248 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



Thefe correfpondencies are perceptible in the 

 two great chains of the Old, and of the New 

 Worlds. The long chain of Taurus runs Eaft and 

 Weft, as does the Indian Ocean, the different 

 gulfs of which it inclofes by branches prolonged as 

 far as to the extremities of moft of their Capes. 

 On the contrary, the chain of the Andes, in Ame- 

 rica, runs North and South, like the Atlantic 

 Ocean. There is, befides, another thing worthy 

 of remark, nay, I venture to fay, of admiration, 

 it is, that thefe chains of mountains are oppofed 

 to the regular winds which crofs thofe Seas, and 

 which convey the emanations from them ; and that 

 their elevation is proportioned to the diftance at 

 which they are placed from fuch fhores : fo that 

 the farther they are removed from the Sea, the 

 greater is their elevation into the Atmofphere. 



For this reafon it is, that the chain of the Andes 

 is placed along the South Sea, where it receives the 

 emanations of the Atlantic Ocean, wafted by the 

 Eaft wind over the vaft Continent of America. 

 The broader that Continent becomeSj the greater 

 is the elevation of that chain. Toward the ifthmus 

 of Panama, where the Continent has no great 

 breadih, and, confequently, the diftance from the 

 Sea is fmall, the elevation of the mountains is in- 

 confiderable : but they fuddenly rife, precifely in 

 proportion as the American Continent widens. 



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