Digitale Ausgabe

The existence of a large society of cultivators of thenatural sciences meeting annually at some great capitalor some central town of Europe, is a circumstance al-most unknown to us and deserving of our attention fromthe important advantages which may arise from it. About eight years ago, Dr. Okens, of Munich, sug-gested a plan for an annual meeting of all Germanswho cultivated the sciences of medicine and botany.—The first meeting, of about forty members, took placeat Leipsig in 1822, and it was successively held at Halle,Wurtsburg, Frankfort on the Maine, Dresden,Munich and Berlin. All those who had print-ed a certain number of sheets of their inquiries wereconsidered as members of this academy. The great advantages which resulted to the sciencesfrom the communication of observations from all quartersof Germany, soon induced an extension of the plan, and |Spaltenumbruch| other departments of natural knowledge were admitted,until at the last meeting the cultivators even of puremathematics were found in the ranks of this academy.Several circumstances independent of the form and con-stitution of the academy, contributed to give un wontedsplendor at the meeting which took place at Berlin inthe middle of September of the last year. The capitalselected for its temporary residence, is scarcely surpass-ed by any in Europe in the number and celebrity of itssavans. The taste for knowledge possessed by the reign-ing family, has made knowledge itself fashionable; andthe severe sufferings of the Prussians, previous to thewar which freed both them and Europe, have impressedon them so strongly the lesson that “knowledge is pow-er,” that its effects are visible in every department of thegovernment, and in no country of Europe, do talents andgenius so surely open for their possessors the road towealth and to distinction. Another circumstance continued to increase the num-bers of the meeting of the past year. The office of pre-sident, which is annually changed, was assigned to M.Alexander de Humboldt, The universality of his ac-quirements which have left no branch within the widerange of science indifferent or unexplored, has connectedhim by friendship with almost all the most celebratedphilosophers of the age, while the polished amenity ofhis manners and his intense desire of acquiring and spread-ing knowledge, render him accessible to strangers andinsure them the assistance of his counsel in their scientificpursuits and the advantage being made known to all whoare interested or occupied in similar inquiries. Professor Lichtenstein, (director of the Museum ofZoology,) as secretary of the academy, was indefatigablein his attentions and most ably seconded the wishes of itsdistinguished president. These two gentlemen, assistedby several of the residents at Berlin, undertook the nu-merous preliminary arrangements for the accommodationof the meeting. On the 18th of Sept. 1828, there were assembled atBerlin 377 members of the academy, whose names andresidence, (at Berlin,) were printed in a small phamphlet,and to each name was affixed a number to indicate his seatin the great concert room, where the morning meetingstook place. Each member was provided with an en-graved card of the hall of meeting, on which the num-bers of the seats were printed in black ink, so that everyperson immediately found his own place and knew whereto look for any friend whom he might wish to find. At the hour appointed, the members being assembled,the galleries and orchestra filled by an assemblage of alarge part of the rank and beauty of the capital, and theside boxes occupied by several branches of the royal fa-mily, and by the foreign ambassadors, the session of theacademy was opened by the eloquent address of the pre-sident. Speech of baron Humboldt.— “Since through yourchoice I am permitted to open this meeting, the firstduty I have to discharge is one of gratitude. The dis-tinction which has been conferred on him who has neveryet been able to attend your excellent society, is not thereward of scientific efforts, or of feeble and perseveringattempts to discover new phenomena, or to draw the lightof knowledge from the unexplored depths of nature. —A finer feeling directs your attention to me. You haveassured me that while during an absence of many yearsin a distant quarter of the globe, I labored in the samecause with yourselves, I was not a stranger in yourthoughts. What can the picture of this our native land presentmore agreeable to the mind than that we perceive to-day,for the first time, within our walls? From the banks ofthe Neckar, the birth-place of Kepler and Schiller, tothe remotest border of the Baltic plains;—from henceto the north of the Rhine, where, under the beneficentinfluence of commerce, the treasures of exotic naturehave for centuries been collected and investigated, thefriends of nature, inspired by the same zeal, flock to-gether to this assembly; from all lands where the Ger-man language is used, and its peculiar structure effectsthe spirit of the people, from the Great European Alpsto the other side of the Weichsel, where, in the countryof Copernicus, astronomy rose in renewed splendour;wherever in the extensive dominions of the German na- |135| |Spaltenumbruch|tion, we attempt to discover the secret operations of na-ture, whether in the heavens or in the deepest problemsof mechanics, or in the interior of the earth, or in thefinely woven tissues of organic structure. Protected by noble princes, this assembly has annuallyincreased in interest and extent. Every distinction whichdifference of religion or of government can occasion, ishere annulled. Germany manifests itself in its intellec-tual unity; and since knowledge of truth and performanceof duty are the highest objects of morality, that feelingof unity weakens none of the bonds which the religion,constitution