HUMBOLDT 81 HUMMING BIRD cal, physical, and geographical investi- gations. At 28, he began the series of voyages memorable in the annals of science. No name is likely ever to stand higher on his country's roll than his. The "Cosmos" is a sufficient proof. This monumental work on the ijhysical universe was published in 4 volumes in 1845, 1847, 1850 and 1858 and immedi- ately translated into all civilized lan- guages. A book is needed to describe the extent of Humboldt's contribution to science. Consult Stoddart's "Life, Travels, and Books of A. von Hum- boldt." HUMBOLDT, WILHELM VON, a German philologist, brother of Alexan- der; born in Potsdam, June 22, 1767. He was educated at Gottingen, and de- voted to philological and literary studies; but he had sti'ong practical gifts and elevated social sympathies. In 1789 he visited Paris to study the French Revo- lution, with which he sympathized; from 1802 to 1819 he was in active official life; minister to Vienna, member of the Privy Council, Secretary of State, am- bassador to London, etc.; finally quitting it in disgust at the corruption he would not share. Meantime and later he wrote critiques on Goethe and Homer, and sci- entific and literary monographs, and translated ^schylus and Pindar. His main work in philology is "On the Kawi Language of the Javanese," but he made other valuable studies of primitive dia- lects. He died in Tegel, near Berlin, April 8, 1835. HUME, DAVID, a Scotch historian and philosopher; born in Edinburgh, Scotland, April 26 (o. s.), 1711. Origi- nally designed for the law, he became, in 1734, clerk in a mercantile house at Bristol. Having a strong propensity to literature, for the sake of seclusion he went to France, where he wrote his "Treatise of Human Nature" (1738). This work excited no interest on its first appearance, though it holds an important place in the history of philosophy. Hume's "Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary," appeared in 1742 and 1752, and were favorably received. In 1745 he was invited to reside with the young marquis of Annandale. Here he spent a year; meanwhile the chair of moral philosophy in the University of Edin- burgh having become vacant, he be- came a candidate, but failed. In 1746 he became secretary to General St. Clair, whom he accompanied to the courts of Vienna and Turin. In 1752 appeared at Edinburgh his "Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals," which of all his writings is considered the best. In 1754 he published the first volume of his "History of England," which he did not complete till 17G1. While this work was in progress he published "The Natural History of Religion." His great v/ork, "The History of England," had now ac- quired considerable celebrity, and the author gained largely by its popularity, for besides the profits it brought him, he obtained a pension through Lord Bute. In 1763 he accompanied the Earl of Hertford on his embassy to Paris, from whose fashionable and literary circles he received an enthusiastic welcome ; and where, in 1765, he remained as charge d'affaires. He became under-secretary of State in 1767. He died in Edinburgh, Scotland, Aug. 25, 1776. HUME, FERGUS, a New Zealand novelist; born in England, July 24, 1862. He was educated for the law. His first long work, "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab," was published in Melbourne, and later in London, achieving a phenomenal circulation. After the success of his first novel the author devoted himself to lit- erature in London. His most popular publications are "The Piccadilly Puzzle" (1889); "Miss Mephistopheles" (1890); "A Creature of Night" (1891); "An Island of Fantasy" (1894); "The Dwarf's Chamber" (1896); "The In- dian Bangle" (1899); "Jonah's Luck" (1906); etc. HUME, MARTIN ANDREW SHARP, an English historian; born in London, in 1847. He was educated in Madrid and was for a time editor of the Spanish State Papei-s in the Public Record Office in London. He served in the Turkish campaigns in 1897 and af- terward traveled extensively in South America. His most important works are "Philip II. of Spain" 1897) ; "Mod- ern Spain, 1788-1898" (1899); "The Love Affairs of Mary Queen of Scots" (1903); "Queen Elizabeth and her Eng- land" (1910). He died in 1910. HUMERUS (hu'-), in human anat- omy, the long bone of the arm, consisting of a shaft, an upper extremity articulat- ing with the glenoid cavity of the scap- ula, and an inferior articulating with the radius and the ulna. In comparative anatomy, the bone of the upper arm in the vertebrata. HUMMING BIRD, or HUMBIRD, one of the Trochilidse, a family of birds, tribe Tennirostres. The bill is long and slender, the tongue bifid and tubular, the wings very long, the toes long and slen- der. The plumage of the males is of the most lively colors, often vith extreniely beautiful metallic reflections; the fe-
