SIMONIN, Louis Laurent (se-mo-nang), French geologist, born in Marseilles, 22 August, 1830. He studied at the School of mines at Saint Etienne, was graduated as engineer in 1852, and held afterward various posts in connection with mines in Italy and France. He made several voyages to the United States by order of the French government, visited Cuba, the West Indies, Central America, the Isthmus of Panama, and Mexico, and travelled extensively through California and most of the United States. In 1867 he was placed at the head of a French commission charged to study the laying out of the Pacific railroad and the preliminary surveys, and in his report greatly praised the work. In 1876 he was made a member of the international jury for the Centennial exhibition in Philadelphia, and before returning to France he made a special study of the mines in Pennsylvania and in the Reading valley. Simonin is an admirer of American institutions. He has been several times a candidate for the chamber of deputies, promising that if he were elected he would support free democratic institutions as they are understood on this side of the Atlantic, and he has been called the American candidate. Since 1860 he has contributed articles to French magazines describing his travels and American scenery. Since 1877 he has been scientific critic of "La France." He has also greatly interested himself in the Panama canal, and his advocacy has contributed to the authorization by the government of a lottery loan in its behalf. His works include "'Le grand ouest des Etats-Unis" (Paris, 1869); "L'homme Americain" (1870); "A travers les Etats-Unis" (1875); "Le monfle Americain, souvenirs de rues voyages aux Etats-Unis" (1876); " L'or et l'argent," a study of gold and silver-mines in both Americas (1877) ; and "Resume d'une confidence sur le Canal de Panama " (1884).