176 LOUIS AGASSIZ. [CHAP. xxi. 



stay in Paris, 1832, that he saw much of von Humbokll. 

 Then the great traveller was at the zenith of his reputa- 

 tion and social success. He was the lion of all the polit- 

 ical, literary, and scientific salons of the French capital. 

 Humboldt was an admirable talker. He would con- 

 verse for hour after hour, hardly taking time to breathe, 

 keeping the whole circle of hearers collected round him, 

 and hanging in suspense on his lips. He was a monol- 

 ogist par excellence ; few people were bold enough to 

 interrupt him, even by an exclamation of admiration 

 or wonder. An anecdote will best show the great 

 attraction exercised by von Humboldt upon all savants. 

 His friend and companion at the School of Mines of 

 Freiberg, Leopold von Buch, was so fond of hearing 

 him that he could find nothing better to do than to 

 waylay him as he left " les salons," during the winter 

 of 1820 in Paris, walk home with him, and sit down and 

 listen to him all night, from midnight until daybreak. 

 The result was that von Buch suffered from an attack 

 of pneumonia, and when reproved by his cousin, the 

 young Count d'Arnim, for his imprudence, the answer 

 was, " It is my fault. The open fire near which we 

 were talking went out. I was very cold and chilly, but 

 if I had made the slightest move to light it again, per- 

 haps I would have caused Humboldt to leave me. I 

 preferred to suffer and hear his conversation, and I am 

 very glad of it, because I have gained much knowledge 

 by it." 



The only person in Paris who treated Humboldt as 

 an equal and did not fear to interrupt him and even to 

 make fun of him, was the great astronomer, Francois 



