Andes

(an'dīz,) [Span. Cordillera de los Andes, the great mountain system of S. America, extends through 65 deg. of Lat. along its W. coast from Cape Horn to the Isthmus of Panama, with a breadth of from 40 to 400 m., and covers with its offshoots, plateaux, and declivities, nearly a sixth part of that continent. The highest summit is Aconcagua, in the A. of Chili, 23,910feet high. The A. are composed partly of granite, gnei , mica, and clay slate, but chiefly of greenstone, porphyry, and basalt, with limestone, red sandstone, and conglomerate. Volcanoes are numerous in the Chilian A., where there are no le than 19 in a state of activity; and the mountains of Ecuador consist almost altogether of volcanic summits, either now or formerly in active ignition. Of these, the most dreaded is Cotopaxi. No portion of the globe is subject to such frequent and destructive earthquakes as the countries embosomed within the range of the A., and those lying between them and the Pacific Ocean. The A. are celebrated for their mineral riches,- producing gold and silver in large quantities, with platina, mercury, copper, lead, tin, and iron. The limit of perpetual snow in the A. reaches the height of 18,300ft. in the W. Cordillera of Chili; near the equator it is 15,000 feet, and in the Bo-| An'eroid rivian A. (Lat. 21° S.) 17,000 ft. above the sea. The potato Aneurism, is cultivated at an elevation of 9,800 to 13,000ft.; wheat grows luxuriantly at 10,000 feet, and oats ripen in the vicinity of Lake Titicaca at an elevation of 12,795 feet. Angel [s. 30]