394 Europe : — a popular Physical Sketch. 



the level of the sea occurs ;* in Dovre 3200, and in the 

 southern part of Lapland 2666 ; but among the highest 

 mountains are, 



Gousta (Tellemarken,) 6,150 feet. 



Justedalsbra, 6,400 



Skagestoltind (Sognefield,) 8,160 



Lodalskaabe, 6,602 



Sneehatten (Dovre,) 7,572 



Syltop, ... 5,874 



Sulitelma, 6,182 



The Scandinavian mountain chain (with which are not 

 included the low rocks in the southern part of Sweden separ- 

 ated by the above mentioned lakes) consists chiefly of pri- 

 mitive formationsf (Urformation) among which gneiss % is the 

 prevailing rock ; limestone, so frequently found in other 

 mountains, plays here a subordinate part ; coal occurs not 

 at all, and fossils are scarce ; but metallic ores, particularly 

 iron and copper, abound, and silver is also found. 



The eastern and western side of this chain differ very 

 much, not only with regard to the temperature of the 

 atmosphere, but also with regard to its moisture. On the 

 western side, what is commonly called a coast, or island cli- 

 mate, is the prevailing, i. e., a damp, hazy atmosphere, fre- 



* Whenever an elevation above the level of the sea is given, it is the 

 vertical height from the sea, without any reference to the nature of the 

 declivity. 



t Primitive formations are such as commonly form the basis for the 

 others ; they are generally speaking chrystalline, and contain no traces 

 of fossil animal or vegetable remains. ' Flots rocks' rest upon the 

 former, generally speaking in alternate strata, and consist frequently 

 of fragments of primitive rocks, and contain fossil remains of animals 

 and plants. 



X Gneiss, like granite, consists of three parts : viz., quartz, felspar, 

 and mica, which last occurs more scaly, than in the granite, in which 

 the mica is granular, and placed in different directions ; whereas the mica 

 in the gneiss is placed in parallel strata. 



