| ~ 
es 3 te 
i oe Miscellanies. . 207 
ns The Ridiaksbos mene.—The extdhi of this interesting tract is ‘much _ 
a 
_ wiles from north to south, and 18 or 19 from east to west. 
ti to his first visit to it in company with Mr. H. E. Strickland, — ay! 
F and referring to that gentleman’s account of a portion of the district,* 
_ Mr. Hamilton describes minutely the two systems of volcanos, distin- 
guished by the state of preservation of the craters and of the coulées ; ; 
? 
Fcaiee 
~ Tess than i is assigned to it in published maps, being not more than 7 ..- 
— 
4 
‘= 
# 
+ 
“3 
_ he defines also the course of each lava-current, and points out its at- = 
tendant phepoment—bat these details admit of only Epetial Sade: 
ment, 
5 “The voleanic rota are basalt, lava, and ashes, the first beings “as 
i confined to the more ancient craters, and the last to the more modern. 
| The numerous older cones are further distinguished by being situated — 
on parallel ridges of gneiss and mica slate, and the newer, only three 
in number, by being confined to the intervening alluvial valleys. 
This important distinction Mr. Hamilton explains on the supposition, 
I that the elevation of the schistose ridges produced cracks, through 
which, as points of least resistance, the first eruptions of lava found 
Vent; and that these openings becoming apne ose plugged up, — 
by the cooling of injected molten matter, the schists were rendered 
_ 80 solid, that when the volcanic forces again nid active, the lines 
of least resistance were transferred to the valleys. - 
“The coulées from the ancient craters appear to have beet partly 
under water, as their surface is, in some places, covered with sedi- 
ment and turf; but the lava streams from the modern are bare, rugged, 
and barren, and the craters are surrounded by mounds of loose 
Scorie and ashes. In addition to the comparative view given by 
Mr. Strickland of the phenomena of the Katakekaumene and Ceniral 
France, Mr. Hamilton enters into a more extended investigation of 
points of resemblance, including other portions of Asia Minor. e 
ie voleanic groups of Mont Dore, ie — and aon Mezen, 
tr. Ha 
al 
Katakekaumene, as respects the composi 
_ Tangement at different levels, and the cones being scattered, 
lected in great mountain masses. ‘The Katakekaumene, in r. dam~ 
_ ilton’s Opinion, exhibits also additional evidence, that. ‘ispo 
_ of comparatively recent volcanos is coincident with the aerike of the 
 Stanitic axis, from the interior of which the voleanos have burst forth. 
3 The author also alluded to other comparative phenomena noticed in 
oe Strickland’s paper. Lastly, he pointed out two distinctions—in 
_. ne aay 
ict ‘ * Sce L. & E. Phil. Mag. vol. x, p. 70. 
