SURFACE OF THE GLOBE. 37 



parallelism, and lay between certain fixed points of 

 the compass. 



This fact, real or imaginary, but sufficiently real in 

 certain places, has been connected with another cir- 

 cumstance, namely, that the strata themselves held the 

 same general directions, aud that, at the same time, 

 they were parallel to each other. Within small dis- 

 tances, parallelism and bearings on the compass will 

 doubtless agree ; but if it be attempted to generalize 

 this agreement for much larger spaces, or for the 

 whole globe, the want of thought which dictated this 

 conclusion becomes detected. It is evident from the 

 doctrine of the sphere, which has been overlooked in 

 these reasonings, that two strata with north bearings, 

 for example, however parallel for a short distance, 

 will -intersect at the poles if indefinitely prolonged ; 

 and that, if meeting from a quadrant's distance, they 

 will cross each other at right angles. It will be shown 

 in another place, that the directions of strata, even 

 for small spaces, do not always regulate those of 

 mountainous ridges ; although there is unquestion- 

 ably, in many parts of the world, a great consistency 

 in the elevations, and consequent bearings, of the 

 stratified rocks. 



With respect to the. consistent parallelism, simi- 

 larity, or direction, of extended elevations, we have 

 Saussure's authority for the great irregularity of the 

 Alps, and Ramond's for that of the Pyrenees. The 

 Cordillera of Mexico is an elevated platform, never 

 less than 5000 or 6000 feet in height ; nearly parallel 

 to the western ocean, and the higher summits are 

 irregularly placed upon it. In India, the Ghauts 

 flank the western side of the peninsula, and their 

 summit is an irregular platform. The high ridge of 

 Peru is not a chain, nor does it even resemble that of 



