LETTER FROM HUMBOLDT. 103 



he spent a short time in London and its neighbor- 

 hood, and after a prosperous voyage, arrived in New 

 York on the 14th of September. 



It was a disappointment to him that he was cut 

 off, by want of time, from revisiting Edinburgh, his 

 old home. Bat he saw those parts of Europe which 

 he had been prevented from visiting in the earlier 

 tour. He had sustained the fatigues and exposures 

 of the journey with remarkable vigor, had met face 

 to face men whom he honored, and who were glad 

 to honor him, and had derived recreation from the 

 temporary withdrawal from his ordinary labors. A 

 Journal of his travels, entitled " A Visit to Europe 

 in 1851," was prepared by him, and has passed 

 through several editions. 



It had given Professor Silliman peculiar pleas- 

 ure to take by the hand those veterans in science, 

 Humboldt and Ritter. From both of these great 

 men, whilst he was abroad and after his return, 

 he received marks of esteem and respect. Ritter 

 was of the same age as himself. He died before 

 receiving an answer to the last of the letters which 

 follow : 



FROM ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



I AM greatly moved by the kindly words of Professor 

 Silliman (and his son, worthy of him). I have already 

 expressed to our common friend, Mr. Dove, how much I 

 desired to have the acquaintance of one whose labors have 

 exerted, during so many years, a beneficent influence upon 

 the progress of the physical sciences in your noble and free 

 country. Compelled to-day to return to the country in 

 which are the tombs where I shall soon be placed, I reserve 



