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'^.^is^/^ ^f^^r ^- ' . . s A SYSTEM OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY; CONTAINING A UESC K I I'T ION OF THE NATURAL FEATURES OF THE LAND AND WATER THE PHENOMENA OF THE ATMOSPHERE, AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL LIFE. TO WHICH IS ADDED, A TREATISE ON THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE UiWED STATES. d/m. warren. c5^^^. AND ILLUSTRATED BY SEVERAL COPPER-PIRATE AND ELECTROTYPED MAPS AND CHARTS, DRAWN EXPRESSLY FOR THE WORK BY JAMES II. YOUNG. PHILADELPHIA: H. C W P E R T H W A I T & C 0. 1856. Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by H. COWPEETHWAIT i; Co., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the lyted Slates, for the Eastern District of Pennsgloania, STEBEOTIPED DT J. FiGAN. PRISTBD BY SMITH i PETERS. <^^'' b PUBLISHERS' ADVERTISEMENT. It was the tlesigu of the author, and the expectation of the puljlishers of this book, that it should form a part of Mitchell's Geographical Series, and it has been announced as Mitcliell's Physical Geograph}'. Circumstances, howcAer, which have occurred since that announcement, have rendered a change necessary, and it is presented to the public with less familiar names upon the title-page. The reasons which induced the preparation of the -work, and the names of the persons who have been engaged upon it, are stated in the Preface, to which the attention of the reader is respectfully invited. We have also to ask the indulgence of our friends for the long delay which has attended the publication of the present volume, — a dela}' which has been caused by circumstances entirely beyond our control. It would have been published, hoAvever, some time since, had it not been for the destruction, by fire, of the building in which an important part of our manufacturing Avas carried on, at a time when the work was ready for the press. We take this opportunity to express our thanks for the liberal support extended to our School Publications generally, and to ask for the present work so much patronage as its merits entitle it to receive. H. COWPEETHWAIT & Co. Philadelphia, June, 1856. (2) PREFACE. The admirable works of such writers as Hiimlioldt, Maury, Guyot, and Mrs. Somerviile, have obtained, in late years, a very wide I'irculation ; and the attention of the ])ublic, especially of teachers, seems to have been directed thereby to the science of Physical Geography. The brief allMsinns to this subject fcmnd in tlie ordinary text-books on Geography appear to have l)een considered far from satisfactory; and tlie desire has lieeu very u'enerally numifested, tliat a work, exclusively devoted to this sulijei't, siioiild be ])repared, adapted to the use of schools. The frequent expression of this desire Iiy many teachers induced Mr. D. M. Warren, one of the l)ubli^^■ers, to undertake the prejjaration of the present volume. He has derived much valual)le assistance in this labor from Mr. Arthur Sumner, of the Rhode Island State Normal School, at Providence; and from Mr. P. W. Bartlett, Principal of the Chapman Sclmol, Boston. The maps, which are specially designed to illustrate the text, were drawn by Mr. J.vmes H. Young, and have been engraved under his direct supervision. Mr. Young originally prepared all the matter, and drew all the maps illustrating Mitchell's Series of School Geographies; and to his critical accuracy and extensive geographical knowledge, the Compiler is indebted for many suggestions, which have materially increased the value of this book. Most of the engravings, which are also especially intended to ilhistrate the text, are from original designs by !Mr. Geoi!(1e G. White. The iirincipal authorities relied upon in the preparation of the present work, in addition to those already enumerated, have been the magniticent Folio Edition of Johnston's Physical Atlas, Ansted's Physical Geography, and the works of Petermann and ^lilner. The arrangement of the latter authors has been generally adopted in this volnme, and in some cases their language has been used. The articles on the Ocean, especially on the Currents and Navigation, would have been very imperfect without the aid oljtained ftxuu the investigations of Lieut. ]\Iaury, furnished to the world in his " Sailing Directions." Interesting deductions on the Winds of the Northern Hemisphere have been drawn from the work of Professor Coffin, published by the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Kane has kindly furnished the information by which we are enabled to designate on the map the location of his winter quarters, and the nearest point to the North Pole attained by his recent Expedition. The treatise on the Physical Geography of the United States is new, and entirely original in its arrangement. Much of the information on which it is based was obtained from the "Army Meteorological Register," and the "Eei>ort of the E.xplorations and Surveys for tlie Pacilic Railroad." It is believed that no subject of instruction will be more attractive to the young, or better fitted to elevate and expand the mind, than that of Physical Geograidiy. It treats of the imtural adaptation of the earth for the abode of man ; — it describes the diversities of the surface of the o-lobc — its divisions of land and water, its mountains and plains; — it draws our attention to the atmosphere, and explains that wonderful process, invisiVile to ns, by which the water of the ocean is lifted into the air, thence to be distributed over the land to form lakes and rivers, and to give life to vegetation, which in its turn sustains animal life. In short, to use the language of another, (Alexander Keith Johnston,) " Physical Geography is the history of Nature presented in its most attractive form, the exponent of the wonders which the Almighty Creator has scattered so profusely around us." It would be presumptuous to state, that, in a work like this, embracing so great a variety of subjects, and comprising such a multiplicity of facts, gathered from numerous and often conflicting authorities, no error will be found. Much care has been taken to test the accuracy of every statement ; but should any errors be discovered, the author will gratefully acknowledge the kindness of his friends who may furnish him the information bv which tliev niav be corrected. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Chapter Pairc INTRODUCTORY— DEFINITIONS 5 PART I. GEOLOGY. L— GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE LAND S II.— CONTINENTS 10 III.— ISLANDS 11 IV.— MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS 13 v.— PLATEAUS, OR TABLE-LANDS 16 VI.— PLAINS 18 VII.— VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES 21 PART II. HYDROGRAPHY. I.— SPRINGS 27 IL— RIVERS 28 III.— LAKES 31 IV.-THE OCEAN 32 v.— OCEANIC MOVEMENTS — WAVES, TIDES, AND CURRENTS 33 PART III. METEOROLOGY. I.— THE ATMOSPHERE 39 Chapter Page II.— TEMPERATURE 40 III.— THE WINDS 12 IV.— MOISTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE — DEW, FOGS, RAIN, SNOW, AND HAIL 48 v.— CLIMATE 54 VL— ELECTRICAL AND OPTICAL PHENOMENA.. 57 PART IV. ORGANIC LIFE. L— BOTANICAL GEOGRAPHY 60 IL— ZOOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY 66 IIL— ETHNOGRAPHY 73 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES. L— GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION AND EXTENT — PENINSULAS, CAPES, AND ISLANDS 78 II.— MOUNTAINS 79 III.— GENERAL SURFACE OF THE COUNTRY SO IV.— RIVERS AND LAKES 82 v.— CLIMATE, RAINFALL, AND PRODUCTIONS. 84 VI.— MINERALOGY 86 INDEX TO THE MAPS AND CHARTS. Page GEOLOGY. 1. Map exhibiting the Mountain Chains of Central Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa 15 2. Chart exhibiting the Continents, Islands, Chief Mountain Ranges, and other Ditersities of the Land Surface of the Earth 21 3. Chart of the Mountains, Plains, Ac, of India 21 4. Chart of the Principal Mountains, Plains, &c., of South America 21 5. Chart showing the Distribution of the Principal Active Volcanoes, AND the Regions visited by Earthquakes 26 HYDROGRAPHY. 6. Tidal Chart of the AVorld, showing the Progress of the Wave of High Water prosi East to West 35 7. Hydrographic Chart of the World, exhibiting the Principal River Basins, the Ocean, and. Oceanic Currents 38 8. The Connection of the Orinoco and Amazon by the River Cassiquiape, 38 9. Chart exhibiting the Depth of the Atlantic Ocean, on the Coast of the United States and the West Indies 38 METEOROLOGY. 10. Chart showing the Distribution of the Winds over the Surface of THE Earth; also the Regions subject to Storms 47 Page 11. Chart of the Distribution of Rain and Snow over the Surface of the Earth 53 12. Rain Chart of India 53 13. Sketch of a Part of the Glacier of Chasiouni .- 53 14. Climatic Chart, showing, by Isothermal Lines, the Mean Annual Tem- perature OF the Different Parts of the Earth's Surface 56 ORGANIC LIFE. 15. Chart showing the Distribution of the Most Important Trees, Grains, and Fruits, according to Zones of Climate and Moisture 64 16. Distribution of Plants in a A'^ertical Direction 64 17. Chart showing the Geographical Distribution of the Principal Mammalia 69 IS. Chart showing the Geographical Distribution of the Principal Birds and Reptiles 71 19. Ethnographic Chart of the World, showing the Distribution and Varieties of the Human Race 77 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES. 20. Physical Map of the United States, showing its Mountain,?, Plains, Rivers, Isothermal Lines, Ac S7 (4) PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. INTRODUCTORY. — DEFINITIONS. I. GEOGRAPHY is a description of the Earth. The term is derived from two Greek words, signifying " the earth," and " to describe," and the great variety of subjects comprehended in this general definition may be considered under the three divisions of Mathematical, Physical, and Political Geography. II. Mathematical Geography treats of the form, size, ami motions of the earth ; of its position among the other bodies of the universe, its divisions by circles, and the representations of the whole or portions of its surface on globes or maps. III. Physical Geography treats of the natural divisions of land and water, the phenomena of the atmosphere, and the dis- tribution and arrangement of organic life. IV. Political Geography treats of the extent and popula- tion of different countries, and the civil and social condition of tlicir inhabitants. MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. I. The Earth is that planet which we inhabit. 1. It is variously denominated terrestrial bull, sji/iere, and r/lobe, the terms having reference to its form. The form of the earth, in popular language, is expressed as round. More correctly speaking, however, its shape is that of an oblate spheroid — a ball bulging out in the middle, and flattened at the two opposite sides. Illustration of one of the proofs that the earth is nearly round. The proofs that the earth is nearly round are: 1. The tops of the masts of a ship coming into harbor are always seen before the hull. 2. Navigators Questions. ^Wliat is Geography? — Under what three divisions may the subject be considered ? — Of what does Mathematical Geography treat? — Physical Geography? — - Political Geography ? What is the earth? — State some of the names by which it is called. — "What is its correct form ? — Give some of the proofs of the rotundity of the earth. starting from a given port, and sailing constantly in the same direction, have at length arrived at the place from which they started ; and .3. The sh.adow cast by the earth on tlie moon is always circular. That the earth is slightly flattened at the opposite sides has been demonstrated by eminent French and English astronomers, from measure- ments of an arc of a meridian at different stations on the globe. The length of a degree was found to increase as they approached the poles. Any part of the circumference of a circle is called an arc. 2. The circumference of the earth is about 25,000 miles; its diameter is about 8000 miles. In exact numbers, the equatorial circumference of the earth is 24,899 miles. The equatorial diameter, carefully computed, is 41,849,548 feet, equal to about 7926 miles. The polar diameter is 41,709,642 feet, equal to about 7899J miles. It will thus be seen that the distance through the earth from East to West, owing to the flattening at the poles, is 2(ji miles greater than the distance through it from North to South. o. The earth has two motions — the (laili/am\ the i/rarli/, — both of which are from AVest to East. The daily motion of the earth is its revolution on its axis, causing day and night; the yearly motion is its revolution round the sun, causing the succession of seasons. The axis of the earth is an imaginary line passing through its centre from North to South, and is the diameter on which the earth is supposed to turn. The northern extremity of the axis is the North Pole — the southern extremity the South Pole. Until the beginning of the sixteenth century, it was generally supposed that the earth was stationary, and that the heavenly bodies revolved about it once in 24 hours. That the earth, on the contrary, revolves, is demon- strable by astronomy; that this is highly probable, apart from scientific proof, appears from the following consideration : 1st. No other suppositiim accounts for the bulging of the earth at the equator; the centrifugal motion, iis revolutions upon its own axis, would produce this eS'ect. 2d. A stone, dropped from the top of a high perpendicular tower, will always fall a short distance to the east of the base ; the stone has the motion of the top of the tower, which moves more rapidly than the base. 3d. This supposition alone will account for the equatorial current and the trade winds. At the equator, the rotary velocity of the earth is about lUOO miles an hour. The annual motion of the earth round the sun is conclusively proved by astronomical observations of the phenomena known as aberration of light. The succession of the seasons is the result of the annual revolution of the earth round the sun, and of the inclination of the earth's axis to the plane of the ecliptic. The angle of inclination is about 23i degrees. It thus follows that the axis of the earth, though it always points in the same direction, is at every period of its progress around the ecliptic, assuming a difierent position towards the sun. Twice in the year, on the 21st of March and 23d of September, the axis is perpendicular to the direction of the sun's rays ; these are the equinoxes, (equal nights). On the 21st of June, the North Pole leans towards the sun, bringing the Northern Hemisphere the most under the influence of his rays. On the 21st of December the South Pule leans towards the sun, bringing the Southern Hemisphere the most under this influence; these points in the ecliptic are called the solstices, (sun stands). QcESTioNS. — State the evidence of the earth's being tlattened at the poles. — What is the e.\tentof the circumference of the earth? — Of the diamelerof the earth? — How many motions has the earth, and what are they ? — What is the axis of the earth ? State some of the reasons which render it probable the earth revolves ? — What con- clusively proves the annual revolution of the earth ? — Explain the succession of seasons (5) INTRODUCTORY. The explanation given on the preceding page will be more clearly under- stood by an examination of the annexed diagram. On the 21st of March, one half of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres is turned towards the sun, and the days and nights are of equal length throughout the entire globe. As the earth continues its revolution round the sun, from March 21st to June 21st, the North Pole is more and more turned towards the sun, and the South Pole is in consequence farther turned from it. The longest day in the Northern Hemisphere, and shortest day in the Southern, is the 21st of June. It is then mid-summer in the Northern Hemisphere, while it is mid-winter in the Southern. As the earth still continues its course, the length of a d.ay in the Northern Hemisphere decreases, and in the Southern it increases, until on the 23d of September the days and nights are again of equal length. It is then autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, and spring in the Southern. As the earth still further continues its course, from the 23d of September to the 21st of December, the South Pole is more turned towards the sun, and in consequence the North Pole is turned from it. The longest day in the Southern Hemisphere, and shortest in the Northern, is the 21st of December. It is then mid-summer south of the equator, and mid-winter north of it. From the 21st of December to the 21st of March, the days increase in length in the Northern Hemisphere, and decrease in the Southern, until on March 21st they are again equal. It is then spring in the Northern Hemi- sphere, and autumn in the Southern. The ecliptic is the orbit in which the earth revolves round the sun. It is so called because it is the circle in which eclipses occur. It is the path in which the sun appears to move round the earth. The velocity of the earth, in its revolution round the sun, is about 1200 miles an hour. Parallels. Equator, Tropics, and Polar Circles. 