1824-33 CUVIER AT THE COLLEGE 49 



happening during the time of the abdication of 

 Charles X., caused the report in this country that 

 Cuvier had fled to avoid danger ; but the facts 

 were that the opportunities of absenting himself 

 were rare, and that he felt the necessity of coming 

 to England, more especially to gather materials 

 connected with his great work on fishes. 



In a little note which Owen has written in a 

 Memoir of Baron Cuvier, he attributes his per- 

 sonal introduction to Cuvier mainly to the fact 

 that the great anatomist was unable to understand 

 English and converse in it, while Owen under- 

 stood French perfectly, and could speak it with 

 tolerable fluency. 



'In the year 1830,' he writes, 'I made 

 Cuvier s personal acquaintance at the Museum of 

 the College of Surgeons, and was specially de- 

 puted to show and explain to him such specimens 

 as he wished to examine. There was no special 

 merit in my being thus deputed, the fact being 

 that I was the only person available who could 

 speak French, and who had at the same time 

 some knowledge of the specimens. Cuvier kindly 

 invited me to visit the Jardin des Plantes in the 

 following year.' 



The result of Cuvier's invitation was that, in 

 July 1 83 1, Owen visited Paris for the first time. 

 Cuvier was still engaged with Valenciennes in 

 preparing their great work on fishes, on which 

 both expended an enormous amount of time and 



vol. 1. E 



