138 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS 



all this could have been accomplished in such a 

 limited time, if we were not already acquainted 

 with the great diligence, and the remarkable 

 powers of observation possessed by Baron 

 Humboldt. 



It is possible that the peculiarities of this 

 mountain-chain induced Sir Koderick Murchi- 

 son to examine the Ural in the year 1842. 

 The results of his elaborate investigations are 

 contained in his Siluria, chap. xix. ; and at 

 pages 479-80, occurs the following important 

 passage : " The study of this Uralian chain 

 enabled me to suggest, in the year 1844, 

 by comparison of the rocks of the two 

 countries, that Australia would also prove to 

 be an* auriferous region. The survey of the 

 Ural mountains in 1842 led me further to define, 

 within certain limits, the period when the 

 Silurian rocks were chiefly impregnated with 

 gold, and also to affirm that gold, as a distinct 

 metallic mass, is of younger date in that 

 region than the associated ores of copper 

 and iron." 



Humboldt visited the noted magnetic moun- 

 tain Blagodad, and the celebrated topaz-bed of 

 Murzinsk, ^near Nischnei-Tigitsk, which re- 

 minded him of Choco, in South America; 

 Humboldt found a piece of solid platinum, 