4. For purposes of geographical description, imaginary lines are em- ployed, which divide the earth into different secticms. These are the equator, the meridians, the parallels, and the polar circles. The equator and meridians divide the earth into equal parts, and are Explain the diagram. — What is the ecliptic ? — How great is the velocity of the earth m its revolution round the sun ? Fur what purpose are imaginary lines employed ? — Name these lines. called great circles. The tropics, polar circles, and parallels divide the earth into unequal parts, and are called small circles. Every circle is divided into 360 equal parts, called degrees. The length of a degree, on a great circle, is about 09 miles ; on small circles, the length of a degree varies with the size of the circle. Geographers have adopted the measure of a degree, because the length of a mile varies in different countries. A German mile, for example, is equal to more than four English miles. The equator encircles the earth from east to west, at equal distances from the poles. Tiie tropics, polar circles, and parallels are small circles extending round the earth, parallel with the equator. There are two tropics and two polar circles; the number of parallels is unlimited. The Tropic of Cancer is 23* degrees north of the equator; the Tropic of Capricorn 233 degrees south of it. The Arctic circle is 23i degrees south of the North pole ; the Antarctic circle 23} degrees north of the South Pole. The Meridians are groat circles extendiug round the earth north and south, through the poles; their number is unlimited. Meridians. Zones. 5. Zones are divisions of the earth's surface, formed by the tropics and polar circles. They are five in number — two Frigid, two Temperate, and one Torrid. The North Frigid Zone is north of the Arctic Circle ; the South Frigid, south of the Antarctic Circle ; the North Temperate Zone is between the Arctic Circle and Tropic of Cancer; the South Temperate between the Tropic of Capricorn and Antarctic Circle ; the Torrid Zone is between the Tropics. 6. The Latitude and Longitude of a place being known, it is easy to determine its relative position and distance from other places. Latitude is distance from the equator, north or south. Longitude is distance from any given meridian, east or west. Places north of the equator are in North Latitude ; those south of it in South Latitude. The distance from the equator to the poles is 90 degrees ; Latitude, therefore, can never exceed 90 degrees. Latitude is measured on great circles (meridians), therefore the length of a degree must be about C9 miles. If a place is said to be in 10 degrees North Latitude, it is under- stood to be 10 degrees north of the equator, or about 690 miles from it; ^nd a line encircling the earth from east to west, passing through this place, is the 10th parallel of Latitude. Different nations usually reckon Longitude from the meridians of the capitals of their own countries. Thus, on French maps. Longitude is reckoned from the meridian of Paris. On the maps in this book. Longitude is computed from the meridian of Greenwich, in England. A line passing round the earth, through Greenwich and the North and South poles, is the meridian of Greenwich. All places east of this line are in East Longitude; all west of it, in West Longitude. A degree of Longitude may be measured on any circle extending east and west. On the equator, its length is the same as a degree of Latitude, or 69 miles ; proceeding from the equator towards the poles, it diminishes with the size of the circles. On the 30th parallel, it is 00 miles ; on the 60th parallel, 34J miles. Longitude is com- puted 180 degrees in each direction. Kute. — As many of the principles in this treatise have reference to the foregoing definitions, it is recommended that they be carefully perused before commencing the chapters which follow. Why have geographers adopted the measure of a degree ? — What is the Equator? — What are the Tropics, Polar Circles, and Parallels? — What are the Meridians? What are Zones? — How many arc there? — What is Latitude ? — Longitude? PHYSICAL G ]-: G R A P H Y The matter of wliicli the Earth is composed is collected into a mass of the form of an orange, or an ol)late splieroi'/i/ jn-opcr treat ? PHYSICAL GEOGKAPIIY CHAPTER I. GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE LAND. I. The sxibject of which this chapter treats, strictly speaking, belongs to the science of Geology, and not to Physical Geogra- phy ; but before proceeding to the consideration of the form of the land and the diversities of its surface, some knowledge of its general structure will be found useful. II. The various substances which constitute the Earth may bo divided into simple and compound. A simple substance, or ele- ment, is one which cannot be separated into other component parts. A compound substance is formed by the combination of two or more simple substances or elements. The entire number of elements yet discovered is sixty-one, of wliich only fourteen are found in nature in a pure state, and these occur rarely, and in very limited quantities. Gold, silver, and copper are elements, generally found combined with other substances, but frequently discovered in a pure, unmixed state. Granite and limestone are compound substances. Nearly all the matter of the globe is composed of different combinations of eighteen of these elements ; and no mailer pertaining to ths earth, no part of the land or water, no particle of air, no plant or animal, has yet been discovered, which, on being submitted to the analysis of the chemist, is not found to be composed of one, or some combination of two or more of the sixty-one elements first mentioned. III. On and immediately below the surface of the land will be found, generally speaking, loose or unconsolidated materials, which are called earths. The first in order, usually occupying the immediate surface, is composed principally of decayed vege- table and animal substances, and is called vegetable mould. IV. The other earths are composed principally of particles which have been worn oiF by the atmosphere, the winds, and the rain, from the solid rocks which form the crust of the earth. These are called mineral earths, and bear the names respectively of the minerals which enter most largely into their composition. Thus, when earths are composed principally of silex, or flint, they are called silicious earths (sand is an example) ; when of calx, or lime, calca- reous earths ; and when of argilla, or clay, argillaceous earths. If there were only silicious earth there could be no vegetation, for it is too porous to retain the moisture. Sandy deserts are examples of tracts of land composed almost wholly of silicious earth. Calcareous earth is too dry and hot for vegetation, and argillaceous earth is too wet and cold. When these earths, however, are mixed together in due proportions, they correct and improve each other, and form the fertile soil of our gardens and fields. Sand corrects the stiffness of clayey land, and lime adds to its warmth. Without sand, no glass could be made ; nor could houses of brick or stone be built, for sand is a necessary ingredient in mortar. Without clay, ^ye should have no springs ; for beds of clay, or clayey rocks, alone arrest the downward progress of the water which falls in rain, thus forming the reser- voirs from which springs flow. V. The wearing away of solid rocks, by the influences already enumerated, is not confined exclusively to the particles which form mineral earths. Large fragments are frequently broken oif, from which are formed the gravel, pebbles, and rounded stones that are seen on the sea-shore, and in the beds of rivers. At first, these fragments are rough, but when subjected to the rolling of waves on the beach, or to the action of running water in rivei's, by rubbing and grinding against each other, they become smooth and rounded. VI. After diggina; through the different earths which lie at the surface, we come to hard or consolidated materials, which are called rocks. These rocks form what is called the " crust of the earth," and, generally speaking, they are of the same materials as the earths we have just described : the only difi"erence being, that in the earths the materials are loose, or unconsolidated ; and in the rocks, hard, or consolidated. Popularly, the term " rock" is applied only to the more compact and solid portions of the globe, but geologically it extends to every formation ; to the loose s.ands, gravels, and clays, as well as to the limestones and granites. Our positive knowledge of the formations constituting the interior of the earth is very limited, the labors of the miner having extended to but com- paratively a short distance below the surface of the earth, and scarcely 2000 feet below the level of the sea. The greatest depth below the level of the sea yet reached by man is probably the bore of the new salt works, at Minden, Prussia; which, in June, 1844, reached the depth of 1993 feet, or, from the mouth of the mine, 2231 feet. Probably the deepest mine in the world, though not now worked, is that of Kuttenberg, in Bohemia, which has an absolute depth of 3778 feet. It does not, however, extend so far below the level of the sea as that of Minden. The deepest mine in America is the silver-mine of Valenoiana, near Guanasuato, in Mexico, which has a depth of 1887 feet ; yet the bottom of this mine is more than 5000 feet above the level of the sea. VII. All rocks may be classified — 1. As Stratified, or Unstratified ; 2. As Fossiliferous, or Non-fossil iferous ; 3. As Igneous, Metamorphic, or Aqueous. VIII. Stratified rocks are found in the regular form of beds or layers, varying in depth from the thickness of a sheet of paper to many feet. These beds are sometimes arranged horizontally, but oftener inclined at various angles to the horizon. This class of rocks is estimated to occupy about nine-tenths of the land surface of the earth, and to have an average depth of eight or ten miles. W^hat is a simple substance ? — What is a compound substance ? — What name is given to the soil which occupies the immediate surface ? — What are mineral earths ? — Describe silicious earths. — Calcareous earths. — Argillaceous earths. — Could there be iiny vegeta- tion if there were only silicious earth? — AA^hy there were no silicious earth ? Stratified and Unstratified Rocks. IX. Unstratified rocks are irregular masses, the lowest of all rocks, forming the basis or bed on which the others rest. But while they thus form this basis or bed, they are frequently pressed up through the stratified rocks, constituting in many places the What difference do you observe between the substances at the surface of the earth and those below it? — What is the difference between the popular and geological signi- fication of the term "rock?" — How far below the surface does our knowledge of the Of what should we be deprived if j formations extend ? — How may all rocks be classified ? — What nre stratified rocks ? — What are unstratified rocks ? GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE LAND. 9 summits of lofty mountains. They do not probalily occupy more than one-tenth part of the earth's surface, but we have reason to suppose they constitute the internal parts of the globe to a great depth. Vn. Fossiliferous rocks contain, in a petrified state, the re- mains of plants and animals, sometimes in small, but often in enormous quantities. The fossiliferous rocks are stratified. A part of the non-fossiliferous rocks arc stratified — a part fire unstratified. 1. Prof. Hitchcock infers that two-thirds of the surface of the existing continents are composed of fossiliferous rocks, and they are often several thousand feet in thickness. The quantity of microscopic shells discovered by the great Prussian naturalist, M. Elirenberg, in rocks of this formation, is most wonderful. Shells not larger than a grain of sand form entire mountains. In one place in Germany he discovered a bed fourteen feet thick, made up of the shells of minute animals, so small that he estimated that forty millions of them would be required to form a cubic inch. 2. The quantity of fossil remains is so great, that with the exception of the metals, and some of the older rocks, probably not a particle of matter exists on the surface of the earth that has not at some time formed part of a living creature. VIII. Igneous rocks, or those which are supposed to owe their origin to fire, are sub-divided into Plutonic and Volcanic rocks. They are unstratified and non-fossiliferous. 1. Plutonic rocks, it is supposed, were formed of melted matter, cooled and consolidated at a great depth, and under an enormous pressure, and then thrown up by the elastic force of internal heat. Volcanic rocks are the products of ancient volcanic eruptions. 2. Granite and its varieties constitute the principal plutonic rocks. Basalts and green-stone are among the principal volcanic rocks. From their frequent arrangement in the form of steps, they are often called " trap rocks," from the Swedish trappa, " a stair." Fing.al's Cave and the Giant's Causeway are familiar examples. FiDgal'a Cave. 3. The theory of the igneous formation of rocks, of which we have positive proof by observation in the case of volcanic rooks, pre-supposos the earth to have been originally in a melted state, and that its centre now, excluding a crust only from 20 to 50 miles in thickness, is a sea of fire. Additional evidence of this is found in the fiict, that the temperature of the earth regularly increases one degree for every 54 feet of descent beneath its surface. At this rate of increase, a heat sufficient to melt all known rocks would be reached at a depth of between 40 and 50 miles. .Describe the Foseiliferous rocks. — Into what two classes are Igneous rocks divided ? Of wliat is it supposed Plutonic rocks were formed? — Of what .are volcanic rocks the products ? AVhat does the theory of the igneous formation of rocks presuppose? 2 IX. Metaniiir[iliic rocks are supposed to have been formed in regular beds or layers, of the sediment of water, but having been deposited near the place where plutonic rocks were generated, their character has been changed by the immense heat, and they have become as highly crystallized as granite itself, without losing their regular form. They are stratified, and non-fossiliferous. 1. Gneiss, a very common rock in some parts of the United States, espe- cially in New England, and often so nearly resembling granite, as hardly to be distinguished from it even by a practised eye, is a metamorphic rock. X. Aqueous rocks appear to have been formed by the gradual deposit of sedimentary matter in water, which has become more or less hardened into solid rocks. They are stratified and fossiliferous. 1. They are variously subdivided by different geologists with reference to their age, and the depth at which they are found from the surface, into numerous groups and orders. Groups found at the greatest depth, and containing the remains of the earliest formed animals, arc regarded as the oldest ; those containing the remains of animals similar to those now living, are deemed to be of the most recent formation. 