OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 137 



way of Perm to Ekatharinburg, on the Asiatic 

 slope of the Ural mountains. There Humboldt 

 remained four weeks, during which time he 

 made a series of important investigations on the 

 middle and northern part of the mountain- 

 chain, which afforded most interesting material 

 with regard to their position and formation, and 

 their metallic contents. " Their highest peaks 

 (according to Sir Roderick Murchison Silwria, 

 chap. xix. p. 480) rarely rise above 5,000 to 

 6,000 feet." The manner of their expansion, 

 and their position in the meridian, reminded 

 Humboldt of the analogous position of the 

 Andes of America. The central and northern 

 parts of the Ural mountains are auriferous, more 

 especially where the alluvial formations pre- 

 dominate. This circumstance led Humboldt 

 to interesting investigations, and, in spite of his 

 short sojourn of only four weeks, he attained 

 splendid results with reference to the com- 

 position and the formation of the alluvial strata, 

 which contain gold * and platinum, the existence 

 of new metals, and the condition of the different 

 formation of rocks. 



It would no doubt be a matter of surprise how 



* " No country furnishes a clearer example than Russia, 

 of the dependence of gold on certain geological and mineral 

 relations." Siluria, third edition, chap. xix. p. 479. 



