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MEMOIRS
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MEMOIRS
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BARON CUVITIER.
BY
MRS. R. LEE
(FORMERLY MRS. T. ED. BOWDICH).
EON DON :
PRINTED FOR
LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMAN,
PATERNOSTER-ROW.
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MEMOIRS
OF
BARON CUVIER.
INTRODUCTION.
Berore I enter upon the subject of this volume,
I would explain to my readers the motives .
which have induced me to write it, in order to
prevent that appearance of presumption, which
may naturally be laid to the charge of an un-
learned person, who attempts to write the life
of so illustrious a savant.
When death has torn from us those whom we
have most loved and revered, and the over-
whelming bitterness of grief is past, the first
feeling which awakens us from our sorrow is
the desire to uphold the memory, and to make
known to all men the virtues of the being en-
shrined in our hearts; a feeling which springs,
not only from an honest pride in doing justice
B
g INTRODUCTION.
to one who is no more, but from a desire that
posterity should benefit by the example. Rous-
ing myself, then, from the stunning grief which
at first assailed me, I eagerly sought all the
public notices which appeared in England con-
cerning the Baron Cuvier, in the hope of finding
something equal to his high deserts; but though
all did him the justice of placing him above
every other naturalist, not one spoke of his
talents as a legislator, and all equally neglected
his private character. ‘This, and the almost uni-
versal incorrectness of detail, no doubt proceeded
from ignorance rather than intention; yet, dis-
appointed as I was that my countrymen should
have so little known and appreciated one of the
most admirable persons of our time, nothing, at
that moment, could be further from my thoughts
than to supply the deficiencies by my own pen.
Most of those who were either anxious to
enquire of me concerning the surviving family, or
who were kindly solicitous about myself under
such a calamity, seemed to think it a matter of
course that I should publish some particulars of
my lost friend; but although this certainly sug-
gested the possibility of doing so, I still felt my
own inadequacy too deeply to do other than
refuse the undertaking. In a few weeks, how-
INTRODUCTION, 3
ever, I was solicited in one or two influential
quarters to write a short memoir for one of our
public journals, and, afraid to trust solely to my
own reminiscences, I applied to the relatives of
Baron Cuvier for data. ‘These data were con-
tributed with a readiness which vouched for the
sentiments of the family, and I seriously applied
to the task. Recollection crowded upon recollec-
tion, anecdote upon anecdote, till, in a short time,
it became very difficult to select from the mass.
Long did I hesitate from the conviction of my
own inability ; but the universal desire expressed
to me that I should publish the documents which
abundantly flowed from the best sources, and
the anxiety evinced to know something of the
private character and domestic habits of the
great man, seemed to point out that part of his
career which alone I was worthy to describe.
Reflection whispered, that I was able to correct
the many errors afloat ; that, perhaps, I was the
only one in England, who, from having been
received into the bosom of his family, could per-
sonally speak of various circumstances and
events; and when I thought of all the affection
and kindness I had received, I began to feel
that there would be a degree of ingratitude in
remaining silent, and determined that I would,
Ba
~
As INTRODUCTION.
independent of all other publications, attempt to
lay open to the English world the noblest part
of the gifted individual — his heart.
Such is the chief purport of the present bio-
graphy; the labours of M. Cuvier speak for his
wonderful mind; and time alone can show, to
its full extent, the influence of that mind upon
science. ‘To time also must we look for an im-
partial opinion upon his political career; but it
is only for those who have lived with him to do
justice to his high moral virtues; and in the
hope that this little volume may serve, when I
have followed the illustrious subject of it to the
grave, as a basis for a more extended publica-
tion, I offer a narrative of facts.
Having thus, I trust, obviated every feeling
of disgust which accompanies all kinds of pre-
sumption, and which would, most probably, be
attached to me, were I to dare to think myself
qualified for a biographer of savants, there yet
remains something for me to say to those to
whom I am unknown; for, when an individual
starts from a private circle to give an account of
an illustrious public character, it becomes ne-
cessary to vouch for the veracity of details, and
to explain the opportunities afforded for obsery-
ation. This will be best done by a short history
INTRODUCTION, 5
of my intercourse with the Cuvier family, an
introduction to whom took place through our
mutually cherished friend, Dr. Leach, of the
British Museum.
Mr. Bowdich had returned from his second,
and I from my first, voyage to Africa, in the
year 1818, and shortly after Mr. Bowdich pro-
ceeded to Paris, where his reputation, as the
successful African traveller, was already known.
The letter of Dr. Leach was scarcely necessary
with the Baron Cuvier, who received him
with that warmth and encouragement which
always marked his conduct towards men of
talents younger than himself, that interest which.
he extended to all who were devoted to science.
Struck with the facilities afforded for study in
the French capital, Mr. Bowdich determined to
remain there some time, in order to qualify him-
self for the principal object of his ambition, a
second travel in Africa. We both accordingly
went to Paris in 1819; and from that moment
the vast library of the Baron Cuvier, his draw-
ings, his collections, were open to our purposes.
We became the intimates of the family, with
whom, for nearly four years, we were in daily
intercourse. We left France with their blessings ;
and on returning alone to Europe, I was re-
Q
BO
6 INTRODUCTION.
ceived, even as a daughter. My correspondence
with M. Cuvier’s daughter-in-law, and other
branches of the family, has been uninterrupted
since that period; I have paid them repeated
visits at their own house ; and for fourteen years
not a single shadow has passed over the warm
affection which has characterised our intimacy.
And now, having stated my motives, and my
claims to confidence, I have to express a sincere
gratitude towards those who have assisted me,
either by their notes or their works *, and to
give an outline of the plan I have thought it
necessary to adopt.
Unwilling to incur the risk of confusion, by
mingling too much anecdote, either with my
narrative of events or description of scientific
and legislative labours, I have divided the pre-
sent volume into four parts or portions, that
each may bear its own share of detail. The first
will give the data of all the important circum-
stances of the Baron Cuvier’s life, in their re-
spective order; the second will contain an
account of his various works, as a savant and
philosopher; the third will be devoted to his
* Foremost among these are, Baron Pasquier, M. Lauril-
Jord Dr. Duvernoy, and the Baron de H .
INTRODUCTION. i /
legislative career; and the fourth will be chiefly
confined to those anecdotes which will best illus-
trate his character as a man. In following this
method, I may, probably, be led into something
like repetition; but I hope I shall be excused,
if each part shall be found to contain a whole in
itself; which facilitates reference.
PARI: FE
Georce Liopotp Curitien Frepéric Daco-
BERT Cuvier was born at Montbéliard (départe-
ment du Doubs) on the twenty-third of August,
1769. This town now belongs to France, but at
that time formed a part of the kingdom of Wir-
temberg. His family came originally from a vil-
lage of the Jura, which still bears the name of
Cuvier, and settled at Montbéliard at the period
of the Reformation. ‘The grandfather of the sub-
ject of the present biography had two sons; one
became celebrated for his learning, and the
other, the father of George Cuvier, entered a
Swiss regiment then in the service of France.
Having much distinguished himself in his mili-
tary duties, he was made Chevalier de Ordre
du Meérite Militaire*, which, among the Protest-
ants, was equal to the catholic Croix de St.
* The impossibility of finding English words equivalent to
French technical terms, names of public functions, orders,
&c. obliges me, in most cases, to preserve the original
phrase.
>
i
1 §
MEMOIRS OF BARON CUVIER. 9g
Louis; and, after forty years service, he re-
tired, with a small pension, to Montbéliard,
where he was afterwards appointed commandant
of the artillery in that town. At fifty years of
age he married a young lady, gifted with much
talent and feeling, by whom he had three sons.
The eldest died while his mother was pregnant
with her second son, which event preyed so
much upon her health, that her infant, George,
came into the world with a constitution so
feeble, that his youth scarcely promised man-
hood. The cares of this excellent mother,
during the extreme delicacy of his health, left
an impression on M. Cuvier which was never.
effaced, even in his latest years, and amid the
absorbing occupations of his active life. He
cherished every circumstance connected with
her memory ; he loved to recall her kindnesses,
and to dwell upon objects, however trifling,
which reminded him of her. Among other
things, he delighted in being surrounded by
the flowers she had preferred, and whoever
placed a bouquet of red stocks in his study or
his room, was sure to be rewarded by his
most affectionate thanks for bringing him what
he called ‘the favourite flower.’’ But this
well-judging parent did not confine her cares
10 MEMOIRS OF
to his health alone ; she devoted herself equally
to the formation of his mind, and was another
proof of the influence that a mother’s early at-
tentions frequently shed over the future career
of her son. She guided him in his religious
duties, taught him to read fluently at the age of
four years, took him every morning to an ele-
mentary school, and, although herself ignorant
of Latin, so scrupulously made him repeat his
lessons to her, that he was always better pre-
pared with his tasks than any other boy at the
school. She made him draw under her own
inspection; and, by constantly furnishing him
with the best works on history and general liter-
ature, nurtured that passion for reading, that
ardent desire for knowledge, which became the
principal spring of his intellectual existence. As
he advanced in drawing, his progress was super-
intended by one of his relations, an architect in
the town of Montbéliard; and he successively .
passed through all the exercises of this first
school, repeating the usual catechisms, the
psalms of David, and the sonnets of Drelin-
court, &c., with the utmost facility. At ten
years of age he was placed in a higher school,
called the Gymnase, where, in the space of four
years, he profited by every branch of education
BARON CUVIER. 11
there taught, even including rhetoric. He had
no difficulty in acquiring Latin and Greek, and
he was constantly at the head of the classes of
history, geography, and mathematics. The his-
tory of mankind was, from the earliest period of
his life, a subject of the most indefatigable ap-
plication ; and long lists of sovereigns, princes,
and the driest chronological facts, once arranged
in his memory, were never forgotten. He also
delighted in reducing maps to a very small
scale, which, when done, were given to his com-
panions ; and his love of reading was so great,
that his mother, fearing the effect of so much
application to sedentary pursuits, frequently .
forced him to seek other employments. When
thus driven, as it were, from study, he entered
into boyish sports with equal ardour, and was
foremost in all youthful recreations. It was at
this age that his taste for natural history was
brought to light by the sight of a Gesner, with
coloured plates, in the library of the Gymnase,
and by the frequent visits which he paid at the
house of a relation who possessed a complete
copy of Buffon. Blessed with a memory that
retained every thing he saw and read, and which
never failed him in any part of his career, when
twelve years old he was as familiar with qua-
KZ MEMOIRS OF
drupeds and birds as a first-rate naturalist. He
copied the plates of the above work, and coloured
them according to the printed descriptions,
either with paint or pieces of silk. He was never
without a volume of this author in his pocket,
which was read again and again; and frequently.
he was roused from its pages to take his place
in the class repeating Cicero and Virgil. The
admiration which he felt at this youthful period
for his great predecessor never ceased, and in
public, as well as private circles, he never failed
to express it. ‘The charms of Buffon’s style, a
beauty to which M. Cuvier was very sensible,
had always afforded him the highest pleasure,
and he felt a sort of gratitude to him, not only
for the great zeal he had evinced in the cause of
natural history, not only for the enjoyment
afforded to his youthful leisure, but for the
many proselytes who had been attracted by the
magic of his language. When the student had
ripened into the great master, M. Cuvier found
me deeply absorbed by a passage of Buffon; and
he then told me what his own feelings had been
on first reading him, aud that this impression had
never been destroyed in maturer years. He had
been obliged, for the sake of science, to point
out the errors committed by this eloquent na-
BARON CUVIER. 13
turalist, but he had never lost an opportunity of
remarking and dwelling on his perfections.
At the age of fourteen we find the dawning
talents of the legislator manifesting themselves ;
and the young Cuvier then chose a certain
number of his schoolfellows, and constituted
them into an academy, of which he was ap-
pointed president. He gave the regulations,
and fixed the meetings for every Thursday, at
a stated hour, and, seated on his bed, and
placing his companions round a table, he or-
dered that some work should be read, which
treated either of natural history, philosophy,
history, or travels. The merits of the book
were then discussed, after which, the youthful
president summed up the whole, and pronounced
a sort of judgment on the matter contained in
it, which judgment was always strictly adopted
by his disciples. He was even then remarkable
for his declamatory powers, and on the anni-
versary féte of the sovereign of Montbéliard,
Duke Charles of Wiurtemberg, he composed an
oration in verse, on the prosperous state of the
principality, and delivered it fresh from his
pen, in a firm manly tone, which astonished
the whole audience. Like most of the young
people at Montbéliard, whose talents rendered
14 MEMOIRS OF
them worthy of it, and whose parents were not
possessed of fortune, he was destined for the
church. A free school had been founded for
such boys at Tubingen, where they received
a first-rate education. But the chief of the
Gymnase at Montbéliard, who had never for-
given the young Cuvier for some childish
tricks, changed his destiny by placing his com-
position in the third rank, when the pupils
presented their themes for places. George Cu-
vier felt that his production was equally good
with those which had hitherto been judged
worthy of the first rank, and at the important
moment, when his station at college depended
on his success, he was, for no conscious fault, kept
back. He became disgusted, and abandoned
all thoughts of Tubingen, to which place he
was only desirous of going as a means of pur-
suing his studies; and, frequently, in after-life,
he expressed himself most happy at the changes
which resulted from this piece of injustice.
Informed of the progress of the young Cu-
vier, and hearing the highest encomiums of him
from the Princess his sister, the Duke Charles,
uncle to the present King of Wiirtemberg,
when on a visit to Montbéliard, sent for him,
and, after having asked him several questions,
BARON CUVIER. 15
and examined his drawings, declared his inten-
tion of taking him under his special favour, and
sending him to the University of Stuttgard free
of expense, there to enter into his own Academy,
called the Académie Caroline. He was then
only fourteen, but, in consequence of the pre-
paration he had undergone at the Gymnase of
Montbéliard, he was able to take his place
among the most celebrated students of the Aca-
demy. He, at this age then, quitted the pater-
nal roof for the first time: he was sent among
strangers without having an idea of the esta-
blishment he was about to enter ; and even in his
latest years he often said, that he could not |
recall to memory this three days journey with-
out asensation of fear. He was seated between
the Chamberlain and Secretary of the Duke,
both entirely unknown to him, and who spoke
nothing but German the whole way, of which
the poor child could not understand one word.
On the 4th of May, 1784, he entered the Aca-
démie Caroline ; and during the four years he
passed there, he studied all that was taught in
the highest classes, — mathematics, law, medi-
cine, administration, tactics, commerce, &c.
After applying himself for one year to philoso-
phy, as his particular object, he then chose the
16 MEMOIRS OF
study of administration, which, in Germany,
embraces the practical and elementary parts of
law, finance, police, agriculture, technology *,
&c., and was principally led to this preference,
because it also afforded him many opportunities
of pursuing natural history, of herborising, and
of visiting collections. He, on all occasions,
enthusiastically profited by these opportunities,
for the cultivation of his darling taste; he fre-
quently read over Linnaeus, Reinhart, Mur, and
Fabricius. In his walks he collected a very
considerable herbarium ; and, during his hours of
recreation, he drew and coloured an immense
number of insects, birds, and plants, with the
most surprising correctness and fidelity, and to
which drawings he would frequently return with
pleasure, when the naturalist was perfect in his
career. But it was the same in every thing;
for that versatility of talent, which made him the
wonder of all who knew him as a man, seems to
have distinguished him in early years. He ob-
tained various prizes, and the order of Cheva-
* Technology is the theoretical part of mechanical science, ~
independent of the practical; a knowledge of which was
thought absolutely indispensable to one taking a part in ad-
ministration.
BARON CUVIER. 17
lerie *, — an honour which was only granted to
five or six out of four hundred pupils; and nine
months after his arrival at Stuttgard, he bore off
the prize for the German language.
The youthful Cuvier was destined solely to
fill the higher departments belonging to the go-
vernment of his country; but the pecuniary
embarrassments of his parents rendered it impos-
sible for him to wait two or three years, till an
opportunity of appointing him should occur to
the Duke. The disordered state of the finances
in France was so great, that even the payment
of his father’s pension had ceased, and he was
consequently forced to enter into a career wholly
different to his own wishes, or to the views of
his patron. Duke Frederick, who was governor
of Montbéliard, under his brother, Duke Charles,
retired to Germany, and in him M. Cuvier
lost one of his most able protectors ; and every
* The chevaliers dined at a separate table, and enjoyed
many advantages, as being under the immediate patronage of
the Duke. The lessons of M. Kielmeyer, afterwards called
the father of the philosophy of nature, a student much older
than himself; were of infinite service to M. Cuvier at this
time, as from him he learned to dissect, and with him, Messrs.
Pfaff, Marschall, Hartmann, &c., a society of natural history
was formed ; and he who brought the best composition to the
meetings received an order, beautifully drawn by M. Cuvier.
ic
18 MEMOIRS OF
hope of better times failing, he determined to
undertake the office of tutor, an idea in some
measure familiar to him, as Montbéliard had
long supplied instructors to the young nobles of
Russia. To Russia, however, he had no wish to
proceed, for his lungs, always delicate, were
rendered still weaker by close application to his
studies, and he sought an appointment in a more
genial climate. Such a step was deemed by his
companions, considering his already acquired
honours, his extraordinary talents, and great at-
tainments, desperate ; but he was again to prove,
that that which at first appears a severe misfortune
often becomes a stepping stone to future fame
and success; for, in a manner compelled to ac-
cept that which in every way appeared unwor-
thy of him, M. Cuvier, by so doing, laid the
foundation for the cosmopolitan honours which
attended his after years. We are now to behold
him, then, arriving at Caen in Normandy, in
July, 1788, and stationing himself in a Protestant
family for the education of the only son, and
although not quite nineteen years of age, in pos-
session of that variety and depth of knowledge
which was so soon to ripen into the great savant ;
« bringing with him from Germany that love of
labour, that depth of reflection, that persever-
BARON CUVIER. 19
ance, that uprightness of character, from which
he never swerved. To these admirable found-
ations for glory, he afterwards added that re-
markable clearness of system, that perfection
of method, that tact of giving only what is
necessary, in short, that elegant manner of sum-
ming up the whole, which particularly distin-
guishes the French writers: the whole super-
structure was completed by the most perfect
modesty, and that respect for his own esteem,
without which, talents become the medium of
traffic for the acquirement of sordid possessions.” *
Whilst with the family of the Count d’Hericy,
M. Cuvier saw all the nobility of the surround-
ing country ; he acquired the forms and manners
of the best society, and became acquainted with
some of the most remarkable men of his time.
Nor was his favourite study followed with
less ardour in consequence of finding himself
surrounded by new friends and new duties. A
long sojourn on the borders of the sea first in-
duced him to study marine animals, but, without
books, and in complete retirement, he confined
himself to the objects more immediately within
his reach. It was at this period also, (June,
* Baron Pasquier.
Cee
20) MEMOIRS OF
1791, to 1794,) that some Terebratule having
been dug up near Fécamp, the thought struck
him of comparing fossil with recent species * ;
and the casual dissection of a Calmart led him to
study the anatomy of Mollusca, which afterwards
conducted him to the developement of his great
views on the whole of the animal kingdom. It
was thus, from an obscure corner of Normandy,
that that voice was first heard, which, in a com-
paratively short space of time, filled the whole
of the civilised world with admiration, —which
was to lay before mankind so many of the
hidden wonders of creation,—which was to dis-
cover to us the relics of former ages, to change
the entire face of natural history, to regulate
and amass the treasures already acquired, and
those made known during his life; and then to
leave science on the threshold of a new epocha.
The class called Vermes by Linneus, included
all the inferior animals, and was left by him in a
state of the greatest confusion. It was by these,
* The idea of making fossil remains subservient to geo-
logy was not due to M. Cuvier alone, for several others seem
to have entertained the same views; but his pre-eminence
consisted in making use of this idea, and carrying it to an
extent far beyond the calculations of his predecessors or
contemporaries.
+ A species of Cuttle fish.
BARON CUVIER. Q1
the lowest beings in creation, that the young na-
turalist first distinguished himself: he examined
their organisation, classed them into different
groups, and arranged them according to their
natural affinities. He committed his observ-
ations and thoughts to paper, and, unknown to
himself at that time, laid the basis of that beau-
tiful fabric which he afterwards raised on zoo-
logy. He wrote concerning them, to a friend,
‘‘ These manuscripts are solely for my own use,
and, doubtless, contain nothing but what has
been done elsewhere, and better established by
the naturalists of the capital, for they have been
made without the aid of books or collections.” .
Nevertheless, almost every page of these pre-
cious manuscripts was full of new facts and en-
lightened views, which were superior to almost all
that had yet appeared. A little society met every
evening in the town of Valmont, near the cha-
teau de Fiquainville, belonging to the Count
d’Hericy, for the purpose of discussing agri-
cultural topics. M. Tessier was often present
at these meetings, who had fled from the reign
of terror in Paris, and who was concealed under
the title and office of surgeon to a regiment,
then quartered at Valmont. He spoke so well,
and seemed so entirely master of the subject,
c 3
22 MEMOIRS OF
that the young secretary of the society, M. Cu-
vier, recognised him as the author of the articles
on agriculture in the Encyclopédie Méthodique.
On saluting him as such, M. Tessier, whose
title of Abbé had rendered him suspected at
Paris, exclaimed, ‘* I am known, then, and con-
sequently lost.”’— « Lost!” replied M. Cuvier;
‘no; you are henceforth the object of our
most anxious care.” ‘This circumstance led to
an intimacy between the two; and by means of
M. Tessier*, M. Cuvier entered into corre-
spondence with several savans, to whom he sent
his observations, especially Laméthrie, Olivier,
De la Cépéde, Geoffroy St. Hilaire, and Millin
de Grand Maison. ‘Through their influence,
and from the memoirs published in several
learned journals, he was called to Paris, where
endeavours were making to re-establish the lite-
rary institutions, overthrown by the Revolution,
and where it was reasonable to suppose that
he would find the means of placing himself.
In the spring of 1795, he obeyed the invitation
* « Je viens de trouver une perle dans le fumier de Nor-
mandie,”—“ I have just founda pearl in the dunghill of Nor-
mandy,”— wrote M. Tessier to his friend M. Parmentier ;
thus detecting the great naturalist in M. Cuvier’s earliest
productions, and appreciating what were then but the germs
of his talent.
BARON CUVIER. 293
of his Parisian friends, and, by the influence of
M. Millin, was appointed membre de la Commis-
sion des Arts, and, a short time after, professor
at the central school of the Panthéon. For this
school he composed his ‘ Tableau élémentaire
de l’Histoire naturelle des Animaux;” which
work contained the first methodical writing on
the class Vermes that had been given to the
world. His great desire, however, was to be
attached to the Museum of Natural History, the
collections in which could alone enable him to
realise his scientific views. A short time after his
arrival in the capital, M. Mertrud was appointed
to the newly-created chair of comparative ana-_
tomy at the Jardin des Plantes, and finding
himself too far advanced in years to follow a
study which had hitherto been foreign to his
pursuits, consented, at the request of his col-
leagues, particularly MM. de Jussieu, Geoffroy,
and De la Ceépéde, to associate M. Cuvier with
him in his duties. ‘This association was exactly
what M. Cuvier was desirous of obtaining; and
no sooner was he settled in the Jardin des
Plantes, as the assistant of M. Mertrud, July,
1795, than he sent for his father, then nearly
eighty years of age, and his brother, M. Fre-
deric Cuvier; his mother he had unfortunately
c 4
24, MEMOIRS OF
lost in 1793. From the moment of his instal-
lation in this new office, M. Cuvier commenced
that magnificent collection of comparative ana-
tomy which is now so generally celebrated. In
the lumber-room of the museum were four or
five old skeletons, collected by M. Daubenton,
and piled up there by M. de Buffon. ‘Taking
these, as it were, for the foundation, he unceas-
ingly pursued his object; and, aided by some
professors, opposed by others, he soon gave it
such a degree of importance that no further
obstacle could be raised against its progress.
No other pursuit, no relaxation, no absence, no
legislative duties, no sorrow, no illness, ever
turned him from this great purpose, and created
by him, it now remains one of the noblest monu-
ments to his memory.*
The National Institute was created in 1796;
and M. Cuvier, although only known by his
scientific papers, and his intimacy with learned
men, especially De la Cépéde and Daubenton,
was made one of its first members, and was the
* It was of this collection that he said, when asked if he
should ever consider himself rich in it, “ Quelque riche qu’on
en soit, on en désire toujours.” (However rich we may be,
we always wish for more.)
BARON CUVIER. 25
third secretary, appointed at a time when these
secretaries quitted their office every two years.
In the spring of 1798, M. Berthollet having
been charged by Buonaparte to seek for savans
to accompany the expedition to Egypt, proposed
to M. Cuvier to form one of the number. ‘This,
however, he refused, from the conviction, that he
could better serve the interests of science by re-
maining amid the daily improving collections of
the Jardin, where his labours could be syste-
matic, than by making even a successful travel.
He always felt happy afterwards in having thus
decided ; the propriety of which resolution no
one can attempt to dispute. .
About this time, one of M. Cuvier’s pupils,
M. Dumeril, who had zealously followed all his
lectures, asked permission to publish the notes
he had taken in the lecture room. These, in
M. Cuvier’s opinion, would have formed a very
imperfect work, and he preferred going over the
whole again, devoting himself to the general and
philosophical notices, and those parts which
treated of the brain and the organs of the
senses. M. Dumeril chiefly undertook the de-
tails of myology and nevrology. The two first
volumes of the ‘“¢ Legons d’ Anatomie comparée”
appeared in 1800, and met with the greatest
26 MEMOIRS OF
success, notwithstanding a few errors, which.
were afterwards corrected and acknowledged by
M. Cuvier, who, in common with all those who
prefer the interests of science to their own mo-
mentary fame, and with the candour which
always marks real learning, never hesitated
either to avow or to rectify a fault, a perfection
which mingled with his private as well as public
actions. ‘The materials for these lectures were
supplied by a collection, then in its infancy,
and which was increased an hundredtold by him-
self; and those who have criticised these early
volumes, have been obliged to confess, that
the means of doing so were given to them by
the author himself, who threw every thing
open to them, even were it to convict him
of those unavoidable mistakes to which he had
been liable, from the then imperfect state of
the collection. The three last volumes of this
work were much more complete and methodical
than the first two, and were edited under the
inspection of Dr. Duvernoy (another of M.
Cuvier’s pupils), in the year 1805, though the
second, notwithstanding its inaccuracies, was
always considered by M. Cuvier as the most in-
teresting of the whole.
But to return to the year 1800, when the ce-
lebrated colleague otf M. de Buffon died, at a
BARON CUVIER. ar
very advanced age, M. Cuvier was named pro-
fessor in his place, at the Collége de France,
where he taught natural philosophy, at the same
time that he lectured on comparative anatomy
at the Jardin.* On succeeding to this chair he
resigned that of the central school of the Pan-
théon. Alsoin 1800, Buonaparte, who, as First
Consul, aspired to civil as well as military glory,
* An estimate of the pecuniary advantages then attending
the career of a savant, may be gathered from the following
letter, written by M. Cuvier, in answer to one from the late
M. Hermann.
«« My dear and learned confrére, (1800.)
“ You are not to suppose that Paris is so highly favoured ;
for twelve months pay are now due at the Jardin des -
Plantes, and all the national establishments for public in-
struction, in Paris as well as at Strasburgh ; and if we envy
the elephants, it is not because they are better paid than we
are, but because, while living on credit, as we do, they are
not aware of it, and, consequently, are insensible to the pain
it gives. You know the saying about the French, that when
they have no money they sing. We savans, who are not
musicians, work at our sciences instead of singing, which
comes to the same thing. Believe me, my dear confrére,
this French philosophy is better than that of Wolff, or even
that of Kant; and you are even more able to profit by it
than we are, for you can still purchase beautiful books, and
even artificial anatomy, which are objects of luxury in their
way. Ihave not yet read Poli, and defer this study till the
time when I publish my anatomical history of animals with
white blood. ‘There is, as yet, but one copy of it in Paris, as
T am informed ; and thus you see we offer nothing which can
excite your envy.”
28 MEMOIRS OF
caused himself to be appointed president of the
Institute, and, in consequence, held direct com-
munication with M.Cuvier. In 1802 he ap-
pointed him one of the six inspectors-general
ordered to establish Lycées* in thirty towns of
France. In this capacity M. Cuvier founded
those of Marseilles, Nice, and Bordeaux, which
are now called royal colleges ; and while thus
employed at Marseilles, he profited by the op-
portunity so afforded him of continuing his
studies on marine animals. During his absence
from Paris, the Institute underwent a change
of form, and its secretaryships were made
perpetual. t M. Cuvier was elected to that
of natural sciences, which he held with ho-
nour to the day of his death. On this ap-
* Lycées are public schools, under the management and
direction of the government. The pupils who frequent
them pay a small sum, which sum is appropriated to the use
of the school. The professors receive their salaries from the
government, which reserves to itself a right to nominate a
certain number of pupils entirely gratis. The private
schools are always established near one of these Lycées, as
the pupils of these are obliged to attend there for a certain
number of hours every day.
+ Napoleon fixed the salary of the perpetual secretaries of
the Institute at 6000 francs; and on its being observed to
him that it was too much, he replied, “ The perpetual
secretary must be enabled to receive at dinner all the
learned foreigners who visit the capital.”
BARON CUVIER. 29
pointment he quitted his labours of inspector-
general of education.
A fall having occasioned the death of M.
Cuvier’s father, shortly after his arrival in Paris,
and his brother’s wife having died the first year
of her marriage, in giving birth to a son*, the
two brothers remained alone ; and it was in this
comparatively solitary condition that M. Cuvier
thought of seeking a companion. In 1803 he mar-
ried the widow of M. Duvaucel, Fermier General,
who had perished on the scaffold in the year
1794. This was no match of interest; for
Madame Duvaucel had been wholly deprived of
fortune by the Revolution, and brought four.
children + to M. Cuvier, whom she had borne to
* M. Frederic Cuvier is now keeper of the ménagerie of
the Jardin des Plantes, in which capacity his observations on
the instinct, habits, and dentition of animals have been
highly valuable. He is the author of several learned works
on these subjects, is member of the Institute, one of the in-
spectors-general of education, &c. &c.; but all these titles to
public consideration are nothing in comparison to the admir-
able qualities of his heart and temper. The distinguished
talents of the son thus bequeathed to him will at least bear
the illustrious name of Cuvier one generation further with
honour.
+ Two of these children are dead, one of them having
been assassinated in Portugal during the retreat of the
French in 1809. The other fell a victim to his scientific
zeal in a pernicious climate ; and after having displayed great
30 MEMOIRS OF
M. Duvaucel. But well had M. Cuvier judged
of the best means of securing domestic enjoy-
ment; for this lady, who is a rare combination
of mind, manner, and disposition, threw a bright
halo of happiness round him, which was his sup-
port in suffering, his refuge in trouble, and a
powerful auxiliary, when his heavy and import-
ant duties allowed him to steal an hour of ra-
tional and unrestrained conversation. By this
marriage he had four children, the first of whom,
a son, died a few weeks after his birth, and who
were all successively taken from him.
In 1808, in his character of Perpetual Secre-
tary, M. Cuvier wrote a Report on the Progress
of Natural Sciences, from the year 1789. A
mere report was demanded; but under this title
the learned author produced one of the most
luminous treatises that had ever appeared,
talent and courage, while travelling in India and the neigh-
bouring islands for four years, in order to make collec-
tions for the museum in Paris, expired at Madras, at an
early age, lamented by all as a youth of great promise, and
the most endearing qualities. One of the survivors holds a
high place in the customs of Bordeaux ; and the other, who
has been loved and cherished by M. Cuvier as his own
daughter, has had the happiness of devoting herself to him
in his last moments, and now forms the sole consolation of
her afflicted mother.
BARON CUVIER. Sit
“serving as a beacon to the path which had
already been traversed, and to that which was
yet to be pursued.”* The Report was formally
presented to the Emperor in the council of
state. In this same year, when Napoleon cre-
ated the Imperial University, M. Cuvier was
made one of the counsellors for life to this body,
which brought him constantly into the imme-
diate presence of the Emperor.
In 1809 and 1810, in his office of Counsellor
to the University, M. Cuvier was charged with
the organisation of the academies of those Ita-
lian states which were, for a time, annexed to
the empire. The regulations made by him at
Turin, Genoa, and Pisa, were afterwards con-
tinued by the sovereigns of these countries on
their return to their dominions,
In 1811 appeared one of the most important
of all M. Cuvier’s scientific labours, —his work
on Fossil, Remains; which opened new sources
of wonder in the history of creation, and made
an entire revolution in the study of geology.
Also, in 1811, he was ordered to form aca-
demies in Holland and the Hanseatic towns,
* Baron Pasquier.
32 MEMOIRS OF
where several of his arrangements are still ex-
isting. His Reports from Holland are parti-
cularly worthy of admiration; for in them he
exposed the true causes of the inferiority of
that country in classical attainment, and showed,
that the disgust often felt by the pupils, arose
from their not having enough given to their
minds to feed upon. The schools for the people
attracted his attention in all countries, and were
to him an unceasing theme of meditation.
