JOSEPH NICHOLAS DE, an eminent astronomer and geographer, was born at Paris in 1688. His education was commenced under his father, and completed at Mazarin College. An eclipse of the sun in 1706 discovered his taste for mathematics, and to the mathematical sciences he began thenceforth to apply himself. He was appointed engineer at Martinico in 1707; and, in 1709, when he was the correspondent of some of the ablest astronomers in Europe, he had constructed a very accurate quadrant for his own use. He received, in 1715, the grant of a pension of