BARON CUVIER. 53 



higher value on minutise, at the same tune he was 

 never once seen to lose himself in the intricacies 

 and minor considerations attached to these mi- 

 nutiae. Every research, no matter how humble, 

 how insignificant it might appear to the eyes of 

 others, was by him converted to the furtherance 

 of his great objects, the discovery and just ap- 

 preciation of the truth. 



The anatomical labours of M. Cuvier tended 

 to determine the physical functions of every 

 animal, of each part of each animal, and to as- 

 sign to the animal itself its place in the series of 

 beings ; to prove, that as each of the parts of 

 an organised being has a function to perform, so 

 does each being play its part in nature, acting 

 on all that surrounds it, and contributing to 

 form that whole in our planet, which excites the 

 wonder and admiration of all enquirers ; a whole 

 which, perhaps, takes its station in the parts of 

 a still wider expanse, into which we cannot pe- 

 netrate. " All is linked together," said M. 

 Cuvier, speaking of creation, *' all is dependent, 

 all existence is chained to other existence, and 

 that chain which connects them, and of which 

 we can only see some comparatively insignificant 

 portions, is infinite in extent, space, and time.** 

 He believed that all things in this world were 



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