HUMBOLDT, (e'er. pron.
Barra tun (1769.1S59). .1 tlerimin naturalist and traveler. Ile was born in Berlin, 170, Iris father, who died in 1779, a ellamberlaul to the 1\111g Prii.,ia; lit, mother was of Burgundian and his life was speilt ni the old Castle of •egel, near Potsdam. llee studied, in t\ith brothel' 11 illle1111 fir•t under private ttiten., t hen at. t he unit ervit ie. of Frankfort on-t he I Ider. Berlin, and tti•tingen. Hi- preterence for scien tific stinlies was -trough manifested in hi. early years, and the tit ithillienharh and other inikervity instructor'. During his residence at I I7`ees and 17s9i tie made geologiyal examination, in the Ila•z Alountains and Rhine Vall•?, Which resulted ill his first import:int miblication, l t be r die ltasal le am Ian in, it i,st I lnurqt n Itht r nit tart rf? r .1111n II 7 !Ill ) . In I I linnlintit 111:1111. :1 tour throng!' France, the Nettled:Ind-. and England. in company with “eorg Forster, already eminent a, a seientife traveler, whose intluente strong in shaping the younger tban's career; and in 1791 he en tered thee Aeadymy of .Nlining :It Freiberg. Sax eary. where \Verner yeas then professor of geol ogy. Ills eight months' residence at F•ei berg gave him materials for several technieal paper, in chemi.dry and physic,, and for more elaborate essays, especially those main the c•yptogamouv plants of the mines IP/oro Sub I. 'Tune(' rnr nsis, etc.). In con.eeinenee he was soon (1792) appointed superintendent of Mille: in the principalities of Bayreuth :unit spelt, and resided for the next three year, at Bayreuth, The breadth of his interest and re• •yarches at this period is exemplified by work and on the nature of muscular and nervous foree, untitled Ise rs tiehe ui, r die !pr. lltiskel- if /Of Vert-co/user, nr fest 71 SS (1(.3 lit n.1 in der r- meet Pi/ge:entre it (1797).
The desire for larger freedtan, rind ,'specially for exploratory travel, led Humboldt to resign office in 1797. Ifee had already in 179:i wandered about the Alps, studying p.olcoy, but further intended journeys to Sieily and up the Nile were prevented by political ole-taeles. The next three
months were spent at Jena. in Ultimate lion with Goethe, Schiller, and the 1111.11 at the university, who then made an extraordinary eirele of intellects; and he re he began to plan for the great journey to Sp Wish Anierioa \vide which his fame is ilmv most closely a.•ociated. lit he made the nyetirlintanee of a talented young French botanist, Beenpland. who joined in leis 111:1114 owl was de,titted to lie his principal eolallorer. was inee4.ant iy at :rid the years 1797-99 witnessed the piddle:Oben of many notable contributions to seience. amon•r which those pertaining to the composition of the atmo.pliere were particularly notable. Many of these were brought tooether in his book Fer kache idwiniselle rlegling des kreiNes (1799). At length, after spending some time in Spain and oetting letters from the Covernment. Humboldt and lionplaud in a Spanish frin.ate from Corutia, in dune, 1799. They visited Teneriffe, ascended the peak, and made valuable observations there, as yvell as at sea during the voyage, which terminated at Cumana, in Venezuela.
The travelers explored the region for upward of a year, crossing over to the upper waters of the Orinoco, and establishing the connection be tween that stream and the Upper Amazon. The year 1801 was spent in explorations in Cuba, the basin of the _Magdalena River, and in the Andes of Quito, the famous ascent of Chimborazo, to au Altitude of about. 19,000 feet, being accom plished in June, 1802. The exploration5 were then extended to Peru, where Humboldt devoted himself largely to the electrical and astronomical studies favored by the climate. but also acquired a valuable knowledge of the cinchona (quinine) plant and its culture. From Peru the two savants took ship for Mexico, landing at Aca iu February, 1803. There they traveled for a year, Humboldt paying special attention to the determination of posititais on the map and to volcanic phenomena. and then returned to Eu rope by way of Cuba and the United State; (where several weeks were spent), reaching Bor deaux in August, 1804.