IWYGHESS, CHRISTIAN, son of Constantine Huyghcns, pos sessor of Zulichem, Zelhem, &a, in Holland ; whence Huyghens (Latinised Hugenius) is often called Zulicheurius, though his inherit ance was the second-uamed estate, and the initials C. II. h Z., or C. II. D. Z., often appear on the titles of his works.
For the life of liuyghens our authority is the account prefixal by S'Gravesande to the edition of his works. The eloge by Condoreet is superficial, and appears to us partial. The various historical works on mathematics may of course be consulted on points of scientific character.
Christian Huyighens was born at the Hague, on the 14th of April 1629. His father had been secretary to three princes of Orange, and was advantageously known by some Latin poems and other small works : he died in I 687,.at the age of ninety. His eldest eon, Con stantine, succeeded him in the post of secretary, and accompanied William III. to Englaud in that capacity iu 16S8. The subject of this article, his second son, from his boyhood showed an aptitude for mathematical and mechanical studies, aud in 1645 he prosecuted theirs at the University of Leyden under the care of Schooten. In 1646.48 be studied civil law at Breda, a course being thou and there established, partly under the management of his father. In 1649 he accompanied a count of Nassau to Denmark ; and in 1655 he visited France. lie then remained in Holland till 1660, when he wont again to France, and in 1661 to England, both which voyages he repeated in 1663. In 1665 he was invited to France by Colbert, where he remained from 1666 to 1681, with the exception of two trips to Holland iu 1670 mud 1675 for health. This consideration prompted his final return to Holland iu 1681 : ho was again in England iu 1689, aud died at the Hague on the 8th of Juno 1695. The preceding enumeration of changes of place is almost all that can be said of Iluyghens unconuccted with his philosophical fame. Condorcet informs, us that the edicts against the Proteetants occasioned hie relinquishment of the honours and emoluments which he held in France; eud that he refused to be made a special exception, we suppose to the edict incapacitating Huguenots from office. Ilia family also, according to
Condoreet, were displeased at this step, which may have been the case, since his father was a strong partisan of the French. (' Biog. Univ.,' art. Const. Huyghens.' The same writer says it was reported at Paris that he wrote verses ('assez mauvais') to Ninon de L'Enclos.
The greater part of the works of Huyghens which were published during his lifetime were collected into four volumes by S'Gravesande, under the title of Chriatiaui Hugenii Zulichemii duns viveret Zelemii Toparchm, Opera Varia,' Lugd. Bat., 1724. But Huygheos left his papers to the University of Leyden, with the request that two pro fessors, De Voider and Fullen, would select and publish what they thought fit. The consequence was a volume entitled Christiani Hugenii, &c., Opuscula Posthuma,' Amsterdam (?), 1700. But in 1723 S'Gravesande completed his edition of the works printed by Huyghens himself, and also re-published the ' Opuscula Posthurna :' this edition, entitled ' Opera Reliqua,' was printed at Amsterdam. To these two works, which contain almost all that Huyghens wrote, and all that he published, with the exception of papers in the 'Philosophical Trans actions' and other periodicals, we must add the meution of his correspondence, published under the following title : Christ. Hugenii aliorumque Exercitationes 3lathereaticas et Philosophiem ex MSS. in Bibl. Acad., Lugd. Bat., edente P. J. Uyleabroek; Hag. Corn., 1833, &c. Seidler also mentions a volume of posthumous works published at Leyden in 1703. We shall presently notice the several writings of Huyghens, first observing that he occupies a most con spicuous place among the immediate precursors of Newton : had it not been known that Newton was in possession of at least the main points of his system before 1674 it would undoubtedly have been fair to suppose that the researches of Hnyghens gave most material suggestions to the investigator of the theory of gravitation. His writings seem to form the natural and proper step in the chain between those of Galileo and Newton.