CUTTER CUVIER. 



573 



assuming a fine polish ; and great tenacity when hot, 

 for the purpose of forming the bow or ring of the 

 scissors, which requires to be extended from a solid 

 piece, having a hole previously punched through it. 

 It ought also to be very tenacious when cold, to al- 

 low that delicacy of form observed in those scissors 

 termed ladies' scissors. After the scissors are forged 

 as near to the same size as the eye of the workman 

 can ascertain, they are paired, and the two sides 

 fitted together. The bows and some other parts are 

 filed to their intended form ; the blades are also 

 roughly ground, and the two sides properly adjusted 

 to each other, after being bound together with wire, 

 and hardened up to the bows. They are afterwards 

 heated till they become of a purple colour, which in- 

 dicates their proper temper. Almost all the remain- 

 ing part of the work is performed at the grinding 

 mill, with the stone, the lap, the polisher, and the 

 brush. The very large scissors are partly of iron 

 and partly of steel, the shanks and bows being of the 

 former. These, as well as those all of steel which are 

 not hardened all over, cannot be polished : an infe- 

 rior sort of lustre, however, is given to them by means 

 of a burnish of hardened, polished steel, which is 

 very easily distinguished from the real polish by 

 the irregularity of the surface. For swords, see 

 Sivord. 



CUTTER ; a small vessel, furnished with one 

 mast, and rigged as a sloop. Many of these fast- 

 sailing vessels are used by smugglers, and are also 

 employed for the purpose of apprehending them. 

 In the latter case, they are called revenue cutters. 

 The dippers a kind of vessels built at Baltimore 

 are particularly adapted for fast sailing, but require 

 great skill in navigating them, to avoid being upset. 

 See Boat, Ship. 



CUTTY-STOOL ; a low stool ; the stool of repent- 

 ance ; a seat formerly set apart in Scottish kirks, on 

 which offenders against chastity were exhibited be- 

 fore the congregation, and submitted to the minister's 

 rebukes, before they were re-admitted into church 

 privileges. This old remnant of popish discipline, 

 the terrors of which drove many an unfortunate wo- 

 man to the crime of infanticide, in order to hide her 

 misconduct, is now, fortunately, nearly entirely ex- 

 ploded from the Scottish church ; being only retained 

 in some remote districts, where modern refinement 

 has not penetrated. 



CUT-WATER ; the sharp part of the head of a 

 ship, below the beak, so called because it cuts or di- 

 vides the water before it comes to the bow, that it 

 may not come too suddenly to the breadth of the 

 ship, which would retard it. 



CUVIER, GEORGE LEOPOLD CHRISTIAN FREDERIC 

 DAGOBERT, baron of ; a distinguished modern natu- 

 ralist, was born, August 23, 1769,* at Montbeliard, 

 then belonging to the duchy of Wuertemburg. His 

 brilliant talents very early excited great expectations. 

 His father was an officer. As the son's health was 

 too feeble to allow him to become a soldier, he re- 

 solved to be a clergyman. He was obliged to pass 

 an examination for the stipend, by the help of which 

 he expected to study at Tuebingen. A malicious ex- 

 aminer rejected him. The affair, however, was 

 marked by so much injustice, that prince Frederic, 

 brother of the duke, and governor of the district, 

 thought it his duty to compensate Cuvier by a place 

 in the Charles academy at Stuttgart. Here he gave 

 up his intention of becoming a clergyman. In Stutt- 

 gart, he studied at first the science of law, though he 

 was particularly fond of natural history. To this 



* It is somewhat remarkable, that the same year gave 

 birth to Bonaparte, the Duke of Wellington, and Lord Cas- 

 tlereagh ; also to three of Bonaparte's most distinguished 

 marshals, Ney, Soult, and Lannes. 



period of his life he was indebted for his accurate 

 knowledge of the German language and literature. 

 The narrow circumstances of his parents compelled 

 him to accept the office of private instructor in the 

 family of count D'Hericy, in Normandy. Here he 

 was at liberty to devote his leisure to natural science. 

 Cuvier soon perceived that zoology was far from that 

 perfection to which Linnaeus had carried botany, and 

 to which mineralogy had been carried by the united 

 labours of the philosophers of Germany and France. 

 The first desideratum was a careful observation of all 

 the organs of animals, in order to ascertain their 

 mutual dependence, and their influence on animal 

 life ; then a confutation of the fanciful systems which 

 had obscured rather than illustrated the study. 

 Examinations of the marine productions, with which 

 the neighbouring ocean abundantly supplied him, 

 served him as a suitable preparation. A natural 

 classification of the numerous classes ofvermes (Linn.) 

 was his first labour, and the clearness with which he 

 gave an account of his observations and ingenious 

 views procured him an acquaintance with all the na 

 turalists of Paris. Geoffry St Hilaire invited him to 

 Paris, opened to him the collections of natural his- 

 tory, over which he presided, took part with him in 

 the publication of several works on the classification 

 of the mammalia, and placed him at the central school 

 in Paris, May, 1795. The institute, being re-esta- 

 blished the same year, received him as a member of 

 the first class. For the use of the central school, he 

 wrote his Tableau Elementaire de VHistoire Naturelle 

 des Animaux (1798), by which he laid the foundati, n 

 of his future fame. From this tune, he was considered 

 one of the first zoologists of Europe. He soon after 

 displayed his brilliant talents as professor of compar- 

 ative anatomy. His profound knowledge was not 

 less remarkable than his elevated views, and the ele- 

 gance with which he illustrated them before a mixed 

 audience. In the lecture-room of the Lycee, where 

 he lectured several years on natural history, was as- 

 sembled all the accomplished society of Paris, at- 

 tracted by the ingenuity of his classifications, and by 

 his extensive surveys of all the kingdoms of nature. 



In January, 1800, he justly received the place for- 

 merly occupied by D'Aubenton, in the college de 

 France. In 1803, Cuvier married Madame Duvan- 

 cel, widow of a fermier-general, who had perished 

 on the scaffold in 1794. By this marriage, he had 

 four children, who all died before him. The last that 

 he lamented was a daughter a beautiful young lady 

 who died when on the eve of marriage. His merits 

 did not escape the sagacity of Napoleon. In the de- 

 partment of public instruction, in which, one after 

 another, he filled the most important offices, he exer- 

 cised much influence by his useful improvements and 

 indefatigable activity. He delivered a report very 

 honourable to Germany, in 1811, when he returned 

 from a journey in Holland and Germany, as superin- 

 tendent of instruction. He was accompanied, in this 

 journey by Noel. In 1813, the emperor appointed 

 him maitre des reyuetes to the council of state, and 

 committed to his care the most important affairs in 

 Mentz. Louis XVIII. confirmed him in his former 

 offices, and raised him to the rank of counsellor. 

 As such, he belonged at first to the committee of 

 legislation, and afterwards to that of the interior. 

 As a politician, he drew upon himself the reproaches 

 of the liberals. In general, the political course of 

 Cuvier formed such a contrast with his scientific one, 

 and is, besides, of so little importance, that we are 

 very willing to pass it by in silence. The measures 

 of the abbe Frayssinous, then chancellor of the uni- 

 versity of Paris-, determined him to resign the office 

 of university-counsellor, in December, 1822. 



Notwithstanding his political engagements, Cuvier 