2. Aqueous rocks constitute by far the greatest portion of the exposed crust of the earth. The various kinds of soils, griivels, sands, clays, lime- stone, coal, sandstone, and some slates, are the principal rocks of this class. XI. All stratified rocks maintain a regular order of succession ; that is, if an older rock is at the surface, we may be assured none of later formation is underneath it. Thus, no geologist would expect to find beds of coal underneath strata of talcose slate, the latter being an older formation ; yet this slate has been bored into, at great labor and with much expense, in search for coal. XII. The crust of the earth is undergoing incessant change. The atmosphere, the ocean, and rivers, are agents constantly acting upon the land, and removing its particles into the sea ; while, as if to compensate for this gradual wearing away of the land, at intervals of time, volcanic eruptions elevate enormous masses of matter, sometimes forming new islands in the midst of the ocean. Yet these changes are trivial, compared with those which geology teaches us must have taken place to fit the earth for the abode of man. XIII. Recapitulation. — It will thus be seen that the matter of which the earth is composed, is constituted of a comparatively limited number of simple elements ; — That the crust of the earth is composed of rocks arranged, according to their form and position, into stratified, lying in horizontal or inclined layers, and unstratified, lying nearest the centre ; — According to their character, into fossiliferous, containing or- ganic remains of plants and animals ; and non-fossiliferous, con- taining no such remains, — And according to their origin, into Igneous, formed by the direct agency of fire ; Metamorphic, formed by internal heat and pressure ; and Aqueous, formed by deposits of sedimentary matter in water. It will also be seen that the crust of the earth is undergoing constant changes. now are Metamorphic rocks supposed to have been formed? — How do Aqueous rocks appear to have been formed ? What is said of the order of succession maintained by Aqueous rocks? — What of the changes going on in the crust of the earth ? — Recapitulate the subjects of this chapter. 10 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. CHAPTER II. CONTINENTS. I. Continents, of wliicli there are only two on the earth, are those great masses of connected land, one of which occurs in the Eastern and one in the "Western Hemisphere. They differ from islands only in their greater extent, both being entirely sur- rounded by water. 1. The island of Australia, on account of its great size, is, by some geo- graphers, regarded as a continent. It is generally ranked, however, among islands. 2. On many maps of the world, constructed in the interval of time between the discovery of the South Seas and their navigation by Captain Cook, an immense continent, stretching out from the South Pole, and filling the Antarctic regions, figures under the name of Terra Australls Incognita, (unknown southern land). No evidence of the existence of such a con- tinent could be adduced, but speculative geographers believed that such a mass of land must exist in these regions, to balance the greater known quantity of the Northern Hemisphere. The researches of Captain Cook banished the dreams of those who expected to find here habitable countries, but left unsettled the question whether there might not be vast tracts of land in the frozen regions near the South Pole. This question was settled by the United States' Exploring Expedition in 1840, and the British Expedition in 1841, and the existence of such tracts was satisfactorily proved. But it has not yet been determined whether the respective districts are continuous, so as to form what may be called an Antarctic continent. 3. In the Northern Hemisphere, Greenland, now known not to be a part of the main land of America, may be the projection of an Arctic continent extending around the North Pole. II. The great Eastern continent extends through upwards of two hundred degrees of longitude, from Cape Verd, the most westerly point of Africa, 17° 33' west, to East Cape, the eastern extremity of Asia, 190° east (170° west). It embraces upwards of a hundred and ten degrees of latitude, from Cape Severe Vostochnoi, in Siberia, 78° 16' north, to Cape Agulhas,S. E.of the Cape of Good Hope, 84° 50' south. Its area may be stated at about 31,000,000 square miles. III. This continent has a maritime coast-line of more than 60,000 miles, and attains its greatest elevation in Central Asia, the land here reaching the enormous height of nearly five and a half miles, the culminating point of the globe. Its greatest depression is the shore of the Dead Sea, which, at the water level, is more than 1300 feet below the surface of the Mediter- ranean Sea. 1. Of the three divisions of the continent, Europe comprises somewhat less than one-eighth of its entire area, Africa more than one-third, and Asia more than one-half. Africa is about three times, and Asia more than four times, the size of Europe. 2. Africa, the south-western member of the continent, difi'ers in many respects from the other portions. Externally, a comparatively unbroken coast-line ; and, in the interioi-, a deficient water communication, and great deserts, mark the contrast. Asia and Europe exhibit repeated examples of deeply-indented shores, and both are abundantly supplied with great river systems. IV. The Western continent, inferior in size, extends through upwards of a hundred and thirty degrees of longitude, from What are contiDents ? — Describe the great Eastern Continent. — Its highest eleva- tion.— Its greatest depression.— State the extent of its coast-line. — What portion of its area does Europe comprise? — Africa? — Asia? — In what respects does Africa differ from Europe and Asia ? Cape St. Roque, in Brazil, 35° west, to Cape Prince of Wales, the most westerly point of North America, 168° west. It em- braces upwards of one hundred and twenty degrees of latitude, from Point Barrow, the most northern point of North America, 72° north, to the Straits of Magellan, 54° south. Its entire area may be stated at about 14,500,000 square miles. V. This continent has a maritime coast-line of about 37,500 miles. Its greatest elevation is nearly four and a half miles, a mile below the culminating point of the Eastern continent. Of the two divisions of the continent, North and South America, the former comprises about five-ninths of its area. The entire con- tinent is less in extent than Asia, and hardly equal to Africa ana Europe combined. VI. A striking dissimilarity appears in the general contour or outline of the two continents. In the Eastern continent, the prevailing direction of the land is from east to west, or, more correctly, south-west to north-east. In the Western continent it is directly the reverse, or from south-east to north-west. VII. The Western continent exhibits a simpler outline than the Eastern. Its maritime coast has a less proportion of inden- tations, none of consequence appearing on the Pacific coast, except the Gulf of California. The eastern sea-board of South America is also comparatively unbroken. 1. Of all the divisions of the globe, Europe is most deeply indented by seas, bays, and gulfs. This is strikingly shown in the following table, which exhibits the area, the extent of coast-line, and the proportion of square miles of surface to one mile of coast for each of the gram? divisions : — Name of Divisions. Area in Square Miles. Extent of Coastrline. Proportion of Sq. Miles of surface to one mile of Coast-line. 3,760,000 7,980,000 6,500,000 16,300,000 10,930,000 17,000 24,000 13,500 31,000 14,000 221 332 481 526 781 North America .... South America .... Asia Africa View of Cape Horn. VIII. The two continents have some points of resemblance. Both terminate in pointed projections towards the south. America, with the rocky precipices of Cape Horn ; Africa, with Describe the Western Continent. — Its highest elevation. — State the extent of its coast-line. — How do its two divisions compare in size? State some of the points of dissimilarity between the two Continents. — In which division is the coast-line most deeply indented? ISLANDS, 11 its Table Mountain rising to the height of about 3500 feet. Their limits to the north have nearly the same latitude, generally that of about 70 degrees. And an important member of eaeli conti- nent is almost isolated : a narrow isthmus connecting Africa with Asia, and uniting North and S mth America. 1. Descending to detail, we find the northerly projection of the Peninsula of Jutland repeated in the Peninsula of Yucatan, in Central America, the only important exceptions to the southerly direction of peninsulas. The deep bend in the western coast of South America, south-west of Peru, is repeated in Africa by the Gulf of Guinea. 2. East of the southern part of each continent is a large island, or group of islands: .as M.adagascar, east of Africa — and the Falkland Islands, east of South America. The remark.able fiords or crevices of the coast of Nor- way, are repeated on the south-west coast of South America. IX. Comparing the two sides of the Atlantic Basin, a mutual disposition to unite may be observed in the advancing and retreat- ing nature of the coast-lines of the land. The great projection of Western Africa is opposite the indentation of the Gulf of Mexico, and the projection of the Brazilian shore is opposite the indentation of the Gulf of Guinea. 1. The bold conception has been entertained from this peculiar outline, that the two continents onee formed an undivided territory, which some great convulsion separated, creating the Atlantic valley, into which the ocean poured. X. The mean height of continents, or their average elevation above the level of the sea, is a subject investigated by Humboldt, with somewhat surprising results. He finds that the mean height depends not so much upon the mountain-chains, as upon the table- lands, plateaus, and plains. 1. He estimates that if the Pyrenees were spread over Europe, they would raise the land scarcely C feet ; and the Alps, about 22 feet ; while the plateau of Spain would produce an average elevation of 70 feet. If the Andes were pulverized, and spread over the plains of South America, its effect would be to raise the surface 518 feet. Omitting Africa, which is little known, and the average elevation of Europe is 070 feet. North Ame- rica 750 feet. South America 1130 feet, and Asia 1150 feet, or a general average above the level of the sea of 920 feet. CHAPTER III. ISLANDS. I. Islands are masses of land, greatly varying in size, entirely surrounded by water. They rarely occur alone in the midst of a wide expanse of ocean, but usually form groups and archipelagoes contiguous to the main land. 1. Islands may be divided into two classes: Continental, and Pelagic, (belonging to the sea). Continental islands are those which lie .along the coasts of continents. They are generally long and narrow, with their extre- mities pointing towards each other. Of this class are the .Japanese, and other islands that extend along the coast of Asia ; the British Isles, and the West Indies. Those which are found in the midst of the sea, generally of a round or elliptical form, are Pelagic — as the Sandwich Islands, and St. Helena. State some of the points of resemblance between the two continents. — "What may be observed with reference to the coast-lines of the land on the two sides of the Atlantic Basin? — What bold conception has been entertained from their peculiar outline? Relate the results of Humboldt's observations on the mean height of continents. What are islands? — Into what two classes may they be divided ? — What are Conti- nental islands? — Pelagic islands? 2. Solitary isles are commonly small, and of volcanic origin. Ascension Island is an example, 1450 miles from the coast of Africa, 080 from St. He- lena, and 520 miles from the Island of St. Matthew, the nearest point of land. St. Helena is another example, 1800 miles from the coast of Brazil, and 1200 from the shores of Africa, Ascension Island being its nearest neighbor. Both these islands are of volcanic formation. Island of St. Helena. 3. Rockall, a granite block, scarcely a hundred yiirds in circumference, situated in the Atlantic Ocean, three hundred miles west of Scotland, and St. Paul's Rocks, also in the Atlantic, seven hundred miles east of Brazil, are remarkable exceptions to the general characteristic of solitary islands. II. Some islands are simple masses of sand deposited by the ocean, and just rising above high water mark ; others are tracts, more or less extensive, having a general resemblance, in their mountains, plains, lakes, rivers, and variable climates, to the adjacent continent. III. The geographical position and geological character of many islands render it highly. probable that they were formerly a portion of the neighboring continent, the connecting parts being at a lower level, and submerged by water. 1. Thus the crystalline mountains of Corsica and Sardinia extend in the same direction, and are of similar formation to the maritime Alps, of which they undoubtedly form a part. The Japanese Islands are a continuation of the Peninsula of Kamtschatka. The West India Islands seem to have been rendered insular by the incursions of the ocean. 2. It can hardly be doubted that Britain has been detached from the main land of Europe, the sea cutting its way through an isthmus which once connected England with France, and forming the Straits of Dover. IV. A great number of islands are of volcanic origin, on some of which the volcanoes are still active. Though distributed through all latitudes, from the island of Jan Mayen, 72° north, to the Antarctic Land, they are most numerous in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. V. The formation of new islands by sub-marine volcanic action, though of rare occurrence, is a phenomenon of which we have many well-authenticated records. Some of these remark- able creations have entirely disappeared beneath the surface of the sea ; others have slightly subsided, forming dangerous shoals ; while others again have continued permanent. Of what origin, commonly, are solitary islands? — Give some examples. — Name some remarkable exceptions. — To what do some islands bear a general resemblance? What is rendered highly prob.able, from the geographical position and geological cha- racter of many islands? — Illustrate your statement. ^^'here are volcanic islands most numerous? — What is said of the formation of new islands? 12 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. The following are well-authenticated accounts of such creations in different localities : — 1. The Azores. — New islands appeared in connection with this group in 1538, 1587, and 1720; but the best-known example occurred in 1811, when the temporary island of Sabrina rose off the coast of St. Michael. It attained the height of 300 feet, was about a mile in circumference, but gradually subsided, and wholly disappeared by the close of February, 1812. In 1813, there were 500 feet of water at the spot. 2. Coast of Iceland. — The island of Nyiie, or New Island, was erupted in 1783, and formally claimed by the court of Denmark ; but in a few months the sea regained possession of the site. 3. Aleutian Isles. — A new island was added to this group in the year 180C, upwards of four geographical miles in circumference ; and a second appeared in 1814, which rose to the height of 3000 feet, then slightly subsiding. Both have since remained firm. 4. Coast of Sicibj. — Ilotham or Graham Island arose in the year 1831. On the 19th of July, in that year, the crater of the volcano which formed it had arisen a few feet above the level of the sea, and was in great activity ; emitting vast volumes of steam, ashes, and dust. The island increased in all its dimensions from that time until August, when its circumference was about 3240 feet, and its height 107 feet. From August until October, various changes took place, and in December it entirely disappeared. In 1846, it formed a shoal with 210 feet of water upon it. VI. Coralline islands, among the most interesting and won- derful operations of nature, are tbe ■work of minute animals, which exist in countless numbers in the tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. These little creatures secrete from their food and from the surrounding sea-water a mass of matter which beccrme rocks. These rocks, elevated to the surface, are broken up by the elements, and exposed to the atmosphere. The winds and the currents convey to them from a distance numerous seeds and plants, vegetation springs up ; and thus, after a time, coral islands become fitted for the habitation of man. The coral insect cannot exist if left dry, nor at a greater depth than from 150 to 200 feet. It always commences building its stony habitation on sub- marine land, and ceases its labor in an upward direction on reaching the surface of the water. The occurrence of coral below the depth mentioned can only be explained on the supposition that the foundation on which the insect commenced to build has subsided; while all the coral above the surface has either been washed up by the stormy swell of the ocean, or ele- vated by volcanic action or other internal forces. VII. Coralline Formations are distributed into the four great classes of Lagoon-islands, to which their Indian name of Atolls is generally applied, Encircling-reefs, Barrier-reefs, and Fringing- reefs. 