BARON CUVIER. 209 



treasures he returned to France, but all there 

 was changed ; M. de Buffon was dead ; the 

 government unskilful and in confusion ; no one 

 recollected the promises made to him, and 

 people whose heads were hourly in danger, 

 cared little for the cloves of Cayenne. En- 

 feebled in health, exhausted in fortune, and un- 

 able to look forward to better times, M. Rich- 

 ard had to recommence the same sort of life 

 which he had led at fourteen years of age. As 

 a man of science he remained as great as ever ; 

 his dissertations were astonishing proofs of the 

 extent and sagacity of his views ; l)ut his temper, 

 soured by so many misfortimes, never recovered 

 its tone, and he died, at the age of sixty- seven, 

 after much bodily and mental suffering. 



Few who have been in the habit of visiting 

 the Jardin des Plantes within the last forty 

 years will be ignorant of the name, at least, of 

 M. Thouin. He there succeeded his father as 

 head gardener, and uniting science and the 

 most enlightened views to practical knowledge, 

 and placing his affections on the improvement 

 of his garden, he became a centre of corre- 

 spondence for all parts of the world. His fine 

 countenance, noble and engaging deportment, 

 and his interesting conversation, caused him to 



p 



