HUMBER 



2869 



HUMBOLDT 



falls and streams flow; in some places the sea- 

 coast is slowly settling, while in other places it 

 is rising. The changes taking place, however, 

 are chiefly on the surface of the earth, and con- 

 sequently are more appropriately described un- 

 der physical geography or physiography than 

 under geology. See PHYSIOGRAPHY. 



HUM'BER, a river in England, flowing be- 

 tween the counties of York and Lincoln and 

 emptying into the North Sea on the east coast. 

 By this the Norsemen invaded the country 

 in the ninth and tenth centuries. With its 

 tributaries, the Trent and Ouse, which rise 

 in the north and central parts of the island, 

 the Humber forms an important water sys- 

 tem for exporting and importing raw and 

 manufactured products. Varying from one to 

 seven miles in width, it is navigable for the 

 largest steamers for about half of its forty- 

 mile course. Hull and Great Grimsby are the 

 two most important cities on its banks. 



HUMBERT I (1844-1900), king of Italy, eld- 

 est son of Victor Emmanuel II, was born in 

 Turin. In 1866, during the war between Prus- 

 sia and Austria, he commanded a division of 

 the Italian army and served with skill and 

 bravery. In 1868 he married his cousin, Mar- 

 guerite of Savoy, and succeeded to the throne 

 on the death of his father in 1878. The most 

 notable event of his reign was the formation in 

 1891 of the Triple Alliance, between Italy, 

 Austria and Germany, which existed until Italy 

 opposed the Germanic powers in 1915 in the 

 War of the Nations. This alliance resulted in 

 heavy taxation of an already financially de- 

 pressed country and tended to lessen the popu- 

 larity Humbert had achieved during the early 

 part of his reign. Two unsuccessful attempts 

 were made upon his life, one at Naples, in 

 1878, and another near Rome in 1897. On July 

 29, 1900, he was killed by the anarchist Bresci. 

 The present king, Victor Emmanuel III, is the 

 grandson of Humbert. 



HUMBOLDT, hum' bolt, the judicial center 

 of the district of the same name, in the south- 

 ern part, but near the northern limit of the 

 wheat-growing section, of Saskatchewan. It is 

 a divisional point on the Canadian Northern 

 Railway, situated about midway between 

 Winnipeg, 425 miles southeast, and Edmonton, 

 427 miles northwest. Saskatoon is sixty miles 

 west. The railroad has a large roundhouse 

 and ten miles of tracks here. The largest in- 

 dustrial plants are flour mills, grain elevators, 

 creameries and lumber yards; the creameries 

 have an annual output of about 250,000 pounds. 



The $65,000 post office, the town hall, the 

 courthouse and land title building, erected at 

 a cost of $110,000, and an $80,000 public school, 

 are noteworthy buildings for a town of its 

 size. For recreation, Humboldt has a park, a 

 race track and curling and skating rinks. The 

 place was settled in 1904, and the town was 

 incorporated in 1907. The population in 1911 

 was 859; in 1916 it was estimated at 1,200, 

 about one-half of these being British and Amer- 

 icans. J.G.Y. 



HUMBOLDT, ALEXANDER, Baron von (1769- 

 1859), the brilliant founder of the modern 

 science of physical geography, which he de- 

 scribed very completely in the picturesque 

 book called Cosmos, written in 1845. Although 

 born in Berlin, he grew up in the quaint old 

 Castle of Tegel near Potsdam, studying with 

 his elder brother Wilhelm under private tutors, 

 until he entered the University of Frankfort- 

 on-the-Oder. From childhood he always was 

 interested in natural history, especially rock 

 formations and flowers, so his studies were 

 mainly along that line. While in Berlin he 

 met George Forster, the famous naturalist who 

 had accompanied Captain Cook on his expedi- 

 tion round the world. The two became great 

 friends, for Forster's love of freedom and 

 travel fascinated young Humboldt, and the 

 latter determined to go on a trip of exploration. 

 In 1790, after a short trip through Holland 

 and England, he published his first work, en- 

 titled Observations on the Basalt of the Rhine. 

 Two years later, following study in the mining 

 school at Frieburg, he entered the official em- 

 ployment of the Prussian government as super- 

 intendent of mines in the newly acquired 

 Franconian district. While in this position he 

 published a botanical work, besides contribut- 

 ing to magazines. 



His passion for travel was strengthened by 

 his studies, so in 1797 he resigned his position, 

 and after being disappointed in an exploring 

 trip which had been planned and then aban- 

 doned by the French government, he resolved 

 on his own account to visit the interior of 

 South America. With his friend Bonpland he 

 fitted up the small vessel Pizarro, on which 

 the two men left to explore unknown regions. 

 For five years the travelers were constantly 

 exploring the great rivers, plains and moun- 

 tains of the southern continent. 



In 1804 he returned with his party to Paris, 

 where he spent twenty years writing up his 

 observations and scientific investigations, which 

 are included in seven large volumes. In 1827 



