138 STUDIES IN ANIMAL LIFE. 



hopes of others ; when studies are pursued in com- 

 mon, opinions frankly interchanged, and the supe- 

 riority of a friend is gladly acknowledged, even be- 

 coming a source of pride, instead of being, as in aft- 

 er years, a thorn in the side of friendship ! This 

 charm was felt by Cuvier and Pfaff, and a small 

 circle of fellow-students who particularly devoted 

 themselves to Natural History. They formed them- 

 selves into a society, of which Cuvier drew up the 

 statutes and became the president. They read mem- 

 oirs, and discussed discoveries with all the gravity 

 of elder societies, and even published, among them- 

 selves, a sort of Comptes Rendus. They made bo- 

 tanical, entomological, and geological excursions ; 

 and, still further to stimulate their zeal, Cuvier in- 

 stituted an Order of Merit, painting himself the me- 

 dallion: it represented a star, with the portrait of 

 Linnaeus in the centre, and between the rays vari- 

 ous treasures of the animal and vegetable world. 

 And do you think these boys were not proud when 

 their president awarded them this medal for some 

 happy observation of a new species, or some well- 

 considered essay on a scientific question ? 



At this period Cuvier's outward appearance was 

 as unlike M. le Baron as the grub is unlike the 

 butterfly. Absorbed in his multifarious studies, 

 he was careless about disguising the want of ele- 

 gance in his aspect. His face was pale, very thin 

 and long, covered with freckles, and encircled by a 

 shock of red hair. His physiognomy was severe 



