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HEIGHTS OF YAKIOUS BADGES. 



If we distinguish among the mountains those which rise 

 sporadically, and form small insulated systems,* and those 

 that mke part of a continued chain,t we find that, notwith- 

 standing the immense height J of the summits of some 

 insulated systems, the culminant points of the whole globe 

 belong to continuous chains, to the Cordilleras of Central 

 Asia, and South America. 



In that part of the Andes with which I am best ac- 

 quainted, between 8 south lat., and 21 north lat., all the 



* As the groups of the Canaries, the Azores, the Sandwich Islands, 

 the Monts-Dores, and the Euganean mountains. 



t The Himalayas, the Alps, and the Andes. 



J Among the insulated systems, or sporadic mountains, Mowna- 

 Roa is generally regarded as the most elevated summit of the Sandwich 

 Islands. Its height is computed at 2500 toises, and yet *t some seasons 

 it is entirely free from snow. An exact measure of this summit, situated 

 in very frequented latitudes, has for 25 years, been desired in vain by 

 naturalists and geologists. 





