MEMOIR OF CUVIER. 5] 



others, and his quick perceptions, on some occasions 

 betrayed him into hasty expressions, but which were 

 no sooner uttered, than they were regretted and 

 checked. In the allotment of his time during the 

 day, he was also regular, and he did not, on ordinary 

 occasions, suffer himself to be disturbed in those hours 

 which were set aside for study. He generally rose 

 about seven o'clock, when, in his dissecting dress, he 

 directed or assisted in the completions of the various 

 preparations of Natural History, before they were 

 placed in the proper departments of the galleries. 

 At breakfast he read the papers or some new perio- 

 dical, or looked over some of the elementary books 

 for the schools of public instruction, and saw some 

 of his most intimate friends ; he then dressed, and 

 set about the performance of his public duties. Af- 

 ter dinner, he would occasionally spend an hour in 

 conversation before retiring to his studies,* and did 

 not again return to the drawing-room till late in the 

 evening, when his great relaxation was in hearing 

 Madame Cuvier or his daughter-in-law read from 

 some favourite author ; and many of the literary 

 works of the day were in this way perused and made 

 familiar to him. 



There is another accomplishment nearly indispen- 

 sable to a naturalist, which we have almost omitted 

 to notice he was an expert draftsman. Early in 



* When in England, he was annoyed at the long time 

 spent after dinner, and often spoke of it as a great lose of 

 time. 



