KERCKHOVE, Lorenz Weneeslas (kair-ko'veh), Dutch naturalist, born in Bois le Due in 1785; died in Amsterdam in 1839. He studied in Rotterdam, and early showed a fondness for the natural sciences. At the age of sixteen he joined an uncle who was established in business in New York; but having made the acquaintance of Alexander yon Humboldt during his sojourn in the United States in 1802, he gave up business and went to Central America. He had resolved to follow the steps of the German naturalist, and like him write an account of his travels, but after visiting the West Indies, Central America, Louisiana, Mexico, and Guiana, during 1804-'9, his health declined and he was compelled to return to his native land. For several years he was professor of natural history in the University of Leyden, but resigned in 1821 to devote himself exclusively to science, and, settling in Amsterdam, published many works, including "Reisen durch Cuba, Porto Rico, Louisiana, Nueva Espafia und Guiana" (2 vols., Leyden, 1817); "Historia ecclesiastica et Universalis Guiana," (Amsterdam, 1825); "Die Kriege yon 1814-1821 in Mexico" (Leyden, 1855); "Surinam in Bildern und Skizzen" (Amsterdam, 1835): and "Historia plantarum circa Havana sponte creseentium" (3 vols., Amsterdam, 1839).