While at Hamburgh, M. Cuvier received the
unsolicited title of Chevalier from the Emperor,
which rank was assured to his heirs. However,
the hope of transmitting his worldly honours to
his posterity was soon to be destroyed ; for, after
being deprived of a daughter, four years old, in
1812, he was, in 1813, bereaved of his son, who
was seven years of age. ‘This last loss made a
deep impression on him, which was never en-
tirely effaced ; and even after the lapse of years
he never saw a boy of that age without con-
siderable emotion, a feeling which he did not
strive to hide from his own family, or those
with whom he was intimate; and often, when
walking with his daughters, he would stop be-
fore a group of boys, who, as they played, re-
BARON CUVIER. 33
minded him of his child.* This misfortune
happened while M. Cuvier was fulfilling a mis-
sion at Rome, for the purpose of organising the
university there. It was remarkable enough,
that a Protestant should hold this office in the
metropolis of the Papal dominions, but the mo-
deration and benignity of M. Cuvier knew how
to soften inconsistencies; his tolerance for all
sincere doctrines of religion proceeded from
conscientious motives, and therefore he was not
likely to revolt the creed of those among whom
he mingled. While thus employed at Rome,
Napoleon, from his own personal feeling, ap-
pointed him Maitre des Requétes in the Council
of State, of which honour he was first informed
by the Moniteur. The contact into which he
was constantly brought with the Emperor, in
his office of Counsellor to the University, the
intimate knowledge which his sovereign had
thus acquired of his administrative talents,
united to the favourable representations of the
Grand Master, Fontanes, were supposed to be
* So late as 1830, when M. Cuvier visited this country, I
took my son to see him at the hotel where he was staying,
forgetting the effect it was likely to produce ; and I shall for
ever remember the pause he made before him, and the
melancholy tenderness with which he laid his hand on the
head of the boy.
1)
34 MEMOIRS OF
the causes of this marked distinction. ‘Towards
the end of this year (1813) he was further em-
ployed by Napoleon, in a manner that showed
the estimate he had made of his character. He
appointed him Commissaire Impérial extraor-
dinaire, and sent him on the difficult mission
of endeavouring to raise the people inhabiting
the left bank of the Rhine in favour of France,
(their new country) against the invading troops
then marching against her. M. Cuvier was
ordered to Mayence; but he was stopped at
Nancy, by the entrance of the allied armies,
and obliged to return.
The events of 1814 happened at the moment
when the Emperor had bestowed on him a still
more honourable mark of his favour, by making
him Counsellor of State. A delay of only a few
months, however, took place in his final esta-
blishment in the council; for Louis X VIII., who
was very sensible to intellectual merit, again
conferred this dignity on him, and, in the Sep-
tember of the same year, first employed him in
the temporary office of Commissaire du Roi.
These favours were, in some measure, to be at-
tributed to an introduction to the Abbé de Mon-
tesquion, then minister, by means of MM. Royer
Collard, Becquey, de Talleyrand, and Louis,
BARON CUVIER. 35
who were well acquainted with the Abbé, and
who, by their presentation, gave him an oppor-
tunity of profiting by the merits of M. Cuvier.
The return of Napoleon for a while banished
the new counsellor from his dignity, but he was
retained by the Emperor in the Imperial Uni-
versity. After the hurricane of the Hundred
Days it became necessary to remodel both the
Royal and Imperial Universities, and a_pro-
visional superintendence was deemed necessary.
A committee of public instruction was created
to exercise the powers formerly belonging to
the grand master, the council, the chancellor,
and the treasurer of the University. M. Cu-
vier made a part of this committee, and was at
once appointed to the chancellorship, which
office he retained till his death, under the most
difficult circumstances, in the midst of the most
opposite prejudices, and notwithstanding the
most inveterate resistance offered to him as a
Protestant. ‘The jesuitical tendency of those in
power augmented the difficulties that a wise and
disinterested man must at all times meet with,
in trying to do good, and to prevent evil ; but
when that man was of a different religion, it may
easily be imagined in how delicate a situation
he must have been often placed, and how greatly
p 2
ro
36 MEMOIRS OF
his religious faith must have increased the ob-
stacles he had to encounter. ‘To those unac-
quainted with the early part of M. Cuvier’s
career, it would seem extraordinary, that all
these high functions should be conferred on a
naturalist by profession, but it should be con-
sidered, that he only thus pursued his original
destination, out of which he had been thrown
by political events; that he had only changed
his master, and become counsellor of state to a
great king instead of a petty prince. From
this period he took a very active part, not pre-
cisely in political measures, properly so called,
from which he by choice withdrew himself as
much as possible, but in projects for laws, and
every sort of administration, which especially
belonged to the Committee of the Interior at-
tached to the Council of State. He was also,
generally speaking, the Commissaire du Roi,
appointed for defending the new or ameliorated
laws before the two Chambers.
During the first years of the restoration of
the Bourbons, M. Cuvier was twice offered the
directorship for life of the Museum of Natural
History, but he persisted in refusing it, from the
conviction that it was much more favourable to
the advancement of science, that this establish-
BARON CUVIER. 37
ment should continue under that form of admi-
nistration, which necessitated the election of a
yearly director, chosen by the professors, and
appointed according to their vote. A second
edition of the Fossil Remains was published in
1817, the preliminary discourse of which under-
went several more editions. The Régne Ani-
mal was also brought out in this year, which
classed every branch of zoology according to its
organisation. In 1818 M. Cuvier made a jour-
ney to England with his family and his secre-
tary, the excellent M. Laurillard, and where he
remained about six weeks, visiting every thing
worthy of notice in London. His remark to
his Majesty George IV. concerning our na-
tural history was, that if the private collections
could be amassed into one, they would form a
great national museum, which would surpass
every other. At this period the election for
Westminster was going forward, and he fre-
quently dwelt on the amusement he had _ re-
ceived from being on the hustings every day.
These orgies of liberty were then unknown in
France, and it was a curious spectacle for a man
who reflected so deeply on every thing which
passed before him, to see and hear our orators
crying out at the tops of their voices to the
Q
Do
38 MEMOIRS OF
mob, who pelted them with mud, cabbages, eggs,
&c.; and Sir Murray Maxwell, in his splendid
uniform, and decorated with orders, flattering
the crowd, who reviled him, and sent at his
head all the varieties of the vegetable kingdom.
Nothing ever effaced this impression from M.
Cuvier’s memory, who frequently described the
scene with great animation.
M. Cuvier had two objects in visiting Eng-
land, one of which was, to observe, on the spot,
the influence of our constitutional government,
which was only known to him in theory. He
conversed with several of our political cha-
racters, he saw every thing which marked the
application of our system upon mankind, and
took back with him to France clear and precise
ideas, by which he well knew how to profit in
his future labours. It was frequently a matter
of great astonishment to my countrymen to find
him so well acquainted with our institutions,
even to the details of their expenses, the period
of their formation, and the changes they had
undergone. ‘The other, and the great object of
M. Cuvier’s excursion, was of a scientific nature ;
and it is with pleasure I add, that he always
spoke of his reception here with gratitude. ‘The
facilities afforded him both by our savants and
BARON CUVIER. 39
our statesmen, the confidential communications
he received, and the manner in which all was
laid open to him, were frequently a source of
happy recollection, which was as often expressed.
Some days of the period of his sojourn in Eng-
land were passed at Oxford, whither he was
accompanied by his valued friend, Dr. Leach of
the British Museum, who was his incessant cha-
peron in this country; he returned from thence
perfectly enchanted with the city and its great
objects of interest, and with the distinction
which attended his reception there. His wife
and daughters met him at Windsor, and, after
passing the day in visiting the castle, park, &c.,_
they proceeded, late in the evening, to the
house of Sir William Herschel, who received
them with the utmost kindness, and showed
them his great telescope, though the night was
too dark to profit much by this famous instru-
ment. Another visit paid by M. Cuvier was
often alluded to by him with pleasure; it was
to Sir Joseph Banks’s house at Spring Grove:
he had often been to see him in Soho Square,
but the entertainment given to the whole party
at Spring Grove resembled a féte champétre.
The only thing to which M. Cuvier could not
dD 4
4.0 MEMOIRS OF
reconcile himself in England was, the formality
and length of our great dinners, the long sit-
tings after which were always mentioned by
him with an expression of ennui, even in his
countenance. At one of these sittings, at Sir
Everard Home’s, the conversation turned upon
some political question. In the course of the dis-
cussion M. Cuvier said, —“ But it would be very
easy to clear up this point, if Sir Everard would
send to his library for the first volume of Black-
stone’s Commentaries.” Upon this Sir Everard,
with great emphasis, exclaimed, “ Know, Mon-
sieur, that I have not such a book in my library,
which, thank God, only contains works of sci-
ence.’ To this M. Cuvier quietly replied,
«The one does not prevent the other;” but
never could recollect this, to him extraordinary
boast, without a mixture of amusement and
astonishment. While in England, M. Cuvier
was appointed to the Académie I'rangaise,
chiefly in consequence of the brilliant éloges
he had read in the Academy of Sciences on its
deceased members. His discourse upon his re-
ception is a beautiful instance of his classical
style of writing. Towards the end of 1818 he
was offered the Ministry of the Interior, but the
political conditions attached to it being such as
BARON CUVIER. 41
he could not conscientiously accept, he declined
the honour.
In 1819 M. Cuvier was appointed President
of the Comité de lIntérieur, belonging to the
Council of State, an office which he held under
all changes of ministry ; because, notwithstand-
ing its importance, it is beyond the reach of po-
litical intrigue, and only demands order, unre-
mitting activity, strict impartiality, and an exact
knowledge of the laws and principles of admi-
nistration. In this same year, Louis XVIII.,
as a mark of personal esteem, created him a
Baron*, and repeatedly summoned him to assist
in the cabinet councils.
Twice had M. Cuvier held the office of Grand
Master of the University, when the place could
not conveniently be filled up, but he never re-
ceived the emoluments of it; and, in 1822, when
a Catholic bishop was raised to this dignity, he
accepted the Grand Mastership of the Faculties
of Protestant Theology ; on assuming which, he
made conditions, that he should not receive any
* A week after M. Cuvier received this title he went to
the theatre, and in the course of the evening one of the
actors exclaimed, in his part, “ and for all these services, the
King has only created him a Baron.” The audience gaily
applied the sentence to M. Cuvier, who was as much
amused as any of them at the coincidence.
42 MEMOIRS OF
pecuniary reward. ‘This appointment associated
him with the ministry, and gave him the super-
intendence, not only of the religious, but the civil
and political rights of his own creed, and ceased
only with his life, although the Grand Masters
were afterwards laymen.
In 1824, M. Cuvier officiated, as one of the
Presidents of the Council of State, at the coro-
nation of Charles X.; and, in 1826, received from
that monarch the decoration of Grand Officer
de la Légion @’Honneur. On the Saturday he
knew nothing of this compliment, and on Sunday
it arrived, without, however, disturbing him from
the delighted survey he was taking, with his
daughter-in-law, of some alterations just made
in his house. At this time also, his former sove-
reign, the King of Wirtemburg, appointed him
Commander of his Order of the Crown.
In 1827, to M. Cuvier’s Protestant Grand
Mastership was added the management of all
the affairs belonging to the different religions in
France, except the Catholic, in the Cabinet of
the Interior, for which increase of his duties he
also refused to accept any emolument. But this
year was marked with the heaviest calamity the
Baron Cuvier had yet sustained, the loss of
his only remaining child; a pious, talented,
Q
BARON CUVIER. AS
beautiful young woman of twenty-two, on the
eve of marriage, and whose bridal chaplet
mingled with the funeral wreath on her bier.
Lovely in every action, lovely in person and
manner, and rich in her attainments, no question
ever arose as to who did or did not admire
Clementine Cuvier; she unconsciously com-
manded universal homage, and secured its conti-
nuance by her lowliness of heart and her un-
failing charity. ‘The daughter was worthy of
the father: it may be imagined, then, how that
father loved her, and how heavy was the visit-
ation. But M. Cuvier, with that high sense of
duty which had always distinguished him, felt.
that he lived for others, and that he had no right
to sink under the heavy load of grief imposed on
him. With the energy that might be expected
from such a character, he sought relief’ in his
duties; and although many a new furrow ap-
peared on his cheek ; although his beautiful hair
rapidly changed to silvery whiteness; though
the attentive observer might catch the suppressed
sigh, and the melancholy expression of the up-
lifted eye, no one of his important offices re-
mained neglected ; his scientific devotion even
increased ; his numerous protégés received the
same fostering care, and he welcomed strangers
4A MEMOIRS OF
to his house with his wonted urbanity. It has
been related by an eye-witness, that, at the first
sitting of the Comité de l’Intérieur at which
M. Cuvier presided after this event, and from
which he had absented himself two months, he
resumed the chair with a firm and placid expres-
sion of countenance; he listened attentively to
all the discussions of those present; but when it
became his turn to speak, and sum up all that
had passed, his firmness abandoned him, and his
first words were interrupted by tears; the great
legislator gave way to the bereaved father; he
bowed his head, covered his face with his hands,
and was heard to sob bitterly. A respectful and
profound silence reigned through the whole as-
sembly ; all present had known Clementine, and
therefore all could understand and excuse this
deep emotion. At length M. Cuvier raised his
head, and uttered these few simple words : ~
‘* Pardon me, gentlemen; I was a father, and I
have lost all ;”
then, with a violent effort, he
resumed the business of the day with his usual
perspicuity, and pronounced judgment with his
ordinary calmness and justice.
In the following year (1828) appeared the
first ofa series of twenty volumes on Ichthyology,
a magnificent work, accompanied by the most
BARON CUVIER. 45
exquisite plates. In 1829, a second edition of
the Régne Animal was published; and it is
scarcely possible to imagine any thing finer than
the force of that mind, which could thus seek
for solace under the deepest affliction. These
works were in progress long before the death of
Mademoiselle Cuvier, and, we may safely suppose,
were not much retarded by that grievous event.
What was the state of the father’s mind during
the time of her illness, may be gathered from
a letter, published in the second part of this
volume.
The year 1830 saw the Baron Cuvier again
in the lecturing chair at the Collége de France,
where he opened a course on the History and
Progress of Science in all Ages, and which was
continued till the close of his earthly labours.
In the same year he paid a second visit to
England, and happened to be in London when
the last revolution in France took place. He
had long contemplated this visit, being desirous
of personally inspecting some of the scientific
treasures of this country; but a long delay
(even after his congé was obtained) took place,
owing to the death of the learned Baron Four-
rier, the other secretary to the Académie des
Sciences, whose duties fell on M. Cuvier till a
4.6 MEMOIRS OF
successor could be appointed. On the public-
ation of the famous ordonnances of Charles X.
and his ministers, an universal silence in public
was observed, as if the first person who ventured
to talk about them, was to set fire to a train of
gunpowder. Even M. Cuvier, though so clear-
sighted on other occasions, was completely taken
by surprise in this instance, and partook of the
general opinion, that ‘ this stroke of policy on
the part of the state would lead to a lengthened
resistance of taxes, and to partial disturbances,
but not to any violent crisis ; ”
so many others were, by the profound tranquil-
lity which reigned in every part of the capital,
he started for England on the appointed day.
Five hours after his carriage had passed the bar-
rier the firmg commenced in Paris, and he and
and deceived, as
his daughter-in-law quietly pursued their route
by easy stages. They were overtaken on the
road near Boulogne by the flying English, who
gave them vague reports, and they pressed on to
meet their letters at Calais. There, after two
days of the deepest anxiety, during which time
they formed twenty projects for immediate re-
turn, and were as often retained by the certainty
of not being able to re-enter Paris, or even pro-
ceed on the road back, with passports dated in
BARON CUVIER. 47
the month of May, and leave of absence signed
by the hand of Charles X., they at once received
the details of the Revolution, and of the restor-
ation to peace. The power of asking leave of
absence, under such an accumulation of duties
as M. Cuvier’s, was so rare, his time was so pre-
cious to himself, and the assurances of perfect
tranquillity in Paris, combined with the safety of
those whom they loved, were so decided, that
he and Mademoiselle Duvaucel determined on
proceeding to England. Instead, however, of
making a stay of six weeks, as they had at first
intended, they returned in a fortnight; and to
the happiness of those around him, M. Cuvier
found himself, even under the government of
the citizen king, in possession of all his honours,
his dignities, and his important functions.
In 1832 Baron Cuvier was made, by order of
Louis-Philippe, a peer of France, and the ap-
pointment of President to the entire Council of
State only waited for the royal signature, when,
on the 13th of May, of the same date, the noble
being closed his earthly career.
48
PART II.
TuaT portion of my work which now lies before
me has a grandeur and extent of subject which
none but the life of M. Cuvier could present,
and though I have confined myself to a mere
description of his scientific labours, it will, in
size, exceed all the others. But thus to follow
him through this part of his vast career, thus to
show him in the light of a savant, is no easy
task; for, though a simple catalogue of his pub-
lications might have astonished by its length, it
would have been very inadequate to my pur-
pose. I have therefore attempted to carry my
readers through each undertaking, by giving the
outline of every plan, its purport, and its mode
of execution; citing M. Cuvier’s own senti-
ments and reflections in order to confirm that
which is set forth, and occasionally giving even
his own words, as examples of that style which
was part of himself: I have also deemed it ad-
visable to point out, in as brief a manner as pos-
sible, the state of natural history at the time he
appeared, that a better estimate may be formed
BARON CUVIER. 49
of the important revolutions which he either
completed, or for which he laid the foundation.
Notwithstanding the great endeavours made
in the earlier part of the seventeenth century
towards the progress of natural history, as a
science, there yet remained, when M. Cuvier
first entered the learned world, as much to
be done as had been effected since the revival
of letters. The perfect form in which plants
can be preserved with comparatively little
trouble, the small expense at which they can be
procured, and the narrow compass in which col-
lections can be contained, gave them great ad-
vantages over other branches of natural history.
Accordingly, we find that Botany had most
profited by the exertions of several illustrious
naturalists; it had even assumed that grouping,
according to general organisation and structure,
which is called the natural system ; but Zoology,
from the greater difficulties which the study of
it presents, was, comparatively speaking, in a
much less advanced state. On looking back to
the history of this science from the beginning,
we shall see three great names, the possessors of
which caused the most important revolutions,
who gave fresh impulse towards its perfection,
and who have been the oracles of the civilised
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50 MEMOIRS OF
world. ‘To be able to mark the differences of
one being from another is the foundation of this
science; the great number of these beings ne-
cessitates classification, in order to assist the
memory, and facilitate a perfect comprehension
of their nature and properties, and the part they
perform in creation. ‘To Aristotle belongs the
honour of the first epoch, by having invented
the true method, that alone which can be per-
manent, as it is founded upon organisation, and
is the result of personal observation. The
writers after him, till the northern barbarians
for a time buried all letters in obscurity, con-
tented themselves with copying what he had
done from one work into another, and by no
means followed his example of seeing and jude-
ing for themselves. During the middle ages,
now and then an enlightened monk, for a mo-
ment, threw a glimmering light over some
branch of animated nature, and the first revival
of learning presents us with many able efforts in
this department of science. At length Linnaeus
appeared, and formed the second era. He as-
sembled all known living beings together, and
classed them according to the mass which he
thus brought before him, selecting one or two
individual characters as the foundation of his
.
BARON CUVIER. ol
clear and simple system, and by this, and by his
ingenious binary nomenclature, not only accom-
plished the great object of natural history, which
is to make us acquainted with the beings them-
selves, but by thus collecting them together,
greatly contributed to our knowledge of their
affinities. It was easy to be seen, however, that
in proportion as our knowledge of nature in-
creased, this artificial classification would scatter
so many groups that were intended to remain
united among themselves, that it would be
found insufficient for the enlarged scale which
the discoveries of every year presented to us.
The Systema Nature then of Linneeus became
a mere sketch of what was to be done after-
wards; even more recent naturalists touched
with a timid hand upon the natural grouping of
the highest branches of the science, and it was
reserved for a mighty genius of our own time to
open the path to us, and to smooth the diffi-
culties of that path, by precisely determining
the limits of the great divisions, by exactly
defining the lesser groups, by placing them all
according to the invariable characters of their
internal structure, and by ridding them of the
accumulations of synonymes and _ absurdities
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52 MEMOIRS OF
which ignorance, want of method, or fertility of
imagination had heaped upon them.
Gifted with natural powers beyond the com-
mon lot of mortality, guided in earliest youth
by a sensible and rightly judging parent, and
prepared by an excellent German education,
M. Cuvier was still further aided by a circum-
stance which, at first sight, seemed to be an
obstacle to his progress. Almost excluded from
the society of first-rate naturalists, and deprived,
by the distracted state of France, of access to
first-rate books, he was driven to nature herself;
and as she, in her most minute operations,
carries into execution that beautiful order and
perfection which distinguishes her larger pro-
ductions, so, to talents like those of M. Cuvier,
did the study of the most insignificant animals
open a vast field for future research and inves-
tigation, His mind was peculiarly calculated to
embrace the great whole which a mass of details
offers; at the same time he knew, that by an
intimate and accurate knowledge of these de-
tails alone could he realise the comprehensive
views which, even in his first studies, filled his
great mind. He was of opinion, that every
branch of science was to be rendered important
if studied properly; no one, therefore, set a
a ee le ,hlUh ee
BARON CUVIER. TS
higher value on minutiae, at the same time he was
never once seen to lose himself in the intricacies
and minor considerations attached to these mi-
nutia. Kvery research, no matter how humble,
how insignificant it might appear to the eyes of
others, was by him converted to the furtherance
of his great objects, the discovery and just ap-
preciation of the truth.
The anatomical labours of M. Cuvier tended
to determine the physical functions of every
animal, of each part of each animal, and to as-
sign to the animal itself its place in the series of
beings ; to prove, that as each of the parts of
an organised being has a function to perform, so ~
does each being play its part in nature, acting
on all that surrounds it, and contributing to
form that whole in our planet, which excites the
wonder and admiration of all enquirers ; a whole
which, perhaps, takes its station in the parts of
a still wider expanse, into which we cannot pe-
netrate. “ All is linked together,” said M.
Cuvier, speaking of creation, ‘all is dependent,
all existence is chained to other existence, and
that chain which connects them, and of which
we can only see some comparatively insignificant
portions, is infinite in extent, space, and time.”
He believed that all things in this world were
54 MEMOIRS OF
made for some express purpose; he believed
that all was due to one Supreme Intelligence,
which had provided organs for fulfilling the
ends for which all things were created. His
method resembled that of Aristotle, Bacon, and
Newton, for it was that of observation and ex-
perience, and, like them, he felt that no general
formula could be founded, no general principle
could be established, without a vast assemblage
of facts. He not only rejected all theories which
were not thus founded, from a conviction that
they led the mind astray from real observation,
but he carefully abstained from encouraging
any system which resulted from the discovery
of only a small number of facts; believing that
systems so based led their followers solely to
study those facts which were favourable to their
own peculiar views.
These were the broad principles which M.
Cuvier applied to every branch of human know-
ledge; for, like the Greek philosopher, he was
not ignorant of any thing, not even excepting
the mathematical sciences, of which he under-
stood the foundation and machinery as if he
had studied them in the character of a profes-
sor. That same intelligence, also, which com-
prehended the form and organisation of the
BARON CUVIER. HAYS)
beings of the present and former world, had
penetrated into the organisation of political
bodies, and perfectly appreciated their springs
of action, their strength, and their weaknesses.
Thus gifted, thus instructed, M. Cuvier un-
consciously became a central point, round which
the scientific and learned of every class sooner
or later rallied. He was the kind and equitable
oracle of savans of all countries ; for, wholly di-
vested of national prejudices, and delighting to
dwell on that which was noble in all mankind,
he was never, for an instant, obscured by party
spirit, and was wholly unconscious of that su-
percilious feeling of superiority, which is so
hurtful to the progress of its possessor, and also
to the progress of others.
The earliest of M. Cuvier’s scientific labours
were directed towards Entomology, and in them
we behold the dawning efforts of his genius,
the foundation of that minute and detailed ob-
servation which so particularly distinguished all
his researches, and of which I am about to give
rather a lengthened description, in order to
show that he commenced the task before him
in a way that necessarily led to the perfection
he afterwards attained. He has been heard
to observe, that the wonderful things he met
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56 MEMOIRS OF
with in the organisation of insects raised his
genius to elevated thoughts ; and such was his
opinion of Entomology in later life, that he as-
serted, ‘‘If I had not studied insects from
choice when I was at college, I should have
done so later, from a conviction of its necessity.”
An anecdote is related of him by M. Audouin*,
in his Discourse, read at the Entomological So-
ciety of Paris, which proves still further the
value he set upon such pursuits. A young
student of medicine came to him one day, and
ventured to tell him, that he had discovered
something new and remarkable in dissecting a
human subject.‘ Are you an Entomologist?”
asked M. Cuvier. —* No,”’ replied the student.
—‘ Well, then,” returned M. Cuvier, ‘“ go and
anatomise an insect, I care not which, the
largest you can find, then re-consider your ob-
servation, and if it appear to be correct, I will
believe you on your word.” The young man
submitted cheerfully to the proof; and soon
after, having acquired more skill and more
judgment, went again to M. Cuvier, to thank
him for his advice, and, at the same time, to
* Professor of Entomology at the Jardin des” Plantes,
having succeeded to the chair recently vacated by the death
of M. Latreille.
BARON CUVIER. sy ¢
confess his error. ‘* You see,”’ said M. Cuvier,
smiling, ‘* that my touchstone was a good one.”
In another part of this work I shall have
occasion to speak of the Entomological draw-
ings of M. Cuvier, but this is the place to show
to what extent he carried these youthful re-
searches. Several fragments and memoirs, from
his pen, exist on this subject ; and among them
is a paper, written in Latin, at the age of twen-
ty-one, while in the chateau de Fiquainville,
describing several Carabi*, and accompanied by
illustrations, which were executed with the ut-
most delicacy and fidelity. Several magnified
details were added to the text, which were.
prior to many afterwards given as new by pro-
fessed Entomologists. In the same paper were
delineations of other Coleoptera, and also of
several Hemiptera, and various insects, accom-
panied by descriptions. In 1791 M. Cuvier
corresponded on the same subject with MM.
Fabricius and Pfaff; and wrote various papers
concerning Pediculi and other parasitical in-
sects. ‘Some drawings, probably made about
this period, were afterwards given by M. Cuvier
* A tribe of insects which takes its place in the great
order, most commonly known under the name of Beetles.
58 MEMOIRS OF
to M. Lamarck, consisting of the most beau-
tiful representations of Crustacea, forming twen-
ty-three separate pages, and containing, among
native marine Crustacea, several exotic species.
On coming to Paris, one of the first works
communicated to his friends by M. Cuvier was
a memoir, on the formation and use of a method
in pursuing the study of natural history, and
which he applied most happily to insects. This
memoir was followed by several more especial
labours, among which may be remarked, the de-
scription of a species of wasp (Vespa nidulans),
originally from Cayenne. In this paper he cor-
rected an error made by Reaumur, who described
and figured the Chalcis, a parasitical insect,
living in wasps nests, as the female of the Vespa
nidulans. Soon after the appearance of the
above, a very interesting memoir was published
on the Cloportes ( Oniscus, Lin.) in which some
parts of the mouths of Crustacea were described
for the first time. ‘This was soon followed by
several others; one of the most remarkable of
which was a critical dissertation on the species
of crabs known to the ancients, and on the
names then given to them. In the month of Sep-
tember, 1797, M. Cuvier read, before the Insti-
tute, a very curious dissertation on the manner
BARON CUVIER. 59
in which insects are nourished. Having esta-
blished that the dorsal vessel is not a true heart,
and that it does not furnish any means of circu-
lation, it was necessary to account for the way
in which the nourishing fluid is carried to all the
organs. M. Cuvier proved that this juice passes
through the cells of the intestinal canal, that it
spreads over the interior of the body, and, en-
circling all parts, is secreted by simple imbibi-
tion. In this memoir he also stated, that the
secreting organs of insects are not solid glands,
as in all those animals which possess a heart and
blood vessels, but that they are composed of
spongy tubes, sometimes folded back upon them-
selves, intimately united by trachex, and which
may be always unrolled when time and patience
are called in to aid the task. All these observ-
ations were attended with a result which is
always gratifying in natural history; they
established insects in a very natural and distinct
class, and, like other well directed labours, and
well founded remarks, these discoveries induced
others to make the same researches, and a new
field was open to the Entomologist. If M. Cu-
vier was at any time doubtful, he did not hesitate
saying so: he corrected himself when he had
been mistaken ; and even at this period, when
60 MEMOIRS OF
he had all his fame to make, so far from being
annoyed at the endeavours of others, he was the
first to encourage them, to give them his honour-
able suffrage, and to receive as friends those who
ventured into his province, in order to settle a
doubtful point of science.
The mode of circulation in the Annelides was
not better determined than that of insects, and
M. Cuvier also turned his attention towards
them. It was in pursuing this enquiry that he
told anatomists, that the red colour of the liquid
contained in leeches does not in the least pro-
ceed from the blood which the animal has im-
bibed, but that it is their own blood which
circulates in four principal vessels. This im-
portant observation separated leeches, and ani-
mals analogous to them, from those with white
blood; and caused Lamarck to give the class
to which they belong the distinct name of
Annelides. In M. Cuvier’s great work on Com-
parative Anatomy, all the peculiarities belong-
ing to insects, and other articulated animals,
were afterwards given; and as he carried his
labours into a wider expanse, he left their ex-
ternal forms and classification to others, and con-
fined himself solely to their internal structure.
After thus noticing the earliest scientific la-
BARON CUVIER. 61
bours of M. Cuvier, which, in fact, were the
preparations for all that followed, I think it best
to proceed to that on which he based the great
works of a later period, considering the ‘Tableau
Elémentaire, and the two editions of the Regne
Animal, as different stages of the same work,
and, with the Fossil Remains, and Natural History
of Fishes, as the results of his discoveries in
comparative anatomy. The collection of M.
Cuvier’s lectures on this subject is preceded by
an introductory letter, addressed to M. Mer-
trud, in which the author submits the plan of
his work, the necessity of such an. undertaking,
acknowledges the assistance afforded to him, and.
states the care with which he has revised the
whole, previous to its publication.
The first lecture is a sort of preliminary dis-
course, and bears the general name of Animal
Economy. It is, however, divided into five
heads, viz. Organic Functions, Structure of the
Organs, Differences of Organs, Affinities of
Organs, and Division of Animals. From this
first lecture I shall make a few extracts, which
may enable my readers to form some judgment
of the work.
After examining the nature of the principles
of life, the learned author establishes the general
62 MEMOIRS OF
conclusion, * that no body exists which has not
once formed part of a body similar to itself,
from which it has been detached; or, that all
bodies have shared the life of another body, be-
fore they themselves exercise vital motion; and
it is even by the effect of the vital force, to
which they then belonged, that they have be-
come sufficiently developed to support an isolated
life.’ From this conclusion may be deduced
the axiom, “ that life springs from life, and no
other life exists than that which has been _trans-
mitted from one living body to another, in
unimterriupted: succession. 7/7) °.)-2 .i.2°2** Demg
unable to go back to the first origin of living
bodies, we have no resource,” says M. Cuvier,
“but to seek information concerning the true
nature of the forces which animate them, in an
examination of their composition ; that is to say,
of their substance, and the combination of ele-
ments which composes this substance or tissue.
For although this tissue, and this combination,
are in some measure the results of the action
of the vital principles which gave them being,
and continue to preserve them, it is evident that
these principles can only have in them their
source and their foundation. ‘Thus, if the first
assemblage of these mechanical and chemical
BARON CUVIER. 63
elements of a living body has been effected by
the vital principle of the body from which it de-
scends, we cannot but find in it a similar force,
and the causes of this force, in order to exercise
a similar action in favour of the body, which, in
its turn, descends from it. But, although our
knowledge of the composition of living bodies is
too imperfect to deduce clearly from it the et-
fects they present to us, we may, at any rate,
make use of that which we do know, in order to
recognise these bodies, even when inactive, and
to distinguish their remains after death; for in
no unorganised bodies do we find fibrous or cel-
lular tissue, or that multiplicity of volatile ele-.
ments which forms the characters of organisation,
whether actually living, or having lived. ‘Thus,
while inanimate solids are only composed of po-
lyhedral particles, mutually attracted by the
faces they present; while they only resolve them-
selves into a limited number of elementary sub-
stances; while they are only formed by a com-
bination of these substances, and an aggregation
of these particles; while they only increase by
the juxta-position of new particles, which en-
velope the first mass by their layers ; and while
they are only destroyed by some mechanical or
chemical agency, which alters their combin-
OA MEMOIRS OF
ations; on the other hand, organised bodies,
composed of a tissue of fibres and plates, the in-
tervals of which are filled with fluids, resolve
themselves almost entirely into volatile sub-
stances, spring from bodies similar to themselves,
from which they are only separated when they
can act by their own strength, assimilate them-
selves incessantly with foreign substances, and,
introducing these substances between their par-
ticles, increase by internal force, and at length
perish by this internal force, by the effects
even of their vital principle. ‘To originate in
generation, to increase by nutrition, and to end
by death, are the general and common charac-
ters of all organised bodies; but if several of
these bodies only exercise these and their neces-
sary functions, and have only the organs requi-
site for this comparatively limited part in cre-
ation, there are many others which exercise
peculiar functions, which not only require organs
particularly adapted to them, but induce a mo-
dification in the general functions. Of all these
peculiar functions, feeling and moving at will
are the most remarkable, and most influence the
other functions. Independent of the chain
which links these two faculties, and the double
set of organs which they require, they yet carry
BARON CUVIER. 65
with them several modifications into the func-
tions common to all organised beings, and these
modifications more particularly belong to and
constitute the nature of animals.”
