130 EMINENT NATURALISTS. 



contrary, he rejoiced at the advancement of know- 

 ledge by whomsoever effected, and even when it led 

 to alterations in what he had himself propounded. 

 At his request travellers were sent by government 

 into all parts of the world to collect observations and 

 specimens for the enrichment of the museum. Each 

 of these travellers received directions and instructions 

 from his own mouth; so that it might be said of him 

 as of Linnseus, that Nature was everywhere interro- 

 gated in his name. 



In the year 1827 Cuvier lost his only daughter, 

 Clementine, at the age of twenty-two, and then on the 

 eve of her marriage. This sad event, the loss of their 

 only child, overwhelmed the disconsolate parents in grief. 

 The feelings of Cuvier could scarcely be controlled. 

 The framework of his mind reeled like a vessel in full 

 sail that strikes upon a rock, and he rushed to his 

 studies as the only anchor by which his distracted 

 faculties could be held. Many a furrow, the channels 

 of many a tear now marked his manly check, and his 

 fine hair suddenly changed to a silvery whiteness. But 

 though thus prostrate, he did not 



"Perish with the reed on which he leant." 



He found relief under the high pressure of intel- 

 lectual labour, and he continued for a few vears to 

 pursue the studies to which his life had been so 

 successfully devoted. 



After this period, Cuvier seems to have worked harder 

 than ever ; and a new proof of his perseverance came 

 out in 1829, being a second edition of the " Eegne 



