different European Chains of Mountains. 301 



not escape the penetration of M de Beaumont, and the follow- 

 ing is the result : — 



The directions of the Erzgebirge, the Cote d'Or, and Mount 

 Pilas are parallel to a great circle of our globe, which would 

 pass through Dijon, and would form with the meridian of that 

 city an angle of about 45°. 



The contemporaneous mountains of the second risino-, viz. 

 the Pyrenees and Appenines, the mountains of Dalmatia and 

 Croatia, and the Carpathian mountains, which belono- to the 

 same system, as may be deduced from the descriptions given of 

 them by various geologists, are all disposed parallel to an arc of 

 a large circle, whose orientation will be well determined if I say 

 that it passes through Natchez and the mouth of the Persian 

 Gulf. Thus, whatever may have been the cause, the mountains 

 which, in Europe, have issued from the earth at the same pe- 

 riod, form chains at the surface of the globe, that is to say, lon- 

 gitudinal projections, all parallel to a certain circle of the sphere. 

 If wc suppose, as is natural, that this rule may be applicable 

 beyond the limits within which it has been determined, the AUe- 

 ganies of North America, since their direction is also parallel 

 to the great circle which joins Natchez and the Persian Gulf, 

 would seem to belong, in respect to date, to the Pyrencan sys- 

 tem. Now, M. de Beaumont has been enabled, in this case, to 

 verify the accuracy of the inference, by a careful examination 

 of the excellent descriptions which the American geologists have 

 given of these mountains. It would appear from thfs that we 

 might, without much risk, venture to conclude that the mountains 

 of Greece, the mountains situated to the north of the Euphra- 

 tes, and the chain of Ghauts in the Indian peninsula, which also 

 come very accurately under the condition of parallelism already 

 indicated, must have risen, hke the Alleganies, along with the 

 Pyrenees and Appenines. 



The third system of mountains in the order of antiquity, 

 that of which Mont Blanc and the Western Alps form a part' 

 is composed of ridges parallel to a great circle, which would join 

 Marseilles and Zurich. In the whole space comprehended be- 

 twcen these two cities, the rule is verified with a very remark- 

 able accuracy. The chain which separates Norway from Swe- 

 den and the Cordillera of Brazil, being also both parallel to the 



