OF BAEON HUMBOLDT. 83 



canoes ? How did they originate, how do they 

 operate ?" 



The island of Teneriffe offered to Baron 

 Humboldt the first practical reply to these im- 

 portant questions. Here he became thoroughly 

 convinced of the soundness of that principle 

 which underlies all his researches ; viz., to re- 

 gard all isolated bodies only as a part of an 

 inseparable chain, ranging throughout all parts 

 of nature, the result of general great causes 

 and effects ; to discover the thread of unison in 

 the apparent labyrinth of infinite multiplicity ; 

 not to regard with indifference the seeming 

 small, but learn to perceive the great in the 

 small, the whole in the part. In this sense the 

 volcano of Teneriffe became to Humboldt a key 

 to the great secrets of the united life and acti- 

 vity of our planet. He apprehended the various 

 means which Nature employs in order to con- 

 struct and to destroy; the history of a part 

 afforded the means to solve the history of the 

 whole. The fire of the volcanoes which he ex- 

 amined in the island of Teneriffe had been long 

 extinguished, but the remaining traces became 

 to Humboldt large letters, enabling him to com- 

 prehend the mighty element which once per- 

 vaded our earth, penetrated its crust, buried 

 men, animals, plants, and cities, by means 



G 2 



