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Professor Oken, the originator of the now Popular Assemblies 

 for the Advancement of Science. 



Humboldt's devotion to natural science, made the year 

 1828 important far more than the preparations for his Asiatic 

 journey. For the purposes of comparative researches, he 

 caused the temperature to be measured in all the Prussian 

 mines, and this led Humboldt's reflective and comparative 

 mind to new results ; and besides this, he was occupied in 

 the autumn of this year by the Seventh Annual Meeting of 

 the German Naturalists and Natural Philosophers (an in- 

 stitution originated with the celebrated Naturalist, Oken), 

 which held its sittings in Berlin this time, and elected 

 Humboldt and Lichtenstein, as presidents for the year. 

 Here Humboldt's penetrating mind was again revealed, in 

 his just conception and comprehension of science and its 

 duties, which consist, partly in extending and popularising 

 knowledge, partly in exciting to further inquiries, in gaining 

 new disciples, and in making itself of practical utility in life, 

 and of educational service for the people. These annual 

 assemblies failed to fulfil their purpose, partly because the 

 different branches of natural science were not properly sepa- 

 rated from each other, and the constantly-increasing mate- 

 rial could not be surveyed, and certainly not arranged in the 

 few days that the Assembly lasted. Humboldt soon recog- 

 nised this imperfect arrangement, and caused the institution 

 of sections for the various special departments, in which 

 every one had the privilege of an interchange of progress, 

 and only the universal matter of general science was debated 

 in the general meetings. Humboldt opened this seventh 

 annual convention with a profound speech on the spirit and 

 utility of such annual meetings, and his words had, as always, 

 such a deep influence over the whole intellectual world, that 

 soon afterwards, annual convocations were instituted on the 

 model of Oken's society of natural historians, in England and 

 Italy. — {Biography of the Humboldts.) 



