BARON CUVIER. 19<5 



The second volume opens with the eloge of 

 Fourcroy, — the brilHant, the eloquent, the ca- 

 lumniated Fourcroy. The struggles of his youth, 

 and his vigorous resistance of injustice and po- 

 verty, the account of his discoveries, — all form 

 one of the most powerful pieces of biography 



the blue of heaven more deeply and more purely ; this vast 

 country, so well cultivated, and peopled by smiling habitations ; 

 the hills, which rise by degrees, clothed with the richest 

 vegetation; the mountains, covered with evergreen forests; 

 the frowning crests of the High Alps, above this superb amphi- 

 theatre ; and Mont Blanc, the giant of European mountains, 

 crowning the immense group of snows, where the disposal of 

 the masses, and the contrasts of light and shade, produce an 

 effect which no expression can convey to those who have not 

 seen it. 



And this beautiful country, so calculated to strike the ima- 

 gination, to feed the talent of the poet or the artist, is per- 

 haps still more so to awaken the curiosity of the philosopher, 

 and to excite the researches of the follower of natural philo- 

 sophy. It is truly there that nature seems to delight in 

 showing herself under a number of different aspects. 



The rarest plants, from those of temperate countries to 

 those of the Frozen Zone, only cost the botanist a few steps. 

 The zoologist may there pursue insects as varied as the vege- 

 tation which nourishes them. The lake there forms, from 

 its depth and extent, and even its violent movements, a sort 

 of sea for the natural philosopher ; the geologist, who, else- 

 where, sees but the external rind of the globe, there finds 

 central masses, thrown up, and in every part piercing their 

 envelopes, and showing themselves to his eyes ; lastly, the 

 meteorologist can there observe the clouds at every instant, 

 penetrate within them, or raise himself above them, 

 o 2 



