Note 1144 — Chapter VII · (continued 2)

Goldsmith, who was in Paris in 1755, says with surprise, ‘I have seen as bright a circle of beauty at the chemical lectures of Rouelle, as gracing the court of Versailles.’ Prior's Life of Goldsmith, vol. i. p. 180; Forster's Life of Goldsmith, vol. i. p. 65. In the middle of the century, electricity was very popular among the Parisian ladies; and the interest felt in it was revived several years later by Franklin. Compare Grimm, Correspondance, vol. vii. p. 122, with Tucker's Life of Jefferson, vol. i. pp. 190, 191. Cuvier (Eloges, vol. i. p. 56) tells us that even the anatomical descriptions which Daubenton wrote for Buffon were to be found ‘sur la toilette des femmes.’ This change of taste is also noticed, though in a jeering spirit, in Mém. de Genlis, vol. vi. p. 32. Compare the account given by Townsend, who visited France in 1786, on his way to Spain: ‘A numerous society of gentlemen and ladies of the first fashion meet to hear lectures on the sciences, delivered by men of the highest rank in their profession…. I was much struck with the fluency and elegance of language with which the anatomical professor spoke, and not a little so with the deep attention of his auditors.’ Townsend's Journey through Spain, vol. i. p. 41: see also Smith's Tour on the Continent in 1786, vol. i. p. 117.