36 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS 



burg to co-operation, and presented an ex- 

 cellent plan, showing that, in all parts of that 

 vast empire, a regular system of observation, 

 regarding the daily changes of the barometer, 

 the thermometer, and the hygrometer, the 

 temperature of the soil, the direction of the 

 winds, and the moisture of the air, might be 

 originated. To the interest which the scientific 

 men of the Academy evinced in Humboldt's 

 plans, an additional impulse was given by the 

 attention of the Emperor ; and if we bear in 

 mind that the Russian empire is a continent, 

 an area more extensive than the surface of the 

 moon, presented to our view, it becomes evi- 

 dent that important laws relative to the whole 

 life and activity of our planet would be investi- 

 gated and explained. The Russian Government, 

 in recognition of the importance of the plans 

 submitted by Alexander von Humboldt, caused 

 the erection of an observatory at St. Peters- 

 burg, which was charged with the selection of 

 suitable places for scientific observations, with 

 the selection and examination of the necessary 

 instruments : further, to ascertain the precise 

 position of these selected spots in an astro- 

 nomical point of view ; to watch with special 

 care the magnetic and the meteorological 

 investigations ; to arrange and to estimate the 



