OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 81 



and his subsequent extensive examinations in 

 other parts enabled him to originate the new 

 science, " The Distribution of Plants and their 

 Laws." The remarkable powers of observa- 

 tion of von Humboldt enabled him already, 

 on the noted Peak of Teneriffe, to recognise the 

 important influence of various heights upon 

 the distribution of plants and animals. He con- 

 tinued his geological observations on the opening 

 of the volcano with signal success. Here he 

 collected new materials for his subsequent view 

 and interpretation of the volcanic agency in the 

 formation of the solid earth, and the phenomena 

 of earthquakes. 



A sudden glance from their high elevation 

 upon the sea and along the coast, convinced 

 the travellers that the Pizarro was ready for 

 departure. With considerable anxiety they 

 hastened from the mountain, in order to reach 

 the ship with all possible speed. 



Humboldt obtained from this first and short 

 excursion on entirely foreign ground, important 

 scientific lore, in furtherance of his future 

 explorations. The group of the Canary islands 

 had been to him a valuable book, the variety 

 of whose contents, upon a very circumscribed 

 space, must necessarily conduct a mind like 

 Humboldt' s to a further and more general in- 



G 



