BARON CUVIER. 275 



his assistance, the indulgence with which he 

 viewed the folHes of youth, and, in fact, the 

 errors of all mankind. I may go still farther, 

 and say the mirth which, before the death of 

 his daughter, was to be traced in the laugh 

 which seemed to proceed from the very heart. 

 No one enjoyed a ludicrous circumstance more 

 than he did ; no one was happier at the per- 

 formance of a comedy; for, when I was living in 

 Paris, a ridiculous afterpiece was frequently re- 

 presented on the stage, called " Le Voyage a 

 Dieppe," in which the professors of the Jardin 

 des Plantes were brought forward in the most 

 amusing way possible ; and such was M. Cuvier*s 

 uncontrollable risibility at its performance one 

 evening, that the jDeople in the pit several times 

 called out to him to be quiet. 



The nerves of M. Cuvier were particularly 

 irritable by nature, and frequently betrayed him 

 into expressions of impatience, for which no one 

 could be more sorry than himself, the causes of 

 which were immediately forgotten ; and the 

 caresses and kindnesses which were afterwards 

 bestowed, seldom seemed to him to speak sut- 

 ficiently the strength of his feelings at his own 

 imperfection. Any thing wrong at table, to be 

 kept waiting, a trifling act of disobedience, 



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