The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-05-09
A GREAT CATHOLIC cEoLoeIsT.
Lapparent Conquered Recognition
from Infidel Scientists-Sixth Ami
Versary of His Death May IL.


versary of His Death May IL.
In our time, when so much has been
made of the supposed conflict between
religion and physical science, it is
worth while. occasionally, to recall
names of Catholics who have been
prominent in the Investigations upon
the results of which the real scientific
progress of the age depends, The
careers of such men are the best refu-
tation of the charge that fidelity to
the doctrinal teaching of the Church
means the loss of intellectual freedom.
Among the great biologists of later
years, says a writer in the Tidings of
Los Angeles, must be reckoned Albert
Auguste de Lapparent. No less than
his renown as a scientist is his re-
nown as a leader of Catholic thought
in France at a particularly trying
time; for de Lapparent has been dead
scarcely six years. His life illustrates
the maxim that the door to success is
never shut to a man who honestly
lives his convictions, distasteful
though they be to the world about him.
There was no lack of recognition for
Lapparent in his life time; there was
no refusal of honors because he did
not sympathize with those who were
trying officially to stife the voice of
the Church in France. A worthy COM
patriot of the illustrious Pasteur, he
was equally devoted with that savant
to the interests of the historic re-
ligion of the French people.
De Lapparent was born at Bourges
December 80, 1889. Like the great
Catholic astronomer LIE Verrier, he
studied with conspicuous success at
the Ecole Polytecnique in Paris, from
which after graduation he passed to
the Ecole des Mines. At the age of
twenty-five he was a member of the
commission appointed to prepare a
geological map of France; a work in
which he was highly successful. In the
seventies a project to pass a tunnel
beneath the bed of the English Chan
mel was launched, and to de Lapparent
was entrusted the task of sounding
the Channel with a view of ascertain
ing the practicability of the scheme.
Whilst the project was finally aban-
doned, the skill with which the in
vestigations were made drew public
attention to the man who had them
in charge; and the result was the
bestowal upon him by the French gov
eminent, of the Cross of the Legion of
Honor.
In 1875 de Lapparent was called
upon to take the newly-founded chair
of geology and mineralogy at the Cath
Ollie University of Paris. Having OBJ
tanned leave of absence from the min
ing department, he entered upon his
new work, whilst retaining his former
position. About four years afterwards
the leave of absence was permanently
withdrawn; whereupon de Lapparent
gave up official life to remain with
the University. The resignation from
the presidency of the Republic by
Marshal MacMahon in 1879 brought to
power an element at least ~covertly
hostile to the Church, and de Lap
parent doubtless felt that continuance
in the service of the government
WOUlu uO IOuSS US COuSOL1dl " I'LL
Besides, the assurance of relief from
the routine duties which are a part of
official life-even of scientific official
life-afforded him opportunities to
write on a more extensive scale. For
fourteen or fifteen years he had con-
tributed articles on geological subjects
to the "Annales des Mines" In 1882,
however, he began to write his first
extensive book, the 'Traite de Geol-
ogie," which was completed and pub
lished in 1884. This work, which is
de Lapparent's masterpiece, not only
marshalled an orderly array of geolog-
ical studies, but it essayed new
theories of the structural evolution Of
our globe, and abandoned older hap
hazard methods for a strictly scientific
synthesis of geological Investigations.
In the early eighties M. de Lap
parent held the presidency of the
Geological Society of France. His
"Cours de Mineralogie," published In
1885. led to his election to the chair
of the French Society of Mineralogy.
The same work won a prize from the
Academy Of Sciences, and, despite the
advances made since it's publication,
it still enjoys in France high repute as
textbook. The "Traite de Geologic"
of course, remains unsurpassed, and
probably will not be equaled for years
to come.
De Lapparent commenced, in the
latter part of 1885, a series of lee