122 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLUT. 



muscles. . . . When the blisters were cut, and con- 

 tact made with zinc and silver, I experienced a 

 sharp pain, which was so severe that the trapezius 

 muscle swelled considerably, and the quivering 

 was communicated upwards to the base of the 

 skull and the spinous processes of the vertebrae." 



He also experimented with the noxious gases in 

 mines, inventing lamps which were the forerunner 

 of Sir Humphrey Davy's. Sometimes he was 

 deprived of consciousness by the gases and saved 

 only by the timely aid of friends. 



Always longing for foreign travel, he went to 

 Weimar, to make himself more fully ready for it, 

 especially by the study of anatomy. Here lived 

 his brother William, who had married a brilliant 

 and intellectual woman, the intimate friend of 

 the wife of Schiller. 



Here Humboldt and Goethe became earnest 

 friends. Goethe says : " During Humboldt's visit, 

 my time has been usefully and agreeably spent ; 

 his presence has had the effect of arousing from its 

 winter sleep my taste for natural science." Years 

 afterward Goethe said to Eckermann : " Alexander 

 von Humboldt has been with me for some hours 

 this morning ; what an extraordinary man he is ! 

 Though I have known him for so long, I am always 

 struck with fresh amazement in his company. He 

 may be said to be without a rival in extent of 

 information and acquaintance with existing sci- 

 ences. He possesses, too, a versatility of genius 

 which I have never seen equalled. Whatever may 



