362 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



is occupied by these historical references, of which the greater 

 number are from classical authorities. Each and all of these 

 were subjected to the critical examination of some well-read 

 philologist, Bockh being perhaps the most frequently appealed 

 to. Much of the voluminous correspondence between him and 

 Humboldt, who justly looked up to him as his 'master' in 

 philology, consists of a series of questions and answers on the 

 literature and science of the ancients. Humboldt had un- 

 doubtedly from early youth been well versed in classic litera- 

 ture, but he was not able either to trust his memory or his 

 accurate rendering of a passage sufficiently to dispense with 

 summoning Bockh to his aid in every detail. Humboldt's 

 letters abound with expressions like the following : ' Without 

 your revision of these pages I shall have no security, nor enjoy 

 any peace ' ' a thousand thanks for the patience with which 

 you have cleansed my Augean stable ' ' I have quite an auto- 

 graphic collection, my dear friend, of the valuable remarks you 

 have sent me concerning the Mecanique celeste of the Greeks.' 

 Warm expressions of thanks and apologies for being so 'trouble- 

 some ' frequently occur. Even quotations from Plato are sent 

 to Bockh for revision, since Humboldt ' possessed but few of 

 the classics, and most of the quotations had been written down 

 many years before.' Again and again the same sheet is sent 

 with the inquiry: 'Is it now all harmless ? ' once even, 'Is there 

 anything rebellious ?' and at last always ' Is it in perfect order ?' 

 ' I know I am safe in adopting every amendment of Bockh's,' 

 he writes, ' so pray, dear Buschmann, see that his corrections 

 are carried out in the other sheets ; they are mostly pedantries. 

 Hb.' But Humboldt rarely relied entirely upon one opinion ; 

 he would bring the same inquiry before everyone he could get 

 hold of who was an authority on the subject, and would direct 

 the same query to several of his friends at once, or to each in 

 succession, often consulting one concerning the opinion of 

 another. Hence arose the simultaneous quotation of various 

 authorities of unequal value, for which he was reproached by 

 Bessel, and in which he exhibits his own want of self-reliance. 

 In December, 1850, he writes to Bockh: 'Do not smile at 

 the four etymologies I give of Sirius in p. 206. With my 

 characteristic inquisitiveness, I consulted four persons Lepsius, 



