Humboldt's Letters. 381 



young friend Friesen, with sentiments of sincere thank- 

 fulness. 



A. v. HUMBOLDT. 

 JUNE 30&, 1857. 



Varnhagen's diary of July 4, 1857, contains the fol- 

 lowing : " Yesterday Humboldt spoke of the time when 

 he lived in a house at the side of George's Garden, 

 and was so assiduous in his magnetic observations that 

 he once stinted himself of sleep for seven successive days 

 and nights in order to examine the state of things every 

 half hour ; after that he changed the watch with substi- 

 tutes. This was hi 1807, just fifty years ago. I often 

 saw the little house in which the experiments were 

 made, when I visited Johannes von Mueller, who also 

 lived in a house at the side of the same garden ; or Fichte 

 who lived in a garden house in the middle of the garden. 

 When old George, a wealthy distiller, showed the gar- 

 den to his friends, Humboldt went on to say, he never 

 failed to boast of 'his learned men.' 'Here I have the 

 famous Mueller ; there is Humboldt, and there is Fichte, 

 but he is only a philosopher, I believe.' " 



