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208
Hereditary Genius
Vienne and with the Cardinal de Bernis, but I do not know in what degree.
Cuvier, George, Baron de; one of the most illustrious of naturalists. He became well
known aet. 26; d. aet. 63. He had delicate health as a boy.
[f.] His mother was an accomplished woman, who took especial care in his early
education.
B. Frederick, who early devoted himself to natural history, and was little inferior in
research to George, though he never accomplished anything comparable in
scientific value to his brother's works, except his “Teeth of Animals.”
D'Alembert, Jean le Rond; mathematician and philosopher of the highest order. He
was illegitimate; his mother abandoned him, and left him exposed in a public
market, near the church of Jean le Rond, whence his Christian name; the origin
of his surname is unknown. He showed, as a child, extraordinary eagerness to
learn, but was discouraged at every step. The glazier's wife, in whose charge he
had been placed by the authorities as a foundling, ridiculed his pursuits; at
school he was dissuaded from his favourite mathematics; whenever he
persuaded himself that he had done something original, he invariably found that
others had found out the same thing before him. But his passion for science
urged him on. He became member of the Academy aet. 24, and thenceforward
his career was one of honour. He was totally free from envy, and very
charitable. Never married, but had curious Platonic relations with Mdlle. de
Espinasse.
His father was said to be M. Destouches, a commissary of artillery.
f. Mdlle. de Tencin, novelist of high ability; originally a nun, but she renounced her
vows. She and both her sisters were adventuresses of note. She allied herself
closely to her brother, the Cardinal de Tencin; loved him passionately, and
devoted herself to his advancement. She managed his house, which became a
noted centre for eminent men. She was anything but virtuous. Fontanelle, the
Secretary of the French Academy (see in “POETS” under CORNEILLE), was one
of her admirers, previous to the birth of D'Alembert. Aet. 34 she threw herself
into
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