MEMOIR OF CUVIER. 13 



It was in the capacity of Secretary, also, that he drew up 

 his beautiful report upon the progress of science posterior 

 to the year 1789, which he read with so much applause 

 before Napoleon, in the Council of State. This was a task 

 which required great patience and research, from the mul- 

 titude of subjects which it embraced ; but he made it a 

 complete history of the period, and the Accomplishment of 

 it in such a manner, showed how well he had employed 

 his former years of study. He was aware himself of the 

 magnitude of the undertaking. In a letter to M. Duvernon, 

 he writes : " All labors are nearly arrested by a work de- 

 manded by the Emperor, the greater part of which has 

 devolved upon me as Secretary to the Class (of Natural 

 Sciences.) It is a history of the march and progress of the 

 human mind since 1789. You may suppose to what a de- 

 gree this is a complicated undertaking, respecting Natural 

 Sciences. Thus, I have already written a volume, with- 

 out having nearly reached the end; but their history is so 

 rich, there is such a beautiful mass of discoveries, that 1 

 have become interested in it, and work at it with pleasure." 

 The subject carried him through ; when once engaged, he 

 became enthusiastic, and it now remains a memorial of his 

 abilities and perseverance. There was yet another duty 

 which devolved upon M. Cuvier, in his office in the Insti- 

 tute, that of pronouncing an eloge upon the illustrious mem- 

 bers after their decease a task at once melancholy and 

 grateful melancholy in its recollections, that the compan- 

 ion in research, perhaps the intimate friend at home, had 

 now passed from his earthly career but grateful in the 

 acquittal of a duty which was to place the labors, and dis- 

 coveries, and virtues, of a valued associate, among the re- 

 cords of science. These eloges have been collected, and 

 published in three volumes, and form a useful and in- 

 teresting companion to the annual reports of the Institute. 

 In 1800, he was appointed to another situation in the 

 Jardin, upon which he resigned the chair of the Central 



