with but little relaxation. He certainly wasted no time. Before and after breakfast he saw anybody who wished to have an audience of him. By seven in the morning he was dressed, and began preparing his day’s work and that of his assistants, so that by ten o’clock, when he breakfasted, he had time to look at the newspapers, to read correspondence, and look over any particular works. After breakfast he dressed for the day and began work. His carriage was punctual to a moment, and no one was allowed to keep him waiting. When the ladies were to accompany him, they made a point of being as exact to time as was possible; and he seems to have enjoyed the sight of his womankind rushing downstairs with their shawls streaming after them and their gloves half on their hands. The instant he had given his orders he would thrust himself into a corner of the carriage and set to work reading, but suffered the ladies to talk as much as they pleased. The family dinner hour was half-past six; and if Cuvier had a few moments to spare before that time, he would occasionally join his friends in Madame Cuvier’s room, but more frequently he seems to have given even this short time to study. One or two intimate friends joined the circle at dinner, and then Cuvier’s conversation was delightful. On proceeding to the drawing-room Cuvier sometimes gratified his friends by an hour’s stay amongst them before he retired to his occupation or his visits, but so untiring was his industry, that he often set the whole party to work aiding him in his researches. If he had any foreign works he would often amuse his friends by verifying the figures in them, one after the other. It must be said that this everlasting work was trying to people who were with Cuvier, for no sooner did friends come to stay with him than he began to use them in tracing drawings on paper. He kept them at work, for when he returned from his labours he generally asked for the tasks he had thus set. Nevertheless, many found it a real pleasure to work for him, for he was very grateful for such assistance. Cuvier’s hours of relaxation were few. Change of employment afforded him relief, and conversation still greater. At the close of the day’s labour, when he found it impossible to work any longer, he was accustomed to throw himself on a sofa, hide his eyes from the light, and listen to the reading of his wife or daughter, and sometimes of his secretary, M. Laurillard. These nightly readings lasted two hours, and thus Cuvier became more or less acquainted with the current literature and good works of the day. Very likely he did not listen, and went to sleep, but that is not stated of him by those who wrote his domestic habits.