545 



This table * contains the whole system of 

 mountains of the New Continent ; namely : the 

 Andes, the maritime Alps of California or New 

 Albion, and the five groupes of the east. I 

 shall subjoin to the facts I have just stated, an 

 observation no less striking; in Europe, the 

 maxima of secondary systems, which exceed 

 1500 toises, are found solely on the south of 

 the Alps and Pyrenees, that is, on the south of 

 the principal ridge of the continent. They are 

 placed on the side where that ridge draws 

 nearest the shore, and where the Mediterranean 

 has not overwhelmed the land. On the north 



* In order to justify the correctness of the comparisons fur- 

 nished in this table, we shall mention the following heights : 

 Mont Mezin (Cevennes) 1027 toises ; the Puy de Sancy, 

 vulgarly called the Puy de la Croix, summit of Mount .Bores 

 in Auvergne, 972 t. j the Reculet (Jura), according to the 

 last survey of M. Roger, officer of engineers, 880 1. 5 Mount 

 Taddiandamalla in the Gates of Malabar, according to the 

 operations of Colonel Lambton, 887 t. ; the White Moun- 

 tains of New Hampshire, in the northern part of the Alleg- 

 hanies, rise to 1040 1. ; but towards the south, a few instances 

 in Virginia, the Peaks of Otter (Blue Ridge), are considered 

 as very lofty ; according to Morse, they are 486 t. ; accord- 

 ing to Tanner, 667. The mean height of the line of eleva- 

 tion of the Alleghanies is nearly 450 t., consequently at least 

 200 t. less than the mean height of the Jura. The table to 

 which this note refers, furnishes the comparisons only of the 

 loftiest summits, the maxima of their ridges, which we must 

 take care not to confound with their mean height, 

 VOL. VI, 2 o 



