POEY, Felipe (po'-ay), Cuban naturalist, born in Havana, 26 May, 1799. He is of French and Spanish parentage. He made his preparatory studies in his native city, and concluded them in the University of Madrid, where he was graduated in law. Having a taste for natural history, he gradually abandoned his practice as a lawyer, and began the study of mollusks, insects, and fishes. In 1825 he sailed for Cuba, and thence, with a collection of specimens, for Paris. There he aided in founding, in 1827, the "Societe entomologique," and contributed notes and drawings to the "Histoire naturelle des poissons." In 1833 he returned to Havana and devoted himself to the study of natural history, making drawings of specimens with his associate, Juan Gundlath (q. v.), and discovering many new species which are included m Pfeiffer's " Monographia Heliceorum Viventium." In 1842 Poey was appointed professor of comparative anatomy and zoology in the University of Harand, and from 1851 till 1860 he published at intervals his "Historia Natural de la Isla de Cuba" (2 vols., 1860). In 1863 he was appointed to the chair of botany, mineralogy, and geology, and from 1868 till 1875 he published in the "Repertorio Fisico-Natural de la Isla de Cuba." and reprinted in the "Anales de la Sociedad de Historia Natural de Madrid," his great work under the title "Synopsis Piscicum Cubensium," or "Catalogo razonado de los Peces Cubanos," an atlas of 10 volumes with more than 1,000 illustrations drawn by himself, and the description of about 800 tropical Americart fishes. This work was purchased by the Spanish government, placed in the "Biblioteca de Ciencias Naturales" at Madrid, and exhibited by the government in the exposition of Amsterdam in 1883, receiving a gold medal and honorable mention. In 1873 Poey was appointed professor of philosophy and belles-lettres, and he has held all his chairs in the university till the present time (1888), notwithstanding his advanced age. He is a member of almost every scientific society in Europe and America, and many of his new specimens in life-size drawings are to be found in the United States national museum, the United States museum of comparative zoology, and the Spanish museum of Madrid. His other works, besides the two mentioned above, are "Centurie des Lepidoptees de File de Cuba" (Paris, 1832); "Geografia Universal" (Havana, 1836); "Corona Poeyana" (1844) ; "Geografia de Cuba" (19 editions) ; " Cartilla de Geografia" (1855); and "Cartilla de Mineralogia" (1878). He has contributed for more than sixty years many papers on natural history to the French, Spanish, and Cuban scientific press, and some of his papers occur in the proceedings of the Academy of natural science of Philadelphia, the annals of the New York lyceum, and other American scientific publications. He also wrote poems, of which "El Arroyo" and " A Silvia" are best known.--His son, Andres, meteorologist, born in Havana in 1826, was educated in his native city and in Paris. In 1848 he began to contribute to scientific publications, especially on meteorology and natural philosophy. To his efforts was due the creation of a meteorological observatory at Havana, and during the reign of Maximilian he was director of an establishment of the same kind in Mexico. He has written much in Spanish, French, and English on scientific subjects. Among his writings are "Tratado de Meteorologia," "Memoria sobre los huracanes de las Antillas," and " Memoria sobre lasgranizadas en Cuba" (Havana, 18602) ; "Cuban Antiquities," read before the American ethnological society ; "Tableau chronologique des tremblements de terre," "Travaux sur la meteorologie et la phisique du globe," "Memoires sur les tempetes electriques," and "Le positivisme " (Paris, 1876). The last is an exposition of the principles of Auguste Comte's philosophical system, of which the author is an ardent follower.