Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/605

This page needs to be proofread.

CTJVIER CUYAHOGA 601 any one of which after his death was suffi- cient for a man of great talent, and some of which could not be as competently filled, we are able to form some idea of the varied acquire- ments, the unceasing industry, the wonderful memory, and the transcendent ability of Cu- vier. By universal consent he is regarded as one of the best of men, most brilliant of writers, soundest of thinkers, most far-sighted of phi- losophers, purest of statesmen, and the great- est naturalist of modern times. II. Frederic, brother of the preceding, born at Montbeliard, June 28, 1773, died in Strasburg, July 24, 1838. With a strong love for the science of mechan- ics, he abandoned his college studies, and be- came the apprentice of a clockmaker ; and he would doubtless have been an eminent me- chanician, had not his invitation to Paris in 1797 by Iris brother opened his eyes to a new world of natural science. He was employed in preparing the descriptive catalogue of the skeletons in the collection of comparative anat- omy at the jardin des plantes ; this was the beginning of his work on the teeth of mam- mals, published in 1825, which led to many important changes in the natural arrangement of this class, especially in the subdivision into genera, most of which are now adopted in zo- ology. In 1804 he assumed the direction of the menagerie at the jardin des plantes, which enabled him to study the habits, instincts, and intelligence of animals ; the results are given in his Histoire naturelles des mammif&res (1818- '37). Geoffroy St. Hilaire was associated with him in this work, of which 70 livraisons in folio appeared, describing in a simple, charm- ing, and elegant style more than 500 animals under his charge, with anecdotes illustrating their habits and intelligence. Many of the sepa- rate papers were first printed in the Annales du museum d'histoire naturelle. While Descartes and Buffon denied all intelligence to animals, and Condillac and George Leroy, on the con- trary, accorded to animals even the highest in- tellectual operations, confounding instinct with intelligence, Frederic Ouvier drew the line be- tween the intelligence of different orders, tracing it from the lowest rodents through ruminants, pachyderms, and carnivora, to the quadrumana. He first showed that domesticity in animals depends on their sociability, being not a change but a development of their natural condition. Man found animals living in society, and he made such domestic ; we may tame the solitary and fierce bear, lion, and tiger, but we cannot domesticate them. F. Cuvier was nominated in 1810 inspector of the academy of Paris, and in 1831 inspector general of the university. He advocated the introduction of the study of natural history into schools and colleges by graded text books shorn of technicalities. In 1827 he was elected professor of comparative physiology at the jardin des plantes, a chair created for him by the minister of public in- struction. While on a tour for the annual in- spection of the colleges, and about to deliver a course of lectures on natural history, he was seized with paralysis at Strasburg, of which he died. His last words were: "Let my son place upon my tomb this inscription, ' Frederic Cuvier, brother of Georges Cuvier.' " Besides the two great works above mentioned, and many memoirs in the Annales du museum d'histoire naturelle, Frederic Cuvier wrote numerous articles in the Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles, and Uhistoire des cetaces, in the Suites a Buffon (1836). His name was Georges Frederic, but the first name was not applied to him, but always given to his brother. CUXHAVEN, a town of Germany, in the state and 58 m. W. of the city of Hamburg, situated on the mouth of the Elbe, on its left bank ; pop. about 1,700. It contains sea baths, founded in 1815, a fine lighthouse, a well reg- ulated pilot establishment, which has super- seded the use of the Heligoland fishermen for the piloting of vessels into the Elbe, and a quarantine station. The inhabitants are mostly fishermen and pilots. There are regular lines of packets to London, Havre, and Rotterdam. In 1849 and 1850, during the first Schleswig- Holstein war, a portion of the German navy was stationed here. CUYABA, or Cniaba. I. A town of Brazil, capi- tal of the province of Matto Grosso, on the left bank of the Cuyaba river, lat. 15 26' S., Ion. 56 W., 980 m. N. W. of Rio de Janeiro; pop. about 10,000. The streets are paved, but are very irregular, and the houses are poorly built. It contains several churches, a hospital, a laza- retto, a Latin school, a school of philosophy, and other educational institutions, and the pub- lic buildings of the province. It is the centre of a rich gold and diamond district, but the mines are now mostly abandoned on account of the cost of working them, the stones and the precious metal being no longer found on the surface. Valuable deposits of copper and iron also are found in the neighboring hills. The soil is of wonderful fertility, and most of the inhabitants now give their attention to ag- riculture and cattle raising. Large quantities of hides and of ipecacuanha are sent thence to Rio de Janeiro by caravans of mules. II. A river of Brazil, which rises in the district of Diamantino, in the Parecis mountains, not far from the sources of the Paraguay, and flows in a generally southern direction until it joins the Paraguay in lat. 18 S., Ion. 57 50' W. It is navigable for about two thirds of its length, and forms an important channel of communica- tion for the town of Cuyaba, although its cur- rent is rapid and headlong for 60 m. below that place. Above the town it is navigable only for canoes, being much broken by rapids. CUYAHOGA, a N. E. county of Ohio, border- ing on Lake Erie, and intersected by Cuyahoga river; area, 426 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 132,010. The surface is level and the soil fertile. . Sand- stone is abundant, and is much used for grind- stones and for building. It is traversed by the Ohio canal and numerous lines of railroad