The violent exertions which he made in the numerous situations which he filled, and the prodigious activity which he displayed, gradually undermined his constitution. He himself was sensible of his approaching death, and announced it to his friends as an event which would speedily take place. On the 16th of December, 1809, after signing some despatches, he suddenly cried out, _Je suis mort_ (_I am dead_), and dropped lifeless on the ground. He was twice married: first to Mademoiselle Bettinger, by whom he had two children, a son and a daughter, who survived him. He was married for the second time to Madame Belleville, the widow of Vailly, by whom he had no family. He left but little fortune behind him; and two maiden sisters, who lived with him, depended afterwards for their support on his friend M. Vauquelin. Notwithstanding the vast quantity of papers which he published, it will be admitted, without dispute, that the prodigious reputation which he enjoyed during his lifetime was more owing to his eloquence than to his eminence as a chemist--though even as a chemist he was far above mediocrity. He must have possessed an uncommon facility of writing. Five successive editions of his System of Chemistry appeared, each of them gradually increasing in size and value: the first being in two volumes and the last in ten. This last edition he wrote in sixteen months: it contains much valuable information, and doubtless contributed considerably to the general diffusion of chemical knowledge. Its style is perhaps too diffuse, and the spirit of generalizing from particular, and often ill-authenticated facts, is carried to a vicious length. Perhaps the best of all his productions is his Philosophy of Chemistry. It is remarkable for its conciseness, its perspicuity, and the neatness of its arrangement. Besides these works, and the periodical publication entitled "Le Médecin éclairé," of which he was the editor, there are above one hundred and sixty papers on chemical subjects, with his name attached to them, which appeared in the Memoirs of the Academy and of the Institute; in the Annales de Chimie, or the Annales de Musée d'Histoire Naturelle; of which last work he was the original projector. Many of these papers contained analyses both animal, vegetable, and mineral, of very considerable value. In most of them, the name of Vauquelin is associated with his own as the author; and the general opinion is, that the experiments were all made by Vauquelin; but that the papers themselves were drawn up by Fourcroy. It would serve little purpose to go over this long list of papers; because, though they contributed essentially to the progress of chemistry, yet they exhibit but few of those striking discoveries, which at once alter the face of the science, by throwing a flood of light on every thing around them. I shall merely notice a few of what I consider as his best papers.