BARON CUVIER. 29 



pointment he quitted his labours of inspector- 

 general of education. 



A fall having occasioned the death of M. 

 Cuvier's father, shortly after his arrival in Paris, 

 and his brother's wife having died the first year 

 of her marriage, in giving birth to a son*, the 

 two brothers remained alone ; and it was in this 

 comparatively solitary condition that M. Cuvier 

 thought of seeking a companion. In 1803 he mar- 

 ried the widow of M. Duvaucel, Fermier General, 

 who had perished on the scaffold in the year 

 1794<.' This was no match of interest; for 

 Madame Duvaucel had been wholly deprived of 

 fortune by the Revolution, and brought four, 

 children t to M. Cuvier, whom she had borne to 



* M. Frederic Cuvier is now keeper of the menagerie of 

 the Jardin des Plantes, in which capacity his observations on 

 the instinct, habits, and dentition of animals have been 

 highly valuable. He is the author of several learned works 

 on these subjects, is member of the Institute, one of the in- 

 spectors-general of education, &c. &c. ; but all these titles to 

 public consideration are nothing in comparison to the admir- 

 able qualities of his heart and temper. The distinguished 

 talents of the son thus bequeathed to him will at least bear 

 the illustrious name of Cuvier one generation further with 

 honour. 



f Two of these children are dead, one of them having 

 been assassinated in Portugal during the retreat of the 

 French in 1809. The other fell a victim to his scientific 

 zeal in a pernicious climate ; and after having displayed great 



