Guyot on Carl Bitter. 31 



nities eagerly embraced by his ready and conscientious mind, 

 were now offered to him. The qualities of his mind and 

 heart had soon won for him in the family the position 

 of an esteemed and affectionate friend. As such, and as an 

 inmate of the house, he came in contact with the most re- 

 fined society, and many of the most distinguished men of the 

 age, who repaired to the house of Hollweg as to a common 

 centre. Here was begun his acquaintance with such men as 

 Humboldt, as the great geologist, Leopold von Buch, with the 

 suggestive, truly philosophical S. Th. Soemmering, to whom 

 he modestly refers, in the Introduction to the " Erdkunde," the 

 merit of having especially called his attention to the laws of 

 the geographical relationship of all animated nature. In 

 Frankfort, also, he formed an intimate friendship with Ebel. 

 the genial author of "The Structure of the Earth in the 

 Alps" and other works on Switzerland, from whom he re- 

 ceived a fresh impulse to the study of the Globe. Mean- 

 while, urged on by his duties towards his pupils, he embraced 

 in his activity the most varied studies. History and the an- 

 cient languages received from him a particular attention. He 

 read with his friends, the eminent philologists, Matthiae and 

 G-rotefend, the prominent authors of Greece and Rome. He 

 thus diligently accumulated from all quarters, the treasures of 

 that vast erudition without which his future work would have 

 been impossible. 



His predilection for Geography, however, becomes already 

 apparent by the publication, in 1806, of six charts of Europe, 

 followed afterwards, in 181 1, by a Geography of Europe in two 

 volumes. In these works the author of the " Erdkunde " is 

 predicted, hut not yet fully manifested. One element is to be 

 added to his previous preparation, and this is a more direct 

 acquaintance with the grand typical forms of nature and with 

 the marvellous products of human culture. Eitter must see 

 Switzerland and Italy — contemplate the wonders of nature and 

 history in their very sanctuaries. That precious gift also was 

 in store for him. From the year 1807, he repeatedly visited, 

 with his pupils, Switzerland and Italy. The last journey, ' 

 which commenced in 1811, extended over several years, and 

 allowed him a sojourn of over a year in Geneva, and a pro- 

 longed stay at Rome and in Italy, which he visited to its 

 southern extremity. 



What a rich source of instruction these travels have been 

 for a mind so eager to drink from the very fountains of knowl- 

 edge, and so well prepared and matured by assiduous study 



