BARON CUVIER. 69 



met with in the organization of insects always 

 elevated his thoughts. 



Nine months after his arrival in Germany, he 

 won the prize at the Academy for excellence in the 

 German language, receiving the order of Cheval- 

 erie, an honor given only to five or six out of four 

 hundred pupils. This entitled the recipients to 

 dine at a separate table, and to enjoy many advan- 

 tages under the immediate patronage of the Grand 

 Duke. 



When the four years of college life were over, 

 the father's pension having ceased on account of 

 the disturbed financial condition of France, the 

 youth of eighteen needed to find employment at 

 once. Nothing seemed open to him but the posi- 

 tion of tutor in a private family, a thing much 

 deprecated by his school-fellows, who had already 

 built many air-castles for his future. 



But young Cuvier had the courage and the 

 wisdom to do what necessity required, and to do 

 it cheerfully. In July, 1788, he entered the family 

 of Count d'Hericy in Caen, Normandy, and for six 

 years taught his only son. He took with him, says 

 a friend, " these admirable foundations for glory : 

 a love of labor, depth of reflection, perseverance, 

 and uprightness of character." While teaching 

 here, he met the nobility of the surrounding coun- 

 try, increasing thereby his polish of manner and 

 tact, for which he was celebrated all his life. 



Living by the sea, he was led to study marine 

 animals. The casual dissection of a calainar, a 



