52 MEMOIRS OF 



which ignorance, want of method, or fertiUty of 

 imagination had heaped upon them. 



Gifted with natural powers beyond the com- 

 mon lot of mortality, guided in earliest youth 

 by a sensible and rightly judging parent, and 

 prepared by an excellent German education, 

 M. Cuvier was still further aided by a circum- 

 stance which, at first sight, seemed to be an 

 obstacle to his progress. Almost excluded from 

 the society of first-rate naturalists, and deprived, 

 by the distracted state of France, of access to 

 first-rate books, he was driven to nature herself; 

 and as slie, in her most minute operations, 

 carries into execution that beautiful order and 

 perfection which distinguishes her larger pro- 

 ductions, so, to talents like those of M. Cuvier, 

 did the study of the most insignificant animals 

 open a vast field for future research and inves- 

 tigation. His mind was peculiarly calculated to 

 embrace the great whole which a mass of details 

 offers ; at the same time he knew, that by an 

 intimate and accurate knowledge of these de- 

 tails alone could he realise the comprehensive 

 views which, even in his first studies, filled his 

 great mind. He was of opinion, that every 

 branch of science was to be rendered important 

 if studied properly ; no one, therefore, set a 



