"Rey lived at the commencement of an epoch, and he was the founder of a branch of scientific inquiry which helped to render that epoch glorious. By energy and perseverence he ascended a lofty eminence, whence he saw in the distance an unknown country—dimly, indeed, and far from him; still it was there, and he pointed out its direction to his fellow-men; but explorers were rare in that day, and men cared not to venture across pathless wastes, to ascend hitherto untrod mountains, in order to arrive at that which, when found, might prove a barren and unproductive country."