Note 133 — Chapter II · History of the Theory of the Nutrition of Plants. 1583-1860. (continued 2)

Jean Senebier, born at Geneva in 1742, was the son of a tradesman, and after 1765 pastor of the Evangelical Church. On his return from a visit to Paris he published his ‘Moral Tales,’ and at the suggestion of his friend Bonnet competed for a prize offered at Haarlem for an essay on the Art of Observation. He was awarded the second place in this competition. In 1769 he became pastor at Chancy, and in 1773 librarian of Geneva. At this time, among other literary labours, he translated Spallanzani’s more important writings; he also studied chemistry under Tingry, and carried out his researches into the influence of light. In 1791 he wrote an article for the ‘Encyclopaedie méthodique’ on vegetable physiology. The revolution in Geneva drove him into the Canton Vaud, and there he composed his ‘Physiologie végétale,’ in five volumes. He returned to Geneva in 1799 and took part in a new translation of the Bible. He died in that city in 1809 (‘Biographie Universelle’).