COSMOS:


A SKETCH

of

A PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIVERSE.


BY

ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT.


Translated from the German by

E. C. OTTÉ

In Four Volumes.

VOL. II

Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt


New York:

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS

1858.

This electronic edition prepared by Dr. David C. Bossard
from original documents in his personal library.

December, 2005.

Copyright © 2005 by David C. Bossard.

SUMMARY  9-18   009  010  011  012  013  014  015  016  017  018

CONTENTS.

PART I.

INCITEMENTS TO THE STUDY OF NATURE.

THE IMAGE REFLECTED BY THE EXTERNAL WORLD ON THE IMAGINATION. POETIC DESCRIPTION OF NATURE. LANDSCAPE PAINTING. THE CULTIVATION OF EXOTIC PLANTS, WHICH CHARACTERIZE THE VEGETABLE PHYSIOGNOMY OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF THE EARTH'S SURFACE   19-21  019  020  021
I. Description of Nature.
The Difference of Feeling excited by the
Contemplation of Nature at different Epochs
and among different Races of Men  21-82

Descriptions of Nature by the Ancients    21  021
Descriptions of Nature by the Greeks    22  022  023  024  025  026  027  028
Descriptions of Nature by the Romans    29  029  030  031  032  033  034  035  036  037  038
Descriptions of Nature m the Christian Fathers    39  039  040  041  042
Descriptions of Nature by the Indians   43  043
Descriptions of Nature by the Minnesingers    44  044  045  046  047  048
Descriptions of Nature by the Arian Races   49  049
Natural Descriptions by the Indians    50  050  051
Natural Descriptions in the Persian Writers  52  052  053  054  055  056
Natural Descriptions in the Hebrew Writers   57  057
Hebrew Poetry   58  058  059
Literature of the Arabs    60  060  061
General Retrospect   62  062
Descriptions of. Nature in early Italian Poets  62  062  063  064  065
Descriptions of Nature by Columbus    66  066  067
Descriptions of Nature in Camoens's Lusiad   68  068  069  070
Descriptions of Nature in Ercilla's Araucana   71  071  072
Calderon  73  073
Modern Prose Writers   74   074  075  076  077
Travelers of the fourteenth and fifteenth Centuries   78   078
Modern Travelers   79   079  080  081
Goethe  82   082

 
II. Landscape Painting, in its Influence
on the Study of Nature.
Graphical Representation of the Physiognomy of Plants. The
Character and Aspect of Vegetation in different Zones.   82-98

Landscape Painting among the  Ancients  83   083  084  085  086
The Brothers Van Eyck  87  087
Landscape Painting of the sixteenth and seventeenth Centuries  88-89   088  089
Franz Post of Haarlem  90-91  090  091
Introduction of Hot-houses in our Gardens  91  091  092
The Treasures open to the Landscape Painter in the Tropics  93   093
The Perfection of Art in Greece  94   094
The Condition of Art in more Modern Times   95  095
Tropical Scenery  96  096  097
Panoramas   98   098
III. Cultivation of Tropical Plants
Contrasts and Assemblages of Vegetable Forms.
Impressions induced by the Physiognomy and
Character of the Vegetation  99-105

Cultivation of Exotic Plants  99   099  100
Eastern Gardens  101   101  102
Chinese Parks and Gardens  103   103  104
Physiognomy of Nature  105  105
PART II.

HISTORY OF THE PHYSICAL CONTEMPLATION
OF THE UNIVERSE.

PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF THE GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT AND EXTENSION OF THE IDEA OF THE COSMOS AS A NATURAL WHOLE 106-118   106  107  108  109  110  111  112  113  114  115  116  117  118
The Knowledge of Nature among the Ancients  108
Events which have been the Means of extending a Knowledge of Nature  109
Comparative Philology   111
The Idea of the Unity of the Cosmos  113
History based on Human Testimony knows of no Primitive Race 114
Ancient Seats of Civilization  117

PRINCIPAL MOMENTA THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE HISTORY OF
THE PHYSICAL CONTEMPLATION OF TRE UNIVERSE    119
I. The Mediterranean considered as the Starting-point 119-153   119  120  121  122  123  124  125  126  127  128  129  130  131  132  133  134  135  136  137  138  139  140  141  142  143  144  145  146  147  148  149  150  151  152  153
Civilization in the Valley of the Nile  124
The Cultivation of the Phoenicians   128
The Amber Trade   131
The geographical Myth of the Elysion  133
The Expeditions of Hiram and Solomon  136
The Ophir (El Dorado) of Solomon   138
The Etruscans   139
The highly-gifted Hellenic Races   140
The Landscape of Greece  143
The three Events which extended the Knowledge of the Universe  144
The Extent of Inland Traffic  146
The Doric Migrations    148
Contact with the East    149
The Passage beyond the Pillars of Hercules  151

II. Expeditions of the Macedonians under Alexander the Great 153-169   153  154  155  156  157  158  159  160  161  162  163  164  165  166  167  168  169
The Foundation of Greek Cities in Asia   153
The vast Sphere of new Ideas opened to Mankind by the Campaigns of Alexander  155
The Countries through which the Macedonians passed  157
The Natural Products first made known  158
Aristotle  160
The Men of Aristotle's School  163
The Comparison of Races  165
The Schools of Babylon  166
Alexander's Advance to the Land of the Five Rivers  168

