44 LOUIS AGASSrZ. [CHAP. in. 



excited in the enthusiastic mind of Geoff roy such an 

 admiration that he wrote him, then in Normandy, 

 acting as tutor in a nobleman's family, " Come and 

 play among us the part of Linnaeus- -of another 

 legislator and ruler of natural history." This was at 

 the beginning of 1795. Cuvier soon rose to the front 

 rank, and even to so high a position that, after 1817, the 

 year of the appearance of his " Regne animal," he was 

 recognized by all European naturalists as unquestion- 

 ably the leader. From that moment Cuvier developed 

 a love of power and a tyrannical spirit which surprised 

 and grieved some of his best friends. He became 

 overbearing and impatient of any opposition to such 

 a degree that in 1830, during the celebrated discussion 

 before the French Academy of Science, occasioned by 

 the publication of the " Principes de philosophic zoolo- 

 gique," in May, 1830, a rupture occurred with his life- 

 long friend Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Cuvier and Geoffroy 

 became irreconcilable antagonists, but remained person- 

 ally friendly, though the intimacy which had existed 

 between them during more than thirty years ceased, as 

 much through the fault of Geoffroy as of Cuvier. In 

 the discussion Geoffroy was very overbearing, and 

 assumed a role which extremely irritated Cuvier. It 

 is generally admitted now that Cuvier went too far, 

 although he refuted, with a surprising number of facts, 

 the arguments presented by Geoffroy on the six great 

 problems: (i) The pre-existence in natural history 

 of the genus; (2) the unity of organic composition; 

 (3) the value of classification; (4) the fixity of species; 

 (5) the final cause; and (6) the succession of organic 



