Show AN OLD IDEA the cier german rana poet pact gothe r the tb nl arsena canal dr julius goebel professor of germanic philology and lite literature grature at stanford university says that goethe received most of hla his ideas on geography from MB his intimate friend herder e r the fat harof of the science in germany who ho in his turn had been disciple of baron ton hamboldt they had many erroneous ideas says bays tho the san francisco cisco chronicle but that is not sur cur it is considered that in the middle of the last century certain parts of the tha earth were supposed to la be inhabited by giants and certain other parts by dwarfs goethe conceived conceited the universe to consist of earthly sidereal and celestial elements each star he thought was gover governed iby a separate spirit that of the earth was a personal being beine known as the earth spirit it was the tha personification of the tha eternal creative element ademont of nature loathes Go athes othes ideas of the geography of america ale ai e full ot of interest tons it was one hundred years yean ago when he wrote in speaking of cutting a canal through the la isthmus thinus of panama humboldt suggests that there are rivers on the isthmus that crould render the cutting of a canal at 0 ther other places more advisable than at panama it would surprise me greatly if the people of the united states should not before long lone have settled that vast country west of the rocky mountains on the pacific coast are some of the finest and most moat capacious harbors of the world on these great cities will ill irrow grow up making a ship canal across the isthmus an altogether |