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Humboldt, Alexander von, 1769-1859

"COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1"

i., p. 295,
Gustav Rose, 'Reise mach dem Ural', bd. i., s. 524).

[footnote] *Humboldt, 'Relation Historique', t. ii., p. 99

Further to the south of Lake Kolivan, toward the boundaries of the Chinese
province Ili (between Buchtarminsk and the River Narym), the formation of
the erupted rock, in which there is no gneiss, is more remarkable than I
ever observed in any other part of the earth. The granite, which is always
covered with scales and characterized by tabular divisions, rises in the
steppes, either in small hemispherical eminences, scarcely six or eight feet
in height, or like basalt, in mounds, terminating on either side of their
bases in narrow streams.*

[footnote] ** See the sketch of Biri-tau, which I took from the south side,
where the Kirghis tents stood, and which is given in Rose's 'Reise', bd. i.,
s. 584. On spheres of granite scaling off concentrically, see my 'Relat.
Hist.', t. ii., p. 497, and 'Essai Geogn. sur les Gisement des Roches', p.
78.

At the cataracts of the Orinoco, as well as in the district of the
Fichtelgebirge (Seissen), in Galicia, and between the Pacific and the
highlands of Mexico (on the Papagallo), I have seen granite in large,
flattened spherical masses, which could be divided, like basalt, into
concentric layers.


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