ent for the originality of these mountains can be established upon
those facts, I am not a little at a loss to conceive.

The general mineralogical view of the Russian dominions, which we have,
in this treatise, may now be considered with regard to that distinction
made by naturalists, of primitive, secondary, and tertiary mountains, in
order to see how far the observations of this well informed naturalist
shall be found to confirm the theory of the earth which has been already
given, or not.

The Oural mountains form a very long chain, which makes the natural
division betwixt Europe and Asia, to the north of the Caspian. If in
this ridge, as a centre of elevation, and of mineral operations, we
shall find the greatest manifestation of the violent exertion of
subterraneous fire, or of consolidating and elevating operations; and if
we shall perceive a regular appearance of diminution in the violence or
magnitude of those operations, as the places gradually recede from
this centre of active force; we may find some explanation of those
appearances, without having recourse to conjectures which carry no
scientific meaning, and which are more calculated to confound our
acquired knowledge, than to form any valuable distinction of things. Let
us consult M. Pallas how far this is the case, or not.

After having told us that all those various alpine schisti, jaspers,
porphyries, serpentines, etc. in those mountains, are found mutually
convertible with granite, or graduating into each other, our author thus
continues, (p. 50).

"On entrevoit de certaines loix a l'egard de l'arrangement respectif
de cet ordre secondaire d'anciennes roches, par tous les systemes de
montagnes qui appartiennent a l'Empire Russe. La chaine Ouralique, par
exemple, a du cote de l'Orient sur tout sa longueur, une tres-grande
abondance de schistes cornes, serpentins et talceux, riches en filons
de cuivre, qui forment le principal accompagnement du granite, et en
jaspres de diverses couleurs plus exterieurs et souvent comme entrelaces
avec les premiers, mais formant des suites de montagnes entieres, et
occupant de tres-grands espaces. De ce meme cote, il y parait beaucoup
de quartz en grandes roches toutes pures, tant dans la principale chaine
que dans le noyau des montagnes de jaspre, et jusques dans la plaine.
Les marbres spateux et veines, percent en beaucoup d'endroits. La
plupart de ces especes ne paraissent point du tout a la lisiere
occidentale de