and laws of our country endear to each of us.This emulation in mental struggles has even called forth,as the glorious history of our country tells us, the fairestblossoms of humanity, science and art. The assembly of German naturalists and natural phi-losophers, since its last meeting, when it was so hospita-bly received at Munich, has through the flattering in-terests of neighboring states and academies shone withpeculiar lustre. Allied nations have renewed the an-cient alliance between Germany and the ScandinavianNorth. Such an interest deserves acknowledgment themore, because it increases the mass of facts and opinionshere brought into one common union. It also bringslofty recollections to the mind of the naturalist. Scarcehalf a century has elapsed since Linne appeared, in theboldness of the undertakings which he has attemptedand accomplished, as one of the greatest men of the lastcentury. His glory, however bright, has not renderedEurope blind to the merits of Scheele and Bergman. Thecatalogue of great names is not completed; but, lest Ishould offend noble modesty, I dare not speak of thelight still flowing in richest profusion from the north, normention the discoveries in the chemical nature of sub-stances, in the numerical relation of their elements, orthe eddying streams of electro-magnetic powers.* Maythose excellent persons who, deterred neither by perilsof sea or land, have hastened to our meeting from Swe-den, Norway, Denmark, Holland, England, and Poland,point out the way to other strangers in succeeding years,so that by turns every part of Germany may enjoy thebenefits of scientific communication with the differentnations of Europe. But though I restrain the expression of my personalfeelings in presence of the assembly, let me at least namethe patriarchs of our national glory detained from us bya regard for lives so dear to our country:—Goethe, whomthe creations of poetic fancy have not withheld frompenetrating the secrets of nature, and who now in ruralsolitude mourns for his princely friend, as Germany forone of her greatest ornaments; Olbers, who has discoveredtwo bodies where he predicted they would be found; thegreatest anatomist of our age, Soemmering, who withequal zeal has investigated the wonders of organic struc-ture and the spots and feculae of the sun, (condensationsand openings of the photospheres,)—Blumenbach, whosepupil I have the honor to be, whose works and immortaleloquence and labors of half a century have inspired everywhere a love of comparative anatomy, physiology, andthe general history of nature. These observations on the literary wealth of our coun-try, and the progressive developement of our institution,lead us naturally to the observations which may arisefrom the increasing number of our fellow laborers. Theprincipal object of this society is not the mutual enter-change of treaties, or the publication of innumerablememoirs in some general collection, but it is to bringthose personally together who are engaged in the samefield of science. It is the immediate and, therefore, moreobvious interchange of ideas, whether presented as facts,opinions or doubts. It is the establishment of friendlyconnection, which throws light on science, adds cheer-fulness to life, and gives grace and amenity to the man-ners. In the most flourishing period of ancient Greece, thedistinction between words and writing manifested itselfmost strongly among a race which bad raised itself tothe most splendid intellectual superiority, and to whoselatest descendents, preserved from the shipwreck of na-tions, we still consecrate our most anxious wishes. Itwas not the difficulty of interchanging ideas alone, nor |Spaltenumbruch| the want of German science which has spread thoughtas on wings through the world, and given it permanence,that lead the friends of philosophy and natural history inMagna Grecia and Asia Minor, to wander on long jour-neys. That ancient race knew the inspiring influenceof conversation, as it extemporaneously penetrates thetissue of scientific opinions and doubts. The discoveryof truth without difference of opinion is unattainable,for truth in its full extent can never be recognised by alland at the same time. Each step that brings the studentof nature, nearer to his object, conducts him to the thresh-hold of new labyrinths. The mass of doubt does notdiminish, but spreads like a moving cloud over newfields, and whoever calls that a golden period when thedisputes of the learned will be finished, has as imper-fect conception of the wants of science, as he who ex-pects that the same opinions in geognosy, chemistry, orphysiology will be maintained for centuries. The founders of this society, with a deep sense of theunity of nature, have combined in the completest man-ner, all the branches of physical knowledge and of his-torical, geometrical and experimental philosophy. Thenames of natural historian and natural philosopher arehere, therefore, nearly synonymous, chained by a terres-trial link of the type of the lower animals. Man com-pletes the scale of higher organization. In his physiolo-gical and pathological qualities, he scarcely presents tous a distinct class of beings. As to what has broughthim to this exalted object of physical study, and raisedhim to general scientific investigation, it belongs princi-pally to this society. Important as it is not to breakthat link which connects the investigation of organic andinorganic nature, the increasing ties and daily develope-ment of this institution, render it necessary, besides thegeneral meeting destined for these halls, to have specificmeetings tor single branches of science. For it is onlyin such contracted circles, and among men whom reci-procity of studies has brought together, that oral discus-sions can take place. Without these, would the volun-tary associations of men in search of