42 Baron Humboldt 07i advancing the Knctdoledge 



by Mr. Lyell * ; so that the discovery even of rock by Alex- 

 ander, would prove literally nothing against the fact of the 

 increase of land in the locality in dispute. 



Far as it is from being my wish to dogmatize upon a sub- 

 ject which is unquestionably attended with many difficulties; 

 1 am even willing to admit that the gain of land to the ex- 

 tent originally contended for by me, although far from being 

 disproved by Mr, Carter, is also far from being p-oved by me. 

 But this is not the point principally in dispute, which (inde- 

 pendently of the grounds upon which the identity of Babel 

 and Babylon is denied by me,) must, in the first instance at 

 least, confine itself to the question, — Has or has not a change 

 of such importance taken place as materially to affect the geo- 

 graphy of the localities in question, and such, therefore, as to 

 render the descriptions of ancient writers inapplicable to the 

 present state of the country? I am willing to believe that, upon 

 further consideration, Mr. Carter himself will see reason to 

 admit this to be the case. For myself I only wait for suffi- 

 cient evidence, or even reasonable arguments, to relinquish 

 any portion of my hypothesis: — which hypothesis I am wedded 

 to in as much only as I believe it to approach the truth, and 

 which, therefore, I shall most cheerfully abandon so far as it 

 can be shown to be incorrect. I am, Gentlemen, yours, &c. 

 Bremen, Feb. 3, 1836. Charles T, Beke. 



XI. Letter from Baron von Humboldt to His Royal Highness 

 the Duke o/' Sussex, K.G., Presidetit of the Royal Society of 

 London^ on the Advancement of the Knowledge of Terrestrial 

 Magnetism, by the Establishment of Magnetic Stations and 

 corresponding Observations.\ 

 Sir, 

 nPHE generous interest taken by Your Royal Highness in 

 -^ the advancement of human knowledge, encourages me to 

 hope for the favourable reception of the request which with re- 

 spectful confidence, I now venture to address to you. I take 

 the liberty of soliciting your attention to the labours requisite 

 for the investigation, by precise means, almost constantly em- 

 ployed, of the variations o^ terrestrial magnetism. By obtaining 

 the cooperation of a great number of zealous observers, pro- 

 vided with instruments of similar construction, M. Arago, 



• " That a great proportion, at least, of the new deposit in the delta of 

 the Rhone consists of rock, and not of loose incoherent matter, is perfectly 

 ascertained. In the museum at Montpellier is a cannon taken up from the 

 sea near the mouth of the river, imbedded in a crystalline calcareous rock." 

 — Principles of Geology, vol. i. p. 234, 1st edit. 



■|- We translate this letter from Schumacher's Astronomische Nachrichten, 

 No. 306, which has been kindly communicated to us for the purpose. 



