagerness, to the perusal of Le Spectacle de la Nature; and this work made such a deep impression on his mind, that it may be said to have directed the taste and the studies of his future life. What that publication had commenced, was confirmed by the work of La Pluche; but having accidentally seen the treatise of Reaumur upon insects, he was in a transport of joy. He was very impatient to procure the book; but as the only copy in Geneva belonged to a public library, and as the librarian was reluctant to entrust it in the hands of a youth, it was with the utmost difficulty that he could obtain his end.

By the possession of this treasure, our affluous youth was enabled to make several new and curious experiments, which he communicated to Reaumur himself; and the high applause he gained from so great a naturalist added fresh vigour to his affluence.

In compliance with his father's desires, he applied himself, though with much reluctance, to the study of the law. The works of Burlamaqui pleased him the most, on account of the perspicuous and philosophic manner in which the subject was treated; the institutes of Heinzeius gave him some courage also, as he perceived order and connection; but the Roman law terrified him as the hydra of Lerna. Notwithstanding his application to these authors, he still continued attached to natural history, and was very active in making experiments. The experiments which demonstrate that trees propagate without copulation, was communicated by Reaumur to the Academy of Sciences; and this circumstance occasioned an epistolary correspondence between M. Bonnet and that great naturalist. This was doubtless very flattering to a youth of twenty years. The letter of Reaumur was accompanied with a present of that very book which he had borrowed with so much difficulty two years before.

Animated by such distinguished marks of approbation, he diligently employed every moment he could steal from the study of jurisprudence to the completion of his natural history of the tree-louse; to experiments on the respiration of caterpillars and butterflies, which Bonnet he discovered to be effected by stigmata, or lateral pores; to an examination of the construction of the tarsus or tape-worm; in frequent correspondence with Reaumur; and in afflicting Trembley in his discoveries and publication concerning millipedes, &c. Having in the year 1743 obtained the degree of doctor of laws, he relinquished a pursuit which he had commenced with so much reluctance. In the same year he was admitted a fellow of the Royal Society, to which he had communicated a treatise on insects.

Bonnet being now liberated from his other pursuits, applied himself, without intermission, to collecting together his experiments and observations concerning the two louse and the worm, which he published in 1744 under the title of Insectology. This work acquired deserved approbation from the public, and was honoured by the commendation of the celebrated B. de Jussieu. He was reproached, however, in a periodical publication, with having paid too little attention to the delicacy of his reader; though his patience and accuracy were acknowledged to be deserving of praise. Such unremitting application and labour could not fail of becoming injurious to his health. Inflammations, nervous fever, sore eyes, &c. compelled him to relinquish the use of the microscope and the study of insects. This prevention was to extremely mortifying to a man of his taste and activity of mind, that he was thrown into a deep melancholy, which could only be subdued by the revolution inspired by philosophy, and the consolations of religion; these gradually routed him from a dejected state of mind. About the end of the year 1746 our philosopher was chosen member of the Literary Institution at Bologna, which introduced him to a correspondence with the famed Zanotti, who may be deemed the Fontenelle of Italy.

In the year 1747 he undertook a very difficult work on the leaves of plants; which, of all his publications in natural history, bore the strongest marks of originality, both with respect to the manner in which his experiments were made, and the discoveries resulting from them. His extreme attachment to natural history gradually led him to a study of a very different nature; speculative philosophy now engaged his whole attention. The first fruits of his meditations in this department was his Essay on Psychology. In this work the principal facts observable in human nature, and the consequences resulting from them, are stated in a concise and conspicuous manner. He contemplated man from the first moment of his existence, and pursued the development of his senses and faculties from simple growth up to intelligence. The work, which was published without his name, met with great opposition, and was criticised with severity; but the censures were directed more against his expressions than his principles; nor were they of sufficient importance to impede the general acceptance of the publication.

