xvi ia Bikals i cee 
the other. His figure was majestic, in the attitude of deep contemplation. 
So like the life did he seem, that his family would not believe the melan- 
choly fact; but the illustrious patient was no more.’”’ 
To Mrs. Bowditch, an intimate acquaintance of the Baron and of his 
family, we are indebted for the following details respecting the person and 
habits of this illustrious man. 
“In person M. Cuvier was moderately tall, and in youth slight; but the 
sedentary nature of his life had induced corpulence in his alter years, and 
his extreme near-sightedness brought on a slight stoop in the shoulders. 
His hair had been light in colour, and to the last flowed in the most pic- 
turesque curls, over one of the finest heads that ever was seen. The im- 
mense portion of brain in that head was remarked by Messrs. Gall and 
Spurzheim, as beyond all that they had ever beheld; an opinion which 
was confirmed after death. His features were remarkably regular and 
handsome, the nose aquiline, the mouth full of benevolence, the forehead 
most ample; but it is impossible for any description to do justice to his 
eyes. They at once combined intellect, vivacity, archness, and sweetness ; 
and long before we lost him, I used to watch their elevated expression 
with a sort of fearfulness, for it did not belong to this world. There are 
many portraits published of M. Cuvier, formed of various materials; but, 
with the exception of the medallion of M. Bovy, the copper medal, the 
piaster bust, the lithographic print by M. le Meunier, and the oil paint- 
ing by Mr. Pickersgill, they scarcely convey any just idea of M. Cuvier’s 
expression: in fact, some of the prints are positive caricatures.” 
We may add, that it afforded Cuvier singular satisfaction in his dying 
hours, to reflect that the great work on which his heart was entirely 
bent—that performance on which he most desired to rest his claims to the 
respect of posterity—his Ichthyology, was in part before the public, and 
that the remainder would come forth under a superintendance in the 
value of which he entertained unbounded confidence. 