As one example, among many others which
the limits of this volume will not allow me to
insert, I shall cite M. Cuvier’s general descrip-
tion of digestion. ‘* Vegetables, which are at-
tached to the ground, absorb the nutritive parts
of the fluids which they imbibe by means of
their roots. These roots, divided to infinity,
penetrate into the smallest spaces, and, as it
were, seek at a distance for nourishment to the
plant to which they belong: their action is tran-
quil and continuous, and is only interrupted by
a drying-up of the juices in the soil which are
necessary to them. Animals, on the contrary,
not being fixed, and constantly changing place,
must carry with them the provision of juices
essential for their nutrition; therefore they have
received a cavity in which their alimentary sub-
stances are placed, into the cells of which open
the pores, or absorbing vessels, and which, accord-
ing to the forcible expression of Boerhaave, are
true internal roots. The size of this cavity, and
its orifices, permit several animals to introduce
solid substances into it; these require mechan-
F
66 MEMOIRS OF
ism to divide them—liquids to dissolve them;
and nutrition no longer commences by the im-
mediate absorption of substances as they are
supplied by the ground and the atmosphere ; it
must be preceded by a multitude of preparatory
operations, the whole of which constitute diges-
tion.’
From the second division of this first lecture,
which treats of the organs of which animals
are composed, I shall select the passage con-
cerning the senses, as most interesting to the
general reader. After exposing the nervous
system in its different bearings; after noticing
the cellular tissue, the medullary substance, the
muscles, the bones, the joints, the chemical ana-
lysis of various parts of the body, &c., M. Cu-
vier proceeds :— “* We perceive the action of ex-
ternal bodies on our own, in proportion as the
nerve which is affected by them communicates
with the spinal chord, or common bundle of
nerves, and this with the brain; a ligature, or a
rupture, by intercepting the physical communt-
cation, destroys the feeling. ‘The only sense
which belongs to all animals, and which exer-
cises its influence over nearly the whole of the
surface of the body of each, is the touch. It
resides in the extremities of the nerves which
BARON CUVIER. 67
are distributed through the skin, and makes
known to us the resistance of bodies and their
temperature. The other senses seem to be but
more elevated modifications of the touch, and
are susceptible of more delicate impressions.
Every one knows that they are the sight,
which resides in the eye; the hearing, which
resides in the ear; the smell, which resides in
the membranes inside the nose; and the taste,
the seat of which is in the teguments of the
tongue. ‘These are all situated at the same ex-
tremity of the body which contains the brain,
and which we call the head, or chief. Light,
vibrations of the air, volatile emanations floating
in the atmosphere, and saline particles soluble
in water, or the saliva, are the substances which
act on these four senses, and the organs which
transmit their action to the nerves are especially
adapted to each. ‘The eye presents transparent
lenses to the light, which break its rays; the
ear offers membranes and fluids to the air, which
receive its agitations ; the nose draws up the air
which goes to the lungs, and in its passage
attracts the odorous vapours contained in it;
and, lastly, the tongue is furnished with spongy
papillae, which imbibe the savoury. liquids of-
fered to it. It is by these means that we are
pr Q
~
68 MEMOIRS OF
conscious of the things and circumstances which
pass around us, and of the vast number of those
which pass within us; and, independent of the
internal pains which warn us of some disorder
in our organisation, and the sufferings occasioned
by hunger, thirst, and fatigue, it is by means
of these senses that we feel the emotions of pity,
the agonies of fear, &c. ‘These latter sensations
are rather the effect of a reaction on the nervous
system than immediate impressions; and as the
sight of some imminent danger makes us fly
without the will having had time to act, it is
also involuntarily that we feel transport at the
sight of a beloved object, or shed tears at the
sight of virtue in distress. These effects of the
nervous system arise from the numerous com-
munications of particular nerves, called sympa-
thetic, existing between divers ramifications of
the general trunk; and by means of which im-
pressions are more rapidly transmitted than by
means of the brain. These knots of nerves,
which, when enlarged, bear the name of gang-
lions, are a species of secondary brains, and are
always of greater size, and in a greater number,
as the proportion of the principal brain is less
considerable.”
When, in the third division, M. Cuvier treats
BARON CUVIER. 69
of the differences of the organs of animals, he
observes, that the circulation of the blood fur-
nishes the most important variations. ‘ I'irst,
there are animals which have no blood, such as
insects and zoophytes; and, secondly, those
which have it, possess it in a double or simple
mode. ‘That is called double circulation when
no part of the venous blood can re-enter the
arterial trunk until it has made a certain circuit
in the organ of respiration, which must be
formed by the expansion of two vessels, the one
arterial and the other venous, nearly of equal
size, but shorter than the two principal vessels
of the body. Such is the circulation of man,
mammalia, birds, fishes, and many mollusca.
In simple circulation, a great part of the venous
blood re-enters the arteries without passing
through the lungs, because this organ receives
but one expansion from one branch of the ar-
terial trunk. Such is the circulation of reptiles.
There are yet other differences in the existence
and position of hearts, or muscular organs des-
tined to impel the blood. In simple. circu-
lation there is never more than one; but when
the circulation is double, one part is sometimes
seated at the base of the principal artery, and
the other at that of the pulmonary artery ; and
oO
Hae)
70 MEMOIRS OF
sometimes there is only one of these two parts.
In the first case, the two hearts, or, rather, the
two ventricles, may be united in one single mass,
as in man, mammalia, and birds; or they may
be separated, as in the cuttle-fish. When there
is only one ventricle, it is either placed at
the base of the artery of the body, as in snails
and other mollusca, or at the base of the pul-
monary artery, as in fishes.
«The organs of respiration are equally fertile
in remarkable differences. When the element
which is to act on the blood is the atmospheric
air, it penetrates even into the interior of the
respiratory organ; but, when it is water, it
simply glides over a surface, more or less mui-
tiplied. These surfaces, or leaflets, are called
branchia, and are found in fishes, and many of
the mollusca. Instead of leaflets, there are
sometimes tufts, or fringes. “Air penetrates into
the body by one or several orifices. In the first
instance, which is that of all animals with lungs,
properly so called, the channel which receives
the air is subdivided into a multitude of branches,
which terminate in as many little cells, generally
collected into two masses, which the animal has
the power of compressing or dilating. When
there are several openings, which we see only in
BARON CUVIER. Th
insects, the vessels which receive the air are
ramified to infinity, in order to carry it to every
part of the body without exception, and this is
what is called respiration by means of’ trachea.
Lastly, the zoophytes, with the exception of
echinodermes, have no apparent organ of re-
spiration.”
In the third portion of this opening lecture,
the affinities of organs are described, and their
manner of acting on each other. ‘ Of what
use,” says M. Cuvier, ‘‘ would sensation be to
us, if muscular force did not help it, even in the
most trifling circumstances? What use could
we make of touch, if we could not carry our -
hands towards the palpable object? and what
should we behold if we could not turn our eyes
or head at pleasure? It is on this mutual de-
pendence between the functions, and on this
reciprocal aid, that the laws are founded which
determine the affinities of the organs of animals ;
which affinities are as necessary to them, as
metaphysical or mathematical laws are to other
parts of the creation. For it is evident, that a
suitable harmony between those organs which
act upon each other, is a necessary condition to
the existence of the being to which they belong ;
and that if one of these functions were modified
F 4
72 MEMOIRS OF
in a manner incompatible with the modifications
of others, that being could not exist. Modern
experiments have shown, that one of the prin-
cipal uses of respiration is to reanimate muscular
force, by restoring to the muscular fibres their
exhausted irritability, and, in fact, among the
animals which breathe the air in a direct man-
ner, we see those with double circulation, and
not an atom of whose blood can return to the
parts till after it has been respired. Mammalia
and birds not only live always in the air, and
move in it with more force than other animals
with red blood, but each of these classes enjoys
the faculty of moving, precisely according to
the quantity of its respiration. Birds, for in-
stance, are as much impregnated with air within
as without; not only the cellular parts of their
lungs are very considerable, but these organs
have bags, or appendices, which are prolonged
throughout the body. ‘Thus, in a given time,
they consume a much greater quantity of air in
proportion to their size than quadrupeds; and
doubtless it is this which gives to their fibres a
prodigious and instantaneous force, and which
renders their flesh fit to act powerfully on those
violent movements which sustain them in the
air, by the simple vibrations of their wings.”
In the concluding part of this first lecture,
BARON CUVIER. 73
treating of the Division of Animals, M. Cuvier
sums up the great characters of the animal king-
dom, -proceeding from Mammalia to Zoophytes,
or, in other terms, the whole range of animal
life, from man, to the simple pulp which scarcely
merits the name of an organised being. From
this I do not find it possible to cite any isolated
passage, the whole is so beautifully linked to-
gether; but the perusal of this portion alone is
calculated to enlarge our ideas respecting cre-
ation, to give us new thoughts concerning the
common occurrences of life, and to lead us to a
train of reflections, which mount upwards to the
ereat Source of that life which is presented to .
us in so many extraordinary and_ elaborate
forms. ‘The rest of the work consists of a de-
scription of these forms, external and internal ;
the minutest details concerning the use of each
organ are also given tous; the chemical compo-
sition of each part is explained; the greater or
lesser developement of this wonderful machinery
and combination is set forth; the total absence
of some parts; the results of these differences,
and the action of the whole in the vast field of
nature, all are laid before us with a clearness
and precision that are truly admirable. For, al-
though endowed with imagination, brilliancy of
74 MEMOIRS OF
ideas, and eloquence of language, M. Cuvier
has in this, as well as his other scientific labours,
affirmed only ‘that which he has seen and
touched,” and, far from wishing to persuade by
other means than positive evidence, he presents
his readers with nothing that can draw the mind
from the contemplation of reality. Irom this
work we may deduce certain general rules, cer-
tain axioms, which may apply to every part of
animal life, in every corner of the world. Let
us take the single instance of a person ship-
wrecked in an unknown sea, and cast up by the
waves on a shore wholly strange to him. ‘To-
wards the means of life are directed the efforts
of returning consciousness: vegetables will first
offer themselves to his notice, as most easily
procured; but an anatomist will know, that his
teeth and organs of digestion were given to him
that he might repair the exhaustion of his frame
by animal substances, and that without these he
will not be so healthy and strong as nature
intended he should be.
“prix décennaux,” instituted by Napoleon in
1810, an account of which may be acceptable to
the English reader. Wishing at that time to
divert the public attention from passing events
(the Spanish campaign, &c.), the Emperor issued
a decree, stating, that as he was desirous of re-
warding and encouraging every species of study
BARON CUVIER. 77
and labour, which could contribute to the glory of
his empire, he had resolved to bestow prizes of
money, every ten years, on the 9th of November,
on the best works in every branch of science, art,
and literature. The prizes were to be proclaimed
by the Minister of the Interior, and the success-
ful candidates were also to receive a medal from
the hands of the Emperor himself, in presence
of the princes, the dignitaries of the state, the
great officers of the University, and the whole
body of the Institute, assembled at the Thuilleries.
All labours having sufficient merit were to be
examined by a jury and judges, composed of the
presidents and perpetual secretaries of the four-
classes of the Institute. Each class to make a
catalogue raisonné of the works put to the suf-
frage ; those deemed worthy of approaching
the prizes, to receive honourable mention ; but
those of sufficient merit, in the opinion of the
judges, to obtain the prize, to be noticed with
still greater detail. All the reports and dis-
cussions to be given to the Minister of the
Interior, by whom they were to be kept en-
tirely secret from the public. No judge to be
allowed to pronounce on the merits of his own
productions. ‘These prizes soon became an uni-
versal theme; an exhibition of the pictures
78 MEMOIRS OF
painted for them took place in the Louvre, and
every body was more or less interested. The
juries sat, the judges pronounced sentence ; and
because the Comparative Anatomy proceeded
from one of the latter, though it received the
praise due to it, the prize for this subject was
awarded to another work. Delay took place,
and the Emperor deemed a revision of the judg-
ment necessary. During this revision M. Cuvier
was in Italy, and advantage was taken of’ his
absence to change the sentence, and recommend
the prize to be bestowed on him. ‘The greatest
freedom was given to discussion, in the idea that
all would be strictly confidential on the part of
the government ; when, to the astonishment of
every one, the whole of the reports given to the
Minister of the Interior was published in the
Moniteur. Could any thing be better calculated
to accomplish the desires of his Imperial Ma-
jesty 2? No sooner did the affair languish, and
people cease to talk of it, from the conviction
that all was done, than he set the whole capital
in a turmoil of bickering and dispute ; for every
one had either his own cause, or that of his pro-
téeé to defend. ‘The result proved it to be one
of those master-strokes of policy of which Napo-
leon was so capable ; and what was his intention
BARON CUVIER. 79
throughout is very evident, for the prizes were
never even mentioned afterwards. ‘The reports,
however, have been collected, and form a very
curious quarto volume.
From the writings on Comparative Anatomy,
I naturally turn to that vast collection of the
subjects themselves, formed by M. Cuvier at the
Jardin des Plantes; and when I repeat, that this
collection was not only the principal source from
which he drew the materials for the great work
just mentioned, but was the basis for most others,
it is scarcely necessary for me to enter into many
details concerning it: to its leading features I
shall therefore confine myself. It is contained ©
in fifteen rooms of various sizes; and in these
fifteen rooms we may verify almost every fact
stated by M. Cuvier, by actual inspection; and
we are lost in admiration, not only at the vast
operations of nature, but at the mind which ap-
preciated them, and made them known to his
fellow men. ‘The collection should be viewed
by beginning at the room up stairs, which is
farthest from the entrance, and which communi-
cates with M. Cuvier’s house. In this are the
Mollusca, and at once assuming the character of
a person wholly ignorant of anatomy, I cannot
do better than describe the probable impressions
SO MEMOIRS OF
of this person, as he follows the suite of rooms.
His astonishment will be first excited by finding,
that such mis-shapen masses as the common
oyster possess liver, heart, lungs, &c.; he will
wonder at the various peculiarities presented by
the inhabitants of the shells he has been ac-
customed to find on the sea-shore, and to con-
sider as mere toys; he will be surprised at the
number of those insects which exist only on
living bodies, and all disgust will be lost, in con-
templating the variety of their forms. The two
next rooms will present to him that complicated
machinery which is contained in beings of a
higher order, by which they reanimate their
strength ; by which, in fact, they live. A step
farther, and he will see the muscles fortified and
brought into action by that very machinery
which he has been examining. But the organs
of the senses will have previously arrested his
attention; for he there beholds in the eye the
very powers he is exercising, and which are af-
fording him such infinite gratification. ‘The ear,
which gives so much pleasure, and frequently so
much pain; the voice *, by which we impart our
* After reading a very interesting Memoir on the organs’
of the voice in birds, before the Institute, in 1798; a very
BARON CUVIER. 81
own feelings; the reason why the power of
uttering those delicious tones which captivate
and soothe us into harmony, those impassioned
sounds which cheat us into an entire forgetful-
ness of aught but themselves; those accents of
fury which frighten us to agony, or those grave
and calm communications of the mind, are only
given to man; are all there, and wonder succeeds
to wonder, leaving it difficult for the stranger to
decide in which room he finds most interest.
That part of the human frame from which we
suffer most, the teeth, and dentition, in all its
stages, and in all animals gifted with it, are laid
open to his view, with the important characters
they afford for classification, and the progress
made from the concealment of the tooth in its
socket at the birth of the infant, to the filling up
of the empty sockets into one solid mass, in the
aged person. Close to human teeth are the
celebrated anatomist present exclaimed, that M. Cuvier had
been wrong in stating, that physiologists had not yet agreed
concerning the mechanism of the human voice, which some
compared to a wind, and others to a stringed instrument ;
for that this question was now decided in favour of the wind
instrument. “ You are deceived,” involuntarily cried another
equally learned anatomist; “ it is a stringed instrument.”
This second observation caused a general smile, for it proved,
most unexpectedly, the truth of M. Cuvier’s assertion.
G
82 MEMOIRS OF
enormous and solitary grinders of the two living
species of elephants, the unchanging ivory of
the tusks of the walrus, the fearful weapons of
the lion and the tiger, and the sharp incisors of
the bat. How surprised will the novice be, to
find, that the head, which he has been accus-
tomed to consider as one mass of bone, is, in
mammalia, composed of several parts, and in
fishes, divided to infinity. Deeply will he reflect,
when, in an adjoining room, he follows, in the en-
tire skull, the gradations of the frontal bone,
which mark the most intelligent of mankind, to
the animal whose only instinct is that of procur-
ing food; and on descending the staircase, to
find himself in the midst of human skeletons, in
all their varieties, from the Hottentot Venus to
the graceful being of an European drawing-room.
For a moment, his feeling of admiration at the
works of God, are interrupted by a contempt of
that external beauty which has hitherto been so
precious in his eyes; but the great room, if I
mistake not, will banish every sentiment but
those of awe and reverence ; for he will there
find himself walking amid the remains of the
most gigantic of the earth, and the enormous
monsters which inhabit the depths of the ocean.
The solid and ponderous members of the ele-
BARON CUVIER. 83
phant, the long neck of the giraffe, the massive
bulk of the whale, the hand-like fins of the dol-
phin, the strength and vigour of the horse, the
solemn force of the bull, and the light and ele-
gant action of the antelope, may all be traced in
these frame works of creation; and as the visitor
quits the galleries, I think I cannot be wrong in
supposing, that he will own his personal insigni-
ficance in the great scale, his conviction of the
adaptation of nature to all the purposes for
which it is intended, and will learn to respect
that being of his own species, who, by his in-
fluence, his personal exertion, amassed, and, by
his wisdom, set before him, the marvellous
works which he has just been contemplating.
With so perfect a knowledge of the formation
of living beings, it scarcely seems surprising that
M. Cuvier should have made those deep re-
searches among the fragments of the former in-
habitants of the globe, by which his great name
has been associated with every labour relative to
the construction of the earth. For although
the researches of De Saussure, De Luc, Pallas,
and Werner, appeared to have brought geology
to the highest perfection it could attain, it was
M. Cuvier who gave the impulse, who made a
science of fossil organic remains, His powerful
G 2
84 MEMOIRS OF
comprehension, at the first glance, measured the
extent of the science, appreciated its import-
ance, and foresaw the light it would shed over
the formation of our planet. Already, in 1796,
he read a Memoir, at the Institute, which con-
tained his suspicions, that no species of those
fossil remains, so abundant in the northern parts
of the world, belonged to animals now existing.
He even then thought that they had formed
beings which had been destroyed by some revo-
lution of the globe, now replaced by others,
perhaps equally to be destroyed. With a view
of ascertaining the truth of these suppositions,
he sought every means of determining the spe-
cies, genera, and classes of these relics, by an
unwearied inspection of all that could be found,
by making himself acquainted with the disco-
veries previously made, by exactly ascertaining
the localities where these remains had been dug
up, the nature of the soils in which they had
been enveloped; and he eloquently invited all
the savans of Europe to aid him in his great
enterprise, impressing on them the importance
of these researches, and requesting them to re-
port their labours to him, which labours he
promised to state in his work, and which pro-
mise he faithfully performed. In the Prelimi-
BARON CUVIER. 85
nary Discourse to the Fossil Remains (which
has been published in a separate form, has un-
dergone several editions, and been translated
into almost every modern language, under the
title of « Theory of the Earth”), treating of the
revolutions of the globe, he says, “« Antiquary of
a new species, I have been obliged at once to
learn how to restore these monuments of past
times, and to decypher their meaning. I have
been obliged to collect and bring together the
fragments which compose them into their pri-
mitive order; to reconstruct these ancient be-
ings; to reproduce them, with their proportions
and characters; and, lastly, to compare them .
with those which now live on the surface of the
globe.”
To this task did M. Cuvier devote a large
portion of his life, and his first care was, to de-
termine the living and fossil species of elephants,
which form the subject of the first volume. The
plan he adopted was, to describe the osteology
of the best known species; to point out the
countries they inhabit; to ascertain how many
species have been found; and, then, to compare
them with those bones which are in a fossil state.
He himself visited many of the spots whence
these remains had been taken; such as Eng-
G3
86 MEMOIRS OF
land, Holland, Germany, and Italy; and others
were brought to him, in order that he might be
an eye-witness of every thing which he endea-
voured to prove. ‘These researches entirely set
at rest the question concerning the existence, or,
rather, the finding of human fossils. Such re-
lics have never, as yet, been discovered ; and
the Guadaloupe skeletons, which have been so
much talked of, had probably been deposited
in that place after shipwreck ; the soil by which
they were enveloped being of too recent a form-
ation to admit of any idea that they were true
fossils, and the positions in which they laid, not
allowing of the supposition that they had been
purposely interred there. Also, the pretended
histories of giants are, in this volume, entirely
refuted; and amusing accounts are there given
of the ignorance and credulity which caused
them to be so generally circulated ; but on this
occasion, as, in fact, all others, M. Cuvier’s own
words are the best, and he writes as follows :—
«The bones of elephants having more resem-
blance to those of man than they have to those
of other animals, even skilful anatomists have
been often tempted to take them for human
remains, and this probably occasioned the pre-
tended discoveries of the tombs ef giants, men-
; ieee,
BARON CUVIER. 87
tioned by ancient authors, and those of the
middle ages.” ‘This example was unfailingly
followed by more modern writers, for the mar-
vellous is delicious food to the minds of most
people. The great propagator cf the on dits of
natural history, Pliny, was not, of course, want-
ing on this occasion ; and he speaks of the sup-
posed body of Orestes as being thirteen feet
three inches long. Few countries have been
without these fables, and (to continue M. Cu-
vier’s account) ‘* one of the most celebrated
was that of ‘Teutobochus, in the reign of
Louis XIII., which occasioned a number of
famous disputes, in which the actors were much
more anxious to abuse each other than to estab-
lish the truth. One of them, however, named
Riolan, for a person who had never seen the
skeleton of an elephant, showed, with consider-
able skill, that these bones probably belonged to
such an animal. It would appear, as far as the
fact can be now ascertained, that on the 11th of
January, 1615, some bones were found in a sand
pit, near the castle of Chaumont, or Langon,
between the towns of Montricaut, Serre, and
Antoine. Part of them were broken by the
workmen ; but a surgeon of Beaurepaire, named
Mazurier, showed those which remained whole
G 4
88 MEMOIRS OF
for money, in Paris and several other places,
and, in order to excite further curiosity, he cir-
culated a pamphlet, in which he asserted that
they had been found in a sepulchre, thirty feet
long, on which had been inscribed, ‘’Teutobochus
Rex.’ It is well known that this was the name
of the King of the Cimbri who fought against
Marius; and, to further this supposition, M.
Mazurier added, that fifty medals were found in
the same place, bearing the effigy of this Roman
consul, and the initials of his name. ‘The sur-
geon, however, was accused of having employed
a jesuit, named ‘Tournon, to write this pamphlet,
and who forged the history of the sepulchre
and the inscription. ‘The pretended inedals bore
Gothic instead of Roman letters, and it seems
that Mazurier never justified himself from these
accusations of imposture.”? The bones were
afterwards all recognised as belonging to ele-
phants; but, notwithstanding this detection,
there was no end to the stories about giants, and
each country possessed its own marvellous tale.
The city of Lucerne took for supporters to its
coat of arms pretended giants found in 1577, near
that place, and close by the cloister of Reyden, in
a hole, which was accidentally formed by the
tearing up of a large oak by the roots, in a
BARON CUVIER. 89
heavy gale of wind. The Council of Lucerne
sent them to Felix Plater, a physician at Bale,
who had a drawing made of a human skeleton,
the size which he thought these bones indicated.
It measured nineteen feet, and was sent, with
the bones, back to Lucerne, where the drawing
is still preserved. It, and the bones still in ex-
istence, were recently inspected by M. Blumen-
bach, who recognised the latter as belonging to
an elephant.
But the champions of human fossils were not
contented with making them out of the bones
of elephants; and having found some animal
remains imbedded in slate, a few leagues from
the Lake of Constance, a Jearned physician
wrote a particular dissertation on them, entitled
« L’ Homme Témoin du Deluge.” —* It is not
+9
to be refuted,’’ said he, ‘ here is the half, or
nearly the whole of the skeleton of a man, even
the substance of the bones, and, what is more,
the flesh, and parts still softer than the flesh,
are incorporated with the stone. In short, it is
one of the rarest relics we possess of that cursed
race which was buried under the waters.”? The
assertions of the learned Doctor, however, va-
nished before the penetrating eye of M. Cuvier,
who, judging from the relative form and propor-
90 MEMOIRS OF
tion of the bones, decided that this fossil was no
other than that of an aquatic salamander, of a
gigantic size and unknown species. In 1811,
having the power of examining the stone which
contained this ‘ witness of the deluge,” he, in
presence of several distinguished savans, and
with the drawing of a salamander before him, at
every stroke of the chisel verified his assertion.
But to return to the elephants: Asiatic Russia
swarms with these monstrous remains, and the in-
habitants explain the phenomenon by supposing
that they belong to some living subterraneous ani-
mal partaking of the nature of the mole, and which
they call Mammout, or Mammouth. ‘This fable
also extends to China. Besides the relics of
true elephants, found in America, there have
been yet two other gigantic animals discovered ;
the Mastodon and the Megatherium, the former
bearing great affinity to the elephant. These
animals have also formed a foundation for many
absurd stories, all of which have been refuted
by M. Cuvier’s luminous researches: he states,
‘‘ that the great animal of Ohio was very similar
to the elephant in its tusks and its osteology,
with the exception of its jaws; that it very pro-
bably had a trunk, but that in height it did not
exceed the elephant. It was, however, longer
BARON CUVIER. Ol
than that quadruped, its limbs thicker, its belly
of less volume; but, notwithstanding the little
importance of these differences, the peculiar
structure of its grinders suffices to establish it as
a separate genus. It was nourished nearly in
the same manner as the hippopotamus and wild
boar, but it did not occasionally live in the
water, like the former. It preferred roots, and
the fleshy parts of vegetables, which species of
food led it to seek an open or marshy country.”
The bones of the Mastodon Angustidens are
much more common in North America than
elsewhere, and, perhaps, those of the great mas-
todon exclusively belong to that country. They
are better preserved and fresher than any other
known fossils, and, nevertheless, there is not the
least authentic testimony calculated to make us
believe, that there is still in America, or else-
where, any living individual. ‘Therefore, the
accounts published, from time to time, in the
American papers, concerning those that have
been met with wandering through the vast fo-
rests, or over the immense plains of this con-
tinent, have never been confirmed, and may be
consequently regarded as mere fables.
After having acquired vast experience in the
connection of organised beings with the soils in
92 MEMOIRS OF
which they have been preserved, and having
decidedly proved, that the more ancient the
formation, the more distant are its organic re-
mains from those now existing, M. Cuvier de-
termined to observe and describe all those con-
tained in a limited circumference round Paris.
Already had he employed an intelligent work-
man*, whom he himself paid, in the quarries at
Montmartre, to collect the bones for him which
were almost daily found in that spot. He
spared no expense, rewarded all contributors
with the greatest liberality, and joyfully spent
considerable sums on that collection, which,
when his publications had given it the highest
value, he afterwards presented to the Museum
of the Jardin des Plantes, only receiving in
return, duplicates from the public library, of
those works which were wanting in his own
magnificent assemblage of books. Before M.
Cuvier found an opportunity of publishing his
discoveries, by means of the Annales du Mu-
séum, and when the expense of employing pro-
fessed artists would have been too much for his
means, he not only drew, but engraved the
plates himself; which precious proofs of his
* Named Varin.
BARON CUVIER. 93
talents are scattered through the work of which
I am now speaking, but are more particularly
contained in the third volume of the last edition.*
* Had I no motive of friendship and esteem to induce me
to make known the merits of M. Laurillard, the secretary of
M. Cuvier, it would be but justice to mention him here, as
one who was associated with his patron in these and all
succeeding labours, and who proved that the great anatomist
carried his discrimination even into the mental organisation
of humanity. The manner in which this association was
formed is too interesting to be passed over in silence. M. Lau-
rillard, also from Montbéliard, left his native place in order to
cultivate his talents for design in the capital, with a view of
becoming professional. He was there introduced to M.
Fréderic Cuvier, for whom he executed some drawings. He
also made one or two for M. Cuvier, without particularly at-
tracting his notice. One day, however, M. Cuvier came to
his brother to ask him to disengage a fossil from its surround-
ing mass, an office he had frequently performed. M. Lau-
rilliard »was the only person to be found on the spot,
and to him M. Cuvier applied in the absence of his bro-
ther. Little aware of the value of the specimen confided
to his care, he cheerfully set to work, and succeeded in get-
ting the bone entire from its position. M. Cuvier, after a
short time, returned for his treasure, and when he saw how
perfect it was, his ecstasies became incontrollable ; he danced,
he shook his hands, he uttered expressions of delight, till
M. Laurillard, in his ignorance both of the importance of what
he had done, and of the ardent character of M. Cuvier,
thought he was mad. ‘Taking however his fossil foot in one
hand, and dragging M. Laurillard’s arm with the other, he led
him up stairs to present him to his wife and sister-in-law,
saying, “ I have got my foot, and M. Laurillard found it for
me.” It seems, that this skilful operation confirmed all
M. Cuvier’s previous conjectures concerning a foot, the
existence and form of which he had already guessed, but
94 MEMOIRS OF
This edition consists of five quarto volumes, two
of which are divided into two parts; and among
the numerous lights thrown upon living objects,
and on the construction of the earth, we find
the resurrection of numerous species of mam-
malia, birds, reptiles, &c., making in all 168
vertebrated animals, which form 50 genera, and
of which fifteen are new. ‘They have been
named by M. Cuvier, placed by him in the
range of created beings, and belong to every
order except Quadrumana, of which, as well as
the human race, not a single relic has yet been _
found in a fossil state. All their localities have
been stated, and all the collections mentioned
where they have been preserved, with a labo-
rious fidelity and extraordinary erudition. He
for which he had long and vainly sought. So occupied
had-he been by it, that when he appeared to be particu-
larly absent, his family were wont to accuse him of seeking
his fore foot. The next morning the able operator and
draftsman was engaged as secretary ; and M. Cuvier not
only attached to himself a powerful coadjutor, but an affec-
tionate and faithful friend, devoted to him during life, and
now finding his greatest happiness in doing and saying that
which he thinks will most honour the memory of one so
loved and revered. He is appointed, by the will of M. Cuvier,
to finish and publish all the drawings they had made together
for the great work, which he called the “Grande Anatomie
compar¢e,” — and most fervently must all followers of the
science wish for its appearance.
BARON CUVIER. 95
had, however, many difficulties to conquer,
among which was that of the incredulity of
others, who, being ignorant of the laws of or-
ganisation, of the necessary co-existence of
certain forms, did not comprehend how it was
possible to re-establish an animal from the frag-
ments of its bones scattered through the layers
of the earth. How he triumphed will be ga-
thered from the following extract from a letter
written to Dr. Duvernoy, a few days after a
meeting in which he had been obliged to dis-
cuss some particular objections addressed to
him. He thus wrote (1806),—* They have
just brought me the skeleton of an anoplothe-
rium, which is almost entire, taken from Mont-
martre, and nearly five feet long. All my con-
jectures have been verified, and I find that the
animal had a tail, as long and as large as that of
a kangaroo, which completes its singularities.”
For the furtherance of his inspection of the
neighbourhood of Paris, M. Cuvier associated
the learned geologist, M. Brongniart, with him
in his researches, who more particularly con-
fined himself to fossil mollusca, and comparative
observations concerning other countries. The
principal geological result of these inspections
was to make known the fresh water deposits
96 MEMOIRS OF
above the chalk, each deposit covered by a ma-
rine deposit ; irrefragable proofs cf several irrup-
tions and alternate retreats of the sea, in the
basin of Paris and its environs, since the period
of the chalk formation. This discovery was
solely due to M. Cuvier, and it was at Fontaine-
bleau that the truth suddenly flashed across his
mind. ‘* Brongniart,” he cried, ‘j’ai trouvé
Je noeud de laffaire.” ‘ Et quel est-il?”? asked
M. Brongniart. «‘ C’est qu’il y a des terrains
marins, et des terrains d’eau douce,”’ replied M.