His analysis of the mental faculties was simply a development of the ideas contained in the preceding work. It engaged his incessant attention for the space of five years; nor was it completed before 1759. It is somewhat singular that both he and the Abbé de Condillac should have illustrated their principles by the supposition of a statue, organized like the human body, which they conceived to be gradually inspired with a soul, and the progressive development of whose powers they carefully traced. In the year 1760 this work was published at Copenhagen, by order and at the expense of Frederick V., and it was followed in 1762 by contemplations on organized bodies. In this the author had three principal objects before him; the first was to give a concise view of every thing which appears interesting in natural history, respecting the origin, development, and reproduction of organized bodies; the second was to confute the two different systems founded upon the Epigenesis; and the third was to explain the system of Germs, indicate the ground upon which it was founded, its correspondence with facts, and the consequences resulting from it. This work was received with much satisfaction by natural philosophers. The Academy of Berlin, which had proposed the same subject as a prize question for 1761, declared that they considered the treatise as the offspring of close observation and profound reasoning; and that the author would have had an indisputable right to the prize, if he had confined his labours to the precise statement of the question. It must also be recorded, to the honour of the great Malherbe, that he reversed the interdict which the public censor had laid upon this book, under the pretext that it contained dangerous principles.

The Contemplation of Nature appeared in 1764. In this work the author first enlarged upon the common conceptions entertained concerning the existence and perfections of God; and of the order and uniformity observable in the universe. He next defends to man, examines the parts of his composition, and the various capacities with which he is endowed. He next proceeds to the plants; assemblies and describes the laws of their economy; and, finally, he examines the insects, indicates the principal circumstances in which they differ from larger animals, and points out the philosophical inferences that may legitimately be deduced from these differences; and he concludes with observations respecting the industry of insects. This work being of a popular nature, the author spared no pains in following upon it those ornaments of which it was susceptible. The principles which he thus discovered and explained, induced him to plan a System of moral philosophy; which, according to his ideas, consisted solely in the observance of that relation in which man is placed, respecting all the beings that surround him. The first branch would have comprehended, various means which philosophy and the medical science have discovered for the prevention of disease, the preservation and augmentation of the corporeal powers, and the better exertion of their force; in the second, he proposed to show, that natural philosophy has a powerful tendency to embellish and improve our mind, and augment the number of our rational amusements, while it is replete with beneficial effects respecting the society at large. To manifest the invalidity of opinions, merely hypothetical, he undertook, in the third place, to examine, whether there were not truths within the compass of human knowledge, to which the most sceptical philosopher must be compelled to yield his consent, and which might serve as the basis of all our reasonings concerning man and his various relations. He then would have directed his attention to a first cause, and have manifested how greatly the idea of a Deity and Supreme Lawgiver favoured the conclusions which reason had drawn from the nature and properties of things; but it is deeply deeply to be regretted that his health, impaired by incessant labour, would not permit him to complete the design.

His last publication was the *Palingerstir*, which treats of the prior existence and future state of living beings.

Of his publications in natural history, those deemed the most excellent are, his Treatise on the best Means of preserving Insects and Fish in Cabinets of Natural History; a Dissertation on the Loves of the Plants; sundry pieces on the Experiments of Spallanzani, concerning the Reproduction of the Head of the Snail; a Dissertation on the Pyga, or Surinam Tod; and different Treatises on Bees.

In the year 1783 he was elected honorary member of the Academy of Sciences at Paris; and of the Academy of Sciences and the Belles Lettres at Berlin.

Much of his time was employed in a very extensive correspondence with some of the most celebrated natural philosophers and others. Of this number were Reaumur, De Geer the Reaumur of Sweden, Du Hamel, the learned Haller, the experimental philosopher Spallanzani, Van Swieten, Merian, and that ornament of Switzerland the great Lambert. He entertained, however, the utmost aversion to controversy. He thought that no advantage to be obtained by it could compensate for the loss of that repose which he valued, with Newton, as the *rem propter fulgurantium*. He never answered remarks that were made to the prejudice of his writings, but left the decision with the public; yet, ever ready to acknowledge his errors, he was sincerely thankful to every one who contributed to the perfection of his works. He was used to say, that one confession, *I was in the wrong*, is of more value than a thousand ingenious confutations.

His literary occupations, and the care he was obliged to take of his health, prevented him from travelling. He delighted in retirement, and every hour was occupied in the improvement of his mind. The last 25 years of his life were spent in the same rural situation where he had passed the greater part of his early days; yet notwithstanding the pursuit of literature was his supreme delight, he never refused to suspend his studies, when the good of his country seemed to demand his services.