Ill. Extension of the Contemplation of the Universe under the  Ptolemies.  170-179  170  171  172  173  174  175  176  177  178  179
The three great Ptolemies  171
The Caravan Trade, its Influence in extending a Knowledge of different Countries 171-172
Proofs of the Commercial Relations maintained by the Egyptians  174
TheTendency of the Schools of Alexandria    174
The Foundation of the Alexandrian Museum    175
TheAlexandrian Astronomers  176
The slow Advance of Astronomy from those remote Ages to its present high Stand  179

IV. Universal Dominion of the Romans 180-199  180  181  182  183  184  185  186  187  188  189  190  191  192  193  194  195  196  197  198  199
The Extent of the Area of the Roman Dominions  181
The few Observers of Nature who appeared at this Period   182
The Greatness of the National Character of the Romans  184
Diffusion of the Latin Tongue   185
The Expeditions undertaken by Asiatic Rulers  186
The Works of Strabo and Ptolemy 187
The Way-measurers in use among the Chinese  191
The Optical Inquiries of Ptolemy    193
 The Botanical Gardens of the Romans   195
The Historia Naturalis of Pliny 195
Reference to the Influence exercised by the Establishment of Christianity  199

V. Invasion of the Arabs. 200-228  200  201  202  203  204  205  206  207  208  209  210  211  212  213  214  215  216  217  218  219  220  221  222  223  224  225  226  227  228
Principal Momenta of the Recognition of the Unity of Nature  200
The Arabs    201
Natural Products of Arabia  204-205
Nomadic Life in Arabia    207
Mental Culture of the Arabs  208
Arabian Geographers   213
The learned Men of Arabia    216
Astronomical Works of the Arabs   222
Science of Numbers  225

VI. Period of Oceanic Discoveries.  228-301  228  229  230  231  232  233  234  235  236  237  238  239  240  241  242  243  244  245  246  247  248  249  250  251  252  253  254  255  256  257  258  259  260  261  262  263  264  265  266  267  268  269  270  271  272  273  274  275  276  277  278  279  280  281  282  283  284  285  286  287  288  289  290  291  292  293  294  295  296  297  298  299  300  301
The fifteenth Century, its Tendencies  228
Tliefirst Discovery ofAmerica   230
The conjectured Discovery of America by the Irish   234
TheEfforts ofMissionaries  235
The Traces of Gaelic supposed to be met with in American Dialects 236
The Rediscovery of America by Columbus  238
The Discovery of Tropical America  240
Albortus Magnus, Bacon, and Vincenzius of Beauvais  241
Realists and Nominalists  243
The Encyclopedic Works of the fifteenth Century  246
The Revival of Greek Literature  248
Important Events in Asia  249
Early Travelers  249-250
Marco Polo's Narratives  251
Use of the Magnetic Needle  253
The supposed Inventor of the Mariner's Compass   254
Application of Astronomy to Navigation   255
Martyr de Anghiera  260
The Charts consulted by Columbus   261
The Characteristics of Columbus   263
The Discovery and Navigation of the Pacific  267
The first Circumnavigation of the Earth  270
The Conquistadores  271
The Discovery of the Sandwich Islands, &c.  272
Spanish Travelers in the new Continent  274
Papal Line of Dernarkation   277
Line without Magnetic Variation  278
The Magnetic Pole  281
The Line of Perpetual Snow  282
The Equatorial Current  283
The first Descriptions of the Southern Constellations  286
The Coal-bags and the Magelianic Clouds  286
The Southern Cross  288
The Determination of the Ship's Place  291
The Age of the Conquista  296

VII. Great Discoveries in the Heavens. 301-351  301  302  303  304  305  306  307  308  309  310  311  312  313  314  315  316  317  318  319  320  321  322  323  324  325  326  327  328  329  330  331  332  333  334  335  336  337  338  339  340  341  342  343  344  345  346  347  348  349  350  351
The Telescope  302
The seventeenth Century  302
Nioolaus Copernicus  303
The different Stages of the Development of Cosmical Contemplation  309
The Theory o Eccentric Intercalated Spheres   316
The great Men of the seventeenth Century  316
The accidental Discovery of the Telescope   317
Telescopic Discoveries    319
The Discovery of Jupiter's Satellites   320
The Spots upon the Sun   324
Galileo  324
Kepler  325
The Zodiacal Light   329
Polarization and Interference of Light  332
Measurable Velocity of Light  333
William Gilbert  334
Edmund Halley  335
Land and Sea Expeditions  336
Instruments for measuring Heat  337
The Electric Force  341
Otto von Guericke   342
Pneumatic Chemistry   343
Geognostic Phenomena   347
The Charm inherent in Mathematical Studies   351

VIII. Retrospect of the Epochs considered.   352-356  352  353  354  355  356
Recapitulation  352
The Power of penetrating Space  353
Early Gems of Natural Knowledge  354
The Advance of various Sciences  355

INDEX to Volume II  357-367   357  358  359  360  361  362  363  364  365  366  367