Cuvier.* It is most interesting to see how,
after many years of uninterrupted and difficult
investigation, of profound study and meditation,
M. Cuvier, in his beautiful Preliminary Dis-
course, sums up the facts which afford indis-
putable evidence of these great phenomena. “I
think,’ said the learned author, with MM. De
Luc and Dolomieu, “that if there be any
thing positive in geology, it is, that the surface
of our globe has been the victim of a great and
sudden revolution, the date of which cannot be
carried back further than from five to six thou-
sand years; that this revolution has buried,
* « Thave solved the difficulty.” — And what is it ? ”"—« It
is, that there are fresh water earths, and earths of salt water
formation.”
BARON CUVIER. 97
and caused the disappearance of countries for-
merly inhabited by man, and animals which are
now known; and, on the other hand, has ex-
posed the bottom of the water, and has formed
from that, the countries now inhabited... . but
these countries which are now dry had already
been inhabited, if not by man, at least by terres-
trial animals ; consequently one preceding revo-
lution at least must have covered them with
water, and, if we may judge by the different
orders of animals of which we find the remains,
they had perhaps been submitted to two or three
irruptions of the sea; and these irruptions, these
repeated retreats, have not all been slow or gra-
dual. The greater number of the catastrophes
which brought them about have been sudden, a
fact easily proved by the last of all, the traces of
which are most manifest, and which has still
left in the North the bodies of large quadrupeds,
seized by the ice, and by it preserved, even to
our own times, with their skin, their fur, and
their flesh. Had they not been frozen as soon
as killed, putrefaction would have decomposed
them; and this eternal frost has only prevailed
over the places inhabited by them, in conse-
quence of the same catastrophe which has de-
H
9§ MEMOIRS OF
stroyed them: the cause, therefore, has been as
sudden as the effect it produced.”
The ideas of M. Cuvier on the relative ages
of the strata of deposited soils, extending even
to different chains of mountains, have led to the
present system adopted by geologists, and from
them it may be concluded, that ‘all these
layers of deposited soils having been necessarily
formed in a horizontal position, the most ancient
are those which have been more or less raised
towards a vertical line by some catastrophe, and
the most recent are, on the contrary, the hori-
zontal layers; because, having preserved their
original situation, it is evident that they could
only be formed after the revolution which
changed the position of those which are oblique,
which they more or less cover, and on which
they test.”
One of the most important questions treated
of in this work is that of the alteration in animal
forms; whether the forms of lost animals, which
differ so much from those which are now living,
really indicate species and genera distinct from
species and genera now existing, or if time alone
has modified the primitive forms, so as to attain
the present form. The examination of this
question alone would give a satisfactory answer
BARON CUVIER. 99
(could they be convinced) to those who believe
in the indefinite alteration of forms in organised
beings, and who think that, with time and ha-
bits, each species might have made an exchange
with another, and thus have resulted from one
single species. However extraordinary and in-
comprehensible this system may appear to be,
which would take away the basis on which
science rests, and which could only be estab-
lished by a definition of the possible duration of
a species in its original state, M. Cuvier se-
riously refutes it, and destroys it with one
objection, that of not finding intermediate mo-
difications between an animal of the former and —
present world, even when it approaches it most
nearly. He gives the definition of a species,
proves the constancy of certain conditions of
the forms which characterise it, and presents a
table of the variations which it is possible for it
to undergo. In short, he demonstrates, by a
scrupulous examination of the skeletons of mum-
mies, that the animals living in Egypt two or
three thousand years back, when compared with
those which now breathe on this classic ground,
have not, in the course of so many ages, under-
gone any important changes of form; that even
among the wild animals there has been no alter-
H 2
100 MEMOIRS OF
ation in the skeleton which could characterise
one race or variety. ‘‘ There is nothing,” to
use M. Cuvier’s own words, “ which can in the
least support the opinion, that the new genera
which I and other naturalists have discovered or
established among fossils, the Paleotherium, the
Anoplotherium, &c., have been the parent
stocks of some of the present animals, which
only differ from them in consequence of other
soil, climate,”? &c. Further on he continues, —
‘* When I maintain that stony strata contain the
bones of several genera, and moveable earths
those of several species which no longer exist, I
do not pretend that a new creation has been
necessary to produce the existing species. I
merely say that they did not exist in the places
where we now see them, and that they have
come from elsewhere. Tor example, let us sup-
pose that a great irruption of the sea shall now
cover the continent of New Holland with a
mass of sand, or other débris; the bodies of
kangaroos, wombats, dasyuri, perameles, flying
paalangiste, echidna, and ornithorynchi, will
be buried under it, and it will entirely destroy
every species of these genera, since none of
them now exist in other countries. Let this
same revolution dry up the sea which covers
BARON CUVIER. 101
the numerous straits between New Holland and
the continent of Asia: it will open a way for
the elephant, the rhinoceros, the buffalo, the
horse, the camel, the tiger, and all other Asiatic
quadrupeds, who will people a country where
they have been hitherto unknown. A naturalist
afterwards living among them, and by chance
searching into the depths of the soil on which
this new nature lives, will find the remains of
veings wholly different. “That which New Hol-
land would be in the above case, Europe, Si-
beria, and a great part of America are now, and,
perhaps, when other countries, and New Hol-
land itself, shall be examined, we shall find that -
they have all undergone similar revolutions. I
could almost say, a mutual exchange of produc-
tions; for, carrying the supposition still further,
after this transportation of Asiatic animals into
New Holland, let us imagine a second revo-
lution, which shall destroy Asia, their primitive
country ; those who afterwards see them in
New Holland, their second country, will be as
embarrassed to know whence they came, as we
can be now to find the origin of our own.”
I am aware that the extent of the work of
which I am speaking can scarcely be recognised
in the few extracts I am able to make, and it is
He
102 MEMOIRS OF
with a sort of fearfulness that I cite a few iso-
lated passages, for fear of injuring the rest.
There must, however, necessarily be a degree of
imperfection where we can only judge by parts,
detached from a whole, which is so beautiful
when entire; and again impressing on my
readers that this volume is intended to lay be-
fore them the man himself, and describe his
labours, not to review or criticise them, I have
less hesitation in proceeding.
The gradual developement of great facts, the
doubts existing in the mind of the author at
certain periods of his progress, the confirmation
or dissipation of these doubts, the methods em-
ployed to ascertain the truth, the sacrifice of one
part of a fossil to verify another, the ingenious
contrivances for separating the remains from the
surrounding mass, the application of plaster mo-
dels, which not only brought him faithful im-
pressions of these which he could not procure,
from distant countries, but distributed his own
to every part of the world; are all related in
the course of the work with the most beautiful
simplicity. When speaking of the sarigue*, M.
Cuvier says, ** This rich collection of the bones
and skeletons of the animals of a former world
* A species of opossum.
BARON CUVIER. 103
is doubtless an enviable possession. It has been
amassed by nature in the quarries which environ
our city, as if reserved by her for the researches
and instruction of the present age. Hach day
we discover some new relic; each day adds to
our astonishment by demonstrating, more and
more, that nothing which then peopled this part
of the globe has been preserved on its present
surface ; and these proofs will doubtless multiply
in proportion as our interest in them is in-
creased, and we are consequently induced to
give them more of our attention. There is
scarcely a block of gypsum, in certain strata,
which does not contain bones. How many .
millions of these bones have been already de-
stroyed in working these quarries for the pur-
poses of building ! How many are destroyed by
negligence, and how many escape the most at-
tentive workman, from the minuteness of their
size! Some idea of this may be formed from
the piece I am going to describe. The linea-
ments there imprinted are so faint, that they
must be narrowly examined in order to be re-
cognised. Nevertheless, these lineaments are
most precious, for they belong to an animal of
which we find no other traces; to an animal
which, perhaps, buried for ages, now reappears,
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104 MEMOIRS OF
for the first time, to the eye of the naturalist.”
At the end of the description of the sarigue,
M. Cuvier continues, —* I will not dilate on
the geological consequences of this Memoir*,
for it will be evident to all those who under-
stand the systems relative to the theory of the
earth, that it overturns almost every thing which
concerns fossil remains. It has been admitted
that the fossils of the North have been animals
from Asia; it was also allowed that the animals
of Asia had passed over into North America,
and had been there buried; but it appeared
that the American genera had come from their
own soil, and had never extended to the coun-
tries which now form the Old World. My dis-
coveries lead to the contrary opinion, and this is
the second proof I have received. I*ully per-
suaded of the futility of all these systems, I con-
gratulate myself whenever a well-attested fact
destroys some one of them. ‘The greatest ser-
vice that can be rendered to science is, carefully
and decidedly to find the place of every thing
before building upon it, then to begin by over-
throwing all those fantastic edifices which choke
up the avenues, and which prevent the entrance of
* It was first published as a separate Memoir in the An-
nales du Muséum
BARON CUVIER. 105
those men to whom the exact sciences have given
the excellent habit of relying solely on evidence,
or, in a dearth of positive evidence, on circum-
stances, according to their degree of probability.
With these precautions there is no science which
may not almost become geometrical. Chemists
have lately found this with regard to their pur-
suits; and I hope the period is not far distant
when as much will be said for anatomists.” Can
I be mistaken, after the perusal of the last two
passages, in agreeing with M. Cuvier on the
advantage of finding such a collection of fossil
remains within our reach, and from this accord-
ance to deduce the equal advantage of having
had such an intellect to explain, to apply, and to
appreciate the evidences thus presented to man
of the changes which have taken place in the
earth which he inhabits ?
I now have to notice the two editions of the
Régne Animal, which, with the Tableau Elé-
mentaire, I have already esteemed as one and
the same work ; the first edition being a comple-
tion of the sketch contained in the Tableau,
and the second edition being an enlargement of
the first, with a slight alteration in the classifica-
tion, necessitated by the progress of discovery.
Having used the dissecting knife through every
106 MEMOIRS OF
class of nature*, M. Cuvier was necessarily
struck with the confusion of systems, their want
of conformity to the internal structure of animals,
and the heap of synonymes which multiplied
species to infinity ; and, as may be seen through-
out this work, accustomed from the earliest age
to entertain elevated views, and to practise me-
thod, it was absolutely necessary, even for his
own future convenience, that he should rid clas-
sification of the incumbrances which impeded its
advancement. The manner in which he accom-
plished this object, is displayed in the preface to
the first edition of the Régne Animal, in the
most interesting manner, together with the as-
sistance he received from his colleagues, espe-
cially his brother, M. Frederic Cuvier, whose
observations on the teeth of mammalia were of
the greatest service to him in forming some of
his minor divisions. ‘This preface well describes
the state in which he found the classification of
animals when he first undertook to free it from
its shackles, and is annexed to both editions.
The great outlines of his system may be given
nearly in M. Cuvier’s own words: —‘* There
* One of M. Cuvier’s most able assistants in the dissecting
department was M. Rousseau.
BARON CUVIER. 107
exist in nature four principal forms, or general
plans, according to which all animals seem to
have been modelled, and the ulterior divisions of
which, whatever name the naturalist may apply
to them, are but comparatively slight modifica-
tions, founded on the developement, or addition
of certain parts, which do not change the es-
sence of the plan.’ ‘The introduction to these
volumes contains the definition of classes, orders,
genera, &c., a general view of that which is
called organisation, particularly that of animals,
its chemical composition, its forces, its intel-
lectual and physical functions, and the applica-
tion of method to the four great forms of the
animal kingdom. From the latter I must be
allowed to make a short extract. <‘* In the first
(form), which is that of man, and the animals
which most resemble him, the brain and the
principal trunk of the nervous system are en-
closed in a bony envelope, which is composed of
the skull and vertebrae: to the sides of this mid-
dle column are attached the ribs and bones of
the limbs; all of which form the frame-work of
the body. The muscles which give action to
these bones generally cover them, and the vis-
cera are contained in the head, and the trunk,
or body. ‘These are styled vertebrated animals :
108 MEMOIRS OF
they all have red blood, a muscular heart, a
mouth with two jaws, one above, or before the
other, distinct organs for sight, hearing, smell,
and taste, placed in the cavities of the face,
never more than four limbs, the sexes always
separated, and a similar distribution of medul-
lary masses, and of the principal branches of the
nervous system. When thoroughly examining
each of the parts of this great series of animals,
we shall always find some analogy between them
all, even in the species the farthest from each
other; and we can follow the gradations of the
one same plan, from man to the last of the
fishes. In the second form there is no skeleton,
the muscles are only attached to the skin, which
forms a soft envelope, contractile in various
senses, in many species of which are engendered
stony plates, called shells, the position and pro-
duction of which are analogous to those of the
mucous body to which they belong. Their ner-
vous system and viscera are contained in this
general envelope; the former is composed of
several scattered masses, united by nervous
threads, the principal of which, placed on the
cesophagus, bear the name of brain. In general,
they only possess the senses of taste and sight,
and even the last is often wanting. Only one
BARON CUVIER. 109
family can boast of the organ of hearing ; they
have always a complete system of circulation,
and organs peculiarly adapted to respiration ;
those of digestion and secretion are nearly as
complicated as the same organs in vertebrated
animals. ‘This second form is called that of
molluscous animals; and although the general
plan of their organisation is not as uniform,
with regard to their external appearance, as that
of vertebrated animals, there is still a greater or
lesser degree of resemblance in the structure
and functions of these parts.
‘The third form is that which is to be found
in insects, worms, &c. Their nervous system
consists of two long cords, which traverse the
belly lengthwise, and are enlarged from space to
space into knots, or ganglions. The first of
these knots is situated above the cesophagus, and
is considered as the brain; but it is scarcely
larger than those which are in the belly, with
which it communicates by threads, which em-
brace the oesophagus like a collar. ‘The envelope
of this structure is divided by transversal folds
into a certain number of rings, the teguments of
which are sometimes hard, and at others soft,
but to the interior of which the muscles are
always attached. ‘The trunk often bears ar-
110 MEMOIRS OF
ticulated members on its sides, but is as often
without. ‘These are the articulated animals, and
it is among them that we observe the passage of
the circulation in closed vessels, or nutrition by
imbibition, and the corresponding passage of
respiration in the circumscribed organs called
trachez, or aérial vessels spread over the whole
of the body, by means of which it is performed.
Like the second form, there is but one family
which possesses the organs of hearing, and those
of the taste and sight are chiefly developed. If
they have any jaws they are always lateral. The
fourth form embraces all the animals known
under the name of zoophytes, and is called that
of radiated animals. In all the preceding, the
organs of movement, and the senses, are sym-
metrically disposed on the two sides of an axis ;
they have a posterior, and an anterior face of
dissimilar appearance. But in those now men-
tioned, they are as if composed of rays round a
centre, even when there are but two series of
these rays, for then the two faces are alike.
They approach the homogeneity of plants:
they have no very distinct nervous system, nor
particular organs for the senses. In some there
are scarcely any vestiges of circulation; their
respiratory organs are almost always on the
BARON CUVIER. bia
surface of their bodies ; the greater number have
but one bag without issue for an intestine, and
the last families only present a sort of homo-
geneous pulp, movable, and sensible to the
touch.” Here I must again impress on the
reader, that M. Cuvier’s first great discovery
was the necessity of separating this last form of
animals from the general mass of insects and
worms, having read his Memoir, pointing out
the characters and limits of mollusca, echi-
nodermes, and zoophytes, to the Society of
Natural History in Paris, on the 10th of May,
1795. From this he ascended to animals of more
complicated form, for it is only a man of narrow -
mind that can treat any part of natural history
with contempt. All others will see in it ‘*a con-
tinuance of that command given to Adam, to
see, to name, and to use the creatures put under
his control.” No branch of it, however trifling,
but may be ennobled by the manner in which it
is pursued ; and when the student carries all its
wonders back to the one Great Source, the
smallest worm and the most beautiful of his
own species will afford him subjects for the
deepest contemplation.
The Régne Animal begins with that being
which most interests us, of which there is but
112 MEMOIRS OF
one genus, and one species; the differences we
observe in him being but varieties, which are
termed races. Nothing can be more calculated
to excite profound attention than M. Cuvier’s
definition of Man, and it would be so much in-
jured by selecting passages from it, that extracts
can only be made from that portion entitled
‘«‘ Varieties of the Human Race.” — * Three of
these are eminently to be distinguished from
each other; the White or Caucasian, the Yellow
or Mongolian, the Negro or Ethiopian. The
Caucasian, to which we (Europeans) belong, is
remarkable for the beautiful oval form of the
head, and from it have proceeded those people
who have attained the greatest civilisation, and
have held dominion over the rest. It varies in
complexion, and the colour of the hair. ‘The
Mongolian is recognised by its prominent cheek
bones, flat face, narrow oblique eyes, straight
black hair, scanty beard, and olive tint. From
it have arisen the great empires of China and
Japan, and by it some great conquests have been
achieved, but its civilisation has always re-
mained stationary. ‘The Negro race is confined
to the south of the Atlas chain; its complexion
is black, hair woolly, skull compressed, nose
flattened, muzzle projecting, lips thick, and
BARON CUVIER. 113
nearly approaches monkies. ‘The natives which
compose it have always remained in a com-
paratively barbarous state.
«The Caucasian race is subdivided into three
great branches, and is supposed to have had its
first origin in that group of mountains situated be-
tween the Caspian and Black Seas. The Syrian
branch spread to the south, and produced Assy-
rians, Chaldeans, Arabs, Phenicians, Jews, Abys-
sinians, and probably Egyptians. From thi
branch, always inclined to scepticism, have arisen
the religious doctrines most generally adopted.
Sciences and letters have sometimes flourished
among them, but always under some strange
shape, or in some figurative style. The Indian,
German, or Pelasgic branch took a still wider
range, and the affinities of its four principal
languages are more multiplied.i—The Sanscrit,
which is still the sacred language of the Hindoos,
is the parent of most of the Hindostanee tongues.
The Pelasgic was the source whence came the
Greek, Latin, and present dialects of the south
of Europe. The Gothic or Teutonic, whence
are derived the north and north-west languages,
such as German, Dutch, English, Danish,
Swedish, and their varieties; and, lastly, the
Sclavonic, whence came the languages of the
I
114 MEMOIRS OF
north-east, viz. the Russian, the Polish, the
Bohemian, and the Vendean. It is this great
and respectable branch of the Caucasian race
which has carried philosophy, science, and art
to their greatest perfection, and of which it has
been the depositary for thirty centuries. ‘The
inhabitants of the north, such as the Samoyedes,
the Laplanders, and the Esquimaux, come, ac-
cording to some, from the Mongolian race, and
according to others they are the degenerated off-
spring of the Scythian and ‘Tartaric branch of the
Caucasian. The Americans cannot be clearly
brought back to either of our races of the Old
World; and yet, nevertheless, they do not
possess a sufficiently precise and constant cha-
racter to forma peculiar race. Their copper
complexion is far from being enough ; their black
hair and their beard would approach them to
the Mongolian, if their marked features, their
nose, equally projecting with our own, their
large and open eyes, did not oppose this idea,
and assimilate them to our European forms.
Their languages are as innumerable as their
nations; and no one has as yet been able to
seize on demonstrative analogies between them-
selves, or between them and the inhabitants of
the ancient Continent.”
BARON CUVIER. 115
The second order of Mammalia, is that of
the Quadrumana, or apes, who are many of
them men without reason: the third contains
the Carnivora, which affords lions, tigers, &c.
and all that we can imagine of fearfulness and
ferocity ; and yet, from whence we derive our
faithful dogs, our domestic cats, and our most
beautiful furs. ‘The fourth is named Marsu-
pialia, and consists of those singular animals
whose young are prematurely born, and take
refuge afterwards in a pocket attached to the
body of the mother, till they are able to take
care of themselves. The fifth, Rodentia, is that
in which we find squirrels, rats, beavers, hares,
&c. The sixth, Edentata, furnishes us with
that discusting animal the sloth, and the orni-
thorynchus, that extraordinary native of New
Holland, which has a beak like that of a duck,
feet so webbed as to resemble fins, fur like that of
a weasel, and which has by some been supposed
to lay eggs. The seventh order is called Pachy-
dermata, and in it we find the largest animals
which walk on the surface of the globe, such
as the elephant, the hippopotamus, the rhino-
ceros, and also the horse, which has been in all
ages the most easily adapted to the use of
mankind. The eighth, Ruminantia, whence
ie
116 MEMOIRS OF
come the cow, the camel, and the reindeer ;
the two latter of which convey their masters
over the hottest or the coldest regions of the
earth ; and lastly, the ninth, or Cetacea, which
presents us with the mighty monsters of the deep.
These nine orders are subdivided into families,
genera, subgenera, &c., and the most important
species are noticed with considerable detail.
From Mammalia, M. Cuvier proceeds to
Birds; and after their physiological description,
he also divides them into orders, pointing out
the reasons of such divisions, and carrying us
through every portion of the winged tribe. He
first embraces the birds of prey, such as the
vultures, who act, as it were, the part of sca-
vengers ; the eagles who prey by day, and owls
who thieve by night; the second contains the
numerous genera of the Passeres, they are not
so violent as birds of prey, properly so called,
nor have they the decided habits of the Gal-
linaceee, or aquatic birds, but devour insects,
fruits, and grains; those who pursue insects
will also feed on smaller birds, and have slender
beaks ; and those who eat grains have thick
beaks. The first subdivisions of this order de-
pend on the feet, and the others on the form of
the beaks. Among them we find our singing
BARON CUVIER. 117
birds, our birds of paradise, and our humming
birds. The third order is that of the Climbers,
such as the parrot, &c. The fourth embraces
the Gallinaceee, whence we derive our farm-
yard fowls, and most of our game. ‘The fifth,
or Gralle, gives us the ostrich, the cassowary,
the sacred ibis, &c.; and the sixth, named the
Palmipedes, presents us with ducks, geese,
pelicans, &c. &c.
As this first volume is conducted, so does the
Reégne Animal lead us through every part of the
animal world, describing all in forcible and clear
terms, neither saying too much nor too little,
commenting upon whatever is most remarkable,
viewing the affinities of these beings according
to their just value, and giving a model for me-
thodical arrangement, inasmuch as it approaches
as nearly as possible to nature. It must be ob-
served, however, of the third volume, that as the
considerable increase of Entomology, in common
with every other branch of natural history, ren-
dered it impossible for one man, in a reasonable
time, thus minutely to treat the whole series of
life, M. Cuvier called in the assistance of M.
Latreille for that part of the work which relates
to Insects and Crustacea; but where the reader
will find those enlightened views, and that beau-
13
118 MEMOIRS OF
tiful method, which is every where practised by
his great colleague. ‘* The principles on which |
M. Cuvier’s divisions rest, will necessarily pre-
side over all the changes which still more ex-
tended observation will render indispensable; but
the basis of zoological classification is for ever
laid, and its solidity will prove, better than all
the discourses of future naturalists, the elevated
genius of the author.” *
The galleries of stuffed animals at the Jardin
des Plantes, containing thousands of species, are
all arranged according to the system of the above
series, the writer of which desired no better than
to lay before the world the reasons on which he
founded it, and to give at the same time an
equal opportunity for correction and admiration.
Among the specimens there placed, are those
which he amassed for the labour I have next to
describe, many of which he had dissected with
the most minute attention, and which increased
this part of the collection to the amount of
nearly five thousand species.
The great work on Ichthyology contains an
application of M. Cuvier’s principles to one
peculiar branch of natural history, and was not
* (aurillard.
BARON CUVIER. 119
only intended by him as an example of the ex-
tent of which such an undertaking is capable,
but served the double purpose of aiding his
further researches among fossil fishes. It was
announced by himself in the conclusion of that
on Fossil Remains, in the following terms :—
«¢ ] shall now consecrate the remainder of my
time and strength to the publication of those
researches already made in the Natural History.
of Fishes, but, above all, to the termination of
my general Treatise on Comparative Anatomy.”
Scarcely did he seem to breathe between the
finished and the commenced undertaking; in
fact, the materials for several were collecting at
the same time; that which he termed his “ Ge-
neral Treatise on Comparative Anatomy”’ was
always in preparation; every week brought a
fresh accumulation of notes and drawings; many
of the latter, and all of the former, made by his
own hand. The plan of the Ichthyology was
laid before the public by M. Cuvier, in a Pro-
spectus describing the state of this branch of
the science, his actual resources, and those he
hoped to enjoy. M. Valenciennes, now Pro-
fessor of Mollusca to the Museum of the Jardin
des Plantes, was called in to aid him in the in-
numerable details attendant on such an enter-
1 4
120 MEMOIRS OF
prise, and is now charged with the continuation
of the task which his great master left unfi-
nished. Eight volumes were published at the
time of M. Cuvier’s death, and, since then, M.
Valenciennes has added another; the whole to
be completed in twenty volumes.*
The title at once implies the nature of what is
to follow: —* Natural History of Fishes, contain-
ing more than Five Thousand Species of these
Animals, described after Nature, and distributed
according to their Affinities, with Observations
on their Anatomy, and critical Researches on
their Nomenclature, antient as well as modern.”
Linneeus determined 477 species, and De Lace-
péde 1500; thus, without calculating on the
multiplication caused by the synonymes of these
authors, the increase made by M. Cuvier is
enormous. ‘Throughout the work one species is
chosen from each group for detail, and that
preferred which is the most interesting, or the
easiest to procure. ‘This is described with the
greatest minuteness, and serves not only as a
* This ninth volume was half printed during the life of
M. Cuvier; and he left, in manuscript of his own writing,
enough for three or four more volumes; but this being in
detached pieces, it will be scattered through the rest of the
work, according to the progress of the subject.
BARON CUVIER. Tot
type, but a means of comparison for the charac-
teristic but simple differences between the other
species which compose the group. ‘The neces-
sity of stating the different names given by
various authors, and the discrimination required
to separate truth from fable in that which he
reported of their economy, demanded the ex-
quisite judgment and profound experience which
rendered M. Cuvier so capable of the task; and
there was a general eagerness felt, which does
credit to naturalists and collectors of all coun-
tries, to offer to him every specimen, every dis-
covery, every observation, even before the person
so offering had himself published the particulars. .
This was the latest work of magnitude under-
taken by M. Cuvier; and it is easy to judge, by
solely viewing the rapid growth of this one
branch, how every thing advanced under his
influence and his personal exertions, and how
materials poured upon him from those who were
sure of receiving justice from his hands, and
many of whom, rendered incapable by other
pursuits or circumstances of publishing their ob-
servations on their own account, were delighted
to be mentioned in his pages as among the very
humble contributors to his glory.
But in this publication, which is accompanied
122 MEMOIRS OF
by numerous and beautiful engravings, espe-
cially those made from the drawings of M. Lau-
rillard, on the anatomy of the perch, we find a
new feature. M. Cuvier becomes the historian
of that part of the science of which he treats ;
and nothing can be more clearly or impartially
given than the progress of Ichthyology, from the
first certain glimpses to be met with concerning
its existence; and the place, the means, the
results, the influence of every labourer in the
cause, are set before us with wonderful precision
and order. But as this is, with the exception of
the Memoirs on Mollusca (published at various
times in the Annales du Muséum, and now col-
lected into one quarto volume), the only work
of M. Cuvier devoted to one single branch of
natural history, it may be interesting to give an
idea how it is conducted. The history above-
mentioned forms, as it were, an introduction to
the whole, and concludes in these words: —
« As for us, the only wish we can now form, is,
that the work which we have undertaken may
not be found unworthy, either of the illustrious
writers whose labours we seek to continue, or
of the aid and encouragement we have received
from so great a number of friends, and from the
patrons of natural history. Happy if we could
BARON CUVIER. 123
hope, in our turn, that our endeavours may rank
among those which have marked the epochs of
science. It is to this that all our efforts tend.”
Irom the history, M. Cuvier proceeds to give
a general idea of the nature and organisation of
Fishes. The following is an extract from this
part : — ** Being aquatic, that is to say, living
in a liquid which is heavier, and offers more re-
sistance than air, their forces for motion have
been necessarily disposed and calculated for pro-
gression, and elevation, which is alsoaccomplished
by them with ease. Hence arises that form of
body which offers least resistance, the chief seat
of muscular force residing in the tail, the brevity.
of their members, the expansibility of these
members, and the membranes which support
them, the smooth or scaly teguments, and the
total absence of hairs or feathers. Breathing
only through the medium of water, that is, for
the purpose of giving an arterial nature to their
blood, profiting by the small quantity of oxygen
contained in the air, which is mingled with the
water, their blood is necessarily cold, and
their vitality, the energy of their senses and
movements, are consequently less than in Mam-
malia and Birds. ‘Their brain, therefore, or ra-
ther a composition similar to it, is proportionably
124 MEMOIRS OF
much smaller, and the external organs of their
senses are not of a nature to admit of powerful
impressions. fishes, in fact, are, of all verte-
brated animals, those which have the least ap-
parent signs of sensibility. Having no elastic air
at their disposal, they have remained mute, or
nearly so, and all those sentiments awakened
or sustained by the voice have remained un-
known to them. Their eyes almost immoveable,
their bony and rigid countenance, their members
deprived of inflexion, and every part moving at
the same time, do not leave them any power of
varying their physiognomy or expressing their
emotions. ‘Their ear, enclosed on every side by
the bones of the skull, without external conch
or internal labyrinth, and composed only of a
few bags and membranous canals, scarcely
allows them to distinguish the most striking
sounds ; and, in fact, an exquisite sense of hear-
ing would be of very little use to those destined
to live in the empire of silence, and around
whom all are mute. Their sight, in the depths
of their abode, would be little exercised, if
the greater number of the species had not, by
the size of their eyes, been enabled to supply
the deficiency of light; but even in these spe-
cies, the eye scarcely changes its direction ; still
BARON CUVIER. 125
less can it change its dimensions, and accom-
modate itself to the distance of objects ; its iris
neither dilates nor contracts, and its pupil re-
mains the same in every degree of light. No
tear bathes this eye, no eyelid soothes or protects
it; and, in fishes, it is but a feeble representation
of that beautiful, brilliant, and animated organ
of the higher classes of animals. Procuring food
by swimming after a prey which also swims with
greater or lesser rapidity, having no means of
seizing this prey but by swallowing it, a deli-
cate sense of taste would have been useless to
fishes had nature bestowed it on them. But
their tongue, almost immoveable, often bony, or
armed with dentated plates, and only receiving
a few slender nerves, shows us that this organ is
as little sensible as it is little necessary. Smell
even cannot be as continually exercised by fishes
as by animals which breathe air in a direct man-
ner, and whose nostrils are unceasingly traversed
by odoriferous vapours. Lastly, we come to the
touch, which, from the surface of their bodies
being encircled by scales, by the inflexibility of
the rays of their members, and by the dryness of
the membranes which envelope them, has been
obliged to seek refuge at the end of their lips;
126 MEMOIRS OF
and even these, in some species, are reduced to
a dry and insensible hardness.”
In the whole of the chapter from which the
above passage is selected, there is a poetical
feeling, in which M. Cuvier rarely indulged
when treating of science, but with which we
find he could occasionally sport without injury
to his subject. In the next chapter he resumes
his more precise manner ; and the contrast is the
more striking, as this chapter may be almost
styled a collection of aphorisms. It speaks of
the exterior of fishes, and is succeeded by others
containing the osteology, myology, brain and
nerves, nutrition, reproduction, and a general
summing up and methodical distribution of this
class into its great divisions, its natural families,
&c. Irom the latter may be selected a passage
well calculated to prevent those who study
systems from falling into a very common error.
« Let it not be imagined, because we place
one genus or one family before another, that we
consider them as more perfect, or superior to
another in the series of beings. He only could
pretend to do this, who would pursue the chi-
merical project of ranging beings in one single
line,—a project which we have long renounced.
The more progress we have made in the study
BARON CUVIER. 127
of nature, the more we are convinced that this
is one of the falsest ideas that has ever resulted
from the pursuit of natural history ; the more we
have been convinced of the necessity of con-
sidering each being, each group of beings, by
itself, and the part it plays by its properties and
organisation, and not to make abstraction of any
of its affinities, or any of the links which attach
it, either to the beings nearest to it, or the most
distant from it. Once placed in this point of
view, difficulties vanish, all arranges itself for
the naturalist: but systematic methods only
embrace the nearest affinities; and by placing a
being only between two others, they will always
be wrong. The true method is, to view each
being in the midst of all others: it shows all
the radiations by which it is more or less closely
linked with that immense network which con-
stitutes organised nature; and it is this only
which can give us that great idea of nature, which
is true, and worthy of her and her Author ; but
ten or twenty rays often would not suffice to
express these innumerable affinities .... We shall
therefore approach to each other those whom
nature has approximated, without feeling ob-
liged to put into our groups the beings she has
not placed there; and making no scruple, after
128 MEMOIRS OF
having demonstrated, for example, all the species
which will admit of being arranged in a well-
defined genus, all the genera which may be
placed in a well-defined family, to leave out one
or several isolated species or genera, which are
not attached to others in a natural manner ;
preferring the honest avowal of these irregu-
larities, if we may be allowed to call them so, to
those errors which must arise from leaving these
species, and anomalous genera, in a series, the
characters of which they do not embrace.”