He was chosen in 1752 member of the Grand Council in the republic of Geneva; and he assisted regularly at their deliberations till the year 1768, where he distinguished himself by his eloquence; his moderation, united with firmness; by his good taste and penetration in cases of difficulty; and by the zeal with which he endeavoured to reclaim his fellow-citizens to that ancient simplicity of manners which had been so conducive to the welfare of the state, and to the love of virtue, so essential to the existence of genuine liberty. His conduct, in every case, was consistent with his principles. He took no pains to accumulate wealth, but remained satisfied with a fortune equal to his moderate wants, and to the exercise of his benevolence. The perfect correspondence between his extensive knowledge and virtuous deeds procured him universal esteem.

In the year 1788 evident symptoms of an *hydropoe* appeared manifested themselves; and, from this time he gradually declined. He sustained his indisposition with unremitting cheerfulness and composure. After various fluctuations, usual in that complaint, he died on the 26th of May 1793, in the 73rd year of his age; retaining his presence of mind to the last moment, administering comfort to surrounding friends and relatives, and attempting to alleviate the distress of his disconsolate wife, in whose arms he expired.

As a demonstration of the high value placed upon his labours and talents by the literati, we have only to remark, that he was member of most of the learned societies of Europe.

**BOOK KEEPING**, is an art of which the importance is universally known; and as commonly practised, it has been sufficiently explained in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. But since that article was written, a great improvement has been introduced into the art, or rather a new method of book-keeping has been invented, by Mr Edward Thomas Jones, of the city of Bristol, accountant, who calls it the *English System of Book-keeping*; and thinks that by it accounts may be more regularly kept, and errors in accounts more easily detected, than by any other method hitherto known. We are much inclined to be of his opinion; and shall therefore lay before our readers his description of this method, as we find it in the specification of the patent which was granted to him January 26, 1796.

The *English System of Book-keeping* requires three books, called a day-book or journal, an alphabet, and a ledger, which must be ruled after the following method, viz., the day-book to have three columns on each page, for receiving the amount of the transactions; one column of which to receive the amount of debits and credits, one column to receive the debits only; and one column to receive the credits only; or it may be ruled with only two columns on each page, one column to receive the amount of the debits, and one column to receive the amount of the credits. There must also be on each page of the day-book four other columns ruled, two on the left side next the amount of the debits, and two on the right side next the amount of the credits, for receiving the letter or mark of posting, and the page of the ledger to which each amount is to be posted.

The alphabet need not be ruled at all, but must contain the name of every account in the ledger, the letter that is annexed to it as a mark of posting, and the page of the ledger.

The ledger must be ruled with three, four, five, or seven columns on each page, as may be most agreeable, for receiving the amounts of the different transactions entered in the day-book. And the process for using these books, or making up books of accounts on this plan, is as follows.

When a person enters into trade, whether by himself or with copartners, he must have an account opened with himself in the ledger; entering first in the day-book, and then to the credit of his account in the ledger, the amount of the property he advances into trade. The account may be headed either with his name only, or else called his stock-account.

If you buy goods, give the person credit of whom you purchase; when you sell goods, debit the person to whom said goods are sold. If you pay money, debit the person to whom paid, not only for what you pay, but also for any discount or abatement he may allow, and give the cashier credit for the net amount paid. If you receive money, credit the person of whom you receive it, not only for what he pays, but also for any discount. discount or abatement you may allow, and debit the cashier for the neat amount received; taking care in these entries to have nothing mysterious or obscure, but merely a plain narrative of the fact, introducing not one useless word, and avoiding every technical term or phrase except the words debit and credit, which are full and comprehensive, and the only terms that are applicable to every transaction, and may be affixed to every entry.

