M. LE COMTE DE LACEPEDE. 31 



very slight repast was all he required. But what 

 was most surprising, was the small quantity of sleep 

 he took ; he usually slept two or three hours, and 

 the rest of the night was employed in composi- 

 tion, his memory retaining all the phrases and the 

 very words ; they were as if written in his brain, 

 and early in the morning he dictated them to his 

 secretary. He has stated, that in this way he 

 could retain whole volumes ; could change them as 

 he saw fit in his mind, and remember what he had 

 thus corrected, as accurately as the original text. 

 It was thus that nearly the whole day was free for 

 business, for his public duties, and especially for the 

 sweets of the family circle : for his external life, so to 

 speak, however brilliant, was to him nothing in com- 

 parison with his domestic enjoyments, in which he 

 ever found a delightful solace for all his fatigues and 

 trials. His attachment to his wife, Anne Caroline 

 Jube, was beyond all praise ; of which a satisfactory 

 proof may be found in the impassioned language of 

 the introduction to the Cetacea : " After I had 

 commenced this work, misfortune felled me to the 

 ground, and lacerated my heart ; I lost my beloved 

 companion. Grief without hope, gratitude, vene- 

 ration, have inscribed the name of my Caroline on 

 the dedication of my work on fishes ; and again in 

 this work ; and they will consecrate all those I may 

 undertake, till the end of my fearful banishment ! 

 Her name, which is dear to every virtuous and ten 

 der heart, will recommend my feeble efforts to the 

 lovers of nature." (Le 24 Nivose, An. 12 1804.J 



