BARATIERE, or Barettier, Philip, an extraordinaryinstance of the early and rapid expansion of the mental faculties. This surprising genius was the son of Francis Baratière, minister of the French church at Schwobach, near Nuremberg, where he was born on the 10th January 1721. The French was his mother tongue, together with some words of High Dutch; but in consequence of his father insensibly talking Latin to him, it became as familiar to him as his native idiom; so that, without knowing the rules of grammar, he, at four years of age, talked French to his mother, Latin to his father, High Dutch to the maid or neighbouring children, and all this without mixing or confounding the respective languages. About the middle of his fifth year he acquired Greek in like manner; so that in fifteen months he perfectly understood all the Greek books in the Old and New Testament, which he readily translated into Latin. When he was five years and eight months old, he entered upon Hebrew, and in three years became so expert in the Hebrew text, that from a Bible without points he could give the sense of the original in Latin or French, or translate extempore the Latin or French versions into Hebrew, almost word for word; he also acquired by heart all the Hebrew psalms. He composed at this time a dictionary of rare and difficult Hebrew words, with critical and philological observations; and, about his tenth year, amused himself for twelve months in reading the rabbinical writers. With these he intermixed the study of the Chaldaic, Syriac, and Arabic; and acquired a taste for divinity and ecclesiastical antiquity, by studying the Greek fathers, and the councils of the first four ages of the church. In the midst of these occupations a pair of globes having come into his possession, he was able in eight or ten days’ time to resolve all the problems on them; and in about three months (January 1735) devised his project for the discovery of the longitude, which he communicated to the Royal Society of London and the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin. In J un θ 1731 he was matriculated in the university of Altorf; ana at the close of the year 1732 he was presented by his father at the meeting of the reformed churches of t> 1 θ circle of Franconia, which, astonished at his wonderful talents, admitted him to assist in the deliberations of the synod; and in order to preserve the memory of so singular [7:4:359]an event, it was ordered to be registered in their acts. In 1734 the margrave of Brandenburg-Anspach granted this voun σ scholar the use of whatever books he wanted from the Anspach library, together with a pension of fifty florins, which he enjoyed for three years; and his father receiving a call from the French church at Stettin in Pomerania, young Baratière was, on the journey, admitted master of arts, with universal applause, at the university of Halle. While at Berlin he was honoured with several conversations with the king of Prussia, and received into the Royal Academy. Towards the close of his life he acquired a taste for the study of medals, inscriptions, and antiquities, which he relieved with metaphysical inquiries, and investigations in experimental philosophy. He wrote several essays and dissertations; made astronomical remarks and laborious calculations; prepared materials for a history of the heresies of the anti-trinitarians, and of the Thirty Years’ War in Germany; and, lastly, wrote a treatise, which appeared in 1740, on the succession of the bishops of Rome. The final work he engaged in, and for which he had accumulated large materials, was Inquiries concerning Egyptian Antiquities. But the substance of this blazing meteor was now almost exhausted. He had always been weak and sickly, and he died on the 5th October 1740, aged nineteen years, eight months, and sixteen days. He published eleven different pieces, and left twenty-nine manuscripts on various subjects, the contents of which may be seen in his life, written by Μ. Formey, professor of philosophy at Berlin.