OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 69 



liis position in that respect was most favourable ; 

 yet lie could no longer suppress his earliest 

 desires to visit foreign lands, and engage in 

 Transatlantic explorations. He resigned his 

 public appointment in the year 1795, with the 

 view of making some short excursions to Switzer- 

 land and to Italy, preparatory to his intended 

 travels in more distant lands. He first visited 

 Vienna; cultivated in that city the acquaintance 

 of an eminent geognost, Freiersleben, and used 

 a beautiful collection of exotic plants, which he 

 found in the Austrian metropolis, in furtherance 

 of his study in botany. In the company of a 

 friend he left Vienna for Italy, with the inten- 

 tion of visiting more especially the volcanic re- 

 gions of Naples and Sicily ; but was compelled, 

 on account of the war, to restrict his researches 

 to Upper Italy only. 



About this time was announced the great 

 discovery of Galvani, of that force of nature 

 which has achieved in our days such signal 

 practical results, and which is called, as well 

 known, in honour of the discoverer, " Galvan- 

 ism." Humboldt received this announcement 

 with considerable interest, and followed and 

 observed the influence of this power, in va- 

 rious subsequent experiments. His scien- 

 tific labours received very sad interruptions 



