OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 49 



of the Greek langiiage and literature, new fields 

 of operation. Greece aided materially the in- 

 tercourse and the mixture of the peoples from 

 the Nile to the Euphrates, from the Jaxartes* to 

 the Indus. The physical aspect of our earth 

 became, through extended observation of nature, 

 and the intercourse with ancient civilized and 

 commercial nations, suddenly accelerated and 

 more general. Humboldt followed the pro- 

 gressive traces of the advancement in natural 

 science, under the reign of the Ptolemies, 

 after the dissolution of the great Macedonian 

 empire, and the intercourse of Egypt with 

 distant countries; the explorations in Ethio- 

 pia; the hunting of the ostrich and the 

 elephant, the menageries in the royal houses 

 of Brachium, &c. All these events assisted 

 the progress of natural science ; all contri- 

 buted to the increasing stock of information. 

 Humboldt directs here our attention to the 

 establishment, about that period, of the mu- 

 seum of Alexandria, and of two collections of 

 books, as the result of the practical apprecia- 

 tion of science, the importance of comparative 

 observations, and the more general dissemina- 

 tion of the scientific achievements of that 



* The modern river Syr Daria. 

 E 