The first great division of Fishes treated of by
M. Cuvier, and with which the second volume
commences, is that of the Acanthopterygu, or
fishes with spinous rays to their fins; and fore-
most amongst these, is the numerous family of
the Perches, or Percoides, which occupies the
two succeeding volumes. ‘The fourth volume
contains the family of the Joues Cuirassées, many
of which, and especially those of the tropical
seas, present themselves under extraordinary
and exaggerated forms, and to which belong
the beautiful little sticklebacks of our running
streams. ‘The fifth volume embraces the Scien-
oides ; the sixth, the Sparoides, and the Menides ;
the seventh, the Squammipennes, and the Pha-
ryngiens Labyrinthitormes ; and the eighth and
BARON CUVIER. 129
ninth, the Scomberoides. Each volume is closed
by the additions and corrections which the au-
thors have found it requisite to make during the
progress of their publication ; and I have offered
this short list, because it has been a question
often repeated, even to myself, how far this noble
work was advanced when its progress was so
grievously arrested. It is the intention of M. Va-
lenciennes to proceed as rapidly as possible with
the rest, designating those parts which are solely
due to the exalted genius, under whose auspices
he has become worthy of continuing this ex-
tensive and admirable enterprise. *
* Thave always been very much struck with one part of
this work, and therefore cannot forbear calling the attention
of the reader to it. It is the way in which M. Cuvier refutes
the opinions of M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, who had long
opposed him with considerable warmth. As far as relates to
Fishes, M. Cuvier, in notes at the bottom of certain pages,
places his antagonist’s arguments in two columns, and by the
side of them, in two others, sets forth his refutations. Nota
word of personal feeling is added, not a single argument is
brought in, to aid in persuading the reader that he is right ;
there are the two systems, equally exposed, and he who pe-
ruses them, perfectly at liberty to verify and judge for himself.
This difference of opinion being pursued with acrimony on se-
veral occasions by M. Geoffroy, it at last became a matter of
discussion before the Institute ; and M. Cuvier, who had long
remained silent with the most heroic forbearance, at length
was induced to reply. After some little time, M. Geoftroy
retired from this direct contest; but it is to be hoped, that
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130 MEMOIRS OF
In noticing the Ichthyology, I have had occa-
sion to speak of M. Cuvier as the historian of
the science to which he was devoted ; and this
leads me to mention here, the annual reports
made by him at the Institute, in which, from
the age of twenty-six, he had been accustomed
to lay before that body the labours of its mem-
bers and correspondents, thereby forming a
general history of science from that period till
his death. In these “* Analyses des Parties Phy-
siques des Travaux de l’ Académie des Sciences,”
we see the universality of his genius and acquire-
ments; and, like almostall hisother undertakings,
we may consider this mass of reports, and the
qualifications necessary for the making of them,
as alone sufficient for the employment of a life.
They comprehend, first, Meteoro ogy and Natural
Philosophy in general ; secondly, Chemistry and
Physics, properly so called, and when the explan-
ation of the facts did not demand calculation ;
thirdly, Mineralogy and Geology ; fourthly, Vege-
table Physiology and Botany; fifthly, Anatomy
the surviving friends of M. Cuvier will one day publish his
opinions separated from his great works, so that they may be
accessible to those who may not have either time or oppor-
tunity to seek them in the general tenor of his publications.
BARON CUVIER. Tot
and Physiology; sixthly, Zoology; seventhly,
Travels which were connected with the advance-
ment of natural sciences: eighthly, Medicine and
Surgery; ninthly, the Veterinary Art; and tenthly,
Agriculture. From these analyses a just idea
may be formed of most of the principal disco-
veries made in all these branches of science
during the time of M. Cuvier; for not only did
the members and appointed correspondents of
the Institute feel it a duty to communicate their
endeavours to this body, but many strangers felt
a laudable pride in submitting their efforts to
those who would be likely to appreciate them.
All is described by M. Cuvier in his usually
clear and forcible language, ‘ frequently sur-
prising even the author himself by the lucidity
with which his own ideas and experiments are
set forth, and sometimes creating in him new
or different views of the subject which had long
occupied his thoughts.” * The same fearlessness
of rendering justice marked these reports, as
well as the other productions of the writer; and
from their impartiality, their truth, and beautiful
unity, they might have been supposed rather to
have related to times long past, than to have been
* Dr. Duvernoy.
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132 MEMOIRS OF
a record of the labours of contemporaries. Not
a word of his own opinions or feelings escapes
him; he mentions his own works with the most
perfect modesty and simplicity, and scrupulously
states, with invariable fidelity, every argument
brought forward, even against his own views
and sentiments.
Besides these annual reports, M. Cuvier was
charged by the Emperor with a new task, which
he thus announces in a letter to his friend M. Du-
vernoy : — “ All my labours are nearly arrested
by a work demanded by the Emperor, the greater
part of which has devolved upon me as secretary
to the class (of natural sciences). It is a history
of the march and progress of the human mind
since 1789. You may suppose to what a degree
this is a complicated undertaking, respecting
natural sciences; thus I have already written a
volume, without having nearly reached the end ;
but this history is so rich, there is such a beau-
tiful mass of discoveries, that I have become
interested in it, and work at it with pleasure. I
hope it will be a striking dissertation on literary
and philosophical history ; but above all things, I
endeavour to point out the real views which
ought to guide ulterior researches.” It may be
considered as a work of the same nature as those
Q
BARON CUVIER. 135
which I have just been describing, only infinitely
greater in extent, inasmuch as it embraces a
larger portion of time, and extends to those who
were not in the habit of communicating with
the Institute.
Napoleon had conceived the bold thought of
embracing, at one view, all that the general im-
pulse towards learning and science had pro-
duced since the above period; and it may be
unhesitatingly affirmed, that the execution of
his wishes accorded with the elevated feelings
from which they sprang. It commences with
one of those introductions which always rank
among the highest efforts of M. Cuvier’s genius ;
in which he sets before us,—if I may be allowed
so to express myself,—the sublimity of science ;
and is throughout remarkable for the extensive
views it takes, and its unflinching impartiality.
The following beautiful passage is among the
concluding pages, which pages contain a solicit-
ation for amendments and continued protection
on the part of the Emperor: — “ To lead the
mind of man to its noble destination,— a know-
ledge of the truth, — to spread sound and whole-
some ideas among the lowest classes of the
people, to draw human beings from the empire
of prejudices and passions, to make reason the
—7
Q
KD
134 MEMOIRS OF
arbitrator and supreme guide of public opinion ;
these are the essential objects of science. This
is how she contributes to the advancement of
civilization ; this is why she merits the protection
of those governments, who, desirous of erecting
their power on the surest foundation, form their
basis on the common good.” ‘This report, and
the « Analyses des Travaux,” have been collected
together as far as 1827, and published as a sup-
plement to the « Ciuvres complétes de Buffon,”
edited by M. Richard, and form two octavo
volumes.
The active part taken by M. Cuvier, in con-
junction with other savants, in the ‘ Dictionnaire
des Sciences Naturelles,” and the influence of
his name, were doubtless of infinite service to
this valuable enterprise. His Prospectuses were
quite as remarkable as any of his other produc-
tions, and many writers applied to him for assist-
ance in this respect. It was not, however, only
when sought that he contributed his aid; but,
saying to a young author, ‘* Let me see your
Prospectus,” and having seen it, adding, ‘ let
me arrange this for you,” the next day, a page
or two of eloquence would be ready for the press,
which could not fail to produce a favourable
impression of the forthcoming publication. That
Qo
BARON CUVIER. 1359
which announced the Dictionary I have just
mentioned, rapidly exposes the history of science
up to that time, and vouches for the pains taken
by the contributors to its pages, that the extent
to which science has lately carried her researches
should be in every way gratified. Those great
names with which M. Cuvier’s has been so
often associated in France and in England, are
mentioned in the first pages, in a manner so in-
teresting, and so satisfactory, that I cannot resist
the pleasure of quoting his words. The extract
is preceded by a view of the advantages which
science received from the precepts of Bacon,
and is as follows: — « Nevertheless, it is pro-
bable that Natural History would not have so
soon arrived at the brilliant condition for which
it had been prepared by these wise precepts, had
not two of the greatest men who adorned the
last century concurred, notwithstanding the op-
posite natures of their views and characters (or,
perhaps, by this very opposition concurred), in
causing its sudden and extensive growth. Lin-
nus and Bufton, in fact, seem to have possessed,
each in his own way, those qualities which it was
impossible for the same man to combine, and all
of which were necessary to give a rapid impulse
to the study of nature. Both passionately fond
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136 MEMOIRS OF
of this science, both thirsting for fame, both
indefatigable in their studies, both gifted with
sensibility, lively imaginations, and elevated
minds; they each started in their career, armed
with those resources which result from profound
erudition. But each of them traced a different
path for himself, according to the peculiar bent
of his genius. Linnzeus seized on the distin-
guishing characters of beings, with the most
remarkable tact; Buffon, at one glance, em-
braced the most distant affinities: Linneeus,
exact and precise, created a language on pur-
pose to express his ideas clearly, and at the same
time concisely ; Buffon, abundant and fertile in
expression, used his words to develope the ex-
tent of his conceptions. No one ever exceeded
Linneeus in impressing every one with the beau-
ties of detail with which the Creator has profusely
enriched every thing to which he has given life.
No one better than Buffon ever painted the
majesty of creation, and the imposing grandeur
of the laws to which she is subjected. The
former, frightened at the chaos or careless state
in which his predecessors had left the history of
nature, contrived, by simple methods, and short
and clear definitions, to establish order in this
immense labyrinth, and render a knowledge of
BARON CUVIER. 137
individual beings easy of attainment: the latter,
disgusted at the dryness of antecedent writers,
who, forthe most part, were contented with giving
exact descriptions, knew how to interest us for
these objects by the magic of his harmonious
and poetical language. Sometimes the student,
fatigued by the perusal of Linneeus, reposed
himself with Buffon ; but always, when de-
liciously excited by his enchanting descriptions,
he returned to Linnaeus in order to class this
beautiful imagery, fearing, that without such aid
he might only preserve a confused recollection of
its subject; and doubtless, it is not the least of
the merits of these two authors, thus incessantly
to inspire a wish to return to each other, although
this alternation seems to prove, and in fact does
prove,that, in each, something is wanting. As un.
fortunately is but too often the case, the imitators
of Linnzus and Buffon have precisely adopted
the defects of each of their masters; and that
which was in them but a slight shade in a mag-
nificent picture, is become the principal character
in the productions of many of their respective
disciples. Some have only copied the dry and
neological phrases of Linneeus, without recollect-
ing that he himself only looked upon his system
as the scaffolding of an edifice of much greater
138 MEMOIRS OF
importance, and that in the special histories which
his numerous labours have permitted him to write,
he has not neglected a single thing which belongs
to the existence of the being which he describes.
Others have only admired the general views and
lofty style of Bufton, without remarking that he
only decorated a series of facts, collected with
the most judicious criticism, with these brilliant
ornaments ; and even that nomenclature, which
they affect to despise, is always established by him
with great erudition, after the most careful and
ingenious discussion.” I close this extract with
a remark made upon M. Cuvier by M. Duvernoy,
who has also cited the above passage in an éloge
on his illustrious master, addressed to his dis-
ciples at Strasburgh. —‘* May we not say, after
this, that he who so well appreciated these great
men, who so happily found in the one, that
which was wanting in the other, knew how to
unite the excellencies of both in his own writings;
or rather, that his genius, in its originality, had
nothing incomplete, nothing which could make
us feel the want of the true method on one side,
nor the absence of general views on the other.”
A list of the articles contributed by M. Cu-
vier to the above mentioned Dictionnaire will
be found among the catalogue of his works at
BARON CUVIER. 139
the end of this volume; but that headed “Nature”
is too important to be passed over in silence
here ; to remain unnoticed in memoirs especially
intended to set forth his opinions; for it contains
the clearest and most satisfactory refutation of
the reigning controversies that has ever been
published in a separate form; though what these
opinions were, may be gathered from every thing
he has written.
«The word Nature, like all abstract terms
which find their way into common language,
has assumed numerous and divers significations.
Primitively, and according to its etymology, it
means that which a being derives from its birth,
in opposition to that which it may derive from
art.... It is in the nature of an oak to grow for
three centuries, to have hard wood, to attain a
great size, &c. It is in that of a bird to raise
itself in the air, to distinguish distant objects,
&c. Man is by nature capable of education;
his nature is weak, inconstant, &c. Each indi-
vidual may possess, physically or morally, its
own peculiar nature; it may be feeble or vigor-
ous, mild or passionate, &c.
«This word Nature is also extended to things
which are not born, to unorganised beings in
general, in order to designate the peculiar and
140 MEMOIRS OF
intrinsic qualities which they always possess.
The nature of gold is to be heavy, yellow, and
not liable to decomposition by air or humidity,
&c. ‘Thus taken in its most generic acceptation,
the nature of a thing is that which makes it
what it is—that which distinguishes it, which
constitutes it—in a word, its essence: and it is
thus that we speak even of the Being of beings,
—of Him in whom, and by whom, are all things;
and therefore the expression applied to God,
and to his attributes, is a most improper term
when applied to the vilest and most perishable
bodies. But that which exists in the nature of
each individual, exists also in each species, and
each genus; and thus, rising from abstraction to
abstraction, we at length arrive at the idea of a
general nature of all things; this embraces the
qualities common to all beings, and the laws of
their mutual affinities ; it is the nature of things,
taken in its most abstract sense. Lastly, by a
figure of speech, common to all languages, this
term has been employed for the things them-
selves, for the substances to which these qua-
lities belong. Nature then is, all beings, or the
universe, or the world; and when considered as
contingent and in opposition to the necessary
Being, to God, it is called Creation. Nature,
BARON CUVIER. 141
the world, creation, the whole of created beings,
are, then, so many synonymes.
«« But by another of those figures of speech to
which all languages are prone, Nature has been
personified; existing beings have been called
the works of Nature, and the general affinities
of these beings among themselves have been
called the laws of Nature. ‘The definitive result
of these affinities, which is a certain constancy
of motion, a certain fixedness in the proportion
of the species; in short, the preservation, to a
certain degree, of the order once established;
has been entitled the wisdom of Nature. Lastly,
the enjoyments afforded to sensible beings have
taken the name of the bounty of Nature. Here,
under the name of Nature, the Creator himself
is evidently represented; they are his works,
his cares, his wisdom, and his goodness, which
are thus meant. Nevertheless, it is by thus con-
sidering Nature as a being gifted with intel-
ligence and will, but secondary and limited with
regard to power, that we are able to say of her,
that she unceasingly watches over the preserv-
ation of her works, that she makes nothing in
vain, that she effects all by the most simple
methods, that she contributes to the cure of dis-
eases, but that she is sometimes overcome by the
14.2 MEMOIRS OF
force of malady; and other adages; many of
which are only true in a very limited sense, and
in a very different manner from that which they
seem to offer at the first glance. ... In propor-
tion as the knowledge of astronomy, physics,
and chemistry has been extended, these sciences
have renounced the false reasoning which re-
sulted from the application of this figurative lan-
guage to real phenomena. Some physiologists
only have continued to use it, because the ob-
scurity in which physiology is still enveloped,
renders it necessary to attribute some reality to
the phantoms of abstraction, in order to practise
illusion on themselves and others, concerning
their profound ignorance as touching vital mo-
tion.
«s Nevertheless, this antient idea of an active
but subordinate principle, distinct from ordinary
forms, and the laws of motion which should
preside over organisation, and which should keep
it in order, still prevails, not only in language,
but in the systems of a great many writers, who,
although they allow the justice of the distinc-
tions we have now made, yet suffer themselves
to be drawn unconsciously towards doctrines
which have no other foundation. Such are the
doctrines of the ‘ Scale of Nature,’ the ‘ Unity
BARON CUVIER. 143
of composition,’ and others similar to these,
which have all been imagined in consequence of
the belief in a Nature distinct from the Creator,
and less powerful than he is, and which have no
evident support, but in those fancied limits which
they place to his power.
«< That each effect may proceed from a cause,
which cause is to be traced to an anterior cause;
that in this manner all events, all successive
phenomena, may be linked together ; that there
may be no interruption in the march of nature,
and that we may, in this sense, compare her to
a chain, all the rings of which are attached to
and follow each other; is evident on the least -
reflection. ‘That the beings which exist in the
world are so constructed as to maintain a per-
manent order ; that they have, consequently, suf-
ficient for all their wants; that their action and
reaction may exist in every place, and at every
moment, as necessary for this permanency ;
that it may be the same with the parts of each
being ; the very maintenance of this order teaches
us. Lastly, that in this innumerable multi-
tude of different beings, each, taken apart, may
find some which resemble it more than others,
by their internal and external forms; that it
may be the same with these, relative to a third
set; and that, consequently, we may be able to
14.4 MEMOIRS OF
group near each being, a certain number of
other beings which approach it in different de-
grees ; must necessarily be the case. But, that
we ought to apply to the resemblances of these
simultaneous beings, that which is true concern-
ing the relation of successive phenomena and
events; that the forms of these beings necessa-
rily constitute a series or a chain, so that the eye
may gradually pass from one to the other, with-
out finding any gap, any hiatus; in short, the
existence of a continued and regular scale in the
forms of beings, from the stone to the man;
this is what our three concessions by no means
prove ; this is what is not true, whatever elo-
quence may have been used in tracing the ima-
ginary picture. The philosophers who have
supported this system of a scale of beings, at
each interruption which is pointed out to them,
pretend, that if a step is wanting, it is hidden
in some corner of the globe, where a fortunate
traveller may one day discover it. Neverthe-
less, all regions, all seas, have been explored ;
the number of species collected increases every
day; there are, perhaps, an hundred-fold more
than when these paradoxical opinions began to
be established, and none of the spaces are filled
up; all the interruptions remain; there is no-
BARON CUVIER. 145
thing intermediate between birds and_ other
classes; there is nothing between vertebrated
animals and those which have no vertebra. The
distinctions of true naturalists remain in all their
force; the laws of the co-existence of organs,.
those of their reciprocal exclusion, remain un-
shaken. Each organised being has in concord-
ance all that is necessary for its subsistence ;
each great change, in one organ, produces a
change in others. to use M. Cuvier’s expressions, ‘ he
which,’
saw exposed to poverty and disease ; forced to
undergo severe and painful, even dangerous and
unhealthy labours; almost entirely deprived of
education ; particularly open to the seductions
of vice, the torrent of passions, and brutal plea-
sures; often obliged to listen to the suggestions
of want and hunger, and having no resource
against these temptations in mental acquire-
ment, in the habit of reflection, in public esteem,
in the hope of a better fate, or that ease of cir-
cumstances, which in other conditions is ac-
quired by labour and good conduct.”
M. de Montyon left legacies to hospitals; and
thinking, that after quitting these asylums in
too weak a state to work, the poor needed still
further aid, he destined a certain sum to this
purpose. Besides this, he left funds for bestow-
ing prizes on those who invented machines to
be used in agriculture or mechanical arts, and
BARON CUVIER. loo
also on any one who should discover efficacious
remedies for the diseases which afflict humanity,
or diminish the danger to which workmen are
exposed in carrying on several of their occupa-
tions: he founded a third prize for books, which
should instruct the poor in moral conduct and
proper deportment; and, lastly, he instituted
that of virtue, exclusively in favour of the poorer
classes. ‘This prize is annually bestowed, and
awarded by the Académie [rangaise. In 1829
M. Cuvier was appointed, at the meeting of St.
Louis, to inform the public how the prizes had
been bestowed ; and his discourse on the subject
forms the volume of which I now speak.
In his introduction to the history of those
who have obtained the prizes, the author says,
“« Let us first ask the question, What is virtue ?
An ancient philosopher answers, ‘ Remarkable
and brilliant virtue is that which supports woe
and labour, or which exposes itself to danger, in
order to be useful to others, and that without
expecting or desiring any recompense.’ The
philosopher has well said that this is rare and
brilliant virtue; perhaps it is even above hu-
manity ; but let us observe, that its two prin-
cipal characters are, usefulness to others, and
perfect disinterestedness. But we will turn from
156 MEMOIRS OF
pagan antiquity, open the Gospel, and_ there
seek an answer to the question proposed. We
read in the Holy Writings, ‘ Love God above
all things, and your neighbour as yourselves :
the law and the prophets are contained in these
two precepts.” ‘Thus, he who has followed these -
precepts is virtuous; he will have accomplished
the entire law. Now, what is it to love God ?
How can we prove that we love him? It is by
conforming to his will, by doing that which he
orders ; and the first thing which he commands
us to do, after loving him, is to love our neigh-
bour as ourselves ; and our neighbours are all
men, without distinction or exception, as the
Gospel also teaches us in the parable of the Sa-
maritan. ‘This command, given us by God, has
been rendered easy and pleasing in execution by
himself having implanted in our souls, at our
birth, a love for our neighbours, a natural dispo-
sition to love our fellow-creatures, to rejoice in
their joy, and weep for their sorrows. ‘This sym-
pathy, this soothing feeling, which religion calls
charity, is to be found in all pure and unper-
verted hearts, though it is not equally developed,
equally energetic in all. We feel that which we
owe to each other, not only justice, but succour
to the extent of our ability. Do not to others
BARON CUVIER. 157
that which you would not they should do unto
you ; and do to others as you would they should
do unto you. These are very simple rules, to
be comprehended even by children, and recog-
nised by them as equitable and necessary; they
are the foundation of all morality, and why are
they not always followed ? It is because we are
blinded by our passions, our inclinations, and
our interests. We have just said that God has
given us the feeling of love towards our neigh-
bours, but he has also given us a love for our-
selves, for our own preservation; this sentiment
is not less natural than the other, and is not
wrong, because it is necessary; it even teaches’
us several virtues, such as temperance for the
sake of health, prudence to avoid danger, and
courage for the means of extricating ourselves
from difficulty. God tells us to love our neigh-
bour as ourselves, that is, to tell us to love our-
selves; but when this love of self is carried to
excess, then it is that it merits the odious ap-
pellation of egotism ; then it prompts us to sa-
crifice others to ourselves, to wish to enrich
ourselves by their losses, to reckon others as no-
thing when our own satisfaction is concerned ;
then does it become a guilty feeling; then does
5>?
it lead us to injustice and crime. It is even sad
138 MEMOIRS OF
and foolish to love ourselves only; and if we
have never done any thing for others, how
can we expect gratitude and help from them ?
‘C’est n’étre bon a rien, de n’étre bon qu’a soi.’ *
He who stifles in himself the feeling of compas-
sion, and only obeys the dictates of self-love, is a
dangerous being in society, and who ought to be
reproved and punished in society, at least by
contempt. We may say, that almost all the evil
we commit arises from egotism; whilst the
greater part of our good actions is inspired by _
love for our fellow-creatures. Therefore, the
best system of education is that which teaches
us to direct and control our self-love within its
just limits, and, at the same time, tends to deve-
lope and augment our love for others, our desire
of being useful, and doing them good. These
reflections lead us back to M. de Montyon, who,
always animated by this desire, wished to render
all men wiser, better, and happier. It was with
this intention that he founded the prizes of virtue,
the distribution of which has been confided to the
Académie Francaise, and this is the tenth time
of fulfilling this honourable mission... . But the
liberality of M. de Montyon, though great, must
* It is to be good for nothing to be only good to one’s self.
BARON CUVIER. 159
be limited; and a choice must be made among
those who are presented to us, each with the
strongest claims. It may be imagined how diffi-
cult it is to make this choice: how painful, and
even afflicting, it is to the judges to be obliged to
compare, and coolly weigh actions which amount
to sublimity ; and, while animated to enthusiasm,
or moved almost to weakness, thus impartially
and calmly to pronounce judgment. Besides,
what man can flatter himself that he can be ex-
‘empt from error in such decisions? God alone
is the judge of virtue, because he alone can read
our hearts, penetrate into our motives, and know
our intentions: God alone gives to virtue its
real reward. We can only see the exterior, and
presume on the motives, which we are bound to
consider as pure and upright, when the actions
bear the appearance of disinterestedness and
goodness.”
Thus far I have attempted, by translation, to
give some idea of this beautiful little volume:
but as the account of M. Cuvier’s works draws
near to the close, it will be desirable, occasion-
ally, to give specimens of his style, by extracts
from the French; and having thus stated the
motive, these passages will be introduced when-
ever they seem to me to be best calculated for
160 MEMOIRS OF
displaying his powers. ‘The following is selected
from the “ Prix de Vertu* :”—* Nous avons a ra-
conter les bonnes actions de quinze autres per-
sonnes, auxquelles l’académie a décerné des
médailles; au moment de commencer ces récits,
nous éprouvons une crainte, celle de fatiguer nos
lecteurs par la monotonie, et le défaut de variété,
ces récits vont se ressembler entre eux; ce sera
toujours de Ja charité, toujours de la bienfaisance,
toujours un devoiment désintéressé aux infortunes
d’autrui; et puis, il faudra toujours louer, toujours
admirer: ce n’est pas le moyen de réveiller et
de soutenir l’attention; l’cloge nous fatigue ou
nous endort; un écrivain Anglais dit spirituelle-
ment, que tous les panégyriques semblent confits
* We have now to recount the good deeds of fifteen other
persons, to whom the Academy has decreed medals; but as
we commence these recitals, a fear assails us of fatiguing our
readers by monotony, by want of variety. These histories are
all alike; it is always charity, always benevolence, always a
disinterested devotion to the cause of the unfortunate. These
we must for ever praise, for ever admire ; and this is not the
way to rouse or to fix attention. Eulogium fatigues or sends
us to sleep, and an English writer wittily says, that all pane-
gyrics seem to have been cooked in poppy juice. We how-
ever will abstain from saying a single word which may appear
to be given for the purpose of impressing these affecting cir-
cumstances. Still more forcibly do they carry their own re-
commendation with them; and those who are so unhappy as
not to feel them, will not be capable of comprehending any
eulogiums which we could add to them.
BARON CUVIER. 161
dans du jus des pavots. Eh bien! nous nous
abstiendrons de dire un seul mot qui pourrait
sembler destiné a faire valoir des actions si
touchantes; elles se recommandent assez par
elles-mémes; et ceux qui auraient le malheur de
nen étre pas attendris, ne seraient pas méme en
état de comprendre les éloges que nous pout-
tions y ajouter.”’
One of the great prizes awarded on this
occasion was five thousand francs to Louise
Scheppler, whose history will, if I mistake not, be
acceptable to the reader, as given by the Baron
Cuvier. ‘* Louise Scheppler has, perhaps, car-
ried this industrious beneficence still farther,
for it is not one family, it is an entire country
which enjoys the fruits of her benevolence; a
whole country which has been vivified by the
charity of a poor servant. In the rudest part
of the chain of the Vosges mountains is a valley,
almost separated from the rest of the world.
Sixty years back it afforded but scanty nourish-
ment to a half-civilised population, consisting
of only eighty families, distributed in five vil-
lages. ‘Their ignorance and their poverty
were equally great; they neither understood
German nor French; a patois, unintelligible to
any but themselves, was their sole language ;
M
162 MEMOIRS OF
and, what is scarcely credible, their misery had
not softened their manners. ‘These peasants,
like the lords of the middle ages, governed by
force, hereditary feuds divided families, and
more than once gave rise to acts of criminal
violence. A pious pastor, named John Irede-
rick Oberlin, who has since become so cele-
brated, undertook to civilise them; and for this
purpose, like one who knew mankind, he first
attacked their poverty. With his own hands he
set the example for all useful labours, and, armed
with a pickaxe, he directed them in the con-
struction of a good road, digging and labouring
with them; he taught them to cultivate the po-
tatoe; he made them acquainted with good
vegetables and fruits; showed them how to en-
graft, and gave them excellent breeds of cattle
and poultry. ‘Their agriculture once perfected,
he introduced manufactures among them, in
order to employ superfluous hands; he gave
them a saving-bank, and put them in communi-
cation with the commercial houses of the neigh-
bouring towns. As their confidence increased
with their improvement, he, by degrees, gave
them instruction of a higher nature. He himself
was their schoolmaster, till he could form one
capable of seconding his endeavours. Having
once learned to love reading, every thing became
8
BARON CUVIER. 163
easier; chosen works were brought to them “to
aid the conversation and example of the pastor ;
religious feelings, and, with them, mutual bene-
volence, insinuated themselves into their hearts ;
quarrels, crimes, and lawsuits disappeared ; and,
if by chance, some dispute arose, they, with one
accord, came to Oberlin, and begged him to put
an end to it. In short, when this venerable
man was nearly at the end of his career, he was
able to say, that in this province, once so poor
and thinly populated, he left three hundred fa-
milies, regular in their habits, pious and enlight-
ened in their sentiments, enjoying remarkable
ease of circumstances, and provided with the >
means of perpetuating these blessings. A young
female peasant from one of these villages, named
Louise Scheppler, though scarcely fifteen years
of age, was so forcibly impressed with the virtues
of this man of God, that, although she enjoyed
a small patrimony, she begged to enter into his
service, and take a part in his charitable la-
bours. From that time she never accepted any
wages; she never quitted him; she became his
help, his messenger, and the guardian angel of
the rudest huts. She afforded the inhabitants
every species of consolation; and in no instance
can we find a finer example of the power of feel-
M 2
164 MEMOIRS OF
ing to exalt the intelligence. ‘This simple vil-
lage girl entered into the elevated views of her
master, even astonishing him by her happy sug-
gestions, which he unhesitatingly adopted in his
general plan of operation. She it was who re-
marked the difficulty that the labourers in the
fields experienced, in combining their agricul-
tural employments with the care of their younger
children, and who thought of collecting together,
even infants of the earliest age in spacious halls,
where, during the absence of their parents, some
intelligent instructresses should take care of,
amuse, teach them their letters, and exercise
them in employments adapted to their ages.
From this institution of Louise Scheppler arose
the infant schools of England and France, where
the children of the working classes, who would
otherwise be exposed to accidents and vicious
examples, are watched over, instructed, and pro-
tected. ‘The honour of an idea which has pro-
duced such beautiful results is solely due to this
poor peasant of Ban de la Roche; to this she
consecrated all her worldly means, and, what are
of more value, her youth and her health. Even
now, though advanced in years, she, without re-
ceiving the smallest compensation, assembles a
hundred children round her, from three to seven
BARON CUVIER. 165
years of age, and instructs them according to
their capacities. The adults, thanks to M. Ober-
lin, have no further moral wants; but there are
yet some, who in sickness or old age have need
of physical aid. Louise Scheppler watches over
them, carries them broth, medicine, in short,
every thing, not forgetting pecuniary succour.
She has founded and regulated a sort of Mont
de Piété *, of a peculiar kind, which would be an
admirable institution elsewhere, if it could be
multiplied like the infant schools; for it is
among the very small number of those which
merit the name given to them, for money is
there lent without interest and without securities.
When M. Oberlin died, he, by will, left Louise
Scheppler to his children; the simple words of
a dying master may be heard with interest, and
will be more eloquent than any thing we can
add: —‘ I leave my faithful nurse to you, my
dear children, she who has reared you, the in-
defatigable Louise Scheppler; to you also she
has been a careful nurse, to you a faithful mo-
* The Mont de Piété of Paris, managed by a company of
individuals, was first established on the same principle as that
of Louise Scheppler, but is now the general establishment for
pawning, to which all the minor pawnbrokers of that city
belong.
uM 38
166 MEMOIRS OF
ther and instructress ; in short, every thing: her
zeal has extended still further; for, like a true
apostle of the Lord, she has gone to the villages
where I have sent her, to gather the children
round her, to instruct them in the will of God,
to sing hymns, to show them the works of’ their
all-powerful and paternal Maker, to pray with
them, to communicate to them all the instruc-
tions she had received from me and your own
excellent mother. ‘The innumerable difficulties
she met with in these holy occupations would
have discouraged a thousand others; the surly
tempers of the children, their patois language,
bad roads, inclement weather, rocks, water,
heavy rain, freezing winds, hail, deep snow, no-
thing has daunted her. She has sacrificed her
time and her person to the service of God.
Judge, my dear children, of the debt you have
contracted to her for my sake. Once more, I
bequeath her to you; let her see, by your cares,
the respect you feel towards the last will of a
father, —- I am sure you will fulfil my wishes,
you will in your turn be to her all together,
and each individually, that which she has been
to you.’ Messieurs and Mesdemoiselles Oberlin,
faithful to the wishes of their father, were de-
sirous of bestowing on Louise the inheritance of
BARON CUVIER. 167
a daughter; but nothing could induce this ge-
nerous woman to lessen the small patrimony left
by her master; and all she asked was, permis-
sion to add the name of Oberlin to her own.
Those who claim this honourable appellation as
a birthright, think themselves still further ho-
noured by her sharing the title.”
