1 INTRODUCTION aA 
sweet things there is none so sweet as fresh 
~ alr—one great flower it is, drawn round about, 
over, and enclosing us, like Aphrodite’s arms; -— 
as if the dome of the sky were a bell-flower 
drooping down over us, and the magical 
essence of it filling all the room of the earth. 
Sweetest of all things is wild-flower air. Full 
of their ideal the starry flowers strained up- 
wards on the bank, striving to keep above 
the rude grasses that push by them; genius 
has ever had such a struggle. The plain road 
was made beautiful by the many thoughts it 
gave. I came every morning to stay by the 
star-lit bank.” . 
Passing to countries across the ocean, Hum- 
boldt tells us that: “If I might be allowed to 
abandon myself to the recollection of my own 
distant travels, I would instance, amongst the 
most striking scenes of nature, the calm sub- 
limity of a tropical night, when the stars, not 
sparkling, as in our northern skies, shed their 
soft and planetary light over the gently heav- 
ing ocean; or I would recall the deep valleys 
of the Cordilleras, where the tall and slender 
palms pierce the leafy veil around them, and 