1. Lagoon-islands, or atolls, consist of a belt of coral enclosing a lagoon, or vacant space of the ocean. The coral above the surface of the water is usually less than a quarter of a mile in breadth, and so low, that it would not be perceptible at a very small distance, but for its vegetable clothing of cocoa-nuts and palms. The lagoons themselves, or enclosed spaces, vary in extent from a few square miles to enormous areas. The depth of water in the lagoons ranges from 100 to 300 feet. The atolls are variously circular, oval, and irregular in shape. They occur singly and in groups. Dangerous Archipelago, east of the Society Islands, is an assemblage of 80 atolls, mostly circular, subject to strong curreuts and squalls. The surf ia said to beat on them with such violence as to be heard for a distance of 8 miles. Many of the islets are inhabited. The Caroline Archipelago, north of New Guinea, the largest of all, comprises 60 groups of atolls about 1000 miles in length. Many are of great size, and all are beaten by a tempestuous sea and occasional hurricanes. Says Mr. Darwin, in describing AVhitsunday Island, a sketch of which, Give some examples of new islands which have arisen. — Describe the formation of Coral Islands. — Name the four classes of Coralline Formations. Which are Lagoon islands ? taken from Beeohey's Voyage, is presented below: — "The immensity of the ocean, the fury of the breakers, contrasted with the lowness of the land and the smoothness of the bright green water within the lagoon, can hardly be imagined without having been seen." View of Whitsunday Island. 2. Encircling-reefs differ only from the atolls in having one or more islands within the central expanse. The coral belt is commonly at the distance of two or three miles from the enclosed shore. Tahiti, the principal of the Society group, is a fine example ; an island rising in mountains 7000 feet high, surrounded by a lagoon, like an enormous moat, from half a mile to three miles broad, and 200 feet deep, which is separated from the out-lying ocean by a reef of coral. The coral, both in the case of atolls and encircling reefs, has openings or channels in its circuit, by which ships enter the lagoons, where they find excellent harborage. 3. Barrier-reefs extend in straight lines in front of the shores of a conti- nent, or of a large island, frequently at a considerable distance from the land. New Caledonia has a reef of this kind 400 miles long; but the grandest example of coral formation known is the great Australian reef. Externally, it rises with little inclination from a fathomless ocean — stretches upwards of 1000 miles along the north-east coast — varies in breadth from 200 yards to a mile, and in distance from the shore from 20 to 70 miles. There are many openings through the reef, by which vessels enter the interior ocean, which is everywhere safely navigable. 4. Fringing-reefs are mere ribbons of coral, enclosing no lagoons, but immediately lining the shore. VIII. The growth of coral reefs and islands is chiefiy confined to the Torrid Zone. In a few cases, as in the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, among the Bermudas, as far north as 32° 15', and in the Red Sea at S0° north, it has been observed beyond the Tropics. Atolls, Encircling-reefs, and Barrier-reefs, are confined exclusively to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Fringing-reefs occur exclusively among the West India Islands, and in the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and are also found in various parts of the Indian and Pacific waters. The tropical waters of the Eastern Atlantic and Eastern Pacific appear to be entirely destitute of coral formations. IX. Recapitulation. — It thus appears that all the land on the surface of the earth is arranged in the form of Continents or Islands ; that the continents have many points of contrast and resemblance ; that the islands are either portions of a continent separated from it by some convulsion of nature, or by the action of water — or that they are masses of sand washed up by the waves — or that they are of volcanic or coral formation. Describe Encircling-reefs — Barrier-reefs — Fringing-reefs. — To what Zone is the growth of Coral chiefly confined? — Recapitulate the subjects of this and the preceding chapter. MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS. 13 Mount Ararat, CHAPTER IV. MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS. I. The surface of the earth is greatly diversified by mountains and valleys, hills, table-lands, and plains. II. Mountains are the highest elevations of the earth's sur- face ; and with reference to their height, may be considered as forming three classes. The first class includes those rising to the elevation of 20,000 feet, and upwards ; the second, those ranging between 10,000 and 20,000 feet ; the third, those betAveen 2000 and 10,000 feet, all inferior elevations being styled hills and slopes. The Himalaya range and Andes are of the first class ; the Rocky Mountains, Alps, Pyrenees, and AtUs belong to the second class ; and the AUeghanies, AVhite Mountains, and Appenines are examples of the third class. The impression is a natural one, that the mountains on the earth cause it to be an irregular body, and not a sphere, but the highest mountain known, rising above 28,000 feet, is only one five-thousandth part of the earth's greatest circumference, and only one sixteen-hundredth part of its diameter. A single hair, on an ordinary globe, would fully represent the elevation. Mountains are seldom found in plains remote from each other, and when they do thus occur are usually of volcanic origin — as Mount Etna, the Peak of Teneriffe, and Mount Egmont in New Zealand. III. A continued line or succession of mountains constitutes what is termed a mountain chain or range. The culminating point of a mountain chain is its highest elevation. A mountain system consists of a number of chains or ranges extending in the same general direction, and having an apparent connection with each other. Mountain chains are rarely simple, but usually consist of distinct, and often short ridges, extending in the same general direction, and nearly parallel with each other — the whole constituting a grand chain. The extre- mities are usually of low elevation, the culminating point being near the centre. Though making many curves and angles, the mountain chains usually correspond in their prevailing direction to the line of greatest extent in the tracts of country in which they are situated. The mountain ranges By what is the surface of the earth diversified? — What are mountaiDS? — How many classes may they be considered as forming ? — State the elevation, and give examples of the first class — Second — Third. What eff'ect have mountains upon the spherical form of the earth? — Of what origin of the islands of Cuba, Jamaica, and Porto Rico, and those of the peninsulas of California, Italy, and Kamtschatka are good illustrations of the truth of this general law. Secondary lines or spurs branch off at various angles from the main chain stretching far away on to the plains. IV. The popular idea of a mountain chain as consisting of a single elevated ridge resembling the roof of a house, is far from being correct. A mountain chain is frequently hundreds of miles in width, consisting of alternate ridges and depressions, the entire mass of land being greatly elevated above the surrounding surface. In mountain ranges of low elevation, as the AUegha- nies, the depressions between the ridges are often fertile and beautiful valleys ; in higher chains, as the Himalaya and Andes, they are frequently dreary, inhospitable regions, unfitted for the abode of man. It is through these depressions that rivers, fed from the melting snow of the mountain, or from brooks trickling down the mountain side, find their way towards the reservoirs into which they flow. LEVEL" OF THE SEA. The above diagram is a representation of a section of the Chilian Andes, from which may be derived a very correct idea of the general formation of common mountain chain.s. V. Mountain chains have usually steep declivities on the sides towards the ocean, and long, gentle slopes towards the interior. The Andes are an example. They rise abruptly f^'om the Pacific; their descent towards the interior is much more gradual. The ascent of the AUeghanies from the Atlantic is quite precipi- tous ; their descent in the direction of the valley of the Mississippi is gentle and gradual. usually are solitary mountains? — What constitutes a mountain chain? — What is the culminating point of a mountain chain? — What is a mountain system? Describe the general formation of a mountain chain. — Which side has usually steep declivities? — Give some examples to illustrate your statement. 1-t PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. VI. It is a fact worthy of observation that most of the gold and silver hitherto discovered has been found in mountain ranges, extending in a northerly and southerly direction. Humboldt first called attention to this fact as verified by the gold and silver mines of the Andes, Ural mountains, and AUeghanies. The recent discoveries of gold in California and Australia strikingly confirm the truth of this general law. Tacora Pass — A "\ lew in the Andes. VII. The mountain chains of America are fewer in number, more simple, and more readily traced than those of the old world. They may be considered as constituting six distinct systems, as follows : 1. The Rocky Mountain system. 2. The California system. 3. The Alleghany, or Apalachian system. 4. The Andean system. 5. The system of the Parime. 6. The Bra- zilian system. The first three are in North America, the last three in South America. The Rocky Mountain and Andean systems constitute a conneoted chain, extending along the Pacific coast from the Arctic Ocean to the southern extremity of South America, a distance of more than 10,000 miles. For con- venience of description, this chain, the longest upon the globe, is considered as forming two systems. 1. The Eochy Mountain System. — The Rocky Mountains extend from near the Arctic Ocean, under about the 70th parallel of latitude, in a south- easterly direction to the 38th parallel ; here, assuming the name of the Sierra Madre, the chain is continued in the same general direction to the Isthmus of Panama, which is reached at the low elevation of about 300 feet. The Sierra Madre, through Mexico and Central America, is an irregular intermixture of high table-lands and lofty mountains, many of the higher peaks being active volcanoes. The entire length of this range may be stated at 5,500 miles, at varying distances from the Pacific of from 25 to 900 miles. 2. The California System. — This system comprises all the mountains of North America, west of the Rocky Mountain system. It consists in some parts of its extent of a single chain, and in others of several parallel ranges ; and stretches along the Pacific coast, from the southern extremity of the Peninsula of California nearly to the Peninsula of Alaska. A spur from the Sierra Nevada, the most eastern range of the California system, con- nects that chain with the Rocky Mountain system. Some of the peaks of the California system are of loftier elevation than any of the summits of the Kocky Mountain system, though its average elevation is not so great. 3. The Alleghany, or Apalachian System. — This system consists of a series of elevations, rarely more than 3000 or 4000 feet in height, which extend north-easterly along the Atlantic coast, from about the 34th parallel of lati- tude to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The average width of the mountain In what direction do the principal mountain chains extend, in which gold and silver are found? — Name the six mountain eystems of America. — Give a general description of each of them. — Which two of them constitute a connected chain? chains constituting this system may be stated at from 00 to 150 miles, at various distances from the ocean of from 30 to 300 miles. 4. The Andean Sy.item. — The Andean system comprises the grand moun- tain chain which extends in an unbroken line along the Pacific coast, from the Isthmus of Panama to the southern extremity of South America, a dis- tance of more than 4500 miles. South of latitude 20° south, the system consists of but a single chain ; north of this latitude, it frequently comprises two or three different parallel ranges. North of the Equator, a spur from the main chain extends in a north-easterly direction along the coast of tlie Caribbean Sea, constituting the coast-chain of Venezuela and Cumana. Next to the Himalaya range in Asia, the Andean system contains the loftiest ele- vations upon the globe. 5. Tlie System of the Parime. — This system includes several parallel ranges extending from east to west between the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers. The ranges are spread over a tract of country 350 miles in width, by from 1000 to 1200 miles in length, and have an average elevation of perhaps 3000 or 4000 feet. 6. The Brazilian System. — The Brazilian mountains extend along the south-east coast of Brazil in several parallel ranges, at various distances from the ocean of from 20 to 80 miles, from the river Uruguay, north-east to Cape St. Roque, a distance of more than 2000 miles. Their average eleva- tion may be stated at 3500 feet. VIII. The mountain systems of the Old World are much more complicated than those of the New ; but on examination it will be found that, as in the New World, the principal ranges extend in the direction of the line of the greatest length of the continent. IX. The principal mountain systems of Europe and Asia con- sist of numerous nearly parallel ranges, extending from the eastern shores of the Atlantic to the western shores of the Pacific. The various ranges may be considered as constituting one grand system, extending a distance of little less than 8000 miles, varying in width from 500 to 2000 miles. It reaches its culminating point with Mount Kunchinginga, 28,176 feet high, a peak of the Himalaya range, and the highest point of land upon the globe. Although this chain is not continuous, yet it is sufiiciently so to be i-egarded as the grand central chain from which secondary ranges of greater or less importance diverge at various angles. The situation of this vast mountain band, about midway between the Equator and the North Pole, considerably influences the climate of the extensive regions through which it passes, and forms a separation between the warm, fertile regions of Southern Asia, and the less genial northern countries. In ancient times, in Europe, it con- stituted the boundary line between the civilized na tions of the South and the barbarous countries of the North. And, at the present time, it separates the more civilized nations of Persia and India, from the uncivilized hordes which occupy the north ern and central regions of Asia. X. The Cantabrian mountains, the Pyre- nees, the low range of the Cevennes, the Alps, and the Balkan moun- * The Grimsel Pass — A Scene among the Alps. tains, constitute the central European chain. In what general direction do the principal mountain chains of the Old World extend? Describe the grand central system of Europe and Asia. — Name the mountain ranges constituting the central European chain. MOUNTAINS. 