262 



le plus etendu les limites de la science geologique, toujours 

 en contact avec la nature meme. Ma douleur est profonde. 

 Sans lui je me crois bien isole; je le consultai comme un 

 maitre, et son affection (comme celle de Gay Lussac et d'A- 

 rago, qui etoient ses amis aussi) m'a soutenu dans mes travaux. 

 II avait quatre ans de moins que moi et rien nous annoncait 

 ce malheur. Ce n'est pas quelques heures apres une teile 

 perte que je puis vous en dire d'avantage. Plaignez moi, et 

 agreez, mon excellent ami, Thommage de mon profond respect 

 et de mon devouement le plus affectueux." 



Al. Humboldt." 



Baron Leopold \. Buch, whose death is so feelinglv 

 announced in the above letter from the illustrious Humboldt, 

 was one ofthe most eminent men of science ofthe age. His 

 name, however, great though it must ever stand in the re- 

 cords of science, and honoured as it was and is by all inves- 

 tigators of nature, was probably not popularly known in Eng- 

 land. Of eminent social position, very ancient and distinguis- 

 hed lineage , and holding a high office at the Court of the 

 King of Prussia, he was enabled through his influence to 

 render numerous Services to science and scientific men. He 

 expended large sums in the same good cause, and was in the 

 habit of printing and illustrating his original memoirs for 

 private gratuitous distribution. This he did from the purest 

 motives, and with no taint of ostentation, from which, indeed, 

 he was singularly free. A remarkable instance was the publi- 

 cation of his large geological map of Germany and the neigh- 

 bouring regions, at great cost and labour, without any indi- 

 cation of the name of the author. He was a great traveller, 

 even to his latest years , and explored on foot a considerable 

 portion of Europe. As a geologist he held the very highest 

 rank, and, beyond any other, was universal in his geological 

 knowledge. His appreciation of the physical and natural hi- 

 story departments of geology was equal, and his labours in 

 both equally remarkable. üne of his most celebrated works 

 is his „Physical Description of the Canary Islands", published 

 in 1825. In this valuable volume, he gave to the world his 

 views respecting the volcanic phenomena of all parts of the 

 earth. One of his favourite subjects was the investigation of 

 the phenomena of the metamorphism of rocks. Not until the 

 latter half of his life did he take up the palreontological in- 

 quiries that have conferred as brilliant a lustre on his name 

 as his physical researches did. Directing his attention to the 

 relations of the forma of fossils to their sequence in time, he 

 discovered and developed the laws of the conformation of the 



