He was one of those frequent cases which give the lie to the laws of heredity.

During the evolution of a race nature often produces some one being whose every element she derives from her own creative powers.

Nothing in the moral or physical constitution of Pascal recalled the Rougons.

Tall, with a grave and gentle face, he had an uprightness of mind, a love of study, a retiring modesty which contrasted strangely with the feverish ambitions and unscrupulous intrigues of his relatives.

After acquitting himself admirably of his medical studies in Paris, he had retired, by preference, to Plassans, notwithstanding the offers he received from his professors.