NICERON, John Francis, a French mathematician, was born at Paris in the year 1613. Having finished his academical studies, he entered into the order of the Minims, and took the habit in 1632; and, as is usual, he changed the name given him at his baptism for that of Francis, the name of his paternal uncle, who was also a Minim, or Franciscan. His inclination and taste for the mathematics ap∙
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peared early during the course of his philosophical studies; and to that science he devoted what time he could spare from his other employments, after he had completed his studies in theology. All the branches of the mathematics, however, did not equally engage his attention; he confined himself particularly to optics, and only learned as much of the rest as was necessary for rendering him perfect in this branch. He has himself informed us, in the preface to his Thaumaturgus Opticus, that he travelled twice to Rome, and that, on his return home, he was appointed teacher of theology. He was afterwards chosen to accompany Father Francis de la Noue, vicar-general of the order, in his visitation of the convents throughout France. The eagerness of his passion for study, however, induced him to make the best use of all the moments he had to spare, and that wise economy of time furnished him with as much leisure as satisfied his love of knowledge. Being taken sick at Aix, in Provence, he died there on the 22d of September 1646, at the early age of thirty-three. He was an intimate acquaintance of Descartes, who had a high esteem for him. The principal works of Niceron arc, 1. L’Inter-pretatioh des Chiffres, ou Règles pour bien entendre et expliquer facilement toutes sortes des Chiffres simples, Paris, 1641, in 8vo; 2. La Perspective Curieuse, ou Magie Artificielle des effets merveilleux de l’Optique, Catoptrique, et Dioptrique; 3. Thaumaturgus Opticus, sive admiranda Optices, Catoptrices, et Dioptrices, pars prima, 1646, in folio, a work to which the preceding essay was intended to serve as an introduction.

Niceron, John Peter, justly celebrated on account of his Biographical Memoirs, was born at Paris on the 11th of March 1685. He was descended of an ancient and noble family, which was in very high repute about 1540. He studied with success in the Mazarin College at Paris, and afterwards at the college of Duplessis. Having resolved to forsake the world, he consulted one of his uncles, who belonged to the order of Barnabite Jesuits. This uncle examined him, and not doubting his election, introduced him as a probationer to that society at Paris. He was received in 1702, took the habit in 1703, and made his vows in 1704, at the age of nineteen. After he had professed himself, he wassent to Montargis, in order tostudy philosophy and theology; and his superiors, being satisfied with his proficiency, sent him to Loches, in Touraine, to teach the classics and rhetoric. Here his devout behaviour and excellent conduct as a teacher made him be thought worthy of the priesthood, which he received at Poitiers in 1708; and as he had not arrived at the age to assume this order, a dispensation was obtained in his favour. The college of Montargis having recalled him, he there professed rhetoric for two years, and philosophy during four. Notwithstanding all these avocations, he was humanely attentive to every call of charity, and to the instruction of his fellowereatures, many of whom heard his excellent discourses, not only in the pulpits of the churches within the province, but even in those of Paris. In 1716, his superiors invited him to the city, that he might have an opportunity of prosecuting with more convenience those studies for which he had always expressed the greatest inclination. He understood not only the ancient, but also the modern languages; a circumstance of infinite advantage in the composition of those works which he has given to the public, and which he carried on with great assiduity till the time of his death, which happened on the 8th of July 1738, at the age of fifty-three. His works are, 1. Le Grand Febrifuge, or, a Dissertation to prove that common water is the best remedy in fevers, and even in the plague (translated from the English of John Hancock, minister of St Margaret’s, London), in 12mo. This little treatise made its appearance, amongst other pieces relating to this subject, in 1770, and was attended with such success that it pass ed through three editions, the last of which appeared in 1730, in two vols. 12mo. 2. The Voyages of John Ouv-ington to Surat, and divers parts of Asia and Africa, containing the history of the revolution in the kingdom of Golconda, and some observations upon silk worms, Paris, 1725, in two vols. 12mo. 3. The Conversion of England to Christianity, compared with its pretended Reformation, a work translated from the English, Paris, 1729, in 8vo. 4. The Natural History of the Earth, translated from the English of Mr Woodward, by Μ. Nogues, doctor in physic, with an answer to the objections of Dr Camerarius, and containing also several letters written on the same subject, with a methodical distribution of fossils, translated from the English by Niceron, Paris, 1735, in 4to. 5. Memoirs of Men illustrious in the Republic of Letters, with a critical account of their works, Paris, in 12mo. The first volume of this great work appeared in 1727; and the others were given to the public in succession, as far as the thirty-ninth, which appeared in 1738. The fortieth volume was published after the death of the author, in 1739. Since that period three others have been added; but in these there are many articles of which Niceron was not the author. To a work of this kind many objections may be made, according to the particular taste or views of each individual objector; and, in fact, the French critics have expatiated with much severity upon the mistakes unavoidable in an undertaking of such magnitude and difficulty. But it is much more easy to censure than to execute. Since the time of Niceron the French have produced no such collection as his, which, with all its faults, has been the foundation, as far as it goes, of all the subsequent accounts given of the same authors. (a.)