590 



of Turimiquiri), 1050 toises ; for the limestone 

 of Caripe (mountains that surround the table- 

 land of the Guarda of San Agustin), 750 t.; for 

 the sandstone alternating with the limestone of 

 Cumanaeoa (Cuchilla de Guanaguana), 550 t. ; 

 for the tertiary soil (Punta Araya) 200 t. It 

 appears to me superfluous to remark, that the 

 relations between the age of the formations, 

 and the height they attain, vary definitely in 

 other regions of the globe, where the secondary 

 rocks often rise above the primitive. The 

 study of the absolute height of rocks presents 

 less interest since the geologists for the most 

 part have abandoned the Wernerian hypothesis, 

 of a fluid of which the level has progressively 

 lowered in proportion as the different soils have 

 been precipitated. In the hypothesis which 

 attributes the inequalities of surface to heav- 

 ings-up, recourse is had to the waters of granite, 

 gneiss, or micaslate, which have risen to different 

 heights. The maxima of height give only the 

 measure of the force which has acted against 

 the oxidated crust of our planet. According 

 to these views, therefore, the petrifications of 

 pelagic shells which Mr. Bonpland and myself 

 discovered on the ridge of the Peruvian Alps 

 between Montan and Micuipampa, at the 

 height of 2000 toises, in beds strongly inclined, 

 are no proof that the antient level of the ocean 

 had attained that limit. 



