ILLUSTKATXONS OF TERRESTRIAL PHENOMENA. 389 



Aksou was entirely destroyed at the commencement of chapter 

 the eighteenth century by a commotion of this nature. >^xviiL 

 In Eastern Siberia, the centre of the circle of shocks ap- Volcanic 

 pears to be at Irkutzk, and in the deep basin of the sI^^l^"!.'" 

 Baikal lake, in the vicinity of which volcanic products 

 are observed. But this point of the Altaic range is the 

 extreme limit of these phenomena, no earthquakes hav- 

 ing been experienced farther to the west, in the plains 

 of Siberia, between the Altaic and Uralian ranges, or in 

 any part of the latter. 



It at once satisfies all the requirements of our reason CoiTcspon 

 and observation, to refer the origin of the great areas of fL^,".estri:a 



upheaval or depression to the same operations as are now and lunar 

 ,. ,1- i-i c J phenomena, 



discoverable m an earner stage or progress, and upon a 



large scale, in the attendant lunar satellite of our own 

 planet. Thus does extended observation, and legitimate 

 scientific induction, bring apparently the most diverse 

 and unconnected phenomena to bear upon each other, and 

 prove a remarkable and uninterrupted harmony to pre- 

 vail throughout systems which, to the superficial obser- 

 ver, had seemed to possess no single feature in common. 



Viewed in the light of this new theory, many terres- 

 trial phenomena will now be simplified and reduced to 

 rule, which formerly were of difficult solution, if not 

 apparently altogether lawless and incomprehensible ; and 

 thus, even the intelligent observations and comprehen- 

 sive deductions of Humboldt are illuminated by a new 

 light, of which he was unaware. 



The volcanic territory of Bichbalik is situated to the Volcanic 

 east of this great depression of Asia, for which it is con- uichbaiiii. 

 ceived the singularly interesting speculations of Mr. 

 Nasmyth are so entirely fitted to account. To the south 

 and west of the same internal basin we find two cones 

 in activity, — Demawutid, which is visible from Teheran, 

 and Seiban of Ararat, which is covered with vitreous 

 lavas. On both sides of the isthmus, between the Cas- 

 pian and the Black Sea, springs of naphtha and mud- 

 eruptions are numerous. 

 2 A 



