NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 163 



guished men of the 18th century, viz., Cuvier, Scott, Bonaparte, Wellington, 

 Schiller, Canning and Chateaubriand, few of them have left a more indelible 

 mark than our associate. 



His early travels brought him to this city more than half a century since, and 

 before the foundation of our own Academy, of which he was made a '^correspon- 

 dent" in 1843. 



Born in the highest rank of society with all the advantages of political pre- 

 ferment, he chose to labor in the walks of science. The friend of sovereigns, 

 he was also the friend of the poorest student in the pursuit of knowledge. He 

 was the same philosopher in the palace as in the humble hut. No man had 

 greater advantages no one had made better use of them. Unceasing in his 

 scientific explorations, he exposed himself to the greatest hardships in his 

 voyages and travels, at times braving the deadly malaria and the burning heats 

 of the tropics, then scaling the summits of mountains before considered inacces- 

 sible to man. From these scenes he returned only to work up his abundant 

 materials, which were more extensive and better selected than any before 

 made; and this has been done in the most erudite manner and for the most 

 useful purposes. His books and essays, which he leaves as a rich inheritance 

 to the learned of all countries, will prove to be an immortal monument of his 

 devotion to and his pre-eminence in science. 



All countries claim him because he labored for all, and he fraternised with 

 all their men of science. Of as easy access to the student of nature as to the 

 most learned, he was amiable, courteous and generous. Well aware of what 

 science was doing to promote the welfare and happiness of man, he, during the 

 period of his long life, faithfully worked out his part without ostentation or 

 pride. He loved his studies for their own sake, and in his brilliant intelligence 

 most anxiously diffused that knowledge which he had acquired by his own 

 great labors. 



He was educated chiefly at Gottingen, under Blumenbach and other distin- 

 guished professors. Subsequently he studied under the great Werner, who 

 gave such an impulse to geology towards the end of the last century. The 

 eminent Von Buch only recently dead, an associate of our Academy since 

 1840 became his intimate friend. In 1799 he sailed from Spain with his 

 fides Achates, Bonpland, and explored the rivers, mountains and plains of South 

 America. Returning to Europe in 1804, he proceeded to Paris, where he re- 

 mained until 180V, and published the "Voyage to the Equinoctial Regions of 

 the New Continent." Here he formed those intimate associations with his 

 co-laborers, Cuvier, Arago, Gay-Lussac, Latreille, &c, which he valued so 

 highly, and here he commenced his "Cosmos." Eventually he took up his 

 permanent residence in Berlin in 1847, avoiding all political preferment, but 

 remaining in close intimacy with his sovereign, who was a learned man, and 

 his personal friend, and valuing his society so much, he desired to have it daily 

 when it suited the philosopher's convenience. 



When I had the pleasure to see .our illustrious associate in Berlin, in the 

 summer of 1853, he was iu his 84th year, but still rapid in his thoughts and 

 active in his movements. He was then deeply engaged in the last volume of 

 his "Cosmos," parts of which he showed to me, and expressed his great inter- 

 est in the advance that science was making in the United States. This he 

 spoke of with great warmth, and I had reason to believe that he felt a strong 

 partiality to Americans. In this he united with the general German 

 sentiment. 



Humboldt was beloved and venerated by the population of Berlin and 

 Potsdam, and he was followed to the grave by all that was great and good in 

 the Capital of Prussia. 



In conclusion I offer the following reolutions: 



Resolved, That in the decease of our "Correspondent" Baron Alexan- 

 der Von Humboldt, we lose a scientific brother of no ordinary fame, and 



1859.] 