15 South of tliis cuiitral cliaiii, iiiiJ more ur luss di^ti^L■tly coniiocteil with it, are the mountain ranges of the Spanish, Italian, and Grecian Peninsulas. The Sierra Morena and Sierra Nevada in the Spanish Peninsula, the Appe- nines in Italy, and the chain of Mount Pindus, which extends southwardly fripni the Balkan mountains, are the principal ranges of these regions. North-westwardly from the Cevennes, the Auvergne m^ iintains extend into the centre of France, and from the great Alpine system numerous branches extend northward into central Europe. The chain of Mount Jura, which separates France and Switzerland, and the Carpathian mountains, which borders nearly the whole of the northern and eastern frontiers of Hungary, protecting its vast plains from the chilly winds which sweep across the low lands of the north, are the most important. The Caucasian system, between Europe and Asia, extends in a south- east and north-west direction, between the Black and Caspian Seas, through a length of about 700 miles. Mount Elbruz, the culminating point of this system, is the highest mountain in Europe. "Xorigitude V\ e&l Irum ±_AJ_i±tk^:M > gitude Las in W ash n gton 9 -. Mountain Chains of Central Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa. XI. Crossing the slight interruption of the Dardanelles and Sea of Marmora, this central chain is continued in Asia, in a south-easterly direction, by the Taurus, Elburz, and Hindoo Koosh mountains, to about 75° cast longitude. The lofty eleva- tions of the Hindoo Koosh form a mountain knot or group, from whence the central chain is continued to the Pacific in four dis- tinct mountain systems, among the grandest and most stupendous upon the globe. XII. The most southern of these systems, forming the northern boundary of the fertile plains of India, is the Himalaya range, continued through China to the Pacific by the Nanling moun- tains. Further north, forming the northern boundary of the table-land of Thibet, is the system of the Kuen Llin, continued to the Pacific by the Peling mountains. The rugged and lofty Belor range first takes a northerly direction, but is continued in an easterly course by the Thian Shan, enclosing the great desert of Cobi. From the same mountain knot branches ofl' to the north-east the vast system of the Altai mountains, which separate Tartary and Siberia, and taking a north-easterly direction, reaches the Pacific near Behring's Strait. Many secondary chains of importance diverge at various angles from the main chain already described. The Solimaun mountains are an important range, branching off to the south from the mountain knot of the Hindoo Koosh. The Ghaut mountains of Ilindoostan, and the other ranges of the Indian Peninsulas, are spurs of the system of the Himalayas. A branch from the Altai system extends through Kamtsohatka, and is probably conti- nued through the Kurile Islands and Japan. The various branches of the Altai, Thian Shan, Kuen LUn, and Himalayan mountains, which contribute to make China one of the most mountainous countries on the globe, are little known. There are probably many secondary chains extending north and south, connecting these various systems. The Ural mountains, which separate Europe and Asia, and whose course as a ridge may be traced from the northern extremity of Nova Zembla, in a southerly direction, a distance of 1700 miles ; and the Scandinavian moun- tains, which extend from Cape North to the southern extremity of Norway, a distance of 1000 miles, are the only mountain ranges of note in Europe and Asia unconnected with the great central chain already described. XIII. The principal mountain systems of Africa are the Atlas range, the Abyssinian mountains, the Sneeuw mountains of South Africa, and the Kong mountains. There are probably other mountain systems in this grand division of the earth, but our knowledge of them is very limited. • The entire north-western part of Africa, between the Great Desert and the Mediterranean Sea, is occupied by the Atlas range, a series of disconnected elevations, extending north-easterly from the Atantic a distance of 1500 miles. Between the Nile and the Red Sea commence the mountains of Abyssinia, which are supposed to be continued at a considerable distance from the African coast, nearly to the southern extremity of the Peninsula. South of the Equator this chain has been long recognized by geographers under the name of the Lupata mountains, though the existence of such a range is by no means satisfactorily determined. The recently-discovered Peaks of Kenia and Kiliraandjaro, near the Equator, which are believed to be at least 20,000 feet in height, are supposed to be among the loftiest elevations of this exten- sive chain. The system of the Sneeuw-bergen or Snow mountains comprises a number of ranges extending across South Africa from ocean to ocean. Describe the secondary ranges which diverge from the central European chain.— Which are the principal secondary chains of the central system in Asia? — Name Where are the Caucasus mountains? — Name the mountains constituting the central the two mountain systems of Europe and Asia not connected with the central chain.— chain in Asia. — Describe the four grand Systems extending to the Pacific from the ! Describe each of them.— Which are the principal mountain systems of Africa.— Describe mountain knot of Hindoo Koosh. the one north of the Great Desert — The one between the Rirer Nile and Red Sea. 16 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. This system is doubtless a continuation of the chain bordering the eastern coast. The Kong mountains constitute another African system. They are of inconsiderable elevation, and extend in an easterly direction from the Atlantic Ocean, parallel with the northern coast of the Gulf of Guinea. On most maps of Africa, the Mountains of the Moon are represented as an easterly continuation of the Kong mountains. They are so drawn on the authority of Ptolemy, the ancient Egyptian geographer ; but recent discove- ries render it doubtful if the position assigned to them be correct, and, indeed, makes the existence of such a chain a matter of great uncertainty. The Cameroon mountains are a group of volcanic formation, on the western coast of Africa, south of the Kong mountains. XIV. Australia appears to have no central mountain range, but is encircled on every side by elevations rising rarely moi-e than 2000 or 3000 feet. These elevations have a precipitous ascent from the water, but decline by a gradual slope towards the low lands of the centre of the island. XV. Chains of mountains are variously intersected by valleys, which form two leading classes, termed longitudinal and trans- verse. Longitudinal valleys separate parallel ridges of mountain chains, and extend in the same general direction with them. Transverse valleys cut the ridges at right angles, and extend in an opposite direction from the longitudinal. Longitudinal valleys are frequently of great extent. The Valley of Vir- ginia, 700 miles in length, so noted for its fertility and beauty, and the Valley of the Sacramento and San Joaquin in California, 500 miles long, so celebrated for gold, are of this class. Transverse valleys are sometimes gradual and gentle depressions in the mountain ranges, of considerable width, as the famous South Pass in Oregon, thirty miles hroad, but more frequently they are narrow and frightful gorges, through which only can high mountain chains be crossed. Such are the Passes of the Himalaya and Andes, which are sometimes scenes of great magnificence — often of appalling gloom and peril. XV. Recapitula- tion. — It thus ap- pears that the moun- tain chains upon the earth may be consi- dered as constituting distinct systems, — that these systems usually consist of several parallel ran- ges, extending in the direction of the line ofthegreatestlength of the district in which they are si- tuated, — that the chains have usually steep declivities on the sides towards the ocean, an dlonc igen- View of the Bolan Pass— A Transverse Valley of the Solimaun MountaiDS. tie slopes towards the interior. It appears, also, that solitary mountains are usually of volcanic formation. CHAPTER V. PLATEAUS, OR TABLE-LANDS. I. A Plateau, or Table-Land, is an extensive tract of ele- vated land, having a comparatively level surface. It may con- tain hills and valleys, be traversed by mountain ridges, and serve as a platform for lofty mountain peaks ; but its prevailing char- acter is that of an elevated region, with a considerable area of plain surface. Land having an elevation of less than 2000 feet, is not usually regarded as table-land. Plateaus of the Western Continent. II. North America. — The Plateau of North America extends from about the 50th parallel of north latitude, between the Rocky Mountains and the coast-range of the Pacific, south-easterly through the central part of Mexico and Central America, to the Where are the Kong raouutains? — On what authority have the Mountains of the Moon been represented on Maps ? — Where are the Cameroon mountains? — Describe the mountains of Australia. What is a Longitudinal valley? — What is a Transverse valley? — Give an example of each. — Recapitulate the subjects of this chapter. Isthmus of Panama. This region may be divided into the fol- lowing sections : — 1. The Great Basin of Utah. — This Basin, also called Fremont Basin, on account of having been first explored by Lieut. Fremont, extends from the 44th to the 37th parallel of latitude, and is bounded on all sides by moun- tain chains. It is for the most part a desolate region, a more particular description of which will be found on page 8L 2. Hie Great Mexican Plateau. — South of the Great Basin of Utah, and extending south-easterly to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, is the Great Mexican Plateau. The principal table-lands of this region are the Plateaus of Chi- huahua and Anahuac. The table-land of Chihuahua, north of the 24th parallel, is a barren region, with an elevation of from 4000 to 6000 feet. The table-land of Anahuac is from 6000 to 9000 feet in height, and is a healthful and generally fertile region. The surface of this Plateau supports several high mountains, many of which are volcanoes, and is also traversed by several well-defined ridges, which divide it into separate and distinct plains. The descent from it is very steep on all sides ; on the east especially it is so precipitous, that, seen from a distance, it is like a range of high mountains. From the Mexican Gulf it is only accessible by two carriage- roads : one by Jalapa, the other by Saltillo ; both of which were made What is a Plateau? — Above what elevation is the term Table-Land applied? — De- scribe the Plateau of North America. — Where is the Great Basin of Utah ? — By what other name is this Basin known ? Describe the Great Mexican Plateau. — Which are the principal Table-lands of this Plateau. — Describe each of them. PLATEAUS, OR TABLE-LANDS. 17 points of attack by the Army of tlie United States during the recent war between the two nations. On one of the plains of this Plateau, surrounded by lofty mountains, stands the city of Mexico, at an elevation above the ocean of 7430 feet. 3. The Tahh-lands of Central America extend from the Isthmus of Tuhu- antepeo to the Isthmus of Panama, and include the three Plateaus of Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The country rises westward from the low hills of the Isthmus of Panama to the height of 5000, and even 8000 feet. III. South America. — The Plateaus of South America consist of the great Plateau of the Andes, the elevated plains of Quito, Bogota, and Popayan, and the table-land of Brazil. 1. The great Plateau of the Andes is an enormous mass of lofty table-land, stretching along the tops of the Andes, between the parallels of 15° and 30° of south latitude, a distance of about 1000 miles. It contains the Plateau and basin of Lake Titicaca, in the north, and the desert tract of Despoblado in the south. The table-land of Lake Titicica, with an average elevation of 13,000 feet, is the highest Plateau in America. Yet the mountain ridges and elevated peaks which form its boundaries rise to double its height, the loftiest sum- mit being the Nevado de Sorat.a, 21,280 feet above the level of the sea. The territory, of which these are the enormous ramparts, exhibits a varied sur- face, and is 500 miles long, by from 30 to CO miles in width, comprising an area nearly four times as great as that of the State of New York. Potosi, the highest city in the world, stands on the southern end of this Plateau, at an absolute elevation of 13,330 feet. /^-^,L:2^^SAi;;^-!gl*Sg*i?^ View of Nevado de Sorata, frum tb. wt-t shore of Lake Titicaca. — Taken from Gibbon's Exploration of the Valley of the Amazon. Lake Titicaca is rather more than half the size of Lake Erie, comprising .in area of about 4000 square miles. Lieut. Gibbon reports that it is gradu- ally filling up ; that "the water is getting shallower every year." " Finally," says he, " there will be a single stream flowing through what in future ages may be called Titicaca Valley." This region includes the plain of Cuzco, which is in itself three times the extent of Switzerland. South of the table-laud of Titicaca, and immediately adjoining it, is an extensive tract of land called Despoblado, "uninluxhikd." Cold winds blow over this desolate region from the mountains on the west and south-west, so keenly as to chafe the skin when exposed to them ; yet there are some- times currents of hot air of so high a temperature as to produce a similar effect. A singular valley, or narrow cleft in the earth, crosses this tract from north to south, a length of about 140 miles, but having in some places a breadth of only about an eighth of a mile. 2. Less elevated and less extensive than the great Plateau just described, though not less grandly environed by magnificent heights, is the table-land of Quito, 220 miles long, by 30 broad. " From the terrace of the government What Plateaus are included in the table-lands of Central America ? — Name the Pla- teaus of South America. — What are the divisions of the great Plateau of the Andes ? — Describe each of these divisions. — Describe the Plateau of Quito — Bogota — Popayan — Brazil. 4 palace," says Humboldt, speaking of the city of Quito, " there is one of the most enchanting prospects the human eye ever witnessed, or nature ever exhibited. Looking to the south, and glancing towards the north, eleven mountains covered with perpetual snow present themselves, their bases apparently resting on the verdant hills that surround the city." 3. The Plateau of Bogota, in New Granada, has a level surface, enclosed by a barrier of rocks. It is of limited extent, but has an average elevation of nearly 9000 feet. 4. The elevated land occupied by the city of Popayan is a Plateau formed by the main trunk of the Andes. 5. The table-land of Brazil extends westward from the coast-range of the Brazilian mountains, with an average altitude of 2000 feet, — sinking gra- dually towards the west, into the low marshy plains of the Madeira and Paraguay Rivers. Plateaus of the Eastern Continent. IV. Asia contains a greater area of table-land than any other grand division of the globe. Its Plateaus may be divided into the table-lands of Central, and of Southern and South-western Asia. 1. Central Asia. — The Great Desert of Cobi, the name signifying in the Mongolian language, "a naked desert," also called by the Chinese "Shamo," tJie sea of sand, and " Ilan-hai," the dry sea, lies between the Thian Shan and the Kuen Liin mountains ; and stretches in a north-east direction, from about longitude 81° East, to the eastern extremity of Chinese Mongolia, comprising an area estimated at more than half a million of square miles — a territory more than ten times the extent of the State of New York. Its mean elevation is 4000 feet. In the central region it sinks to 2400 feet, while towards the wall of China it rises to the height of 5800 feet. Its sur- face is for the most part of shingly gravel, though there is an extensive tract of shifting sands near the centre. The table-land of Thibet occupies the space between the Kuen Llin and the Himalaya mountains, and is divided from east to west into Upper, Middle, and Little Thibet. The surface is much broken by numerous mountain chains, and has an average elevation of about 11,000 feet, — the capital, Lassa, in Upper Thibet, being 9590 feet above the level of the sea. The common opinion that the whole of Central Asia east of the Belor mountains, between the Altai and Himalaya chains, is a great mass of table-land from 3000 to 12,000 feet high, is doubted by Humboldt, in his volume, "Aspects of Nature." He states that the country north-west of the Thiau Chan mountains is lowland, being only from 200 to 1200 feet hin-h. lie also states, (page 81): "That outside of the Thibetian Highlands and of the Cobi, the boundaries of which have been defined above, there are in Asia, between the parallels of 37° and 48°, considerable depressions and even true lowlands, where one boundless uninterrupted Plateau was formerly imagined to exist, is shown by the cultivation of plants which cannot thrive without a certain degree of heat." 2. Southern and South-iccstern Asia contain the table-lands of Hindoostan, of Iran, of Asia Minor, and of Arabia. The table-land of Deccan, "the south,'" in Hindoostan, lies within the triangle formed by the Eastern and Western Ghauts and the Vindhya moun- tains. This Plateau is divided into three sections : the most southerly of which, the table-land of Mysore, is the smallest, but most elevated — having an average height of about 3000 feet, and rising in some places to more than 7000 feet. The British soldiers, when debilitated by service under the tropical suns of Hindoostan, instead of being sent home to recruit their strength, are now removed to the high lands of this Plateau, the elevated position of which gives them a temperate climate in a torrid zone. The Plateau of Iran, in Persia, extends from Asia Minor, and from the plains of the Euphrates and Tigris, nearly to the Indus River, leaving only a narrow border of lowland along the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, and the Caspian Sea. This table-land comprises on the west the cold, treeless plains of Armenia, and in the centre consists of extensive salt wastes and immense seas of sand, than which few parts of the globe can be more uninviting. What divisions may the Plateaus of Asia be considered as forming? — Describe at length the different Plateaus of Central Asia. — What table-lands are found in Southern and SoutU-western Asia? — Which of them are in Hindoostan? — Describe the Plateau of Iran. 18 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. The Plateau of Asia Minor, or Anatolia, is enclosed -within the mountain chains which sliirt the sea-coast of that peninsula. It has an average height of 3000 or 4000 feet, though some of the summits of its mountain ramparts far exceed this elevation. This table-land is driiined by the rivers which flow into the Black Sea; but there is an extensive tract north of the Taurus mountains, covered with numerous salt lakes, marshes, and rivers, having no visible outlet. Arabia. — The interior of Arabia is very little known, but it is supposed to consist mainly of barren table-lands, supported by the mountain chains which approach the coast. V. Africa. — This grand division of the earth has not yet been sufficiently explored to permit geographers to speak with con- fidence of the character of its surface. The only table-lands of which there is any thing like certain information, are those of Abyssinia and South Africa. 