New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-09-15

frat trits in the rich harvest reaped from TINS eAp
ton was the successful attempt 10 when nave -.
alluded at representing graphically the phy "a
Of that continent Thus far such representa"oD' Law
mainly consisted I'm maps and the dellneatoh "a tno
Characteristic plants and animals HuhDoaH ue AID
ysed new method equally Impressive 70 ' tbe fart
tpt changes its character as IL ascehos UPON
the side Of high mountains-thus p;Iad the idea
sivo terraces upon their slopes-he conceiVen II" p o.
already suggested by his examination OF ens car &C.,
Tenerfe, OF drawing upon the outline u tom The level Of
tain the different aspects Of its surface irVh t -,
he sea TO IT'S highest peak Thus he could e1hlpt AZ
gtG MN tSe dioSram before you and drawn by him
st Gnayaouii in 1905 II copied from his Work on the
5s{Ti6aton Eof plants Afterward he extended these
comparisons the temperate ana , atS nopt
fhe STadaon Of the vegetation, at the level OF oe
ocean, corresponds to Its sueiesSVn u sSnmes re-
mapabie resemblance to the plants found near sgs 10
t al The intervening expsnse from North TO south
as far as the equator and then in reverse orae &
ANTARCTIC regions also exhibits in proportion 10 tne
walton the land, vegetation characterized W
mediate forms :, -,o, cha General appear
ance of the Inequalities of the earths surface 9y
ing ideal sections the regions descTioea ' to
Caracas across the Cumbre, and from Cartnagena
Santa Fe de Bogota, through the whoe IN
another diagram And Gs Is n mot ~ gs 0%S
approximations but founding MS prUfiS which he
mnItped TO such an that his works are TO TINS
day the chief source OF Tistsd y him
Not satishe3 with this he undertook TO represent IN
like manner the internal structure OF the earth by draw
n charts upon which the relative position OF the
rocks with signs indicate their mneraOScal cnaao
as drawn nv him in Mexico 1884, and presented to
the school of Mines Of that City 1t was afterwaTI pun
lsbed in the Atlas OF the American Journey we are
thus indebted him for the whole Of that gragh1e
method which has made tpossbe to delineate IN visible
for afterward this method was applied to the
ton Of the oceanic currents the direction Oh d1S 6 p fa Of
lent winds, the tidal waves, the rise ana Iai U
our lakes and rivers, the amount OF ram raining
upon derene pane tSs lines of equal average temper
ture the relative hight Of our plains, tableand ana
mountain chains their internal n anu
features of the History of Mankind are now taDlaed IN
the Tay u 6 races the highways navigation
and commerce. the difference among men as 10 InsuaEe
estimates of wealth of nations, down to the statistics
of agrcutureand the averages OF virtue ana vice. are
venresented In short every branch OF mental activity
has been vvihed by this process, and undergone an
entire transformation under its influence.
the Memories de Ia socet6 dArcueil scientific club TO
which in the beginning OF this century inc most eminent
first delineaton OF the curves uniting those different
points OF the earth surface %nev annual temner
AZURE exhibits already the characteristic features ia the
Which myriads of observations of later date have only
confirmed No other series OF Investigations shows more
nav arrive who understands how weigh critically the
meaning of his facts, however few they may pc rms
other diagram before you represents the Othefma hes
as contrasted with the degrees of latitude
The barometrical.and Astronomical OBSERVATIONS upon
which his numerous maps based were computed and
reduced TO their final form by his friend Omanns They
nil two large QuartO volumes and amount TO the ac-
curate determination OF nearly LOO Iocahues' laey
are not taken at random but embrace points OF the
highest importance, with reference TO the geographical
dstrbutjOn plants and animals and the range OF agr
cultural products. Humboldt has himself added TN in.