In his office of Secretary to the Academy of
Sciences, it was also the duty of M. Cuvier to
read an éloge upon the deceased members of
that body before a public meeting. As _ his
peculiar department did not extend to the cal-
culating sciences, the labours of those who de-
voted themselves to such devolved upon the ~
other secretary ; but all the éloges written by
M. Cuvier have been collected at various times,
and published in successive volumes. Before I
give an account of them, a few remarks upon
his delivery may be desirable. The very slight
accent of Montbeliard which might be traced in
his conversation, entirely disappeared while read-
ing or speaking in public; his voice could be
heard every where without being pitched in too
elevated a key, his articulation was remarkably
clear and distinct without being affected, so that
foreigners found it easier to comprehend him
than most of the French orators, and there was
Mm 4
168 MEMOIRS OF
a tone of feeling,
which carried his auditors with him in all the
a certain play of countenance,
sentiments he tried to inspire. ‘There was no-
thing in the least declamatory or theatrical, in
order to arrest the attention; but his melodious
tones, his elegant turn of expression, and natural
grace of manner, gave a charm to the shortest
phrases. These last perfections were so much
the more remarkable, as emphasis was the fashion
in academical discourses when he commenced
his career, and it was like creating a new school
to return to nature.
I now resume the description of the ¢loges,
which form three volumes in octavo; and, as
several remain which have only been published
for the members of the Institute, it is to be
hoped that, ere long, a fourth volume will be
added. The first contains, previous to the
éloges, ‘ Reflections on the Progress of Sci-
ence, and its Influence on Society,” read at the
first annual sitting of the four academies. I
must stop here to cite a most eloquent sketch
from it, which leads us from the first helpless
state of man to his present powerful condition,
for it will give to my readers a proof of M. Cu-
vier’s power of bringing important truths before
us by one luminous flash from his pen.
BARON CUVIER. 169
*<« Jeté faible et nu a la surface du globe,
homme paraissait crée pour une déstruction in-
évitable: les maux l’assaillaient de toute parte,
les remédes lui restaient cachés; mais il avoit
* Man, who had been thrown on the surface of the globe
in astate of feebleness and nakedness, would appear to have
been created for inevitable destruction: evils assailed him
on all sides, and the remedies for them appeared to be hidden
from him; but he had been endowed with talents for their
discovery. The first savages gathered nourishing fruits and
wholesome roots in the forests, and thus conquered their
most pressing wants. The first shepherds perceived that
the stars followed a regular course, and by them directed
their steps across the desert. Such was the origin of physi-
cal and mathematical sciences.
No sooner had the genius of man ascertained that it was —
possible to combat nature by her own means, than it no
longer rested; it watched her incessantly, and continually
gained new conquests over her, each marked by some ameli-
oration in the state of society. Then succeeded, without
interruption, those meditating minds, which, being the faith-
ful depositaries of acquired doctrines, were constantly oc-
cupied in connecting them, in vivifying the one by the help
of the other, and which have led us, in less than forty cen-
turies, from the first attempts of these pastoral observers, to
the profound calculations of Newton and Laplace, to the
learned enumerations of Linnzus and Jussieu. ‘This precious
inheritance, always augmenting, borne from Chaldea to
Egypt, from Egypt to Greece, hidden during ages of misery
and darkness, unequally spread among the people of Europe,
has been every where followed by riches and power ; the na-
tions who have welcomed it, have become mistresses of the
world, and those who have neglected it have fallen into
feebleness and obscurity.
170 MEMOIRS OF
recu le génie pour les découvrir. Les premiers
sauvages cueillirent dans les foréts quelques fruits
nourriciers, quelques racines salutaires, et subvin-
rent ainsi 4 leurs plus pressans besoins: les pre-
miers patres s’apercurent que les astres suivent
une marche reglée, et s’en servirent pour diriger
leurs courses a travers les plaines du désert.
Telle fut l’origine des sciences mathématiques, et
celle des sciences physiques.
«© Une fois assuré qu’il pouvait combattre la
nature par elle-méme, le génie ne se reposa plus;
il ’épia sans relache, sans cesse il fit sur elle
de nouvelles conquétes, toutes marquées par
quelque amélioration dans l’état des peuples.
Se succédant des-lors, sans interruption, des
esprits méditatifs, dépositaires fideles des doc-
trines acquises, constamment occupés de les
lier, de les vivifier, les unes par les autres, nous
ont conduits, en moins de quarante siécles, des
premiers essais de ces observateurs agrestes aux
profonds calculs des Newton et des Laplace, aux
énumérations savantes des Linneeus et des Jus-
sicu. Ce précieux heéritage, toujours accru,
porté de la Chaldée en Egypte, de Il’Egypte
dans la Gréce, caché pendant des siecles de mal-
heur et de ténebres, recouvré a des époques
plus heureuses, inégalement répandu parmi les
BARON CUVIER. 171
peuples de l'Europe, a été suivi partout de la
richesse et du pouvoir; les nations qui l’ont re-
cueilli sont devenues les maitresses du’ monde ;
celles qui l’ont négligé sont tombées dans la fai-
blesse et dans Pobscurité.”’
The first éloge was read on the 5th of April,
1800, and is that of the venerable Daubenton,
who, it will be recollected, was the colleague of
M. de Buffon, born in the same town with him,
and chosen by him to aid his scientific labours.
The reasons of this choice are given by M. Cue
vier, who first describes Buffon as a man of in-
dependent fortune, whose personal and mental
attractions, and violent thirst for pleasure,
seemed to cast his destiny in any other mould
than that of science, but who nevertheless found
himself irresistibly drawn towards it, the surest
sion of his extraordinary talents. Long uncer-
tain to what object he should devote his genius,
he tried several pursuits, and at length fixed on
natural history. From the first he measured it
in its whole extent; he, at one glance, perceived
what he had to do; what was in his own power
to effect, and in what he required assistance. I
would fain quote all that M. Cuvier says of his
predecessor; but a few of the leading points of
the different ¢loges are all that can be offered
172 MEMOIRS OF
here, in order to give an idea of their nature,
their variety, and their beauty. Continuing to
speak of M. de Buffon, M. Cuvier states, that,
gifted with the most ardent imagination, and
possessing a pen that was the echo of that ima-
gination, viewing nature in all its activity and
freshness, and deeply impressed with it as a
whole system of beauty and order, he required
some one to inspect the details, some one who
was gifted with the power of patient inves-
tigation, some one whose love of justice and
calm tone of mind would form a sort of coun-
ter-balance to his ardour, some one equally de-
voted to the cause, but at the same time modest
enough to play a secondary part, and leave him
in possession of the brilliant fame he coveted.
These requisites were all centred in Daubenton,
the companion of his youth. Both morally and
physically there was the strongest contrast be-
tween the two friends, and each was possessed
of those qualities which were necessary to mo-
derate and improve the other. Buffon, com-
manding every thing, eager for immediate results,
and imperious by nature, was desirous of divin-
ing the truth, not of reaching it by patient in-
vestigation. His imagination at every instant
placed itself between him and nature, and _ his
BARON CUVIER. | fies
eloquence seemed to wrestle with his reason
before he employed it in captivating others.
Daubenton, delicate in constitution, moderate
by nature as well as reason, pursued his re-
searches with the most scrupulous circumspec-
tion; he only believed and affirmed that which
he had seen and touched;. and far, very far,
from wishing to persuade by other means than
facts, he carefully avoided, both in his writings
and discourse, every figure of speech, and every
fascinating expression. Unalterable in patience,
he was never annoyed at delay; he recom-
menced the same labour over and over again,
until he had succeeded to his satisfaction ; and.
the method of his proceedings, while it seemed
to call into use every mental resource, seemed to
impose silence on his imagination. When Bufton
first attached him to the Jardin des Plantes, he
thought he had found a laborious aid, who would
smooth the ruggedness of his path; but he found
much more, for Daubenton was a faithful guide,
who pointed out to him the hidden dangers and
precipices of that path. Many times did the sly
smile of Daubenton, when he conceived a doubt,
induce Buffon to reconsider his ideas. Many
times did one of those words, which this friend
knew so well where to place, stop him in his
174 MEMOIRS OF
precipitous career; and the wisdom and prudent
reserve of the one, uniting themselves to the
force and rapidity of the other, gave to the
«¢ Histoire des Quadrupédes,”’ the only work
common to both, that perfection which makes it
the most interesting part of the great Natural
History of Buffon. It is more exempt from
errors than the rest, and will long remain a
classical book among naturalists. Daubenton
was appointed ‘ Demonstrateur du Cabinet
d’Histoire Naturelle,’ and his salary was gra-
dually augmented from five hundred francs to
four thousand; he was lodged at Bufton’s, and
nothing was neglected which could ensure him
that ease of circumstances which is necessary to
every man of letters, every savant who would be
wholly deveted to science. Daubenton, on his
side, amply repaid these kindnesses by unremit-
ting obedience to the views of his benefactor,
and, at the same time, erected a monument to
his own glory. Before the time of Daubenton,
the Museum of Natural History was a mere ca-
binet, and, strictly speaking, only contained the
shells collected by ‘Tournefort for the amuse-
ment of Louis XV., when young. In a very
few years, the whole face was changed. Mine-
rals, fruits, woods, and shells were brought
BARON CUVIER. 175
from every quarter, and exposed in the most
beautiful order; means were taken for discover-
ing the best modes of preserving different parts
of organised beings ; and the inanimate remains
of birds and quadrupeds re-assumed the appear-
ance of life, presenting the slightest details of
character to the attentive observer, while they
astonished the curious by the variety of their
forms and the brilliancy of their colours. Dau-
benton conceived a vast plan, and, supported by
Buffon, profited by the means his credit afforded.
No production of nature was excluded from this
temple, and a number of anatomical preparations
were collected, which, though less agreeable to
the eye, were not less useful to the person who
did not limit his researches to the exterior of
created beings; who endeavoured to make a
philosophical science of natural history, and to
force it to explain its own phenomena. ‘The
study and arrangement of these objects became
a real passion for Daubenton; he shut himself
up for whole days in the Museum; he arranged
the objects in a thousand different ways; he
scrupulously examined all their parts; and he
tried every possible arrangement until he found
that which neither offended the eye nor natural
affinities. Thus it is principally to Daubenton
176 MEMOIRS OF
that France owes the magnificent museum of
the Jardin des Plantes, where we must be struck
with the unwearied patience of the man who
amassed all these treasures, named them, classed
them, displayed their affinities, described their
parts, and explained their properties.* A
monument equally glorious to the memory of
Daubenton is the complete description of this
museum, though circumstances prevented him
from carrying it farther than the quadrupeds.
Reaumur, who had till then swayed the sceptre
of natural history, and whose “* Memoirs on In-
sects”? are clear, elegant, and highly interesting,
jealous of the increasing fame of the two great
naturalists, not only attacked Bufton but his
friend, whom he considered as the solid supporter
of his brilliant rival. Quarrels even took place
* It is impossible to read these pages without being im-
pressed with the application of several of the passages to the
author himself, who appears, however, to be perfectly uncon-
scious of the resemblance. At the time he wrote this con-
cerning Daubenton, he was walking with rapid strides in his
steps, and how he surpassed him is best told by the state of
the whole of the above establishment at the time of M. Cu-
vier’s death. I understand that considerable difficulty has
been felt more than once in writing the éloge of M. Cuvier.
A selection from his own concerning others might be made
with the strictest justice, and the utmost aptitude; and the
candid praise he delighted to bestow on his colleagues would
thus in every respect be his best eulogium.
BARON CUVIER. 177
in the Academy, and M. de Buffon was obliged
to tax the good offices of Madame de Pompadour,
in order to preserve Daubenton in the rank
which was due to his labours. At length the
insinuations of their enemies seemed to take
effect, and even Buffon began to think, that it
would be more advantageous for himself to pub-
lish his ‘ Histoire Naturelle,’ in thirteen vo-
lumes duodecimo, taking away not only the
anatomical parts but the external descriptions ;
and he also determined to appear alone before
the public when treating of birds and minerals.
To act thus was not only to wound Daubenton’s
feelings, but to injure him in a pecuniary sense.
He might, with reason, have pleaded that it was
an enterprise common to both; but had he as-
serted his right, he must have quarrelled with
the director of the Jardin; he must have quitted
the scenes he had, as it were, created, and
which were inseparable from his existence. He
therefore passed over the loss and the affront,
and continued his labours, in a measure consoled
by the regret expressed by all naturalists, when
they saw the History of Birds appear without his
exact descriptions. It is worthy of mention,
that to such a degree did he carry his spirit of
forgiveness, that he afterwards contributed some
N
178 MEMOIRS OF
parts to the ‘ Histoire Naturelle,” although his
name was never again attached to the work.
His intimacy with his friend was also renewed,
and continued unbroken till the death of Buffon.
The efforts of Daubenton were far from being
confined to the above-mentioned pursuits, and
one of the other objects of his endeavours was
an attempt to improve the wool of France, by
which means he obtained a popularity which
was very useful to him before the Assembly of
the Sans Culottes. A certificate of civism was
necessary for his personal safety at that stormy
period, to obtain which, his titles of Professor
and Academician were of little avail; he was at
length presented under the title of Shepherd,
and in this character he protected the savant.
The curious document of this transaction is still
in existence.
In 1773, M. Daubenton obtained permission
for one of the professorships of the Collége de
France to be changed into a chair of Natural
History, and also that lectures should be given
at the Museum. It was an affecting sight to
behold this old man encircled by his disciples,
who received his words with a religious atten-
tion, a veneration which converted them into so
many oracles ; to hear his weak and trembling
BARON CUVIER. 179
voice gradually assume its wonted force and
energy, when he tried to inculcate some of
those great principles to which his medita-
tions had given birth, or to develope some use-
ful and important truth. He forgot his years
and his weakness when he could be useful to
young people, or when he performed his duties.
When made a senator, one of his colleagues
offered to help him, by giving lectures for him.
‘«¢ My friend,” he answered, “ I cannot be better
replaced than by you, and when age forces me
to resign my duties, be sure that I shall burthen
’
you with them;” he was then eighty-three.
When thus appointed, he tried to fill his new
station as he had done all others; but in order
to do this he was obliged to change his manner
of living, the regularity of which had, perhaps,
contributed to its long continuance. ‘The season
was very severe; and the first time he assisted
at the meetings of the body to which he was just
elected, he was struck with apoplexy, and fell
senseless into the arms of his colleagues. The
promptest aid could only restore him to life for a
few minutes, during which he evinced that de-
sire calmly to watch the operations of nature
which had hitherto marked his character. He
touched the different parts of his body which
N 2
180 MEMOIRS OF
were affected, pointed out the progress of the
paralysis to his attendants, and expired at the
age of eighty-four, without suffering ; so that it
may be said of him, that he attained, if not the
most brilliant, the most perfect happiness for
which man is permitted to hope.
Although confining myself to the principal
features of the above éloge, I have dwelt on it
much longer than will be advisable for the
others. ‘Iwo reasons have induced this; and
the first is, the circumstance of its being one of
the earliest of M.Cuvier’s productions which
was read in presence of the Emperor, on whom
it made a great impression. ‘The natural style
in which it was written, the natural tone in
which it was read, amid the reigning affectation,
produced the happiest effect ; and it was of this
that M. D
observed, ‘* At last we have a secretary who
, celebrated for his apt remarks,
knows how to read and write.” The second
reason is, that it may be offered as a proof of
the innate excellence of M. Cuvier’s judgment ;
it is not the work of a man whose reason was ma-
tured by long years of study, whose feelings
have been rendered impartial by age ;_ but it was
written when the fire of youth is generally apt
to be dazzled by some favourite opinion, is de-
BARON CUVIER. 181
sirous of pointing out its own powers of dis-
crimination by dwelling on the imperfections of
others, and when (fame being then dearest) it is
but-too much inclined to steal into its composi-
tions somewhat of self, some allusion to its own
labours and feelings. None of this is perceptible
in the éloge of Daubenton, any more than in the
rest of M. Cuvier’s biographical notices: there
is the desire to do honour to his predecessors ;
there we have laid before us the influence that
past labours are likely to shed over the future ;
there is the strict love of justice, pointing out
errors to serve as beacons for those who follow
the same career; there is the gentle and unwil-
ling exposure of faults, that desire to admit every
circumstance which could palliate the defect ;
there is the benevolent heart that is so evidently
gratified when opportunity is given for com-
mendation; and in each, and in all together,
we trace the just celebrity which France has at-
tained from her biographical writers.
Although a shorter notice will suffice for the
other éloges, it will be necessary to mention
them all, in order to show the variety of the
subject, and occasionally to introduce an original
passage, not as a better specimen of style than
could be found elsewhere, but as combining
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182 MEMOIRS OF
beauty with general interest. M. Lemonnier,
the subject of the second, was head physician
to Louis XVI., and a botanist; he spent the
greater part of his life in trying to introduce
useful plants and trees into I*rance ; he solaced
the poor, and received no reward from them ;
he courageously visited his unfortunate master
when in prison, and, at eighty-two years of age,
died at the herb shop which he had established
in order to obtain a livelihood, but where he had
been watched over by his nieces with the most
devoted attachment, and visited by his friends,
who thought his old age rendered doubly ho-
nourable by this independent mode of existence.
M. l’Héritier was also a botanist, but of an-
other description, being a strict follower of the
system and nomenclature of Linneus. and the preceptor of the young Montes-
quieu, never lost sight of his chemical researches
amid these duties, and he discovered and caused
the execution of wonderful improvements in the
porcelain of France.
The history of Dr. Priestley is too well known
Loix,?
186 MEMOIRS OF
to need much detail here; but as it is one of the
most beautiful pieces of biography which has
emanated from the pen of M. Cuvier, I shall
cite a passage, in his own words, concerning the
labours of this great chemist and natural phi-
losopher. ‘ Priestley, comblé de gloire, s’éton-
nait modestement de son bonheur, et de cette
multitude de beaux faits que la nature semblait
n’avoir voulu revéler qu’a lui seul. Il oubliait
que ses faveurs n’étaient pas gratuites, et que si
elle s’était si bien expliquée, c’est qu’il avait su
l’'y contraindre par une persévérance infatigable
a Pinterroger, et par mille moyens ingénieux de
lui arracher des réponses.
«Les autres cachent soigneusement ce qu’ils
doivent au hasard; Priestley semble vouloir lui
tout accorder: il remarque, avec une candeur
unique, combien de fois il en fut servi sans s’en
apercevoir, combien de fois il posséda des sub-
stances nouvelles sans les distinguer; et jamais
il ne dissimule les vues erronées qui le dirigérent
quelquefois, et dont il ne fut désabusé que par
Vexpérience. Ces aveux firent ’honneur a sa mo-
destie sans désarmer la jalousie. Ceux a qui
leurs vues et leurs méthodes n’avaient jamais rien
fait découvrir, ’appelaient un simple faiseur des
expériences, sans méthode et sans vues: ‘il n’est
BARON CUVIER. 18%
pas étonnant,’ ajoutaient-ils, ‘que, dans tant d’es-
sais et de combinaisons, il s’en trouve quelques-
uns d’heureux.’ Mais les véritables physiciens
ne furent point dupes de ces critiques inté-
ressees.” *
There is yet another passage which, while it
so ably pleads the cause of Priestley, places
M. Cuvier’s candour in so conspicuous a light,
* Priestley, loaded with glory, was modest enough to be
astonished at his good fortune, and at the multitude of beau-
tiful facts which nature seemed to have revealed to him alone.
He forgot that her favours were not gratuitous, and if she
had so well explained herself, it was because he had known
how to oblige her to do so by his indefatigable perseverance
in questioning her, and by the thousand ingenious means he
had taken to snatch her answers from her.
Others carefully hide that which they owe to chance;
Priestley seemed to wish to ascribe all his merit to fortuitous
circumstances, remarking, with unexampled candour, how
many times he had profited by them without knowing it, how
many times he was in possession of new substances without
having perceived them; and he never dissimulated the erro-
neous views which sometimes directed his efforts, and from
which he was only undeceived by experience. These confes-
sions did honour to his modesty, without disarming jealousy.
Those to whom their own ways and methods had never dis-
covered any thing, called hima simple worker of experiments,
without method and without an object; “it is not astonish-
” they added, “ that among so many trials and combin-
ations, he should find some that were fortunate.” But real
natural philosophers were not duped by these selfish criti<
cisms,
ing,
188 MEMOIRS OF
that I shall make no apology for introducing it,
though it will not be necessary to give it in
French. ‘ I am now, Messieurs, arrived at the
most painful part of my task. You have just
seen Priestley successfully progressing in the
study of human science, to which he neverthe-
less consecrated but a few of his leisure mo-
ments. I must now present him to you in
another light, wrestling against the nature of
those things which are hidden from our reason
by an impenetrable veil, trying to submit the
world to his conjectures, consuming almost all
his life in these vain efforts, and at length plung-
ing himself into an abyss of misery. Here, like
himself, I have need of all your indulgence ;
perhaps the details into which I am about to
enter will, to some, appear foreign to the place
in which I speak, but it is here, I think, that
the terrible example they give ought to be heard
with the greatest interest. I have already told
you that Priestley was a minister of religion, and
I am forced to add, that he professed four dif-
ferent creeds before he could decide on teaching
one of them in his public capacity. Brought up
in all the severity of the presbyterian faith,
which we call Calvinistic, and in all the bitter-
BARON CUVIER. 189
ness of predestination, such as Gomar taught it,
he scarcely began to reflect, before he turned to
the milder doctrine of Arminius. But, as he
advanced, he always seemed to find too much to
believe; he therefore adopted the tenets of the
Arrians, who, after having invaded Christianity
from the time of the successors of Constantine,
have now no other asylum than in England, but
whose faith is decorated by the names of Mil-
ton, Clarke, and Locke, and even, as report
says, that of Newton, and whose reputations, in
some measure, repair the loss of former power.
«* Arrianism, while it declares Christ to be a
creature, believes him, nevertheless, to be a
being of a superior nature, produced before the
world, and the organ of the Creator in the pro-
duction of other beings. ‘This is the doctrine
clothed in the magnificent poetry of the Paradise
Lest. After having long professed this, Priestley
abandoned it, in order to become an Unitarian,
or that which we call Socinian. ‘There are few,
perhaps, among those who now hear me, who
have ever informed themselves in what these
two sects differ. It is, that the Secinians deny
the pre-existence of Christ, and only look upon
him as a man, though they revere in him the
190 MEMOIRS OF
Saviour of the world; and they acknowledge
that the Divinity was united to him, in order to
effect this great work. ‘This subtle shade be-
tween two heresies, for thirty years occupied
that head which was required for the most im-
portant questions of science, and, without com-
parison, caused Priestley to write more volumes
than he ever produced on the different species
or air’... .. *His last moments: were full of
those feelings of piety which had animated his
whole life, the improper control of which had
been the foundation of all his errors. He caused
the Gospel to be read to him, and thanked God
for having allowed him to lead an useful life,
and granted him a peaceful death. Among the
list of his principal blessings, he ranked that of
having personally known almost all his contem-
poraries. ‘Iam going to sleep, as you do,’
said he to his grandchildren, who were brought
to him, ‘ but we shall wake again together, and, I
hope, to eternal happiness;’ thus evincing in
what belief he died. ‘These were his last words ;
such was the end of that man, whom his ene-
mies accused of wishing to overthrow all mo-
rality and religion, and, nevertheless, whose
greatest error was to mistake his vocation, and
BARON CUVIER. 191
to attach too much importance to his individual
sentiments, in matters where the most important
of all feelings ought to be the love of peace.”
The subject of the succeeding éloge, M. Cels,
was a practical botanist and scientific agricul-
turist, to whom Paris owes the celebrated garden
which bears his name: from him emanated some
excellent laws on agricultural interests.
No one but a profound naturalist could have
appreciated the merits of M. Adanson; and no
one but an impartial and penetrating biographer
could have separated his great and rare perfec-
tions, from that peculiarity and exaggeration of
ideas which led him into error. This traveller
visited Senegal, because it is the most difficult of
access, the most unhealthy, and, in all respects,
the most dangerous of all the French colonies,
and, consequently, was the least known to na-
turalists ; the continent of Africa was therefore
the scene of his discoveries,.and to him we owe
our perfect knowledge of that giant of the vege-
table world, the Badbab, or, in proper terms, the
Adansonia digitata.
M. Broussonet, Professor of Botany to the
School of Medicine at Montpelier, was called to
the Institute by the section of zoology and
192 MEMOIRS OF
anatomy, and after publishing several works on
zoology, and passing a life of dangers and un-
heard-of escapes, died of a coup de soleil.
M. Lassus was a surgeon, and though ge-
nerally skilful in his profession, was so unfortu-
nate as to bleed a royal patient twice without suc-
cess. The outcry was universal. ‘ Une princesse
piquée deux fois, et qui n’a pas saigné—quel ac-
cident effroyable !” said the courtiers ; the physi-
cians shook their heads with a mysterious look ;
but the princess, being more generous, procured
M. Lassus a situation in place of that from which
she had been obliged to dismiss him in her
household, and by so doing, secured a merito-
23
rious and devoted servant, both to herself and
the public. With her and her sister he travelled
over Italy, at the time of the great revolution ;
and by producing his portfolics as proofs that he
had enriched his country with useful information,
evaded the law against emigrants, which would
have been enforced against him on his return,
and was appointed to the medical school at
Paris.
M. Ventenat was a priest and botanist, and,
protected by Josephine, described the treasures
of her garden at Mal Maison.
BARON CUVIER. 193
The name of De Saussure will ever be dear
to geologists; and with his éloge, and that of his
uncle, M. Bonnet, the naturalist of Geneva, the
first volume closes. In this combined éloge is
a passage in which M. Cuvier’s talents for de-
scription show themselves; and as it is almost
an isolated instance in his published writings, I
here quote it : — “* Comme le voyageur est ravi
Vadmiration, lorsque, dans un beau jour d’été,
apres avoir péniblement traversé les sommets du
Jura, il arrive a cette gorge, ou se deploie su-
bitement devant lui ’immense bassin de Geneve,
quwil voit @un coup d’oeil ce beau lac dont les
eaux réfléechissent le bleu du ciel, mais plus pur
et plus profond; cette vaste campagne, si bien
cultivée, peuplee d’habitations si riantes ; ces cd-
teaux qui s’élévent par degres et que revét une
si riche végétation, ces montagnes couvertes de
foréts toujours vertes; la créte sourcilleuse des
Hautes Alpes, ceignant ce superbe amphithéatre,
et le Mont Blanc, ce géant des montagnes Eu-
ropéennes, le couronnant de cette immense
groupe de neiges, ou la disposition des masses et
opposition des lumitres et des ombres, pro-
duisent un effet qu’aucune expression ne peut
faire concevoir a celui qui ne I’a pas vu.
)
194 | MEMOIRS OF
« Et ce beau pays, si propre a frapper |’ima-
gination, 4 nourrir le talent du poéte ou de Var-
tiste, ’est, peut-étre, encore davantage a reveiller
la curiosité du philosophe, a exciter les re-
cherches du physicien. C’est vraiment la que la
nature semble vouloir se montrer par un plus
grand nombre de faces.
«¢ Les plantes les plus rares, depuis celles des
pays tempéreés jusqu’ a celles de la Zone Glaciale,
n’y cotitent que quelques pas au botaniste; le
zoologiste peut y poursuivre des insectes aussi
variés que la végétation qui les nourrit; le lac
y forme pour le physicien une sorte de mer, par
sa profondeur, par son étendue et méme par la
violence de ses mouvemens ; le géologiste, qui
ne voit ailleurs que l’écorce extérieure du globe,
en trouve la les masses centrales, relevées et per-
cant de toute part leurs enveloppes, pour se
montrer a ses yeux; en fin, le météorologiste y
peut a chaque instant observer la formation des
nuages, pénétrer dans leur intérieur, ou s’éléver
au-dessus deux.” *
* How delighted is the traveller when, in a beautiful
summer's day, after having with difficulty traversed the sum-
mits of the Jura, he arrives in this ravine, where the immense
basin of Geneva suddenly opens before him, when at one
glance he sees this beautiful lake, the waters of which reflect
BARON CUVIER. 195
The second volume opens with the éloge of
Fourcroy, — the brilliant, the eloquent, the ca-
lumniated Fourcroy. The struggles of his youth,
and his vigorous resistance of injustice and po-
verty, the account of his discoveries,— all form
one of the most powerful pieces of biography
the blue of heaven more deeply and more purely ; this vast
country, so well cultivated, and peopled by smiling habitations ;
the hills, which rise by degrees, clothed with the richest
vegetation ; the mountains, covered with evergreen forests;
the frowning crests of the High Alps, above this superb amphi-
theatre ; and Mont Blanc, the giant of European mountains,
crowning the immense group of snows, where the disposal of
the masses, and the contrasts of light and shade, produce an
effect which no expression can convey to those who have not
seen it.
And this beautiful country, so calculated to strike the ima-
gination, to feed the talent of the poet or the artist, is per-
haps still more so to awaken the curiosity of the philosopher,
and to excite the researches of the follower of natural philo-
sophy. It is truly there that nature seems to delight in
showing herself under a number of different aspects.
The rarest plants, from those of temperate countries to
those of the Frozen Zone, only cost the botanist a few steps.
The zoologist may there pursue insects as varied as the vege-
tation which nourishes them. The lake there forms, from
its depth and extent, and even its violent movements, a sort
of sea for the natural philosopher; the geologist, who, else-
where, sees but the external rind of the globe, there finds
central masses, thrown up, and in every part piercing their
envelopes, and showing themselves to his eyes; lastly, the
meteorologist can there observe the clouds at every instant,
penetrate within them, or raise himself above them.
o 2
196 MEMOIRS OF
ever read. ‘The following description of his
lectures recalls those of the author, and, in many
instances, 1s equally applicable to both : —* For
five and twenty years the amphitheatre of the Jar-
din des Plantes was the centre of M. Fourcroy’s
glory. The great scientific establishments of
this capital, where celebrated masters expose to
a numerous public, capable of passing judgment
on them, the most profound doctrines of modern
times, recall to our memory that which was
noblest in antiquity. We fancy we again find
in these assemblies a whole people animated by
the voice of a single orator; and again see those
schools, where chosen disciples came to pene-
trate the oracles of a sage. The lectures of
M. Fourcroy corresponded to this twofold pic-
ture: Plato and Demosthenes seemed to be
united in him ; and it is almost necessary to be
one or the other, to give an idea of them. Con-
nection of method, abundance of elocution, ele-
vation, precision, elegance of terms, as if they
had been selected long beforehand; rapidity,
brilliancy, novelty, as if suddenly inspired; a
flexible, sonorous, and silvery voice, yielding to
every motion, penetrating into the corners of the
largest audience-room ; — nature had bestowed
every thing on him. Sometimes his discourse
BARON CUVIER. 197
flowed smoothly and majestically ; the grandeur
of his metaphors, and the pomp of his style, were
all imposing; then, varying his accents, he
passed insensibly to the most ingenuous fami-
liarity, and fixed attention by sallies of the most
fascinating gaiety. Hundreds of auditors, of all
classes, all nations, were to be seen, passing
whole hours, closely pressed against each other,
almost fearing to breathe, their eyes fixed on
his, suspended to his mouth, as the poet says
(pendent ab ore loquentis). His look of fire
darted over the crowd; in the farthest rows he
distinguished that mind which was difficult to
convince, and still doubted, or the slow compre-
hension which did not completely understand 5
for these he redoubled his arguments and his
similes, and varied his expressions until he
found these which would convince; language
seemed to multiply its riches for him, and he did
not quit his subject till he saw all his numerous
audience equally satisfied.”
It is scarcely possible to mention Fourcroy,
without recollecting the odious suspicion attached
tohis name*; I therefore give M. Cuvier’s observ-
* It was reported that he might have saved the life of
M. Lavoisier during the reign of terror, as indeed he had saved
many by his influence ; but, at the moment of M. Lavoisjer’s
OS
198 MEMOIRS OF
ations, taken from the same éloge : — “ Perhaps
I may be blamed for recalling these sad_recol-
lections; but where a celebrated man has been
so unfortunate as to be accused, as M. Fourcroy
was, — where this accusation occasioned the tor-
ment of his life, —the historian would in vain
strive to bury it in oblivion, by being himself
silent. We ought now to say, that if, in the
strict researches we have made, we had found
the slightest proof of so horrible an atrocity, no
human power could have forced us to sully our
lips by his éloge, to make the roofs of this temple
resound with our praises,— this temple, which
ought to be no less the asylum of honour than
of genius.”
To Dessesserts, the physician, and subject of
the next ¢loge, the French owe the banishment
of those horrible machines of whalebone, those
swathing clothes, those hot-houses, where the
minds and bodies of infants were imprisoned
from their birth. By M. Dessesserts were those
mothers recalled to their duty, who abandoned
arrest, his own life was threatened, and all power of being
useful to others was taken from him. Lavoisier fell a victim
to the revolutionary monsters, and M. Fourcroy was accused
of taking a part in that which freed him from a powerful
rival:
BARON CUVIER. 199
the nourishment of their offspring to others,
when capable of affording it themselves; and,
though unacknowledged, to M. Dessesserts was
Rousseau indebted for the first pages of his
Emile.
