228 SIR RODERICK I. MURCHISON'S ADDRP^SS. [May 23, 1859. 



plants, on the distribution of lieat in the globe, on electrical fishes, 

 and even on the political condition of Cuba. 



His great work, 'Kosmos,' which it had been the main object 

 of his life to produce, shows what a profusion of clear recollections 

 of natural phenomena was stored up in his capacious mind, and with 

 what eloquence he could put forth that extraordinary knowledge. 

 To the first part of the last volume I specially called your atten- 

 tion at the preceding Anniversary, as in it the author had descended 

 from the heavens and atmosphere as treated of in his earlier 

 volumes, and dealt more specially with that planet to which my 

 own occupations have been restricted. 



We have yet to receive the final instalment of the veteran philo- 

 sopher, and doubtless the veiy last words he wrote will be treasured 

 up and given to the world exactly as he left them. And if the pen 

 fell from his hand, leaving that last sentence unfinished, let no one 

 endeavour to complete it ; for the true peroration of this great work 

 will be found in the eulogiums which will everywhere be recited in 

 honour of its author. 



As one of the first acts of the Council of this Society was to place 

 Humboldt at the head of our Honorary members, so he lost no 

 opportunity of testifying the deep interest which he took in our 

 welfare, often speaking of our volumes in terms of strong approba- 

 tion. Always regretting that his travels had not extended to Hin- 

 dostan and the Himalyan Mountains on the one hand, and to Africa 

 on the other, he ever strove to promote researches in both these 

 regions. 



In his ' Asie Centrale ' we perceive how sedulously he had studied 

 the works of every geographer and traveller which had shed light 

 upon the configuration, direction, and altitude of the great chains 

 which traverse Asia; the labours of all our English authors and 

 explorers of the great Himalya range being thoroughly well known 

 to him. Panting to obtain an insight into the regions lying to the 

 north of that chain, it was through his stimulus that the expedition 

 of the brothers Schlagintweit was organized, and through his influ- 

 ence that these young men, whose scientific acquirements he highly 

 valued, were sent to push their researches farther to the north than 

 previous explorers. The delight which he took in their progress 

 was seen in the warm and aifectionate commendation he bestowed on 

 them for traversing the Kuen Lun and reaching the Trans-Himalyan 

 region of Yarkand. I can also well imagine the profound sorrow 

 he must have felt when Adolphe Schlagintweit, the one of these 



