32 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS 



those of others, from the most remote parts, 

 into a natural circle of order and law ; Hum- 

 boldt described a world of unknown plants, 

 and raised the science of botany, before that 

 time much neglected, and only a matter of 

 memory, to the position of one of the most 

 attractive of all the physical sciences, in showing 

 the remarkable influence of the, in itself, silent 

 world of plants, upon the formation of the soil, 

 the condition of peoples, and the historical 

 development of the human race, from the 

 primitive period of the world's history. Hum- 

 boldt awakened thereby a new interest in the 

 physical sciences in general, in connecting them 

 inevitably with the history of the human race, 

 and liberating science from all mysterious inter- 

 pretations ; thus even those less acquainted 

 with science might become interested in it ; for 

 his representations were based upon clear facts, 

 and a practical conception of nature, presented 

 in an elegant form, and with considerable 

 power in the delineation of his perspective 

 views of the whole picture. 



In close connection with the researches 

 respecting the condition of soil, is Climatology ; 

 and in this department Humboldt became again 

 the founder of a new science " the Compara- 

 tive Climatology." He originated a new science, 