The next subject of biographical notice is
Henry Cavendish, that remarkable Englishman,
who, notwithstanding his splendid fortune and
his noble birth, pursued science with the most
disinterested ardour. How M. Cuvier appreci-
ated his labours, will be gathered from the fol-
lowing passage : — *‘ All that science revealed
to him, seemed to be tinctured with the sublime
and the marvellous: he weighed the earth, he
prepared the means of navigating through the
air, he deprived water of its elementary quality ;
and these dectrines, so new, and so opposed to
received opinions, were demonstrated by him in
a manner still more extraordinary than the dis-
covery itself. ‘The writings where he lays them
before others, are so many chefs d’ceuvre of wis-
dom and method; perfect in their whole, and
perfect in their details, in which no other hand
has found any thing to reform, and the splendour
of which has only increased with time.......
so that there can be no temerity in predicting,
that he will reflect back upon his house much
0 4
200 MEMOIRS OF
greater lustre than he has received from it; and
that these researches, which, perhaps, excited
the pity and contempt of some of his contempo-
raries, will make his name resound, at an age to
which his rank and his ancestry alone would not
have transmitted it. ‘The history of thirty cen-
turies clearly teaches us, that great and useful
truths are the sole durable inheritance which
man can leave behind him.”
The next in the list of great names is that of
Pallas, the enlightened and sagacious traveller
of the north of Asia, the inhabitant of the
Crimea, and the learned and indefatigable na-
turalist.
The éloges of M. Parmentier and Count Rum-
ford are combined, and commence with a sort of
introduction to the useful labours of each; la-
bours which bore so strongly on the means of
affording warmth and nourishment to the poorer
classes. The former, who had learned the value
of the potate as an article of food in the prisons
of Germany, overcame the prejudices entertained
against them in France, where they were said to
produce leprosy, fevers, and no one knows what
diseases. His mode of rendering them popular
and desirable was curious ; for he began by cul-
tivating them in the open fields, and causing
BARON CUVIER. 201
them to be carefully guarded by day only : he
was but too happy when he was informed, that
this apparent caution had induced depredation
by night. He then obtained from the king of
France the favour of wearing a bunch of potato
blossoms in the button-hole of his coat, at a
solemn féte ; and nothing more was required to
cause some of the great lords of the kingdom to
order its cultivation on their estates. Not, how-
ever, till the last years of his life, was he com-
pletely successful ; and during the great Revo-
lution he was rejected as a magistrate, because
he had envented potatoes.
Benjamin Thomson, Count Rumford, was an
American by birth, and served as a royalist in
the war between America and England. After
the peace he came to the latter country, where
he was knighted by George III., and recom-
mended by that sovereign to the protection of
the Elector of Bavaria, at whose court he rose
to the highest dignities. It was then that he
turned his attention to the state of the poor, and,
in trying to find means for ameliorating their
condition, he made those beautiful discoveries
which have benefited all classes.
The labours and character of the oriental tra-
veller, Olivier, are then noticed, and the history
202 MEMOIRS OF
of this excellent man furnishes another proof of
the immense influence, that a knowledge of me-
dicine will produce among uncivilised people.
M. Tenon, the surgeon, is afterwards pre-
sented to us. His youth was passed in a series of
struggles; his maturity was beautiful, and he
reached the age of ninety-two without intel-
lectual infirmity.
The éloge of the famous Werner is in every
respect interesting, for in it we find a brief’ ré-
sumé of all that was done by this great man,
together with the peculiarities which deprived
the world of the written results of his labours
and extensive knowledge; he having preferred
to trust his reputation to the justice of his dis-
ciples, rather than have recourse to his own pen
for transmitting it to posterity.
The life of Desmarets follows ;— Desmarets,
the antagonist of Werner, the champion of vol-
canoes; he in whose discoveries originated the
famous disputes between the Plutonians and
Neptunians, and which disputes not only placed
the whole world between fire and water, but
occasioned more animosity than any question
which had hitherto agitated the learned world.
To this second volume are added two éloges
read before the Philomathic Society of Paris, the
BARON CUVIER. 203
discourse of M. Cuvier on his reception at the
Académie Francaise, and the reply of the di-
rector of that academy. ‘The first of these two
éloges is that of M. Riche, whose life resembles
that of a hero of romance, and whose feelings
and adventures, perhaps, caused his death at
the age of thirty-five. The second is that of
M. Bruguiére, the companion of Olivier, already
noticed. ‘The discourse of M. Cuvier assumes a
tone in which the nature of his professional
studies scarcely ever allowed him to indulge,
but in which we trace the same perfection as
elsewhere. It is full of classical and elegant
allusions; it is the production of a man of
letters, and shows how admirable is the combin-
ation when science and literature occupy the
same mind. In the reply of the Count de Séze
will be found a very admirable résumé of M.
Cuvier’s labours up to that period.
The third volume begins with the éloge of
M. de Beauvois, the African traveller, to whom
the world owes the Flora of Owaree and Benin;
and who, after wrestling with the storms both of
this continent and those of America, died in
consequence of the sudden changes to which an
European climate is so frequently liable. In
204 MEMOIRS OF
this biography are some remarkable passages
concerning slavery.
M. Cuvier’s brotherly feeling, —his gratitude, if
I may so express myself, — towards all promoters
of science, is nowhere more strongly manifested
than in his eulogium on Sir Joseph Banks, the
distinguished and munificent patron of scientific
labourers. The travels and adventures of Sir
Joseph are here related with vivacity ; and the
famous dispute about points and buttons to elec-
trical conductors, which placed him at the head
of the Royal Society, and which, in other hands,
might have afforded much scope for ridicule, is
touched on with a delicacy peculiar to M. Cu-
vier’s disposition. Nor is this éloge less remark-
able for the honourable testimony given to a
nation which has been but too often regarded
with jealousy, and which has but too cften met
these sentiments with a reciprocal feeling. ‘* The
savans of England,’’ says the Baron Cuvier,
«have taken an equally glorious part in those
mental labours which are common to all civilised
people: they have confronted the eternal frosts
of either pole; they have not left a corner of the
two oceans unvisited; they have increased the
catalogue of nature tenfold; heaven has been
peopled by them with planets, satellites, and un-
BARON CUVIER. 205
heard-of phenomena; we may almost say that
they have counted the stars of the milky way.
If chemistry has assumed a new aspect, the
facts they have furnished have essentially con-
tributed to this metamorphosis. Inflammable
air, pure air, phlogistic air, are due to them;
they have discovered the decomposition of water,
and a number of new metals have been produced
by their analyses. The nature of fixed alkalies
has only been demonstrated by them; mechan-
ism, at their voice, has given birth to miracles,
and placed their country above all others in
almost every species of manufacture.”
The mineralogist, M. Duhamel, appeared at a
time when De Saussure had not travelled, Deluc
had not written, nor Werner, by the force of his
extraordinary genius, arranged the mineral uni-
verse; and, after years of scientific labour, was
appointed to the Ecole des Mines, established in
Paris ; and in tracing his influence in this pro-
fessorship, M. Cuvier thus speaks : —** Our pro-
ducts in iron are quadrupled; the mines of this
metal opened, near the Loire, in the region of
coal, and in the midst of combustible matter, are
about to yield iron at the same price as in Eng-
land. Antimony, manganese, which we for-
merly imported, are now exported in considerable
206 MEMOIRS OF
quantities. Chrome, discovered by one of our
chemists, is also the useful product of one of our
mines. Zinc and tin have already been extracted
from the mines on the coast of Britany. Alum
and vitriol, formerly almost unknown in France,
are collected in abundance. An immense mass
of rock salt has just been discovered in Lorraine ;
and ail promises that these new creations will
not stop here. Doubtless, it is not to a single
man, nor to the appointment of a single profes-
sorship, that all this may be attributed ; but it is
not the less true, that this one man, this one pro-
fessorship, has been the primary cause of these
advantages.” 3
The name of M. Haiiy, the geologist, the
mineralogist, the founder of crystallography,
forms a sort of oracle in the learned world, and
I have a peculiar pleasure in dwelling on this
éloge, because it is one of the most admirable of
all, and does honour to M. Cuvier’s heart, show-
ing how entirely he was independent of selfish
feelings, how truly just he could be, even to
those who had opposed him with hostile senti-
ments. ‘The extraordinary man here spoken of
commenced the world as a chorister, and studied
natural philosophy and botany as amusements.
These tastes led him frequently to the Jardin des
BARON CUVIER. 207
Plantes, in Paris; and chance took him one day,
with the crowd, into the amphitheatre, to hear
M. Daubenton lecture on mineralogy. Minera-
logy henceforth became interesting to him; and
chance equally befriended him in this new direc-
tion of his pursuits. Happening to examine a
mineral at the house of a friend, he accidentally
let fall a beautiful group of calcareous spar ;
the fracture of one of the prismatic crystals
opened a new world of ideas to him, and he be-
came the M. Haiiy, the legislator of mineralogy,
the founder of a system which has been adopted
all over the world. Imprisoned during the fury
of the Revolution, he tranquilly pursued his stu-
dies in his cell, and was with difficulty torn
from it by his friend, M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire,
on the fatal 2d of September. In 1802, he was
appointed professor to the Museum of Natural
History. Pious, benevolent, tolerant, and de-
voted to his studies, no worldly considerations
ever intercepted his religious exercises nor his
scientific labours ; and his mode of living was as
simple as the station from which he sprung: he
walked in the same places every day, took the
same exercise, wore the same fashion of clothing,
and his manners and language were equally
remarkable for their primitive simplicity.
flower:’’ he then gave it us, genus, species,
country, and the reason for its appellation, and,
making his bow, retired, perfectly happy at the
knowledge he had acquired and imparted. As
in this trifling circumstance, so was it in all
things; he never hesitated saying when he did
not know; he never rested till he did know, if
the means of acquiring the information were
within his reach; and, once known, he was most
willing to impart it to those who wished to learn.
The facility with which he placed knowledge in
the reach of others was one of the most precious
gifts with which Heaven had endowed him; for
half the value of a brilliant or an useful idea is
lost, unless we have the power of communicating
286 MEMOIRS OF
it as it appears to ourselves. Sometimes he
would enliven the evening by proposing a party
to eat ices at one of the famous cafés; and, on
one occasion, he insisted on showing me, as an
Englishwoman, how happy the lower classes of
French are on their féte days; and, passing the
barrier close to the Jardin des Plantes, he led
us among the guinguettes * outside, where the
people were dancing and singing, and making
merry. He delighted in their mirth, stopped to
witness it, and, several times turning round to
me, asked me if the English knew any thing of
such light-hearted enjoyment. It is said of some
celebrated person, that no one could take shelter
from the rain with him, under a shed, for a
quarter of an hour, without deriving some in-
formation from his discourse. ‘This observation
may be equally applied to M. Cuvier; for after
these little excursions, intended solely for diver-
sion, it was frequently a matter of surprise to
find that something had been learned, either by
way of history, character, language, or moral
* Many of these guinguettes consist of nothing but a mere
shed, witli a little space in front, where the guests sit and
drink weak wine (vin ordinaire), sugar and water, lemonade,
&c., dance, sing, and play at dominos. They are generally
placed outside the barriers to avoid the duty paid on pro-
visions of every kind as they enter Paris.
BARON CUVIER. 287
conduct ; so elevated, yet so fascinating, was the
tone of his unrestrained conversation. ;
M. Cuvier’s hours of audience generally took
place before and after breakfast, and he was ac-
cessible to every body; for he said, « when
people lived at such a distance as the Jardin des
Plantes, they had no right to send any one away
who came so far to request their advice or as-
sistance.” I have seen the young and the old,
the widow and the orphan, the poor and the
rich, throng his door, all in the security of being
well received. I met an unhappy woman one
morning, crying as she came down stairs; and
on asking her what was the matter, she replied,
«It is not M. Cuvier who has made me cry;
but it is because even he cannot help me that I
am in such trouble ;” evidently thinking that, if
he could not serve her, she had no hope. ‘The
meal-times were always anticipated by his family
and friends with the greatest pleasure ; for then
it was that questions were asked, and _ histories
related on all sides. As if knowing the few op-
portunities there were of conversing with him,
he suffered himself to be constantly interrupted,
and never hesitated giving the desired inform-
ation concerning public or private circum-
stances; and frequently, when the former were
288 MEMOIRS OF
not immediately comprehended, he would set
forth the subject in all its bearings, till it was
perfectly understood. ‘The breakfast took place
generally at ten; but M. Cuvier had almost
always risen at seven, or even before that time,
had prepared his papers for the day, had ar-
ranged the occupations of his assistants, and had
received most of his visitors. Some intimate
friends frequently called on him at this hour,
because they were sure to find him at home.
His usual practice was to read the newspapers as
he ate his breakfast, or look over the books for
the use of the primary schools, sent for his in-
spection. Still, if one of the family were missing,
he would enquire for the absent person with the
utmost solicitude ; and even if the conversation
were unusually animated, he insisted upon know-
ing the whole, though he seldom raised his eyes
from the paper. After breakfast was finished,
he dressed, and then came the routine of his
numerous occupations ; and when it was his turn
to be Director of the Jardin, before going to the
Council, &c., he would take his way, amid
the trees, to the Museum of Natural History,
followed by secretaries, aide-naturalists, students,
&c., bearing the treasures which had just been
finished in the stuffing laboratories, and which
BARON CUVIER. 289
were arranged in their respective cases under
his superintendence. His carriage was gene-
rally punctual to the moment appointed, and no
one was allowed to keep him waiting; and, in
fact, no one would do so, if possible to avoid it,
for it vexed him exceedingly ; though I used to
think sometimes that I saw a faint smile on his
countenance, when we flew down stairs, our
gloves in our hands, and our shawls streaming
after us. The instant he had given his orders,
he would thrust himself into a corner, and re-
sume his reading or writing, suffering us to talk
as much as we pleased. Many of his most bril-
liant memoirs were finished as he thus rode
through the streets of Paris; and he had a lamp
fixed to the back of his carriage, that he might
read on his return home at night from his visits ;
but he found it so distressing to his eyes, that
he could not long make use of it. All others,
however, were delighted at the disappointment,
because he was by it cheated into a few more
moments of repose.
Privileged as Mr. Bowdich and myself were
to inspect the vast treasures in his collections,
and in his library, at our leisure, we yet found it
much more agreeable to take the books home
with us; frequently we required the very vo-
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290 MEMOIRS OF
lume to which he had been referring before his
departure, and which was generally left open
upon his table, to be again used on his return ;
for he had the happy faculty of resuming his
subject at any moment, in any place, and at any
part, even in the middle of a sentence. Wait-
ing, then, till his carriage was driven from the
door, bearing him away for several hours to his
administrative duties, we went up to his room,
took possession of the book, and enquiring the
hour of his return, fled back with it five minutes
before it was wanted. ‘To be sure, in conse-
quence of our having been a little too late on
one or two occasions, —a circumstance which he
bore with surprising good humour, — we used
occasionally to see some of his household arrive
at our hotel, in breathless haste, to enquire fora
volume which had long been missing. Generally
speaking, we were innocent of the misdemeanor ;
but such was his indulgent goodness to us, that
he not only facilitated every desire, every endea-
vour to obtain improvement, but even allowed
us to publish, for the first time, some of his own
drawings of Mollusca. He had no idea of exclu-
sion towards any one who he thought would
make a proper use of the materials he could fur-
nish; so that we had only to ask, and orders were
BARON CUVIER. 201
given to the keepers of the galleries to take out
of the cases any object which was needed for
our closer examination.*
Before dinner, M. Cuvier would occasionally
give a few minutes to his family, by joining the
assembled party in Mme. Cuvier’s room. On the
sound, ** Madame est servie,’’ he would offer his
arm to his wife, and leading her to her seat, all
gathered round them both at this once happy
table. M. Frederic Cuvier, his son, and very
often one or two intimate friends who came by
chance, would increase the circle, and the most
* Though perhaps somewhat foreign to my subject, I can-
not forbear making use of the first opportunity afforded me
of expressing my gratitude to many connected with this
vast and magnificent establishment. M. Desfontaines, M. de
Jussieu, M. Brongniart, M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, M. Frede-
ric Cuvier, M. Chevreuil, M. Valenciennes, M. Deleuze, and
M. Laurillard, thank God! still live to receive this public tes-
timony of my sense of their kindness. M. Haiiy, M. Latreille,
M. Thouin, M. Royer, M. Dufresne, W. Vanspaendonck,
M. Lucas, have been called to another world, where human
feelings are of no avail. Our pass-word for every thing was,
“de la Maison Cuvier ;” and night and day we wandered
about this little world as if we had been among its permanent
inhabitants. Great have been the changes since then; and
now the master spirit of this beautiful abode is no more, I
shall never look on it again, and fancy that it has retained its
perfection. During my late visit, not even the subordinate
employés whom I had known in former times, but, after their
respectful greeting, lamented the death of their great patron,
in words that betokened the sincerest grief.
Wie
2902 MEMOIRS OF
delightful conversation would ensue. On pro-
ceeding to the drawing-room, M. Cuvier would
occasionally gratify those present by an hour’s
stay among them before he retired to his occu-
pations, or paid his visits. Occasionally he would
bring forth some old book he had picked up at a
stall on one of the Quais, and boasting of his
bargain, read some passages ; or, bidding some
one read to him, he compared different edi-
tions. At a more recent period, if he had any
of M. Champollion’s letters from Egypt, he
would station us at different tables, with volumes
of the great work on Egypt, and verify the de-
scriptions of the antiquary step by step. He
never was weary of research ; though, it must be
owned, we occasionally wished for the sound of
the carriage wheels, to interrupt our employment.
He never suffered people to be idle in his house ;
and no sooner did friends station themselves
among the family for a time, but he would come
into their rooms with folios and paper in his
hand, and set them to trace plates for him; and
seldom forgot, on his return home from his duties
abroad, to enquire how much had been done. To
be sure, it was a pleasure to work for him, he
was so grateful for the service, and so happy
when the task was properly completed. His
BARON CUVIER. 2903
thirst for knowledge took an unbounded range,
and the inventions and enterprises of other
countries were as interesting to him as those of
his own. Every letter to me, at the time that
the accidents happened to the tunnel under the
Thames, contained enquiries concerning it: the
steam carriages, railroads, suspension bridges,
and public institutions, were all subjects of cor-
respondence: he read, or made others read to
him, all the attempts that had previously taken
place to perfect the same undertaking ; and when
a person from the country in which the scheme
was going forward came to see him, he was pre-
pared to converse with the stranger as one deeply
learned in the matter. He was one day talking
to a gentleman high in office at one of our
national establishments; and after mentioning the
expenses of the Museum, &c. at the Jardin des
Plantes, he to the great surprise of his compa-
nion, stated to a fraction the former, and actual
costs of the British Museum. He could not
bear to be inactive for an instant ; and once, while
sitting for a portrait, which was to face the
quarto edition of his ‘ Discours sur les Revolu-
tions du Globe,” Mlle. Duvaucel read to him
the « Fortunes of Nigel.” He had a map of
London at his elbow, which the artist allowed
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294, MEMOIRS OF
him occasionally to consult; and the Latin of
King James often excited a smile, which was a
desirable expression for the painter; but unhap-
pily the engraver was not a faithful copyist, and
this published portrait is anything but a resem-
blance.
A change of occupation was a relaxation to
M. Cuvier; perhaps the greatest of all was con-
versation; but there was yet a third, which was
to throw himself on a sofa, hide his eyes from
the light, and listen to the readings of his wife
and daughters, and, occasionally, that of M.
Laurillard. By these nightly readings, for they
only took place when he could not work any
longer, he became acquainted with the literature
of the whole civilised world; and no one was
better able to appreciate it, for he looked on it
as a picture of the human mind, and judged by
it of the state of civilisation in the country
where the various works were published. He
frequently thus renewed his acquaintance with
books read long before, in order to mark the
changes which had taken place in the lapse of
years ; and the number of volumes perused in
this way was immense, though the reading
seldom or never lasted more than two hours.
There was yet another advantage which attended
BARON CUVIER. 295
this manner of closing the day by such a ra-
tional amusement: it served to quiet his mind,
which had often been previously excited; and
ensured him that undisturbed repose, which
fitted him for succeeding labours, and which his
appearance the next morning generally indicated
that he had enjoyed. Could that man’s slum-
bers be otherwise than sweet, who had passed
every moment in the fulfilment of the most im-
portant duties of life? The services thus ren-
dered to M. Cuvier were often returned by him
in kind; for if any member of his family was ill,
he would take his books and his newspapers to
the bed-side, and read aloud by the hour to.
gether. He never slept except at night; and I
never heard of any one surprising him in such a
state of inaction at any hour in the day, in his
house or carriage, whatever might have been the
fatigue he had undergone.
No one was ever more sensible to kindness
than M. Cuvier, and the slightest services always
received acknowledgments beyond their value ;
it is not surprising, then, that in the same cha-
racter there should be an equal sensibility to in-
eratitude. To find any one thus return the
affectionate cares he had bestowed, was a real
affliction; and as an instance, among several
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206 MEMOIRS OF
others, I recollect that, during one of my visits
to his house, he appeared most unusually sad,
and all the efforts to amuse him were repaid by
a mournful smile. All his family were aware
that no calamity could have produced this, and
guessed it was some trouble connected with
others, into which they had, perhaps, no right to
enquire; and they were not wrong in their con-
jectures. Walking home one evening quietly
with his daughter-in-law, in reply to her remarks
upon his dejection, he confessed that a favourite
friend and pupil had, from motives of self-in-
terest, publicly sided with his enemies, and it
was an affliction to which he could not easily
reconcile himself:
The benevolence of M. Cuvier was evinced
in every form by which it could be serviceable
to others; and students themselves have told me,
that he has found them out in their retreats,
where advice, protection, and pecuniary assist-
ance were all freely bestowed. Frequently did
his friends tax him with his generosity, as a sort
of imprudence; but his reply would be,—* Do
not scold me, I will not buy so many books this
year.” Many anecdotes have been told me of
his purse being made a resource, not only for the
advantage of science, but for those who had fled
BARON CUVIER. 207
to France to avoid ruin in their own country ;
but even my anxiety to make known all M. Cu-
vier’s good qualities ought not to interfere with
the sacredness of private misfortune. In his en-
deavours to do good, he was always most ably
seconded by the females of his family, whose
active benevolence has called upon them many a
blessing from the hearts they have cheered by
their kindness and bounty.
A very remarkable and a very prominent
feature in M. Cuvier’s character, was a decided
aversion to ridicule or severity when speaking
of others: he not only wholly abstained from
satire himself, but wholly discouraged it in those
around him, whoever they might be; and was
never for one instant cheated into a toleration of
it, however brilliant the wit, or however droll
the light in which it was placed; and the only
sharpness of expression which he allowed to him-
self, was a rebuke to those who indulged in sar-
casm. On hearing me repeat some malicious
observations made by a person celebrated for
his wit and talent — not being aware of the hid-
den meaning of the words I quoted, and having
been very much amused with the conversation—
M. Cuvier instantly assumed a gravity and se-
riousness which almost alarmed me, and then
208 MEMOIRS OF
solemnly bade me beware of the false colouring
which I was but too apt to receive from the per-
son in question ; but fearing I should feel hurt,
he instantly resumed his kindness of manner,
and lamented that the real goodness of heart,
the great abilities, and power of divesting him-
self of partiality, in my friend, should so often
be obscured by the desire of saying what was
clever or brilliant.
Two other great traits — perhaps, I ought ra-
ther to call them perfections — belonging to M.
Cuvier, were, a total absence of all self-conceit
and all resentment, both of which led to a re-
markable uniformity and kindness in performing
the duties of social life. That he had prefer-
ences, and that these preferences were sometimes
formed from the first interview, was true; and
few people possessed of quick and ardent feel-
ings can avoid these sudden impressions; but a
contrary feeling led him merely to avoid inter-
course, and did not, in any manner, extend to-
wards the real welfare of the individual. Even
the annoyances and disappointments he met with
in his public career left not.one grain of bitter-
ness in his soul; and he generally laid the fault
to the ignorance, rather than the bad feeling, of
the offenders ; saying of them, —‘‘ ‘They are more
BARON CUVIER. 299
to be pitied than blamed, for they know not
what they do.” No one knew better how to
soften a refusal; and, whatever might be his
reasons, he took care that his opinions should
not wound the feelings of any applicant for his
favours. During one of my visits to his house,
a gentleman, anxious to obtain the vote of M.
Cuvier, as serviceable in procuring a public em-
ployment, applied to me to intercede with my
noble host. I felt that I had no right to do so,
and mentioned my dilemma to Madame Cuvier,
at the same time expressing my vexation, that such
advantage should have been taken of my intimacy.
This being repeated to M. Cuvier, he laughed
at the scruples which had withheld me from con-
versing with himself on the subject, and then
desired me to reply to the applicant, that he
never suffered the ladies of his family to interfere
in such matters. When I left the room in
order to do this, he called me back, as if a sud-
den thought had struck him; and he added, —
‘Tell your friend, if he wishes to see me, or
ask my advice, I shall be happy to receive him
at ———— ;”” evidently wishing to save me from
the pain of an abrupt refusal to one whom I
might esteem.
The soirées of Baron Cuvier, which took
300 MEMOIRS OF
place every Saturday evening, and were some-
times preceded by a party, were the most bril-
liant and the most interesting in Paris. ‘There,
passed in review, the learned, the talented, of
every nation, of every age, and of each sex; all
systems, all opinions, were received; the more
numerous the circle, the more delighted was the
master of the house to mingle in it, encouraging,
amusing, welcoming every body, paying the ut-
most respect to those really worthy of distinc-
tion, drawing forth the young and bashful, and
striving to make all appreciated according to their
deserts. Nothing was banished from this circle
but envy, jealousy, and scandal ; and this saloon
might be compared to all Europe; and not till
the guest had repassed the Rue de ‘Tournon, or
‘“‘ the Seine, could he again fancy himself in the
capricious capital of fashion, or time-serving
show.” It was at once to see intellect in all its
splendour ; and the stranger was astonished to
find himself conversing, without restraint, without
ceremony, with, or in presence of, the leading
stars of Europe: princes, peers, diplomatists,
savants, and the great host himself, now receiving
these, and now the young students from the fifth
pair of stairs in a neighbouring hotel, with equal
urbanity. No matter to him in which way
BARON CUVIER. SO
they had directed their talents, what was their
fortune, what was their family; and wholly
free from national jealousy, he alike respected
all that were worthy of admiration. He asked
questions from a desire to gain information,
as if he too were a student; he was delighted
when he found a Scotchman who spoke Celtic ;
he questioned all concerning their national in-
stitutions and customs; he conversed with an
English lawyer as if he had learned the profes-
sion in England ; he knew the progress of public
education in every quarter of the globe; he
asked the traveller an infinity of things, well
knowing to what part of the world he had
directed his steps; and seeming to think that
every one was born to afford instruction in some
way or other, he elicited information from the
humblest individual, who was frequently asto-
nished at his interest in what appeared so fami-
liar to himself. One thing used particularly to
annoy him; which was, to find an Englishman
who could not speak French. It gave him a re-
straint of which many have complained, but
which, on these occasions, solely arose from a feel-
ing of awkwardness on his own part at not being
able to converse with his foreign guest. No one
ever rendered greater justice to the merit of his
predecessors or contemporaries than M. Cuvier.
302 MEMOIRS OF
«¢ Half a century,” he said, “ had sufficed for a
complete metamorphosis in science; and it is
very probable that, in a similar space of time, we
also shall have become antient to a future gener-
ation. These motives ought never to suffer us
to forget the respectful gratitude we owe to those
who have preceded us, or to repulse, without
examination, the ideas of youth ; which, if just,
will prevail, whatever obstacles the present age
may throw in their way.” This was a delightful
manner of satisfying every body with himself’: the
naturalist, from a remote province, or perhaps
from a colony at the other end of the world, was
no longer ashamed to think that he had not
kept pace with the march of science in the capital,
and had been poring over obsolete systems ; and
the young student, fresh from the Universities,
was not afraid to utter the objections, the falla-
cies, or the inaccuracies, he fancied he had
detected in his perusal of more recent authors.
The repast which closed these evening enter-
tainments was served in the dining-room, and,
certainly, at the most delightful tea-table in the
world. A select few only would stay, though
M. Cuvier sometimes pressed into the service
more than could be well accommodated ; and
while the tea, the fruit, and refreshments of
BARON CUVIER. 303
various kinds were passing round, the convers-
ation passed brilliantly with them. Descrip-
tions of rarities were given, travellers wonders
related, works of art criticised, and anecdotes
told; when, reserving himself till the last,
M. Cuvier would narrate something which
crowned the whole; and all around were either
struck with the complete change given to the
train of thought, or were forced to join in a ge-
neral shout of laughter. One evening, the va-
rious signs placed over the shop doors in Paris
were discussed ; their origin, their uses, were
described ; and then came the things themselves.
Of course, the most absurd were chosen; and,
last of all, M. Cuvier said that he knew of a
bootmaker who had caused a large and ferocious
looking lion to be painted, in the act of tearing
a boot to pieces with his teeth. This was put
over his door, with the motto, «On peut me
déchirer, mais jamais me découdre.”* I was in
Paris when the celebrated picture, painted by
Girodet, of Pygmalion and the Statue, was ex-
hibiting at the Louvre. It caused a general
sensation ; epigrams, impromptus, were made
upon it without end; wreaths of flowers, and
* «T may be torn, but never unsewn.”
304 MEMOIRS OF
crowns of bays, were hung upon it; so that it
became an universal theme of conversation.
Among other topics, it was one evening intro-
duced at M. Cuvier’s; when M. Brongniart (the
celebrated mineralogist, and director of the
Royal Manufactory of China at Sévres), found
fault with the flesh, which, he said, was too trans-
parent; Baron de Humboldt (the learned Prus-
sian traveller, who had lately been occupying
himself with the chemical experiments of M.
Gay-Lussac) objected to the general tone of
the picture, which, he said, looked as if lighted
up with modern gas; M. de Prony (one of the
mathematical professors of the Ecole Polytech-
nique, and also director of the Ecole des Ponts
et Chaussées *) found fault with the plinth of
the statue; and many gave their opinion in the
like manner, each pointing out the faults that
had struck him in this celebrated performance ;
after which, M. Cuvier said that the thumb of
Pygmalion was not properly drawn, and would
require an additional joint to those given by na-
ture, for it to appear in the position selected by
the painter. Upon this, M. Biot (the mathe-
matician and natural philosopher, who had _re-
* A school resembling those for our civil engineers.
BARON CUVIER. 305
mained silent all the time, ) with mock solemnity
summed up the whole, showing that every body
had been more or less influenced by his peculiar
vocation, or favourite pursuit; and concluded
by saying, that he had no doubt but that every
one of them, if they met Girodet the next day,
would congratulate him on the perfect picture
he had produced. On these evenings, one or
two old, or particularly cherished friends would
remain, talking after the rest had taken their de-
parture; the hours passed, the clock would
strike two before the little coterie thought of
separating ; and even then M. Cuvier would say,
«« Nay, gentlemen, do not be in such a hurry, it
is quite early.”
But I am now speaking of that period which
preceded the death of the angel Clementine, so
named after the dear and excellent mother, who
had so well guided the earliest youth of her
father. This pure creature was so good herself,
that she never suspected evil in others, and was
the light of every body’s existence in this hal-
lowed circle. Her likeness to M. Cuvier was
very striking; and though her eyes and hair
were of a darker and a different shade, his every
feature could be traced in her countenance,
softened into feminine beauty. Her talents, her
x
806 MEMOIRS OF
acquirements, her modest opinion of herself, her
sound judgment, her active charity, her extreme
piety, seemed to mark her as a being who could
not long remain in this world of sin: she died
of rapid consumption, which disease, though
probably, long engendered in her constitution,
which had already given one or two alarms,
and probably made hidden progress, only mani-
fested itself in its decided form six weeks before
her death, amid the joyful preparations for her
marriage. I‘rom this moment a mournful change
took place in every arrangement; the broken-
hearted mother was long, very long, unable to
receive company, never again to mingle in it
abroad ; and the unceasing and heroic efforts of
her surviving daughter, and the affectionate
cares of her husband, failed to rouse her. At
length, occasional society at his own house be-
came absolutely necessary to M. Cuvier, and the
good wife consented to that which the good
mother had refused ; the saloon remained closed
in which she had seen the perfection of mortal
loveliness breathe her last, and one of the libra-
ries was opened to company. "Those who were versed in
finish them with you.’
human destiny, seemed to feel, that his sphere
of action was even then placed out of this world,
and that he had pronounced his farewell. So
near the great and awful tribunal, what other
words, what other thoughts than those contained
in this lecture, could have so plainly shown
the preparation already made for his journey
thither?
I am told that the profound emotion occa-
sioned by this last discourse was universal, and
that few left the hall without an undefined feel-
ing of sadness, and sentiments of reverence, far
beyond the power of expression. On the same
day, M. Cuvier, as usual, attended a council of
administration in the Jardin des Plantes, and
bestowed his last cares on that immense esta-
blishment, which owes so large a portion of its
treasures to his constant and active solicitude,
and to his extreme generosity. ‘ By turns pro-
tected and protecting, M. Cuvier had there re-
sisted the political vicissitudes which changed
all but this sacred asylum of men and things.
