y, among his father's books,
Buffon's work on natural history, and it suggested the idea of copying
and coloring the plates, after he had carefully studied the text. The
contents formed his chief reading for many years. The relatives of
Cuvier were poor. His father was a pensioned officer in a Swiss regiment
in the service of France. His mother was an affectionate, godly, wise
woman. To her early lessons in Latin, geography, and drawing, and to her
communications of religion, he always acknowledged himself much
indebted. He went to the public gymnasium at the age of ten, and
remained there for four years, bearing off prizes for learning and
athletics. Through the patronage of a Wurtemberg princess he was sent
to the university of Stuttgart, where he pursued a course of scientific
study, particularly in the division relating to natural history. There
he acquitted himself with distinction, not only in that special
department, but also in the most sacred branch of learning. "The young
Cuvier," said his examiners, "has shown just notions of Christianity
well adapted to his years," and "considerable skill" in reading the
Greek Testament.

Circumstances compelled him in early life to do something toward earning
a livelihood, and in 1794 he became tutor in a French Protestant family
living in the castle of Fiquainville, near Fecamp. In that little Norman
fishing-town he found much to gratify his curiosity; and he might often
be seen scouring the country after birds, butterflies, and other
insects; or prying into nooks and corners on the shore, after shell-fish
and other marine productions; while the treasures of the boundless sea
inspired wonder, with a longing to explore its depths and to become
acquainted with the forms of life hidden under its waters.

He appears to have continued in the family of Count d'Hericy for nearly
seven years. He was introduced to the _savants_ of Paris by his
researches, and accepted an invitation to remove thither in 1795. He
reached the French metropolis just after the horrors of the Revolution.
Papers written by him already on his favorite subject had brought him
into notice; and he found congenial employment in the Jardin des
Plantes--the home of his after-studies and the sphere of his scientific
exploits. There he worked and lectured, and obtained the office of
assistant to the aged professor of comparative anatomy. In the year of
his appointment, he made a mark in the study which he rendere