But as a hurry of business will sometimes take place in almost every counting house, which may cause the entries to be made to the debit instead of the credit of an account in the day-book, and to the credit instead of the debit, Mr Jones has endeavoured as much as possible to counteract the evil, by having only one column for receiving the amount of every transaction, whether debits or credits, at the instant of making the entry; and, for the convenience of separating the debits from the credits, previous to posting, which is necessary to prevent confusion and perplexity, he has two other columns on the same page; that on the left side into which the amount of every debit must be carefully entered, and that on the right for the amount of the credits, which columns must be cast up once a month. The column of debits and credits of itself forming one amount; the column for the debits producing a second amount; and the column of credits a third amount; which second and third amounts, added together, must exactly agree with the first amount, or the work is not done right.

By this means the man of business may obtain monthly such a statement of his affairs as will show how much he owes for that month, and how much is owing to him; and the debits being added together for any given time, with the value of the stock of goods on hand, will, when the amount of the credit is subtracted therefrom, shew the profits of the trade.

Our author now proceeds to the process of posting; which begins with opening an account in the ledger with every person to whose debit or credit there has been an entry made in the day-book; affixing to each account a letter, which is to be used as a mark of posting. The person's name, place of abode, and the folio of the ledger, must then be entered in the alphabet, with the same letter prefixed to each name as is affixed to the account in the ledger. Next the page of the ledger on which each account is opened (and which will be seen in the alphabet) must be affixed to each amount in the day-book, in the column for that purpose. The date and amount of each debit must then be posted in the columns for receiving it in the ledger, on the left or debit side of that account to which it relates; entering, as a mark of posting in the day-book, against each amount, the same letter that is affixed to the account in the ledger, to which said amount may be posted. Observing that the debits of January, February, March, &c., must be posted into the column for those months in the ledger, and the credits must also be posted in like manner, filling up each account in the centre, at the expiration of every month, with the whole amount of the month's transactions; thus having, in a small space, the whole statement of each person's account for the year; in the columns to the right and left the amount separately of each transaction; and in the centre a monthly statement.

Having described the process of this method of bookkeeping, he thus shows how to examine books kept by this method, so as to ascertain, to an absolute certainty, if the ledger be a true representation of the day-book; i.e., not only if each transaction be correctly posted, as to the amount thereof, but also if it be rightly entered to the debit or credit of its proper account. This examination differs from the modes that have heretofore been practised, as well in expedition as in the certain accuracy which attends the process; it being only necessary to cast up the columns through the ledger debits and credits, according to the examples given; and the amount of those columns, if right, must agree with the columns in the day-book for the same corresponding space of time. These castings should take place once a month; and if the amounts do not agree, the posting must then, but not else, be called over; and when the time, whether it be one, two, three, or four months, that is allotted to each column of the ledger is expired, the amount of each column should be put at the bottom of the first page, and carried forward to the bottom of the next, and so on to the end of the accounts; taking care that the amount in the day-book, of each month's transactions, be brought into one gross amount for the same time.

But although this process must prove that the ledger contains the whole contents of the day-book, and neither more nor less, yet it is not complete without the mode of ascertaining if each entry be posted to its right account; which may be ascertained by the following method. He has laid down a rule that a letter, which may be used alphabetically in any form or shape that is agreeable, shall be affixed to each account in the ledger, and the same letter prefixed to the names in the alphabet, these letters being used as marks of posting, and affixed to each account in the day-book as it is posted; it is only necessary therefore to compare and see that the letter affixed to each entry in the day-book is the same as is prefixed to the same name in the alphabet; a difference here shews of course an error, or else it must be right.

At the end of the year, or at any other time, when persons balance their accounts, if there be no objections to the profits of the trade appearing in the books, the stock of goods on hand at prime cost may be entered in the day-book, either the value in one amount, or the particulars specified, as may be most expedient, and an account opened for it in the ledger, to the debit of which it must be posted. The casting up of the ledger must then be completed; and when found to agree with the day-book, and the amount placed at the bottom of each column, subtract the credits from the debits, and it will shew the profit of the trade; unless the credits be the greater amount, which will shew a loss. In taking off the balances of the ledger, one rule must be observed, and it cannot be done wrong: As you proceed, first see the difference between the whole amounts of the credits and debits on each page for the year, with which the difference of the outstanding balances of the several accounts on each page must exactly agree, or the balances will not be taken right. By this means every page will be proved as you proceed, and the balances of ten thousand ledgers, on this plan, could not unobservably be taken off wrong.