ks--all
that he did was on the scale of grandeur.

His books were too high in price for the average reader, but on request
of the King he consented to give a course of five, free, popular
lectures for the people.

No one foresaw the result of these addresses. The course was so
successful that it extended itself into sixty-one lectures, and covered
a period of more than ten years' time. No admittance was charged, free
tickets being given out to applicants. Very soon after the first
lecture, a traffic sprang up in these free tickets, carried on by our
Semitic friends, and the tickets soared to as high as three dollars
each. Then the strong hand of the Government stepped in: the tickets
were canceled, and the public was admitted to the lectures without
ceremony. Boxes, however, were set apart for royalty and foreign
visitors, some of whom came from England, Belgium, Switzerland and
France. The size of these audiences was limited simply by the capacity
of the auditorium, the attendance at first being about a thousand;
later, a larger hall was secured and the attendance ran as high as four
thousand persons at each address.

The subjects were as follows: three lectures on the History of Science;
two on reasons why we should study Science; four on the Crust of the
Earth, and the nature of Volcanoes and Earthquakes; two on the form of
Earth's Surface and the elevation of the Continents; five on Physical
Geography; five on the nature of Heat and Magnetism; sixteen on
Astronomy; two on Mountains and how they are formed; three on the Nature
of the Sea; three on the Distribution of Matter; ten on the Atmosphere
as an Elastic Fluid; three on the Geography of Animals; three on Races
of Men.

Every good thing begins as something else, and what was intended for the
common people became scientific lectures for educated people. "The man
who was most benefited by these lectures was myself," said Humboldt.

Men grow by doing things. Lectures are for the lecturer.

Humboldt found out more things in giving these lectures than he knew
before--he discovered himself. And long before they were completed he
knew that his best work was embodied right here--in doing for others he
had done for himself.

In attempting to reveal the Universe or "Cosmos," he revealed most of
his own comprehensive intelligence. That many of his conclusions have
since been abandoned by the scientific world does not prove such ideas
valueless--they helped and are