BARON CUVIER. 285 



fine himself to the Jardin ; and in one of these 

 more limited excursions he was attracted by the 

 brilliant appearance of the Coreopsis tinctoria, 

 which was then new in France, and which he saw 

 for the first time during this ramble. He in vain 

 enquired the name of us, and we continued our 

 walk. On returning to the house, he quitted us 

 at the door, and, in about half an hour, he re- 

 appeared, and, stopping, for an instant, as he de- 

 scended to his carriage, he said, " Ladies, I 

 have been to M. Deleuze (a learned botanist of 

 the Jardin), and ascertained the name of the 

 flower:" he then gave it us, genus, species, 

 country, and the reason for its appellation, and, 

 making his bow, retired, perfectly happy at the 

 knowledge he liad acquired and imparted. As 

 in this trifling circumstance, so was it in all 

 things ; he never hesitated saying when he did 

 not know ; he never rested till he did know, if 

 the means of acquiring the information were 

 within his reach ; and, once known, he was most 

 willing to impart it to those who wished to learn. 

 The facility with which he placed knowledge in 

 the reach of others was one of the most precious 

 gifts with which Heaven had endowed him ; for 

 half the value of a brilliant or an useful idea is 

 lost, unless we have the power of communicating 