1. Abyssinia. — The entire country of Abyssinia may be considered as one great table-land, guarded by lofty mountain ranges, and supporting many elevated peaks. It rises precipitately from the Red Sea, and on the north- west sinks away gradually towards the low lands, bordering the Nile. On the south, the limits of this table-land are undefined ; it may extend beyond the Equator. 2. South Africa. — This table-land may be considered as constituting three distinct Plateaus, which rise towards the north from the ocean in three suc- cessive terraces. The first of these Plateaus is a well-watered and fertile country, the second contains extensive tracts of barren soil, and the third is a clay desert, which in the hot season is impassable to man and deserted by beasts. Table Mount.iin, a stupendous mass of rock 3500 feet in height, is situated at the southern extremity of this Plateau. View of Table Mountain. VI. Europe. — The only European Plateau worthy of mention is that of the Spanish Peninsula, the whole central part of which consists of a series of lofty plains, divided from each other and from the maritime lowlands by parallel mountain ranges. The Plateau comprises 93,000 squai-e miles, nearly equal to half the Peninsula. Madrid, the capital, is 2220 feet above the level of the Mediterranean. VII. Table-land is not unfrequently characteristic of islands as well as continents. The Faroe Islands, west of Norway, which rise at once to the height of 2000 feet, presenting nearly the same elevation over the whole group, are an example. Describe the Plateau of Asia Minor — Arabia. — Of what Table-lands in Africa do we possess any reliable information ? — Describe the Plateau of Abyssinia- — South Africa. — Name and describe the principal European Plateaus. — Are Plateaus exclusively con- fined to Continents ? — Give an example to prove your statement. CHAPTER VI. PLAINS. I. A Plain is a tract of land comparatively level, and but little elevated above the surface of the ocean. The term is not usually applied to land rising to the height of more than 2000 feet, the distinction between Plains and Plateaus being the dif- ference in their elevation. II. The Eastern and Western Continent each contains through- out its entire length a vast though not uninterrupted Plain. The Plain of the Western Continent stretches nearly from Pole to Pole, and that of the Eastern in an opposite direction, almost half the distance around the globe. Plains of the Western Continent. III. North America. — The great central Plain of North America extends from the shores of the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Alleghanies. It comprises a Northward and Southward slope. 1. The Northward or Arctic slope includes the greater part of North America, north of Canada and the United States. " It is difficult," says Mr. R. H. Martin, in his volume, entitled "An Account of the Hudson Bay Territories and V.anoouver's Island," " it is difficult to convey an idea of the physical aspects of this vast region. The whole territory consists of inland seas, bays, lakes, rivers, swamps, treeless prairies, barren hills and hollows, tossed together in a wave-like form, as if the ocean had been suddenly petrified while heaving its huge billows in a tumultuous swell. There are, doubtless, several spots adapted in some respects foi European settlements, but they are like oases in the desert, few and fat between, and totally inapplicable for extended colonization." The climate is extremely severe. For eight months in the year the entire country \i covered with snow, and the rivers and ponds, fifteen feet in depth, are frozen to the bottom. 2. The Southward slope comprises the great Valley of the Mississippi and the fertile lowlands bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, for a full description of which, as also of the Atlantic slope, see page 81. IV. South America. — The great Plain of South America com- prises the entire Peninsula east of the Andes, with the exception of the systems of the Brazilian and Parime mountains, and the Brazilian table-land. The principal divisions of this great Plain are the Llanos of the Orinoco, the Selvas of the Amazon, the Pampas of the La Plata, and the barren wastes of Patagonia. 1. Llanos. — The Plains {Llanos,) of the Orinoco, constitute the northern division of the great South American Plain. They are so level and so vast, that the traveller is continually reminded of the smooth surface of the ocean. During the dry season these Plains are parched by the scorching heat, and the country is a gloomy scene of sterility and desolation ; but with the return of the rains, life, which seemed almost extinguished, springs up again, more beautiful and more vigorous. To the powdered sand swept along by the winds, succeed rich pastures, where range a multitude of animals. 2. Selvas. — The Forest Plains of the Amazon, called Selvas, occupy the lower part of its Basin, extending as far as the region of periodical inunda- tion. The moisture, and excessive heat of the climate of this region, pro- duce an extraordinary luxuriance uf animal and vegetable life. " Behold," says Guyot, " under the same parallel, where Africa presents only parched table-lands, those boundless virgin forests of the Basin of the Amazon, those ■What is a Plain? — Give the extent of each of the great Plains of the E.astern and Western Continent, — Name the two slopes of the great North American Plain. — Eepeat R. H. Martin's description of the Northward slope. — Name the principal divisions of the great S. American Plain. — Describe the Llanos. — Repeat Guyot's account of the Selvas. PLAINS. 19 Selvas, almost unbroken, over a length of more than 1500 miles, forming the most gigantic wilderness of this kind that exists in any Continent. And what vigor — what luxuriance of vegetation! The Palm-trees, with their slender forms, boldly uplift their heads 150 or 200 feet above the ground, and domineer over all the other trees of these wilds, by their height, by their number, and by the majesty of their foliage. Climbing-plants, woody- stemmed, twining lianos, infinitely varied, surround them with their flexible branches, display their own flowers upon the foliage, and combine them in a solid mass of vegetation, impenetrable to man, which the axe alone can break through with success." Above the region of periodical overflow, we find vast plains of rich grass. 3. Painpas. — Between the 32d parallel and the Rio Negro, and extending from the foot of the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean, are the Pampas or Plains of Buenos Ayres. Tliese Plains, covered with a heavy growth of grass, afford rich pasturage for numerous herds of cattle and droves of horses. 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C3 3 aj 3 d H n Ph l-H .y __ n o o a 13 3 C at .£ 3 d d .3 3 d a o S 1 3 n H d 1 ^ d cj — O a "a! to 3 1^ d 7 a^ 9; Id < I d 3 3 c -^ = g g foS5_ (21) ,^D^ 22 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. x'^K^' Mount Etna. CHAPTER VII. VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES I. Volcanoes are mountains whicli send forth from their sum- mits or sides columns of flame and smoke, and vast quantities of ashes and melted lava. They are aptly styled in various lan- guages, "burning mountains." The term is derived from Vuloanus, the name which the ancients gave their imaginary god of fire. II. The crater of a volcano is the funnel-shaped mouth through ■which the melted matter issues. III. The lava emitted from volcanoes generally forces for itself a passage through the sides of the mountains, hut sometimes it overflows the top of the crater. Upon its first emergence, the lava has in general about the consistency of honey, hence it pro- ceeds slowly. The surface soon cools and acquires a hard crust, but the interior retains its heat, and remains fluid for a long time. A mass of lava, 500 feet thick, thrown up from the volcano Jorullo, in Mexico, in 1759, was found smoliing, by Humboldt, in 1804, forty-five years afterwards, and still in so heated a state that a cigar might be lighted in any of the crevices, a few inches below the surface ; and smoke vras observed to issue from it in 1827, sixty-eight years after its ejection. The amount of lava thrown out by a single eruption is often enormous. Perhaps the most prodigious fiery flood on record was that which proceeded from one of the volcanoes in Iceland, in 1783. The lava flowed in two opposite directions ; 50 miles in length, by 12 or 15 miles in width in one, and 40 miles in length, by 7 in breadth in the other, with an average depth of 100 feet, and in some places amounting to 600 feet. The mass has been calcu- lated at nearly twenty thousand millions of cubic yards, or forty thousand millions of tons ; which, if accumulated, would cover the city of New York with a mountain rivalling in height the Peak of Teneritfe. IV. The ashes, stones, and dust ejected diu-ing an eruption frequently darken the air for hours, and even for days. Boiling What are Volcanoes? — What is the crater of a Volcano ? — Through what part of the mountain does the lava generally force for itself a passage? — Give an example of the length of time required for the lava to cool. — Give an example also of the amount of lava thrown out at a single eruption. — Name some other substances ejected from Vol- canoes beside lava. water has flowed copiously from Vesuvius during its eruptions. Discharges of water, mud, and even small fishes have been observed in the case of the Andean volcanoes ; but these are not to be ranked with proper volcanic phenomena. A putrid fever which prevailed in 1691, at Ibarra, a mountain town, north of Quito, was ascribed to the quantity of dead fish ejected from the volcano of Imbamburu. The fish, locally known by the name of "prena- dillas," abound in the under-ground reservoirs of the district, and are car- ried out by internal disturbance through crevices, with the water and mud of pools. The area over which ashes have been strown from volcanic eruptions, and the thickness to which they have fallen, indicate the enormous quantities ejected. Ashes from Vesuvius, a. d. 472, 473, fell in Constantinople, Syria, and Egypt. In 1815, the sun was obscured, and the streets and houses in Java were ftrewed with ashes from Tomboro, in Sumbawa, a distance of 300 miles. They were found floating in the ocean to the west of Sumatra, at a distance of more than a thousand miles, forming a stratum two feet thick, through which vessels with difficulty forced their way. It was not a stream of lava from Vesuvius, but simply its ashes, that buried the cities of Pompeii and Ilerculaneum. The height and distance to which stones and other projectiles are thrown from volcanoes, furnishes an additional illustration of the immense subterra- nean power which causes the eruption. A block of stone, weighing more than 200 tons, was thrown from Cotopaxi a distance of nine miles. Stones have been observed to ascend from Vesuvius so high, that they were eleven seconds in falling, which gives an elevation of 2000 feet. During an eruption in Teneriffe, in 1798, the mountain Chahorra threw out stones which occupied from twelve to fifteen seconds in falling, which indicates a height of from 2500 to 3600 feet. Sir W. Hamilton says that in the erup- tion of Vesuvius, in 1779, jets of lava having the appearance of columns of fire were thrown up to the height of at least 10,000 feet. V. So far as relates to the eruptive force, steam-power appears to be a perfectly adequate agent, and sudden evolutions of it will explain the fits and starts of volcanic action. VI. The energy of volcanic action is most strikingly displayed in the elevation of great masses of land constituting islands (see page 12,) and the formation of new mountains. To what was the putrid fever at Ibarra ascribed ? — Give examples to show the area over which ashes have been strewn.— Give examples to illustrate the weight, distance, and height to which stones have been thrown. What appears to be an adequate agent to produce these eruptions? How else is the energy of volcanic action displayed ? VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 23 In tlio Neapolitan district, in Italy, in 1538, the Jlonte Nucvo, 440 feet bigli, and iSOOO feet in circumference, was thrown up in 4.S hours. In 1GG9, the Monte Kossi, 450 feet high, and two miles in circumference, was thrown up on the slope of Etna, in Sicily. In 1759, the mountain of Jorullo, 1C95 feet in height, arose out of a plain to the west of the city of Mexico. The volcano of Isalco, in San Salvador, Central America, now from 1500 to 2000 feet high, has arisen within the last eighty years, and covers a tract of land which formerly constituted a fine estate. This volcano is in a con- stant state of eruption, discharging ashes and scori;\; at regular intervals of aliiiut a quarter of an hour each. VII. The volcanic mountains are either active, intermittent, or extinct. The frequency and character of their eruptions ap- pears to be related to their height. The eruptions of low moun- tains being generally more frequent and less violent. Peak of Teneriffe. Lofty mountains, such as the Peak of Teneriffe, Mount Etna, and Coto- paxi, have periods of rest, sometimes amounting to centuries. Stromboli, on the contrary, a low mound, little more than 2000 feet in height, has been uninterruptedly active from the earliest dawn of authentic history, and has been appropriately named " the Light-house of the Mediterranean." Extinct volcanoes are those which have plainly once been the outlets of fire, but whose activity has been suspended for ages. Some of these may really belong to the intermittent class, now experiencing a long state of inaction. The volcano of Tolima, in New Grenada, in South America, had been at rest for two centuries, when a violent outburst in 1827 showed that the internal forces were still at .work. Imbamburu, a volcano of Equador, had been long considered extinct, when in the year 1691 it overwhelmed a large tract of country with mud and water. From the period of the earliest historical records to a. d. 79, when Ilereu- laneum and Pompeii were destroyed. Mount Vesuvius seems to have been inactive. Since then it has been at least eighty times in action. There are fifty-five recorded eruptions of Mount Etna between the years 480 b. c. and A. D. 1832. Between the commencement of the eleventh century and 1845, there have been twenty-five outbursts of Mount Ilecla, in Iceland. VIII. Nearly all the active volcanoes upon the globe are limited to the immediate vicinity of the ocean. Many are found on islands, others in chains of mountains extending along the line of the coast, others at the base of such chains between them Give examples of mountains which have been formed by volcanic agency. — To what does the frequency and character of volcanic eruptions appear to relate 1 — What is the difference ia the character of the eruptions of high and low mountains? — Illustrate your statement by examples. — What are extinct volcanoes? — Give examples of inter- mittent volcanoes. and the coast. Humboldt conceives that coast lands are simply favorable to eruptions, because they form the sides or edges of the deep sea-basin, which, covered with water, and lying many thousand feet lower than interior sites, offer less resistance to subterranean foi'ces. The principal exceptions are the Volcanoes of Pechan (white mountain,) and Ilochow (burning mountain,) in Western Asia, both of which are about 1500 miles from the ocean. IX. Of all the reasons which have been assigned for a general theory of the cause of volcanoes, the simplest and best founded is that the centre of our earth is a vast sea of liquid fire, to which the volcanoes serve as vents. This sea may remain at rest for ages beneath enormous areas, but is liable to be locally excited and uplifted by the force of compressed vapor. This theory is supported by the fact that the temperature of the earth increases regularly at the average rate of one degree for every fifty-four feet of descent below the level of the sea. X. Volcanoes may be distributed into the two great classes of Central and Linear systems. A Central system consists of a number of vents grouped together, one of which usually serves as a common point of eruption, as the Peak of Teneriffe for the seven volcanoes of the Canary Islands. A Linear system consists of several vents extending in one direction at no great distance from each other, forming as it were chimneys along an extended fissure, as the volcanic chain of South America. The following table gives the number of volcanoes of each system. It includes active and extinct volcanoes, and some perhaps of doubtful exist- ence: — Centiial Class. No. of System. Volcanoes. 