Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Sylvie, Édouard

​SYLVIE, Edouard (sil-vee), French naturalist, b. in Riom, Auvergne, in 1670; d. in Lyons in 1739. He studied in the College Louis le Grand at Paris, entered the church, and was appointed by the king to a rich abbey in Lyons. Devoting his leisure time to the study of mathematics and natu- ral history, he presented several valuable memoirs to the Academy of sciences, which induced that body to propose him to the king for a mission to South America. Louis XIV. placed a man-of-war at Sylvie's disposal in order to facilitate his work, and from 1701 till 1703 he visited Santo Domingo and several ports of the Caribbean sea, prepared a chart of the Gulf of Mexico, and made valuable observations. In the following year he visited Guiana, Brazil, Montevideo, and Buenos Ayres, landed on Staten island, and made the ascent of its snowy range of mountains. Doubling Cape Horn, he coasted Chili and Peru to Callao, and, penetrat- ing into the interior, explored the Andes. Sylvie afterward returned to the West Indies, and so- journed several months in Santo Domingo, occu- pied in drawing a map of the French part of the island. His vessel arrived at La Roche! le, 15 Oct., 1710, and Sylvie's valuable collections were pre- sented to the Academy of sciences, which elected him a corresponding member. His works include "Explications de l'herbier et des collections rap- portees d'Amerique par l'Abbe Edouard Sylvie " (3 vols., Paris, 1711-13) ; " Relation d'un voyage de la mer du Sud aux cotes de la Guiane, du Bresil, de la Terre des Etats, du Chili et du Perou, avec une description de la cote septentrionale du detroit de Le Maire " (3 vols., 1714-'16) ; " Voyage a travers le Golfe du Mexique, suivi d'une description des lies Antilles de l'Amerique, et en particulier de l'ile de Saint Domingue" (2 vols., 1720-'l); and " Journal des observations d'un voyage au Perou et au Chili " (5 vols., 1726-'8).