98 



and other subjects, are sufficient to establish his character as a most 

 ingenious and accurate experimenter, and as a chemical philosopher 

 of the highest order. 



But it is to his researches on the "Law of the conduction of 

 heat," " On the specific heat of the gases," and " On the elastic 

 force of steam at high temperatures," that his permanent fame as a 

 philosopher will rest most securely : the first of these inquiries, which 

 were undertaken in conjunction with the late M. Petit, was published 

 in 1817; and presents an admirable example of the combination of 

 well-directed and most laborious and patient experiment with most sa- 

 gacious and careful induction : these researches terminated, as is well 

 known, in the very important correction of the celebrated law of 

 conduction, which Newton had announced in the Principia, and 

 which Laplace, Poisson, and Fourier had taken as the basis of their 

 beautiful mathematical theories of the propagation of heat. His ex- 

 periments on the elastic force of steam at high temperatures, and 

 which were full of danger and difficulty, were undertaken at the re- 

 quest of the Institute, and furnish results of the highest practical 

 value ; and though the conclusions deduced from his " Researches 

 on the specific heat of gases " have not generally been admitted by 

 chemical and physical philosophers, the memoir which contains them 

 is replete with ingenious and novel speculations, which show a pro- 

 found knowledge and familiar command of almost every department 

 of physical science. 



M. Frederic Cuvier, the younger brother of the illustrious Baron 

 Cuvier, Professor of Animal Physiology to the Museum of Natural 

 History at Paris, and Inspector-general of the University, was born 

 at Montbelliard, in Alsace, in 1773 : he had from an early period 

 attached himself to those studies which his brother had cultivated 

 with so much success, and his appointment as keeper of the mena- 

 gerie at the Jardin des Plantes, furnished him with the most favour- 

 able opportunities of studying the habits of animals, and of prose- 

 cuting his researches on their physiology and structure. The An- 

 nales d'Histoire Naturelle, and the Memoires du Museum, contain a 

 series of his memoirs on zoological subjects of great value and in- 

 terest, and his work " Sur les Dens des Mainmiferes considerees comme 

 Caracteres Zoologiques,'' is full of novel and original views and ob- 

 servations, and has always been considered as one of the most va- 

 luable contributions to the science of Zoology which has been made 

 in later times: the great work " Sur THistoire des Mammiferes," of 

 which seventy numbers have been published, was undertaken in con- 

 junction with Geoffroy St. Hilaire, and is the most considerable and 

 most extensive publication on Zoology which has appeared since 

 the time of Buffon. He was likewise the author of many other 

 works and memoirs on zoological subjects in various scientific jour- 

 nals and collections. 



M. F. Cuvier, like his celebrated relative, combined a remarkable 

 dignity and elevation of character, with the most affectionate tem- 

 per and disposition. Like him, too, his acquisitions were not con- 

 fined to his professional pursuits, but comprehended a very exten- 