It would seem as if a special grace from Provi-
320 MEMOIRS OF
dence had suffered him to remain, during thirty-
eight years of revolution, in the same place, and
with the same occupations. The great mind, the
pure intention, the devoted and disinterested
heart, alone are suffered to effect such mira-
cles.”
In the evening of Tuesday, M. Cuvier felt
some pain and numbness in his right arm, which
was supposed to proceed from rheumatism. On
Wednesday, the 9th, he presided over the Com-
mittee of the Interior with his wonted activity.
At dinner that day, he felt some difficulty in
swallowing, and the numbness of his arm in-
creased. Never can the look and the enquiry
he directed to his nephew, when he found that
bread would not pass down his throat, be for-
gotten; nor the self-possession with which he
said, as he sent his plate to Madame Cuvier,
‘¢ Then I must eat more soup,” in order to quiet
the alarm visible on the countenances of those
present. M. Frédéric, the younger, sought me-
dical advice; and an application of leeches was
made during the night, without producing any
amelioration. The next day (Thursday) both
arms were seized, and the paralysis of the pha-
rynx was complete. He was then bled, but
without any benefit, and from that moment he
BARON CUVIER. 321
seemed to be perfectly aware of what was to
follow. He, with the most perfect calmness,
ordered his will to be made; and in it evinced
the tenderest solicitude for those whose cares
and affection had embellished his life, and for
those who had most aided him in his scientific
labours. He could not sign it himself, but four
witnesses attested the deed. He sent for that
good M. Royer, who was so soon to follow him,
to make a statement of the sums he had ex-
pended, out of his private fortune, on the alter-
ations of the rooms behind his house, though the
affliction of this Chef du Bureau d’ Administration
was so heavy as almost to disable him from doing
his duty. M. Cuvier alone was tranquil; and,
perfectly convinced that all human resource was
vain, he yet, for the sake of the beloved objects
who encircled him, submitted without impa-
tience to every remedy that was suggested. The
malady augmented during the night, and the
most celebrated medical practitioners were called
in: emetics were administered by means of a
tube, but, like all other endeavours, they did not
cause the least alteration. Friday was passed in
various, but hopeless, attempts to mitigate the
evil; and perhaps, they only increased the
suffering of the patient. In the evening the pa-
mn
322 MEMOIRS OF
ralysis attacked the legs; the night was restless
and painful; the speech became affected, though
it was perfectly to be understood. He pointed
out the seat of his disorder, observing to those
who could comprehend him, ‘Ce sont les nerfs
’ alluding to
de la volonté qui sont malades* ;’
the late beautiful discoveries of Sir Charles Bell
and Scarpa, on the double system of spinal
nervest: he clearly and precisely indicated the
changes of position which the parts of the limbs
yet unparalysed rendered desirable ; and he was
moved from his own simple and comparatively
small bed-room, into that saloon where he had
been the life and soul of the learned world; and,
though his speech was less fluent, he conversed
with his physicians, his family, and the friends
who aided them in their agonising cares. Among
other anxious enquirers came M. Pasquier, whom
he had seen on the memorable Tuesday; and he
said to him, “ Behold a very different person
to the man of ‘Tuesday—of Saturday. Never-
theless, I had great things still to do. All was
ready in my head; after thirty years of labour
* « The nerves of the will are sick.”
* A month before his illness, he had read a paper at the
Institute upon a memoir of Scarpa’s, on this distinction be-
tween the nerves of will, and those of sensibility.
BARON CUVIER. 325
and research ; there remained but to write; and
now the hands fail, and carry with them the
head.” M. Pasquier, almost too much distressed
to speak, attempted to express the interest uni-
versally felt for him; to which M. Cuvier replied,
“TI like to think so; I have long laboured to
render myself worthy of it.’ In the evening,
fever showed itself and continued all night,
which produced great restlessness and desire for
change of posture; the bronchiz then became
affected, and it was feared that the lungs would
soon follow. On Sunday morning the fever dis-
appeared for a short time; consequently he slept;
but said, on waking, that his dreams had been
incoherent and agitated, and that he felt his
head would soon be disordered. At two o’clock
in the day, the accelerated respiration proved
that only a part of the lungs was in action; and
the physicians, willing to try every thing, pro-
posed to cauterise the vertebra of the neck: the
question, Had he right to die? rendered him
obedient to their wishes; but he was spared this
bodily torture, and leeches and cupping were all
to which they had recourse. During the appli-
cation of the former, M. Cuvier observed, with
the greatest simplicity, that it was he who had
8 ane?
324 MEMOIRS OF
discovered that leeches possess red blood, allud-
ing to one of his Memoirs, written in Normandy.
‘‘’'The consummate master spoke of science for
the last time, by recalling one of the first steps
of the young naturalist.”” He had predicted
that the last cupping would hasten his depart-
ure; and, when raised from the posture neces-
sary for this operation, he asked for a glass of
lemonade, with which to moisten his mouth.
After this attempt at refreshment, he gave the
rest to his daughter-in-law to drink, saying, it
was very delightful to see those he loved still
able to swallow. His respiration became more
and more rapid; he raised his head, and then
letting it fall, as if in meditation, he resigned
his great soul to its Creator without a struggle.
Those who entered afterwards, would have
thought that the beautiful old man, seated in
the arm-chair, by the fireplace, was asleep ; and
would have walked softly across the room for
fear of disturbing him; so little did that calm
and noble countenance, that peaceful and bene-
volent mouth, indicate that death had laid his
icy hand upon them: but they had only to turn
to the despairing looks, the heart-rending grief,
or the mute anguish of those around, to be con-
BARON CUVIER. 325
vinced that all human efforts are unavailing,
when Heaven recalls its own.*
The perfect disinterestedness of M. Cuvier’s
character, the remarkable liberality of his dispo-
sition, the sums he so delightedly bestowed on
science, in a dearth of other proofs, would all be
established by the moderate fortune he left to
his family. After having filled such high offices
in the state; after having executed, under the
magnificent government of the empire, missions
which a man thirsting after wealth would have
turned to his pecuniary advantage; all the for-
tune he amassed amounted but to four thousand
pounds sterling; his library had cost him a
similar sum +; and he never hesitated procuring
* Germany lost her great Goethe in this year. France,
besides the above calamitous privation, was bereaved of Cham-
pollion, Casimir Perrier, and Abel Remusat; and Great Britain,
of Sir Walter Scott and Sir John Leslie: the preceding year
had been fer greatest trial; for in it she was deprived of
Sir Humphry Davy, Dr. Young, and Dr. Wollaston, &c.
+ To the books purchased by himself were added those
published at the expense of the Government, copies of which
were always presented to him ; and the numerous gifts he re-
ceived from authors of all countries, who were universally
anxious to pay him this mark of respect, even if their works
did not treat of Natural History. Altogether amounted to
more than nineteen thousand volumes, besides pamphlets,
atlases, &c., and many of which contained his own notes. It
was very desirable that this library should remain entire, for
yvie3
326 MEMOIRS OF
any object of natural history at his own expense,
original cost and freight included, from every
quarter of the globe; not for himself, but to
present it to the Museum: and if to these be
added his hospitality, and his generous assist-
the use of students ; and such being Madame Cuvier’s wish,
the legatees, consisting of M. F. Cuvier, his son, M. Valen-
ciennes, and M. Laurillard, accepted the value of their por-
tions as mere books, and the Government agreed to purchase
the whole. The sum was voted at the same time as Madame
Cuvier’s pension; and much is it to be regretted that the
value of books has of late years so much diminished in France :
however, it is much more vexatious, that no building can be
found to contain this collection, where it might be consulted
in its entire state by the public ; and it is therefore to be di-
vided between the Schools of Law and Medicine, the Normal
School, and the Jardin des Plantes, where many volumes
will enter as duplicates. The apartments in which these
treasures were contained, were a continuation of M. Cuvier’s
own dwelling, and had been originally used for the forage of
the menagerie. On this being removed to the building called
the Rotonde, Baron Cuvier asked permission of the Board of
Administration of the Jardin, to take these granaries into his
own hands, and convert them, at his own expense, into a
suite of rooms. This cost him 1640/.,which gave him a right
to ask for a dwelling for his family after his death ; a right
which was graciously confirmed by his present Majesty. In
these rooms the great savant carried on his vast labours and
meditations, working in each according to the subject on
which he was employed: they made his house appear large ;
but, in reality, the habitable part of it was scarcely of sufficient
extent for his comfort, when it is considered how many
visitors he was there obliged, by his places, to entertain.
BARON CUVIER. 327
ance to others, the small amount of the property
he left behind him may be easily accounted for.
He desired to be buried without ceremony, in
the cemetery of Pere la Chaise, under the tomb-
stone which covered his daughter; but it was
not possible for such a man to die without much
public manifestation of respect at the last sad
ceremony. ‘The funeral procession was followed
by a deputation from the Council of State, pre-
sided by the Keeper of the Seals; also from the
Academies of Sciences, of Inscriptions, of Medi-
cine, of France; by members of the two Cham-
bers, the Ecole Polytechnique, &c. The earthly
remains were alternately borne by pupils from
the laboratories of the Jardin des Plantes, from
the Schools d’Urfort, of Law, and of Medicine,
and first taken to the Protestant Church in the
Rue des Billettes. The pall was supported by
M. Pasquier, president of the Chamber of Peers ;
M. Devaux, counsellor of state; M. Arago, se-
cretary of the Academy of Natural Sciences ;
and M. Villemain, vice-president of the Royal
Council of Public Instruction. Different mem-
bers of the learned and legislative bodies, each
pronounced a funeral discourse over the grave,
according to the usual custom of the country.
A monumental statue is to be erected in the
Weed:
825 MEMOIRS OF
Jardin des Plantes, another at Montbéliard, the
size and materials of which depend on the
amount of the subscriptions. The King has
also ordered a marble bust, by M. Pradhier, to
be placed in the Institute; and another to be
placed in the Galleries of Anatomy, by M. David.
M. Cuvier is succeeded by Baron Dupin (the
elder) at the Académie Frangaise, and by Dr.
Dulong * at the Académie des Sciences. M. de
Blainville is appointed professor of comparative
anatomy at the Jardin des Plantes. Many of
his places remain unfilled, as if those, who would
otherwise be candidates, were afraid of the con-
test. This one man held them all; rigidly per-
formed all their duties; carried his benevolent
and enlightened principles with him into all his
employments; scorned no detail which could
bear upon their improvement; saw, in one
glance, the influence which their progress would
have over society at large; and yet, while his
mind was filled with these great and general
views, never, for one instant, forgot that which
belonged to his character as a father, a husband,
a brother, and a friend; or that he had fellow
creatures who needed his assistance. His public
* Since writing the above, M. Dulong has resigned his
secretaryship, on account of his health.
BARON CUVIER. 329
employments are now separated; and the occu-
piers may think themselves happy, if they can,
in their solitary succession, in some degree at-
tain the perfection which stamped his combined
career. The death of such a man, at such a period
of his labours, and at such a moment, scarcely
seems to come within the common routine of
mortality, but to have been the result of a spe-
cial and chastening mandate from Heaven.
330
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST
OF
a. HE BRENIG P Ad sky EN TS
Ae D.
1769.
1779.
1784.
OF
THE BARON CUVIER’S LIFE.
(August 23.) Born.
Entered the Gymnase of Montbéliard.
(May 4.) Entered the Académie Caroline, in the Uni-
versity of Stuttgardt.
Left Stuttgardt to return to Montbéliard.
Entered as tutor into the family of Count d’Hericy,
in Normandy.
Death of M. Cuvier’s mother.
. (Spring.) Came to Paris.
Appointed Membre de la Commission des Arts.
Appointed Professor at the Central School of the
Panthéon.
(July.) Made assistant to M. Mertrud, and entered
the Jardin des Plantes ; sent for his father and brother ;
commenced the Gallerie d’Anatomie comparée.
(December.) Opened his first course of lectures, at
the Jardin des Plantes, on Comparative Anatomy.
331
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST
OF
HE PUBLISH ED WwW ORAS
OF
THE BARON CUVIER.
1792. Mémoire sur l’Anatomie de la Patelle.
1795. Mémoire sur le Larynx inférieur des Oiseaux. (Ma-
gasin Encyclopédique.)
Mémoire sur l’Anatomie du grand Limacgon. (Helix
Pomatia Lin.)
Notice ou Mémoire sur la Circulation dans les Ani-
maux a sang blanc.
Mémoire sur une nouvelle Division des Mammiféres.
(Magasin Encyclopédique.)
Mémoire sur une nouvelle Distribution, en six Classes,
des Animaux a sang blanc.
Mémoire sur la Structure des Mollusques, et de leur
Division en Ordres.
332 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EVENTS.
APD:
1796. Made a Member of the National Institute.
1798. Proposal made to M. Cuvier, by Count Berthollet, to
accompany the expedition to Egypt; which offer was
refused.
A. D.
1796.
1797.
1798.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS. 333
Mémoire sur le Squelette d’une trés grande Espéce
de Quadrupéde inconnue (Megalonix).
Mémoire sur les Tétes d’Ours Fossiles, des Cavernes
de Gailenreuth.
Mémoire sur un Squelette Fossile (Megatherium)
trouvé sur les Bords du Rio de la Plata.
Mémoire sur l’Organe de |’Oitie dans les Cetacés.
Mémoire sur un nouveau Genre de Mollusque
(Phyllidia).
Mémoire sur l’Animal des Lingules.
Note sur l’Anatomie des Ascidies.
Note sur les différentes Especes de Rhinoceros.
Note sur les Narines des Cetacés.
Note sur les Rates du Marsouin.
Note sur une nouvelle Espéce de Guépe Cartonniére
Elogé Historique de Riche.
Mémoire sur la maniére dont se fait la Nutrition dans
les Insectes.
Tableau Elémentaire de |’Histoire Naturelle des Ani-
maux.
Mémoire sur les Organes de la Voix dans les Oiseaux.
Mémoire sur les Ossemens Fossiles des Quadrupédes.
Ici sont indiqués l’Elephant, le Mastodonte d’ Amerique
et d'Europe, l’Hippopotame, le Rhinoceros 4 crane al-
longé, le Tapir gigantesque, le Megatherium, 1’Ours
des Cavernes, un Animal carnassier de Montmartre
(reconnu plus tard pour étre un Pachyderma), l’Animal
de Monti, que M. Cuvier croyait un Mastodonte,
l’Elan d’Islande, qu’il croyait alors, sur les rapports de
Faujas, exister 4 Maestricht, deux Espéces de Beeufs
de Sibérie, deux Cerfs des Tourbiéres de la Somme.
Mémoire sur les Vaisseaux sanguins des Sangsues,
et sur la couleur rouge du Fluide qu’y est contenu.
(Celle-ci est la découverte sur laquelle repose l’étab-
lissement de la classe des Vers a sang rouge.)
Mémoire sur les Ossemens qui se trouvent dans les
334 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EVENTS.
A. D.
1800. Appointed Professor at the Collége de France, on
which M. Cuvier resigned the chair at the Central
School of the Panthéon.
Elected Secretary to the Class of Physical and Ma-
thematical Sciences of the Institute.
1802. Named one of the six Inspector-Generals of Educa-
cation (Etudes).
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS. 30:
AuD.
Gypses de Montmartre. (Ici M. Cuvier rectifie son
Mémoire précédent, et annonce avoir reconnu trois
espéces distinctes de Pachydermes. )
1799. Notice Biographique sur Bruguiéres.
Mémoire sur les Différences des Cerveaux, con-
siderés dans tous les Animaux a Sang rouge.
Mémoire sur l’Organisation de quelques Meduses
(Rhyzostome bleu).
1800. Mémoire sur les Tapirs Fossiles de France.
Mémoire sur le Siren Lacertina.
Mémoire sur un nouveau Genre des Quadrupédes
édentés, nommés Ornithorynchus paradoxus, décrit par
Blumenbach (extrait par M. Cuvier).
Mémoire sur I'Ibis des anciens Egyptiens.
Mémoire sur les Ornitholithes de Montmartre.
Addition a l’Article des Quadrupédes Fossiles, oi est
indiqué |’Anoplotherium, et une Espece du méme
Genre, de la taille d'un Hérisson.
Mémoire sur une nouvelle Espéce de Quadrupéde
Fossile, du Genre de l Hippopotame.
Tomes I. et II. des Lecons de l’Anatomie comparée.
Eloge Historique de Daubenton.
Eloge Historique de Lemonnier.
1801. Mémoire sur une nouvelle Espéce de Crocodile Fos-
sile, des Environs de Honfleur.
Note sur des nouvelles découvertes d’Os Fossiles.
(Il s’agit des Crocodiles de Honfleur, d’Altorf en Fran-
conie, de Provins, Département de lOrme.) Ici
M. Cuvier annonce le découverte d’un septiéme ani-
mal dans le gypse de Montmartre, un Carnassier
(Canis).
Mémoire sur les Dents des Poissons.
Eloge Historique de I’ Héritier.
Eloge Historique de Gilbert.
1802. M. Cuvier commenca les Analyses des Travaux de
l'Institut, qui étaient continués jusqu’a sa mort.
336 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EVENTS.
A.D.
1802. Went to Marseilles, &c. to found the Royal Colleges.
1803. Made perpetual Secretary to the Class of Physical
and Mathematical Sciences of the Institute.
Resigned Inspector-generalship of Education.
Married to Madame Duvaucel.
A. D.
¢
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS. 337
1802. Mémoire sur |’Animal de Lingule, I’ Animal de Bulleea
aperta, et celui de Clio Borealis.
Mémoire sur le Genre Tritonia, avec la Description
d'une Espéce nouvelle.
Eloge Historique de Jean Darcet.
Extrait dun Mémoire sur les Vers qui ont le sang
rouge. Ici M. Cuvier annonce, que la plupart des
Vers marins ont le sang rouge, ainsi que les Lombrics ;
et donne la description du systéme circulatoire dans
l Arénicole, ou Lombric Marin.
Extrait dela Description de |’ Anatomie de l’Ornitho-
rynchus p. par Home.
Mémoire sur les Serpules.
Articles Abdomen, Absorption, Accouplement, Acé-
phales, Actinie, pour la Dictionnaire des Sciences Natu-
relles.
1803. Mémoire sur le Genre Aplysia.
Mémoire sur les Ecrevisses connues des Anciéns, &c.
Notice sur l’Etablissement de la Collection d’Ana-
tomie comparée du Museum.
Description Ostéologique du Rhinoceros Unicorne.
Description Ostéologique du Tapir.
Description Ostéologique du Daman.
Mémoire sur les Espéces des Animaux dont proviennent
les Os Fossiles répandus dans la Pierre a Platre des
Environs de Paris.
Premier Mémoire — Restitution de la Téte.
Second Mémoire — Examen des Dents.
Troisiéme Mémoire — Restitution des Pieds.
Mémoire sur les Os Fossiles des Environs de Paris.
Article Historique sur les Collections de l’Histoire
Naturelle.
Note sur l’Anatomie de quelques Aplysies, observés
pendant un séjour a Marseille.
Mémoire sur la Pennatula Cynomorium, et sur les
Coraux en general, montre que la Pennatula
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338 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EVENT
A.D.
1804. Eldest son born, and died.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS. 3839
AD:
Cyn. est composée des plusieurs Animaux, avec une
seule volonté, ce qu’on déduit de leurs mouvemens,
quil y a unité de nutrition, et qu’on peut la regarder
comme un seul animal a plusieurs bouches. M. Cu-
vier étend la méme conclusion aux Zoophytes fixés,
quoiquiils différent essentiellement par Vabsence du
mouvement.
1804. Article Bec, pour la Dictionnaire des Sciences Natu-
relles.
Recherches d’ Anatomie comparée sur les Dents.
Notice sur un Squelette Fossile, trouvé a Pantin,
dans le Gypse (Paleotherium minus).
Mémoire sur l’Hyale, sur un nouveau Genre des Mol-
lusques nus, intermédiaire entre l’Hyale et le Clio, et
Vétablissement d’un nouvel Ordre dans la Classe des
Mollusques.
Mémoire sur l Hippopotame et son Ostéologie.
Mémoire sur les Thalides, et sur les Biphores.
Mémoire sur le Genre Doris.
1805. Articles Boeuf, Bois, Branchie, pour la Dictionnaire
des Sciences Naturelles.
Trois derniers Volumes des Lecons de |’ Anatomie
comparée.
Eloge Historique de Priestley.
Mémoire sur les Animaux auxquels appartenaient
les Pierres dites Nummulaires, ou Lenticulaires, et sur
ceux du Corne d’Ammon. (M. Cuvier attribue les
Nummulaires concentriques a des osselets intérieurs
d'un Zoophyte, voisin des Porpitese)
Extraits des Mémoires sur le Clio Borealis, I’ Hyale,
le Pneumoderme.
Suite des Mémoires sur les Tritonia, Doris, Aplysia,
Onchidium, Bulla.
Suite des Mémoires précédents.
Suite des Mémoires sur la Phyllidia et le Pleuro-
branchus.
ie Od
”
ade a 7
CHRONOLOGICAL er OF EVENTS.
A.D.
1806.
1807.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS. 841
Eloge Historique de Cels.
Mémoire sur les Os Fossiles trouvés en divers en-
droits de la France, et plus ou moins semblables 4 ceux
du Paleotherium.
Mémoire sur la Scyllée, ’Eolide, et le Glaucus, avec
des Additions au Mémoire sur la Tritonia.
Mémoire sur l’Onchidium Peronii.
Additions a |’ Article sur les Ossemens Fossiles des
Tapirs.
Additions a l’Article sur ? Hippopotame.
Mémoire sur les Ossemens Fossiles d’Hippopotame.
Mémoire sur la Phyllidie et sur le Pleurobranche.
Mémoire sur le Sarigue Fossile des Gypses de Paris.
Mémoire sur le Megalonyx.
Mémoire sur le Megatherium.
Mémoire sur la Dolabelle.
Mémoire sur les Rhinoceros Fossiles.
Mémoire sur le Limacon et le Colimacon.
Mémoire sur les Ours des Cavernes d’ Allemagne.
Eloge Historique de Michel Adanson.
Mémoire sur les Elephans vivans et Fossiles.
Mémoire sur le Grand Mastodonte.
Mémoire sur les autres Espéces de Mastodonte.
Resumé général de |'Histoire des Ossemens Fossiles,
de Pachydermes, des Terreins Meubles et d’Alluvion.
Mémoire sur les Ossemens Fossiles des Environs de
Paris. Les Phalanges.
Mémoire sur les Os des Extrémités.
Mémoire sur les Os longs des Extrémités.
Mémoire sur les Extrémités antérieures.
Mémoire sur Jes Omoplates et les Bassins.
Description de deux Squelettes presque entiers de
Y Anoplotherium commun.
Mémoire sur les Ornitholithes de la Pierre & Platre
de Paris.
Mémoire sur Jes Carnassiers (autres que l’Ours) des
Cavernes.
7S
342 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EVENTS.
1808. Appointed Counsellor to the University.
1809. } Charged with the organisation of the Academies of
1810. the Italian States.
A.D.
1807.
1808.
1809.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS. 343
Mémoire sur les différentes Espéces de Crocodiles
vivans.
Mémoire sur quelques Ossemens de Carnassiers dans
les Carriéres a Platre de Paris.
Rapport a la Classe des Sciences Physiques et Mathé-
matiques de l'Institut, sur V’Ecrit de M. Adams sur
l'Elephant Fossile.
Rapport sur un Mémoire de M. Decandolle, intitulé
“ Tableau de la Nutrition de Végetaux.”
Rapport sur un ouvrage manuscrit de M. André,
ci-devant connu sous le Nom de Pére Chrysologue de
Gy, lequel ouvrage (sur la Géologie) est intitulé
«“ Théorie de la Surface actuelle de la Terre.”
Rapport Historique sur les Progrés des Sciences
Naturelles, depuis 1789, &c.
Eloge Historique de Broussonnet.
Mémoire sur l’Ianthine et la Phasianelle.
Mémoire sur |’ Helix vivipara.
Rapport sur un Mémoire de MM. Gall et Spurz-
heim.
Mémoire sur le Buccinum undatum.
Essai sur la Géographie Minéralogique des Environs
de Paris (avec M. Brongniart).
Observations sur les Ossemens Fossiles des Croco-
diles, sur ceux des Environs de Honfleur, du Havre, et
de Thuringie.
Observations sur le grand Animal Fossile de Maes-
tricht.
Mémoire sur le Genre Thétys.
Suite des Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles des
Environs de Paris.
Mémoire sur les Os des Ruminans des Terreins
Meubles.
Mémoire sur les Bréches Osseuses de Gibraltar.
Mémoire sur l’Ostéologie du Lamantin et du Du-
gong.
N
—
344 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EVENTS,
1811. Charged with the organisation of the Academies of
Holland.
Received the title of Chevalier.
1812. Death of Mademoiselle Anne Cuvier.
1813. Death of George Cuvier, jun.
M. Cuvier sent to Rome, to organise the University
there.
Named Maitre des Requétes.
Ordered to make a list of books for the King of
Rome, with an intention that M. Cuvier should super-
intend his education.
Made Commissaire Impériale Extraordinaire, and
A.D.
1809.
1810.
1811.
1812.
1813.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS. 345
Mémoire sur quelques Quadrupédes Fossiles des
Schistes Calcaires.
Mémoire sur les Ossemens Fossiles des Chevaux et
des Sangliers.
Supplément au Mémoire sur les Ornitholithes de
Paris.
Mémoire sur les Rongeurs Fossiles des Tourbiéres, et
sur quelques autres Rongeurs, renfermés dans les
Schistes.
Mémoire sur les Espéces vivantes des grands Chats.
Rapport sur le Mémoire de Delaroche, sur la Vessie
Aérienne des Poissons.
Mémoire sur les Ossemens Fossiles des Tortues.
Mémoire sur les Acéres.
Mémoire sur les Reptiles et les Poissons des Gypses
de Paris.
Eloges Historiques de Bonnet et de De Saussure. ,
Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles (grand ouvrage
en quatre volumes in 4to. ).
Eloge Historique de Fourcroy.
Rapport sur un Mémoire de M. Jacobson, intitulé
“ Description Anatomique des Organes observés dans
les Mammiferes.”
Article Animal, pour la Dictionnaire des Sciences
Médicales.
Eloge Historique de Dessesserts.
Eloge Historique de Cavendish.
Articles Azygos, Caverneux, pour la Dictionnaire des
Sciences Naturelles.
Rapport sur des Cetacés echoués sur les Cotes de
France, le 7 Janvier, 1812.
Mémoire sur un nouveau Rapprochement a établir
entre les Classes qui composent le Régne Animal.
Mémoire sur la Composition de la Téte Osseuse dans
les Animaux Vertebrés.
Eloge Historique de Pallas.
3:46 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EVENTS.
An Ds
sent to the left bank of the Rhine, in order to take the
steps necessary for opposing the invasion of France.
1814. Named Counsellor of State by Napoleon.
Named Counsellor of State by Louis XVIII.
(September.) First officiated as Commissaire du Roi,
to which he was repeatedly called at various periods of
his life.
Named Chancellor of the University.
1815. Procured ameliorations of the Criminal Laws, and in
the Prévotal Courts.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS. 347
A.D.
1813. Mémoire sur le Lophote Giorna.
Article Dent, pour la Dictionnaire des Sciences
Médicales.
1815. Eloges Historiques de Parmentier, et du Comte de
Rumford.
Mémoire sur I’ Aigle au Maigre.
Mémoire sur la Composition dela Machoire inférieure
des Poissons.
Observations et Recherches Critiques sur les Poissons
de la Mediterranée.
Suite du méme.
Suite du meme.
Suite du méme.
Mémoire sur les Ascidies.
Mémoire sur les Anatifes et Balanes.
Rapport sur deux Mémoires de M. Savigny, intitulés
“‘ Observations sur les Alcyons, (a la suite des Mé-
moires sur les Animaux sans Vertébres de Savigny, 2me
partie, page 67.).
1816. Réflexions sur la Marche actuelle des Sciences, &c.
Eloge Historique d’Olivier.
1817. Eloge Historique de Tenon.
Articles Cartilage, Cerveau, pour la Dictionnaire des
Sciences Naturelles.
Seconde Edition des Recherches sur les Ossemens
Fossiles, en cing volumes in 4to.
Le Régne Animal, en quatre volumes in 8vo.
Rapport sur un Mémoire de M. Dutrochet, intitulé
“¢ Recherches sur les Enveloppes du Foetus.”
Mémoire sur les GEufs des Quadrupédes.
Mémoire sur la Venus Hottentote.
348 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EVENTS.
Ae Ds
1818. Offered the Ministry of the Interior; which offer was
refused.
First journey to England.
Elected Member of the Académie Francaise.
1819. (September 13.) Named temporary Grand Master to
the University.
Appointed President of the Comité de l’Intérieur.
Created a Baron.
1820. (December 21.) Resigned Grand Mastership.
1821. (July 31.) Appointed temporary Grand Master to the
University.
1822. (June 1.) Resigned Grand Mastership.
Made Grand Master of the Faculties of Protestant
Theology.
1824. Officiated as one of the Presidents of the Council of
State, at the coronation of Charles X.
Made Grand Officier de Ja Légion d’Honneur.
Made Commander of the Order of the Crown, by the
King of Wurtemburg.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS. 349
ALD.
1818. Article Hymen, pour la Dictionnaire des Sciences
Médicales.
Eloge Historique de Werner.
Eloge Historique de Desmarets.
Mémoire sur le Genre Chironectes.
Mémoire sur les Diodons.
Mémoire sur le Genre Myletus.
Discours surla Réception de M. Cuvier al’ Académie
Francaise.
1819. Mémoire sur les Poissons du Genre Hydrocyn.
1820. Eloge Historique de M. de Beauvois.
Mémoire sur le Meleagris Ocellata.
1821. Rapport sur une Mémoire de M. Audouin, intitulé
“ Recherches Anatomiques sur le Thorax des Animaux
Articulés, et celui des Insectes en particulier. (An-
nales des Sciences Physiques de Bruxelles, vii. Jour-
nal de Physiologie Expérimentale, i.)
Eloge Historique de Sir Joseph Banks.
1822. Rapport sur un Mémoire de M. Flourens, sur le Sys-
téme Nerveux.
loge Historique de M. Duhamel.
Discours Funébre de M. Vanspaendonck.
Discours Funébre de M. Délambre.
1823. Eloge Historique de Haiiy.
1824. Mémoire sur une altération singuliére de quelques
Tétes Humaines.
Mémoire sur le Bradypus tridactylus.
Rapport sur l’Etat de l’Histoire Naturelle, et sur ses
accroissemens.
Eloge Historique du Comte Berthollet.
Eloge Historique de Richard.
1825. Article Nature, pour la Dictionnaire des Sciences
Naturelles.
Seconde Edition du Discours Préliminaire des Re-
350 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF EVENTS.
A.D.
1827. (June 14.) Appointed Censor of the Press; which
appointment was instantly refused.
Charged with the government of all the non-Catholic
religions.
1828. (September 28.) Death of Mademoiselle Clementine
Cuvier.
1830. Resumed lectures at the Collége de France.
Paid a second visit to England.
1832. Created a Peer.
(May.) Appointed President to the entire Council of
State.
(May 18.) Death.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WORKS. 351
cherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles, appellé “ Discours
sur les Révolutions de la Surface du Globe,” in 8vo.
1825. Discours sur la Distribution des Prix de Vertu.
Eloge Historique de Thouin.
1826. Eloge Historique du Comte de Lacépéde.
Rapport sur les Principaux Changemens éprouvés
par les Theories Chimiques.
Edition in 4to. du “ Discours sur les Révolutions du
Glebe.”
1827. Eloges Historiques de MM. Hallé, Corvisart, et Pinel.
Eloge Historique de M. Fabbroni.
Mémoire sur le Canard Pie de la Nouvelle Hollande.
1828. Volumes I. et IH. du grand Ouvrage sur l’Ichthy-
ologie.
Eloge Historique de Ramond.
Caii Plinii Secundi, Libri de Animalibus,
Notas et Excursus Zoologici Argumenti adjecit, G. Cu-
vier (traduits en 1831).
Rapport fait a l'Institut sur un Mémoire de M.
Adolphe Brongniart, intitulé “ Considérations générales
dela Nature de la Végétation qui couvrait la Surface de
la Terre, aux divers périodes de la formation de son
Ecorce.”
1829. Seconde Edition du Régne Animal, en 5 tom. in 8vo.
Volumes III. et IV. sur l’Ichthyologie.
Eloge Historique de M. Bose.
1830. Volumes V. et VI. sur I’Ichthyologie.
Eloge Historique de Sir Humphry Davy.
Eloge Historique de Vauquelin.
1831. Volumes VII. et VIII. sur l’Ichthyologie.
1832. Eloge Historique de Lamarck.
Et en outre plusieurs Rapports sur les Collections
rapportés par les Voyageurs, tels que les Collections de
MM. Quoy et Gaimard, Lesson et Garrot, Dussumier,
&e. &e.
THE END.
ERRATUM.
Page 19. note, for ** Baron Pasquier” read “ The Baron de H ——.”’
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