truth, be deprivedof an inspiring principle. Among the arrangements for the advancement of thesociety, attention has been paid to the possibility of sucha subdivision into sections. The hope that these ar-rangements will meet with your approbation, imposesthe duty of reminding you, that, although you had en-trusted to two travellers equally the duty of making them,it is to one alone, my noble friend, M. Lichtenstein, thatthe merit of careful precaution and indefatigable activityis due. Out of respect to the scientific spirit which ani-mates the Society of German Naturalists and NaturalPhilosophy, and in acknowledgment of the utility oftheir efforts, the government has readily seconded ourwishes. In the vicinity of the place of meeting thus preparedfor our general and special labors are situated the mu-seums of anatomy, zoology, oryctognosy and geology,offering to the naturalist a rich mine for observation andcritical discussion. The greater number of these collec-tions have existed, like the university of Berlin, scarcelytwenty years. The oldest of them, to which the botani-cal garden, the richest one in Europe, belongs, have dur-ing this period not only been increased, but entirely re-modelled. The amusement and instruction they furnishrecall to our grateful minds that they are the works ofthat great monarch who modestly and in simple grandeuradorns every year this city with new treasures of natureand art—and what is of still greater value—what inspiresevery Prussian with an enthusiastic love for the ancientreigning family, he attaches to himself every species oftalent, and extends with confidence his royal protectionto the free cultivation of the understanding.” Baron Humboldt’s speech was followed by a paper onmagnetism, by professor Oersted, and several other me-moirs were then read. The arrival of so many persons of similar pursuit, (for464 members were present) rendered it convenient tohave some ordinary at which those who choose mightdine, and introduce their friends and families. This hadbeen foreseen, and his majesty had allowed the immensebuilding used for the exercise of his troops to be used forthis purpose. One third of it was floored on the occa-sion, and tables were arranged, at which, on one occasion,

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* Berzelius and Oersted.|136| 850 persons sat down to dinner. On the evening of thefirst day, M. de Humboldt gave a soiree in the concertrooms attached to the theatre. About 1,200 persons as-sembled on this occasion, and the king of Prussia honoredwith his presence the fete of his illustrious chamberlain.The nobility of the country, foreign princes, and foreignambassadors were present. It was gratifying to observethe princes of the blood mingled with the cultivators ofscience, and to see the heir apparent to the throne en-gaged in conversation with those most celebrated fortalents of his own or other countries. Nor were theminor arrangements of the evening beneath the consider-ation of the president. The words of the music, select-ed for the concert, were printed and distributed amongthe guests. The names of the most illustrious philoso-phers which Germany had produced, were inscribed inletters of gold at the end of the great concert room. Inthe first rank among these, stood a name which Englandtoo enrolls among her brightest, and proud as she maywell be of having fostered and brought to maturity thegenius of the first Herschel, she has reaped an ample re-ward in being able to claim entirely as her own the inhe-ritor of his talents and his name. The six succeeding days were occupied in the morning,by a meeting of the academy at which papers of great in-terest were read. In the afternoon, through the arrange-ment of M. de Humboldt and M. Lichtenstein, variousrooms were appropriated for different sections of the aca-demy. In one the chemical philosophers attended tosome chemical memoir, whilst the botanists assembledin another room, the physiologists in a third, and the na-tural philosophers in a fourth. Each attended to thereading of papers connected with their several sciences.Thus every member was at liberty to choose that sectionin which he felt most interest at the moment, and had atall times access to the others. The evenings were gene-rally spent at the soirees of the savans, resident at Ber-lin, whose hospitality and attentions to their learned bre-thren of other countries were unbounded. In the morn-ing the collections of natural history, which are rapidlyrising into importance, were open to examination, andthe various professors and directors assisted the strangerin his enquiries. A map of Europe was printed, on which those townsonly appeared which had sent representatives from thisscientific congress; and the numbers sent by differentkingdoms appeared by the following table, which wasattached to it:

Russia	1		Bavaria	12
Austria	0		Hanover	5
England	1		Saxony	21
Holland	2		Wirtemburg	12
Denmark	7		Sweden	13
France	1		Naples	1
Sardina	0		Poland	3
Prussia	95		German States	43
				217
			Berlin	172
			Total	389

The proportion in which the cultivators of differentsciences appeared, was not easy to ascertain, becausethere were few among the more eminent who had notadded to more than one branch of human knowledge.The following table, though not professing to be very ac-curate, will afford, perhaps, a tolerably fair view:—Geo-meters, 1; astronomers, 5; natural philosophers, 23—inall 39. Mines, 5; mineralogy, 14; geology, 9—in all 30.Chemistry, 18; geography, 8; anatomy, 12. Zoology, 14;natural history, 8; and botany, 35—in all 57. Physicians,175. Amateurs, 9. Various, 33. Grand total, 381. A medal was struck in commemoration of this meet-ing; and it was proposed that it should form the first ofa series, comprising all those persons most celebrated fortheir discoveries in the past and present age.