292 
HEIGHTS OE TABIOUS BAUGES. 
NAMKS Oy THE CHAINS OF 
MOUNTAINS. 
The highest 
summits. 
Mean height 
of the ridge. 
Proportion of 
the mean 
height ofthe 
ndges to 
that ot the 
highest 
summits. 
Himalayas (between lat. 30° 18' 
and 31° 53', and long. 75° 23' 
and 77° 38') 
4026 t. 
2450 t. 
1 : 1-6 
Cordillera of the Andes (between 
lat. 5° and 2° S 
3350 t. 
1850 1. 
1 
1-8 
Alps of Switzerland 
2450 t. 
1150 t. 
1 
21 
Pyrenees 
1787 t. 
1150 1. 
1 
1-5 
Littoral Chain of Vene7Aiola 
1350 t. 
750 t. 
1 
1-8 
Group of the hlountains of the 
Pariino 
1300 t. 
500 t. 
1 
2'6 
Group of the Mountains of Brazil .. 
900 t. 
500 t. 
1 
2-3 
If we distinguisli 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 heightj 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-Dords, and the Euganean mountains. 
+ 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. 
