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DARWIN AND HUMBOLDT. 



deed, it must have created a pro- 

 found sensation in the learned world 

 when a naturalist, all whose previous 

 publications related to physical sub 

 jects, suddenly came forward as a 

 master among masters in the treat 

 ment of zoological and anatomical 

 questions. 



The botanical works appeared 

 under several titles. We have first 

 the " Plantes Equinoxiales " in two 

 folio volumes, with 140 plates, by 

 Bonpland ; the monograph of the 

 Melastomacees and that of the 

 Rhexiees, in two folio volumes, with 

 120 plates, also by Bonpland ; then 

 the Mimosees by Kunth, in one folio 

 volume, with 60 plates ; the revision 

 of the Graminees, in one folio volume, 

 with 220 plates, by Kunth ; and 

 finally the " Nova Genera et Species 

 Plantarum" by Kunth, in seven 

 folio volumes, with 700 plates. Al- 

 together thirteen folio volumes, with 

 1240 plates, most of which are beauti- 

 fully colored, and remain unsurpassed 

 for fidelity of description and fullness 

 of illustration. Though the descriptive 

 part of these splendid volumes is 

 from the pen of his fellow-traveler 

 Bonpland, and his younger friend 

 Kunth, it would be a mistake to sup- 

 pose that Humboldt had no share in 

 their preparation. Not only did he 

 assiduously collect specimens during 

 the journey, but it was he who made, 

 on the spot, from the living plant, 

 drawings and analyses of the most 

 remarkable and characteristic trees ; 

 the general aspect of which could 

 not be preserved in the specimens 

 gathered for the herbarium. Besides 

 this there are entire chapters concern- 

 ing the geographical distribution of 

 the most remarkable families of 

 plants, their properties, their uses, 

 etc., entirely written by Humboldt 

 himself. It was he, also, who for the 

 first time divided the areas of the 

 regions he had explored into botanical 

 provinces, according to their natural 

 physical features ; thus distinguishing 

 the Flora of New Andalusia and 

 Venezuela from that of the Orinoco 

 basin, that of New Granada, that of 



Quito, that of the Peruvian Andes, 

 and those of Mexico and Cuba. It 

 was he, also, who first showed that 

 the whole Vegetable Kingdom con- 

 tains, after all, but a few distinct 

 types, which characterize the vegeta- 

 ble cai-pet of the earth's surface, in 

 different parts of the world under 

 different latitudes and at different 

 heights. He closes one of these ex- 

 positions with a few words, which I 

 cannot pass by without quoting. 

 "Such investigations," he says, "af- 

 ford an intellectual enjoyment and 

 foster a moral strength which fortify 

 us against misfortunes, and which no 

 human power can overcome " 



In 1827, at the urgent solicitation 

 of his brother, Humboldt transferred 

 his residence from Paris to Berlin. 

 With this step there opens a new phase 

 in his life. Thus far he had been 

 absolutely independent of public or 

 official position. Conducting his 

 researches as a private individual, if 

 he appeared before the public at all, 

 it was only in reading his papers to 

 learned Academies. Now he began 

 to lecture in the University. In his 

 first course, consisting of sixty-one 

 lectures, he sketched the physical 

 history of the world in its broadest 

 outlines, — it was, in truth, the pro- 

 gramme of the Cosmos. Since I 

 shall give an analysis of this work in 

 its fitting place, I will say nothing of 

 the lectures here, except that as a 

 teacher, he combined immense knowl- 

 edge with simplicity of expression, 

 avoiding all technicalities not abso- 

 lutely essential to the subject. 



In the midst of his lectures there 

 came to him an invitation from the 

 Russian government to visit the 

 Russian provinces of Asia. Nothing 

 could be more gratifying to a scien- 

 tific man than the terms in which this 

 proposition was made. It was ex- 

 pressly stipulated by the Emperor 

 that he wished the material advant- 

 ages which might accrue from the 

 expedition to be a secondary con- 

 sideration. Humboldt was to make 

 scientific research and the advance- 

 ment of knowledge his first aim, and 



