136 STUDIES IN ANIMAL LIFE. 



him ; whereas his Tinsuccessful rival, Geoffroy St. 

 Hilaire, claims my sympathy to the close. If, how- 

 ever, M. le Baron is a somewhat dim figure in my 

 biographical gallery, it is far otherwise with the 

 youth Cuvier as seen in his letters ; and as at this 

 present moment there is nothing under our micro- 

 scope which can seduce us from the pleasant vol- 

 ume, suppose we let our "studies" take a biograph- 

 ical direction ? 



" Genius," says Carlyle, " means transcendent ca- 

 pacity for taking trouble, iirst of all." There are 

 many young gentlemen devoutly persuaded of their 

 own genius, and yet candidly avowing their im- 

 perfect capacity for taking trouble, who will vehe; 

 mently protest against this doctrine. Without dis- 

 cussing it here, let us say that, genius or no genius, 

 success of any value is only to be purchased by im- 

 mense labor : and in science, assuredly, no one will 

 expect success without first paying this price. In 

 Cuvier's history may be seen what " capacity for 

 taking trouble" was required before his success 

 could be achieved ; and this gives these Lettres d 

 Pfaff a moral as well as an interest. 



It was in the Eittersaal of the Academia Carolina 

 of Stuttgardt that Pfaff, the once famous supporter- 

 of Volta, and in 1787 the fellow-student of Cuvier, 

 first became personally acquainted with him. Al- 

 though they had been three years together at the 

 same university, the classification of students there 

 adopted had prevented any personal acquaintance. 



