OBITUARY OF COLONEL SAVIN

by J. Lambert

      It is with painful surprise and real emotion that the many friends of Lieutenant-Colonel Savin have learned of his death. All those interested in France in the study and progress of Palaeontology deplore the death of the brilliant officer, who, in the midst of his absorbing military duties, had been able to make so many interesting scientific observations and publish the results of his research. His loss is particularly felt among the members of the Geological Society of France, to which he belonged for seventeen years.
 

      Others, with an authority that I would not have, have described the qualities of the soldier and retraced his military career; may I be allowed to recall the person and the work of the scholar, whose echinological studies were so justly appreciated.
     

      Léon-Héli Savin was born in Ste-Chartres (Vienne) on 12 March 1851 and was fifty-six years old when, on 3 August last, he was struck down in the middle of his life by an illness that could not be stopped, leaving his widow, his children and all his family in a despair that will be understood by all those who had the honour of being in contact with this man of heart. On the day of his funeral, Colonel Salvan, commander of the 98th infantry regiment, said of him: "A soldier at heart, a man of duty, loving his country above all else, Savin enlisted in the 33rd line on 17 August 1870 and campaigned against Germany... and it was under enemy fire that he rose through the first ranks of the hierarchy... Second lieutenant in 1874, captain in 1882 and battalion commander in 1898, he was noticed for the brilliant way in which he commanded the Alpine battalion. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 21 September 1905, his zeal, activity and benevolence made him a model for those who had the honour of being trained by him. In the general interest of the army, the rank of colonel seemed soon to be reserved for him.
 

      Having the highest taste and the cult of scientific studies, our fellow-member brought to it that intelligence, that activity, that zeal and that spirit of method which were among the dominant qualities of his character. He studied geology everywhere, in books and in the field, without ever separating observation from theory. An intrepid walker and tireless researcher, he soon assembled a considerable collection from the various countries to which his relations and his changes of garrison led him. In particular, he successfully explored the famous deposits of the Aude department and found Echinids in the Cretaceous and Eocene, which are now well known thanks to him. Always guided by the pure love of science, his collection was for him only an instrument of study and above all he wanted to share his discoveries with those a little older than himself, whom he liked to call his masters.
 

      We first see him in relation with Cotteau, providing the eminent palaeontologist with numerous materials, used in French palaeontology. There are few species from the rich deposits of the Montagne Noire or the Alaric that he did not collect, and from 1893 onwards he communicated for the supplementary part of this great work a certain number of Echinids, among which were precious types such as Maretia Savini, Linthia Savini, Pygorhynchus Savini, etc. He also provided M. de Loriol with study material and the types of his Cidaris Savini, Botriopygus Savini, etc. In 1897, he provided me with the elements of my note on some Eocene Echinids of the Aude, and it was he who, more recently, made available to me most of the materials of my note on some Echinids of the Aude and the Hérault.
 

      First, his "Note sur quelques Echinides du Dauphiné", soon followed by the "Catalogue raisonné des Echinides fossiles du département de la Savoie", an important work in which 144 species are examined, including five new ones. In 1905 he published his "Révision des Echinides fossiles du département de l'Isère", in which 196 species are studied, of which 15 are new and 144 have been collected since the publication of Albin Gras' work. An appendix contains the description of seven species foreign to the Dauphiné. Although living in Lyon since 1905, Savin continued his research and studies with such activity that in 1907 he published an important "Supplement to the Catalogue of Fossil Echinids of the Department of Savoy", including the description of forty-five species, of which five were new. Our colleague died before receiving the reprints of this last work which has just been distributed by the care of his widow and his friends.   

      In all his memoirs Colonel Savin followed a methodical plan. He had thought that after the great works of Cotteau it was superfluous to undertake general works on Echinids, and he applied himself to the publication of series of regional monographs of indisputable practical utility. The number of those who can, even by specialising, embrace a science as a whole and build up an indispensable library in the provinces will always remain limited. Good regional monographs are therefore necessary today in order to popularise our studies, to make it possible for everyone to know the results of their research and thus to increase the interest of the discoveries, to stimulate the zeal of the palaeontologist, to provide the geologist with indispensable information, and to the masters of science with the elements for more general conclusions. Undoubtedly works of science, but at the same time of popularisation and decentralisation, Savin's works had to remind the reader of certain indispensable elementary knowledge in order to fully meet their purpose. This is why the author never gives us a description of a species without preceding it with a generic diagnose, which is always well studied, concise and highlights the distinctive characters by recalling the type.
     

      Thus, thanks to Savin, the geologists and palaeontologists of the Dauphiné and Savoie can, after simply reading a manual such as that of Zittel, or the excellent treatise of MM. Delage and Hérouard, succeed in determining exactly all the Echinids encountered in their research. It is therefore necessary to proclaim the extent of the services rendered by our fellow-member to the friends of the natural sciences, and the Societies which welcomed his work, the Statistical Society of Isère and the Natural History Society of Savoy, can only applaud the sacrifices they made to ensure the publication of his works.
     

      In all his works Savin was inspired by the best traditions, and instead of arid nomenclatures, he was able to give methodical, detailed and lively studies of the species he examined. If the number of new species created by him was not very great, how many others, almost nominal before his work, are today and thanks to him perfectly known f At the time he was struck down by death, he was working on new descriptions of Echinids, and in a letter of June 5, 1907 he told me about a Note on some new Echinids from various regions, which he hoped to publish soon. His widow and friends will do their utmost to ensure that this work, as he put it, is not lost to science.
 

      If the premature end of our colleague did not allow him to leave a more considerable scientific work, it is however already useful enough to make us bitterly regret that it was interrupted, and important enough so that the name of Savin cannot in the future be forgotten and is on the contrary assured of being inscribed in the splendours of Palaeontology. His memory will not be less deeply engraved in the memory and in the heart of all those who had the honour and the pleasure of maintaining relations with this excellent man whose loss causes them such deep regret.

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