[Illustration: BAXTERS PATENT OIL COLOR PRINTING XI, NORTHAMPTON SQUARE CHIMBORAZO ] VIEWS OF NATURE: OR CONTEMPLATIONS ON THE SUBLIME PHENOMENA OF CREATION; WITH SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATIONS. BY ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY E. C. OTTÉ, AND HENRY G. BOHN. WITH A FRONTISPIECE FROM A SKETCH BY THE AUTHOR, A FAC-SIMILE OF HIS HAND-WRITING, AND A COMPREHENSIVE INDEX. LONDON: HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1850. PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SONS, LONDON GAZETTE OFFICE, ST. MARTIN’s LANE. PREFACE BY THE PUBLISHER. Great pains have been taken with the present translation, as well in regard to fidelity and style, as in what may be termed the accessories. In addition to all that is contained in the original work, it comprises an interesting view of Chimborazo, from a sketch by Humboldt himself; a fac-simile of the author’s handwriting; head-lines of contents; translations of the principal Latin, French, and Spanish quotations;[A] a very complete index; and a conversion of all the foreign measurements. It was at first intended to give both the foreign and English measurements, in juxta-position; but this plan was abandoned on perceiving that the pages would become overloaded with figures, and present a perplexing and somewhat appalling aspect, without affording any equivalent advantage to the English reader. In some few instances, however, where it seemed desirable, and in all the parallel tables, duplicate measurements have been inserted. The French _toises_ are converted into their relative number of English feet; and German miles, whether simple or square, are reduced to our own. The longitudes have been calculated from Greenwich, conformably to English maps, in lieu of those given by Humboldt, which are calculated from Paris. The degrees of temperature, instead of Reaumur’s, are Fahrenheit’s, as now the most generally recognised.