PRODUCTION TO this work IN which he gives an account OF
Instruments used in his observations ana the methods
pursued by him in his experiments and discusses the as
Economical refraetions IN the torrid zone 2.
upon Humboldts Investigations He Is indeed the
founder Of comparative that an embraelng
Ritter and which has now its ablest representative IN
our Guyot the author of the maps before YOU HIS
correspondence with Berghaus testes his intense inter
est i'm the progress of geographical knowledge TO Hum
bodt this world Of ours is indeed not only the abode OF
man. growth in the history OF the Universe shaped
according to laws, by long process OF successive
changes which have resulted in it's present cOnhgura.
tiOn with its mutually dependent features. Inc work
upon the Position OF Rocks IN the two hemispheres tells
IN 1925 and is of course fun OF gross anachronisms;
but at the same time it exhibits the wonderful power
boldt pOssessed-as for instance where he says
in few beautiful words fertile in consequences not yet
fully appreciated by the naturalists OF our days when
We examine the sold OF our planet, We perceive
the simple minerals found in associations which
as organized beings do according 10 the differences OF
latitude or the INES under Winch 5nsy
world with the inorganic IN their essential character In
practical geology to him the first recognition Of
the Jurassic formation 1t was he also who introduced
into science those happy expressions geological
horizon" and independence OF geological formations
He also paved the way Ellie de Bcaumonts determ-
nation OF relative OF mountain chains by his ais
cussiOn upon the direction of srated rocks and by the
paraels he drew between the OF pluonic and sed
nentary formations; nor hadu escaped him that distant
and faune though OF the same age may be entirely
The collection OF geological and anatomical papers in
two quarto volumes with numerous colOred plates is full
OF valuable contributions to the Natural History Of AM
mails from his PEN well that OF his cOllabora
tore. The most remarkable are his description OF the
Condor which must have delighted the French biologists
who could not fail to compare II Win the glowing pages
Monkeys rvang the works OF Audebert and GeofIOy 81
Hlare, his account Of the electric Eel aud the Catfish
hO"n OUT py Ie burning volcanoes OF the Andes CON
trasted with the Great Natural History Of Fishes by
ctpede his paper the Respiration of Crocodes and
the Layax OF Birds and Crocodes daring, upon his own
ground the greatest anaomist Of the the immortal
Cuyier Indeed. 10 must have created profound
ton III the learned world when naturalist all whose
previous publications related to physical subjects, snd
denly came forward as master among masters, in the
treatment of geological and anatomical questions
The botanical works have appeared under several
folio volumes, with 40 plates, by Bonpand the Mono
graph Of the M6astOmees and that Of the Rhex6es IN
two folio volumes, with 100 plates also by BOnpand then
the Mimose6s by Kunth, III one folio volume with co
plates the revision Of the Gramnees in folio volume
with go plates by kunth, and finally the Nova genera
and species Pantarum, by hunth In seven folio volumes
with 700 plates; altogether 10 folio volumes with 240
main unsurpassed fidelity Of description and funess
OF illustration. But though the descriptive part these
BoHpad and his Younger E RhtS would be-
mistake to suppose that Humboldt had share their
preparation Not only did he assdu0usy collect spec
during the journey but II he who made, the
spot from the living plant drawings and analyses Of the
aspect Of which could not preserved in tue specimens
gathered for the herbaum Beside this there are entire
chapters concerning the geographical distribution Of the
most remarkable families of plants their properties their
uses, &C. entirely written by Humboldt himself II was
he Also who for the first time divided the Of the
Hons he had explored into botanical provinces accord.
ing 10 their natural physical features thus distinguish
ing the Flora OF New,AnduasIa and venezuela from
that Of the OrinocO Basin that OF NewGrenada that
OF Quito, that Of the Peruvian Andes, and those
Of Mexico and Cuba. 1t was he also who first showed
that the whole Vegetable Kingdom contains after all
but few distinct types which characterize the yegeta
Of
world, under different ATTITUDES and at different nights
He closes one OF these expOsitions with few words
which cannot pass by without quoting them "Such
investigation" he afford intellectual enjoy
ment and foster moral strength which forify against
hun,