1. Etna (Sicily) 1 2. Vesuvius (Naples) 1 3. Lipari Islands 2 4. Jan Mayen 2 5. Iceland 8 6. Azores 2 7. Canary Islands 7 S. Cape Verde Islands 1 9. Ascension Island 1 10. Tristan d'Acunha Island 1 11. Traverse Islands 1 12. Trinidad Island 1 13. Mauritius and Bourbon Islands.. 3 14. Sandwich Islands 4 15. Galapagos Islands 1 Marquesas Islands 1 Society Islands 1 Easter Island 1 Western Asia 3 16. 17. 16. 19. Total 42 LisEAn Class. .Vo. of System. Volcanoes. 1. tSantorini (Greek Islands) 1 2. Thian Shan Mts. (Central Asi.n) 2 3. Red Sea 2 4. Friendly Islands 2 5. Australasian Islands 13 6. Sunda Islands S\} 7. Spice Islands, Phillipiue Islands, and Formosa 37 8. Japan Isl.ands 23 9. Kurile Islands IS 10. Kamtsch.atka 21 11. Ladrone Islands 7 12. Bonin Sima Islands 2 13. Aleutian Islands 35 14. North-west America 10 15. Mexico 7 Iti. Central America 38 17. -West Indies 10 18. Equador 17 19. Peru and Bolivia 12 20. Chili 22 21. Terra del Fuego and South Shet- land Islands 4 22. Antarctic Land 2 Total 36a The number in both classes amounts to 407; of which 270 are active, and of these, 190 belong to the islands and shores of the Pacific Ocean. Indeed, this vast ocean seems to be almost surrounded by a great volcanic chain. XI. Volcanoes are most numerous in the Torrid Zone ; yet they occur in all latitudes. The most northern volcanoes known are those of Jan Mayen, latitude 71° north. In the opposite To what vicinity are nearly all of the volcanoes upon the globe limited? — AVhat reason is assigned by Humboldt for this fact ? — What reason is assigned for a general theory of the cause of volcanoes? — By what fact is this theory supported? — Into what two classes may volcanoes be distributed ? — What is a Central system ? — What a Linear system? — What is the number of volcanoes of both classes? — How many are active? 24 PHYSICAL GEOGEAPHY. • hemisphere, Mount Erebus, an active volcano in Victoria Land, is situated amidst the region of eternal ice, within twelve degrees of the South Pole. Mount Erobus. XII. In no part of the globe, of the same extent, are there so many volcanoes as in the island of Java. Out of eighty assigned to the Linear system of the Sunda Islands, forty-three belong to Java ; and in no part of the earth are the eruptions more terrific. Leopold von Buch, the celebrated geographer, gives the following account of one of them : — "On the 8th of October, 1822, about one o'clock in the afternoon, a frightful noise was heard in the neighborhood of Galung Gung, in Java. The mountain was immediately shrouded in a thick cloud of smoke, and streams of hot, muddy, sulphurous water poured down its slopes on every side, and carried before them every thing they met with. There was then an awful sight in Badang ; the river Tschiwulan sweeping down vast multitudes of corpses of men, cattle, rhinoceroses, tigers, antelopes, and even entire houses carried with them into the sea. This flood of hot, muddy water lasted but two hours, yet these were enough to lay in waste a whole province. At three o'clock it had ceased, and there now followed a thick rain of ashes and pumice, which utterly destroyed all that had been spared of the face of the country, and burnt up all the trees. "At five o'clock all was at rest again, and the mountain was seen onoe more. And during this short time, every dwelling, every village for many miles round, had been covered with mud ; in places, which just before had been level plains, hills had arisen, and a vast number of human beings had ceased to live." XIII. Several of the mountain peaks of the north-western sec- tion of the United States are supposed to be volcanic, and smoke and ashes are said to have arisen from them at different times. Mt. St. Helen's, in Washington Territory, north of the Columbia River, has been recently in a state of eruption. In 1842, ashes and cinders from this mountain fell at Fort Vancouver, about fifty miles distant, slightly covering the country in its vicinity. There are indications of volcanic action, in former times, in many parts of this region of country. XIV. Salses, or mud volcanoes ; the Fires of Bakou ; the Fire- Hills and Fire-Springs of China ; and the Geysers of Iceland, are volcanic phenomena, undoubtedly owing their origin to the same cause as that of volcanoes. 1. Mud Volcanoes occur in Sicily, in Java, and south-west of the Caspian Sea in Asia. They are small hillocks, from which are discharged occasion- ally various gases, hot water, mud, and sometimes columns of fire. 2. Fires of Bakou. — The town of Bakou is on the south-west coast of the Caspian Sea, and about ten miles from it is situated the remarkable tract called the " Field of Fire." It is a hollow expanse, full of fissures, from which an inflammable gas continually issues, producing a blue flame. This Bpot was formerly one of the most celebrated " shrines of grace" among the Repeat Leopold von Buch's account of the volcanic eruption in Java. — In what part of the United States are there Volcanoes ? — Where do Mud Volcanoes occur? — Describe the Fires of Bakou. Ghebers, or fire-worshippers of Persia ; and a few still find their way to it, even from India. 3. Fire-Hills and Fire-Springs. — The agency of volcanic action is evinced in China by numerous Hochans, or fire-hills, and Moising, fire-springs, or wells of fire. The latter yield an inflammable gas, which, when lighted, burns with a blue flame, and is made of much practical service in evapo- rating salt water. A similar spring occurs in Fredonia, in New York, south of Lake Brie, the gas from which is used for lighting the town. 4. The Geysers are an extraordinary collection of about fifty hot springs, which occupy an area not exceeding twelve acres, in Iceland, at about the distance of thirty-five miles from Mount Hecla. The term is derived from the Icelandic word geysa, "to rage," or gys, "to rush out with impetuosity." The Great Geyser, the largest of these springs, is a circular mound, on the summit of which is a basin, resembling in shape a saucer, about sixty feet in diameter, and sis or seven feet deep. In the centre of this basin is a well, ten feet in diameter, and 70 feet deep, through which the boiling water rises clear as crystal, gradually filling the basin. Between grand eruptions there is an interval of a day or more. Their approach is announced by hollow, rumbling sounds, which warn the spec- tator to retire to a safe distance. The water in the basin boils furiously, the earth is slightly shaken, and the agitation increases, till at length a column of water is suddenly thrown up with vast force and loud explosions to the height of 100 or 150 feet. After playing for a time like an artificial fountain, and giving off great clouds of vapor, the basin is emptied, and a column of steam rushing up with great violence, terminates the explosion. The Geysers of Iceland. Prof Shepherd describes the " Pluton Geysers" of California, as situated in a deep defile north of San Francisco, in the valley of the Pluton River, where he found, in a space of half a mile square, from one to two hundred openings, through which the steam issued with violence, sending up dense columns of vapor to the height of 200 feet. The roar of the large tubes could be heard for a mile or more. Earthquakes. XV. Earthquakes are those terrible convulsions of nature by which towns and villages have been swallowed up, great cities destroyed, and even entire continents shaken. They are chiefly confined to the volcanic regions of the earth, and undoubtedly owe their origin to the same cause as that of volcanoes. The shocks are usually most severe in places some distance removed from active volcanoes, the vents of the latter appearing to act as a kind of safety- valve to the elastic force which, when pent up, so terribly shakes the crust of theearth. In what country are there Fire-Hills and Fire-Springs? — Describe the Geysers of Iceland. — What is said of the Pluton Geysers of California. — What are Earth- quakes. VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 25 XVI. Observation gives us little room to doubt tlie intimate '. connection of volcanoes and eartbijuakes. Most of tlie great eruptions of modern times have been preceded by earthquakes, and most of tlie great earthquakes of recent date have been fol- lowed by eruptions. Stromboli, for the first time upon the reoord of history, had an interval of repose immediately preceding the great earthquake of Cahibria, in 1783, (luring wliich 40,000 persons perished. The great convulsions of the years ISll and 1812, which were felt in the Azores, in the AV'est India Islands, in the Valley of the Mississippi, and which destroyed the city of Caraccas in South America, in March, 1812, were followed, on the oOth of April, by the terrible eruption of the volcano Morne Garou, on the Island of St. Vincent's, which had been quiet for nearly a century. XVII. The movements of the ground during an earthquake are described as being either horizontal, vertical, or rotatory. The horizontal movement is the most common and the most harmless. It consists of an alternate rising and sinking of the earth in the direction of the movement, and may be likened to the undulations of the waves of the ocean. The mine-like explosion, the vertical action from below upwards, was most strikingly manifested in the earthquake of Riobamba, in Equador, Feb. 4, 1797 ; when the bodies of many of the inhabitants were thrown upon a hill, several hundred feet high, on the opposite side of the river from that on which the town is situated. Rotatory movements are rarely felt, except in the most disastrous and appalling catastrophes. They cause a whirling movement of the earth, by which, in some cases, buildings are turned round without being thrown down, and rows of trees are turned from their parallel direction. Such were the movements of the great earthquake of Calabria, in Italy, Feb. 5, 1783, which destroved over two hundred towns and villages, and during which nearly one hundred thousand persons perished. The face of the country was so completely changed by the movements of this earthquake, that many disputes afterwards arose as to whom the property should belong which had so far shifted its position. XVIII. The undulations of earthquakes are propagated in two very distinct ways : sometimes extending in a linear direction, and sometimes from a centre almost equally in every direction. The earthquake of Guadeloupe, Feb. 8, 1842, was a linear one. It was felt along a right line from CO to 70 miles in width, from the mouth of the Amazon to South Carolina, a distance ofoOOO miles. In circular earthquakes, the progress of the shock may be compared to the ring-like waves produced on the surface of still water when a stone is thrown in. the w.aves growing wider and fainter as the distance increases. The great earthquakes of Lisbon and Calabria were of this character. The vibrations of the Lisbon earthquake extended over an area fjur times the size of Europe. XIX. Earthquakes furnish the most striking examples with which we are acquainted, of the production of stupendous effects in very brief intervals. The most severe are generally the shortest in their duration. The following brief account of the great earthqu.ake at Lisbon, during which 00,000 persons lost their lives, is extracted from a volume published in 1757, two years after the catastrophe: — "At thirty-iive minutes after nine o'clock, on the morning of the first of November, 1755, without tlio least w.arning, except a rumbling noise, not unlike the artificial thunder at our theatres, immediately preceding, a most dreadful earthquake shook by short but quick vibrations the foundations of all Lisbon, so that many of the tallest edifices fell that instant. Then, with scarcely a perceptible pause, the nature of the motion changed, and every building was tossed like a w.agon driven violently over rough stones, which laid in ruins almost every house, church, convent, and public liuilding, with ,an incredible slaughter of the people. It continued in all about six minutes." N.Tme the three movements of E.irthquakes. — Describe .and give examples of eacli. — In what two directions are earOuiuake movements propagated? — Describe each. — Repeat the account of the Lisbon earthquake. The desolation of Caraccas, March 20, 1812, occupied less time. In the space of fifty seconds, three great shocks shattered the city, killed 10,000 of its inhabitants, and covered the province with ruins. XX. Beyond the limits of the volcanic regions, where earth- quakes are most numerous and destructive, all countries are subject to slight tremors at distant intervals of time. Slight shocks have been felt frequently in various parts of the United States, and one destructive earthquake has been experienced — that of New Madrid, in the winter of the years 1811 and 1812. The principjil shock which devastated the town, and extended through the Mississippi Valley, from Cincinnati on the east, and North-western Missouri on the west, across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, and at Carac- cas, in New Grenada, is thus described by a gentleman who had secured for the night the fiat-boat in which he was floating down the Mississippi, at New .Madrid : — " It was about twelve o'clock, on the clear moonlight night of the 0th of February, 1812, when there came a frightful crash, like a sudden explosion of artillery, and instantly followed by countless flashes of lightning. The Mississippi foamed up like the water in a boiling cauldron, and the stream flowed rushing back, while the forest trees near which we lay came cracking and thundering down. This fearful 8pect'- LAKES. 31 XIX. Some peculiarities of river systems and particular rivers remain to be mentioned. 1. The channels of main rivers are not always increased in width by the additional waters of tributary streams : the Mississippi is no broader after receiving the great volumes of water from the Missouri and the Ohio: of course its channel is deeper. 2. The Nile is remarkable for not receiv- ing a single brook from its junction with the Toeazze to the Mediterranean, a distance of 1500 miles ; a fact without a parallel elsewhere upon the globe. 3. The meeting of great rivers with strong oceanic currents and tides frequently occasions a violent disturbance of the waters. The dreaded prororocea of the Amazon, from which fishermen and mariners flee in great dismay, and the terrific hore of the Hoogly, off the mouth of the Ganges, are occasioned by such collisions. CHAPTER III. LAKES. I. A Lake is a collection of water nearly or quite surrounded by land. The water of most lakes is fresh, yet that of a consi- derable number is salt. Some salt lakes are termed seas, as the Caspian Sea. Lakes may be divided into four classes. II. The first class embraces those which receive no running water, and have no outlet. They commonly occupy hollows — extinct volcanic craters — and receive their supplies from springs which burst forth from the bottom of the lake. III. The second class comprises those which have an outlet, but receive no running water ; such lakes derive their supplies in the same manner as the first class. They are commonly of small extent, and often form the sources of rivers. IV. The third class includes those lakes which receive streams of water, but have no outlet. Such lakes are not numerous, and their waters are usually salt. Until very recently it was supposed that all lakes of this class were salt, and it may stillbe proved that such is the fact. The only exception, if exception there be, is Lake Tchad, in Central Africa, which is known to be a body of fresh water, and which is now supposed to have no outlet. Recent explorations have proved that it has no connection with the rivers flowing westward into the Atlantic, and it is believed to be at a lower level than the Nile, thus rendering it impossible that its waters should flow into that river. The principal salt lakes of the Western Continent occur on elevated table- land, as Great Salt Lake, in the Great Basin of Utah ; those of the Eastern Continent, on the contrary, occupy a great depression on the earth's surface : the Caspian Sea being 83 feet below the Black Sea, and the surface of the Dead Sea being more than 1300 feet below that of the Mediterranean. Salt lakes generally appear to be decreasing in size, losing more water by evaporation than is supplied by their tributaries. The Sea of Aral is diminishing rapidly. The Caspian Sea, though it receives through its 70 mouths the majestic volume of the Volga, the largest river in Europe, as also the Ural and other large streams, decreases, instead of increasing, in size. Captain Stansbury reports with reference to the region of the Great Salt Lake, that " There must have been here at some former period a vast inland sea, extending for hundreds of miles." Name other peculiarities of some Rivers. — What is a Lake ? — Into how many classes may Lakes be divided? — Describe the first class — the second — the third. — Is thewater of Lakes of the third class generally fresh or salt? — Give examples of them. The water of most of these lakes is much more salt than that of the ocean. The Oceanic waters contain about 3| per cent, of salt; Great Salt Lake, 20 percent.; the Dead Sea, 2G per cent.; and Lake Elton, 29 per cent. Lake Elton furnishes more than two-thirds of the salt consumed in Russia. V. Dr. Rebmann, the zealous African missionary, reports the recent discovery of an immense inland sea or lake in Central Africa, south of the Equator. It is said to be without an outlet, and "twice as large as the Black Sea, including the Sea of Azov." The outlines of this great sea, as reported by the learned missionary, are traced on the Hydrographical map ; but as yet we are possessed of little information with reference to it. VI. The fourth class, by far the most numerous, comprises those lakes which both receive and discharge streams of water. Lake Superior is an example. Collections of water of this character are most extensively distributed in northern latitudes. The great chain between the United States and Canada, of which the River St. Lawrence forms the outlet, is estimated to contain half the fresh water upon the surface of the globe. ^'icw on Lalie Ciourge. The waters of many lakes of this class are very transparent, and of the purest azure hue : as the Lake of Geneva, in Switzerland, Great Bear Lake, in British America, and Lake George, in New York. Lakes Superior and Huron are much admired by tourists for the clearness and purity of their w.aters. Lake Sir-i-kol, in Asia, the most elevated lake known, is 15,600 feet above the level of the sea. It forms the source of the river Amoo. Lake Titicaca, situated on the Great Plateau of the Andes, in South Ame- rica, usually discharges its waters through the river Desaguadero ; but some- times the river reverses its course, and flows into the lake, instead of from it. This was the case for thirty days in the year 1846. The waters of this lake are brackish, and Lieut. Gibbon reports that it is " gradually filling up." VII. Recapitulation. — From this, and the two preceding chapters, it appears that the fresh water upon the globe is dis- tributed into Springs, Rivers, and Lakes. That the Springs are perennial, intermittent, or periodical. That the Rivers are oceanic (flowing into the sea), or continental (flowing into Lakes on land). That the Lakes comprise four classes : the first class embracing those which receive no running water, and have no outlet ; the second, those which have an outlet, and receive no running water ; the third, those which receive running water, and have no outlet ; the fourth, those which both receive and dis- charge streams of water. It appears, also, that the water of many Springs and Lakes is salt. What is the difference of elevation in Lakes of the third class on the Eastern and Western Continents? — What recent discovery is reported in Central Africa? — Describe Lakes of the fourth class. — Recapitulate the subjects of this and the preceding chapters. 32 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. CHAPTER IV. THE OCEAN. I. The Ocean, or Sea, is that great extent of water which surrounds the continents and islands of the Earth, and covers about three-fourths of its entire surface. II. The water of the ocean is salt, and by evaporation a large proportion of common salt is obtained from it. Different parts of the ocean vary in the amount of salt found in their waters, and consequently in density. The ocean is less salt near the Equator, and towards the Poles, than in other parts. This is probably owing to the abundant rains at the Equator, and to the melting of the ice in the Polar regions. The saline ingredients render sea-water more buoyant than fresh water, and consequently better adapted for navigation, while a larger area is thus pre- vented from being ice-bound. Fresh water freezes at the temperature of 32°; salt water at the temperature of 28J°. The healthfulness of the ocean is ascribed to its constant motion, which prevents its waters from becoming stagnant and corrupt. III. The color of the ocean is generally of a deep bluish-green, which becomes clearer and brighter towards the coasts. Par- ticular parts of the ocean show peculiar colors. The sea is white in the Gulf of Guinea, black amid the Maldive Islands, and has a reddish appearance near the peninsula of California. Green water, in connection with the deepest blue, appears in the Persian Gulf, off the Arabian coast, and in the Arctic Ocean. These appearances are permanent, and so distinct, that ships have been seen partly in blue and partly in green water at the same time. These diiferent tints are occasioned by myriads of minute insects which swarm in these waters. The phosphorescence of the ocean, which presents a magnificent and imposing spectacle, owes its origin to the same cause. This beautiful phenomenon is thus described by Mr. Darwin: — "AVhile sailing a little south of the La Plata, on one very dark night, the sea pre- sented a wonderful and most beautiful spectacle. There was a fresh breeze, and every part of the surface, which during the day is seen as foam, now glowed with a pale light. The vessel drove before her bow two billows of liquid phosphorus, and in her wake she was followed by a milky train. As far as the eye reached, the crest of every wave was bright, and the sky above the horizon was illuminated from the reflected glare of these lurid flames." IV. It is only quite recently that methods have been adopted, and apparatus invented, by which the depth of the deeper parts of the ojean, " the blue water," could be accurately determined. As the result of these recent and correct measurements, Lieut. Maui-y reports the Atlantic Ocean, north of 10° South Latitude, as varying in depth from 6000 to 25,000 feet. The average depth of the Atlantic, for a distance of from 75 to 150 miles from the coasts of the Continents, is less than 6000 feet. For a further dis- tance of from 200 to 250 miles, the depth varies from 0000 to 12,000 feet. " The deepest part of the North Atlantic Ocean," says Lieut. Maury, " is probably somewhere between the Bermudas and the Grand Banks, but how deep it may be, yet remains for the cannon-ball and sounding-twine to determine." V. Another result of the recent correct measurements of the depth of the North Atlantic, is the certain knowledge that the bed of the ocean, like the land, is diversified by mountains and valleys, hills, table-lands, and plains. " There is," says Lieut. Maury, " at the bottom of this Sea, (the Atlantic Ocean,) between Cape Race, in Newfoundland, and Cape Clear, in Ireland, a remarkable plain, which is already known as the telegraphic plateau. A company is now engaged with the project of a submarine telegraph across the Atlantic. It is proposed to carry the wires along this plateau, from the eastern shores of Newfoundland to the western shores of Ireland. The great circle distance between these two shore lines is 1000 miles, and the sea along the route is probably nowhere more than 10,000 feet deep." The annexed diagram, copied from Lieut. Maury's Sailing Directions, is a representation of the bed of the Atlantic Ocean, in a line extending south- eastwardly from Mexico to Africa. It is drawn to a scale, and represents the elevation of the land above the level of the sea, as well as the depth to which the ocean sinks below it. 100 »o fo •"0 60 50 40 :o 20 ID I.ouffitude West fruin Greenwich. k > 4 10,000-3 S. 1 ^= rt » o - m ii MS ■^ -a 1 _rt 5,000-H^ 1 1 15 "E ^B ^ u T i. '.-^ = u< ^^ -A A. ft 1 Ti 1 Level nflhe Sea § J^ « ^^^^ '^^^^ __ - -r i ■- =^ ^S= ^^= u^ b- F ^=i •^ —""' . ^ 5,000-,^- ■ " -. " - " -^ _= ,-- ^=^=sr^77^ , ■■ , ■ - ■ - ■- __ E;. ^4^^...^^^^ — - •- ■\ 10,000- £. : i^ ;:: ^ ^;^ir-- ]j,00O- i -4 asissJ — ^'~r^~ 1 "^ 1 1 " . 1 1 1 1 ' What is the Ocean 1 — What is the character of the water of the Ocean? — In what parts are its waters less salt? — What is the general color of the Ocean? — What is the cause of the peculiar colors of some tracts of the Ocean ? — Repeat Darwin's description of the pho.ephoresceiice of the Ocean. — What is the depth of the North Atlantic? VI. The level of the ocean is not everywhere the same. Thus the surface of the Red Sea, at some seasons, is considerably higher than that of the Mediterranean : this is supposed to be owing to the peculiar shape of this sea, and to the influence of the prevailing winds and currents. It has been long supposed that there was a considerable difference in the levels of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, on opposite sides of the Isthmus of Panama ; but recent observations made by Col. Totten, of the Panama Railroad, show that there is no appreciable difference in the mean elevations of the two oceans. VII. Properly speaking, there is but one Ocean ; but for con- venience of description it is separated into five divisions — called the Arctic, Antarctic, Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. The Arctic Ocoan is north of the Arctic Circle ; the Antarctic Ocean south of the Antarctic Circle. The Atlantic Ocean stretches from the Arctic Circle on the north to the Antarctic Circle on the south, and from the western shores of the Eastern Continent on the east to the eastern shores of the Western Continent on the west. The Pacific Ocean extends from Behring's Strait on the north to the Antarctic Circle on the south, and from the western shores of the Western Continent on the east to the eastern shores of the Eiistern Continent and Australia on the west. The Indian Ocean extends from Asia southwards to the Antarctic Circle ; Australia forms its eastern, and Africa its western boundary. The portions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, north of the Equator, are known respectively as the North Atlantic and North Pacific ; those south of the Equator, as the South Atlantic and South Pacific. The boundaries here assigned to the diSerent oceans are those agreed upon by the Royal Geographical Society of London, in 1845. By what is the bed of the Ocean diversified? — State the location of the telegraphic plateau. — Is there any difference in the level of the Ocean? — Give examples to con- firm your statement. — Name the five difl^erent Oceans. — Give the boundaries of each of them. — On what authority are these boundaries stated? I OCEANIC MOVEMENTS. 33 VIII. The Arctic and Antarctic Oceans are supposed to be of about the same size, though botli have been only partially explored. They are chiefly remarkable for the vast fields of ice which they contain, and for the huge icebergs which proceed from them into the warmer waters towards the Ef^uator. Many navigators have attempted to press through the ice of these oceans to the Poles, but thus far without success. Captain Parry, in 1827, reached Latitude 82° 45' North ; and Sir James Ross, in 1841, reached Latitude TS° 10' South: being the two nearest points to the Poles yet attained by man. Dr. Kane, the intrepid American explorer, in his recent Arctic expedition, abandoned his vessels, which were frozen fast in the ice, and proceeded northwards, on sledges drawn by dogs, as far as 82° 30' North, where he discovered a great open sea stretching in the distance as far as the eye could reach. IX. The Atlantic Ocean, though only about one-third the extent of the Pacific, is of far more importance to man. It is the principal highway of the larger portion of the world's commerce, and its great branches, penetrating far into the land, afford immense facilities for navigation to the countries whose waters they drain. The most important eastern branches of the Atlantic are the Mediterra- nean and Baltic Seas ; the principal western branches are the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and Hudson's Bay. X. The Pacific Ocean is remarkable for its vast size, and for the great number of its islands. It was not known to Europeans until 1513, when it was discovered by Vasco Nunez de Balboa, from the summit of a mountain near the Isthmus of Panama. Magellan, who sailed on it from America to the Ladrone Islands, gave it the name of Pacific, in consequence of the calm and de- lightful weather which he experienced while navigating its surface. On the American side, the Pacitic corresponds to the South Atlantic, rarely extending its branches into the land. On the Asiatic side, it corresponds to the North Atlantic, in deeply indenting the coasts. The China, YelloWj and Japan Seas, enclosed by islands, are strikingly similar to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, shut in by the West Indies. XI. The Indian Ocean has for its princijsal branches the Bay of Bengal, the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian and Red Seas. This ocean is chiefly remarkable for its hurricanes and monsoons, for an account of which, see Meteorology, i)age 4-3. CHAPTER V. OCEANIC MOVEMENTS, WAVES, TIDES, AND CURRENTS. I. The Ocean is subject to the three great general movements of Waves, Tides, and Currents : the causes of which are inde- pendent of each other. The wave movement is of an inconstant and transitory character, occasioned principally by winds. The movement of the tides is regular and periodical, and caused by the attractive influence of the moon, modified by that of the sun. The currents are the effects of various circumstances, and, in their constant flow, are like great rivers in the midst of the sea. For what are the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans remarkable? — What are the nearest distances to the Poles yet attained by man? — "What discovery was made in this Ocean by Dr. Kane? — State some points of resemblance between the .\tlantic and Pacific. 5 Wave.«. II. Waves appear to be an onward flow of the water of the sur- face of the ocean ; but they arc not really so, except in shoal water, and in the case of a strong continuous wind, which sometimes creates a current. If the formation of a single wave be carefully observed, it will be seen that while the forward part of it is rising, the hinder part is falling. The common saying of "the tvaves ruiiniinj mountain liiyh" is a popular exaggeration. The highest wave observed in the Atlantic by Dr. Scoresby, during two voyages made across it in 1847 and 1848, was 43 feet, and this observation immediately followed a very severe gale. The highest wave noticed in the Mediterranean Sea was 10 feet ; off Austr.alia, 20 feet ; and in the Bay of Biscay, as measured by Sir .James Boss, 30 feet. At a compara- tively bmall depth the ocean is tranquil, while furious tempests are agitating its surface. The effect of the strongest gales does not probably extendi beyond the depth of 200 feet. III. The force of the waves in gales of wind is tremendous. The great storm of the 17th of April, 1851, carried away Minot's Ledge Light-house, on the coast of Massachusetts, twenty miles from Boston. ■^ „4;mb1 nit ,,;,Si|Bfr Minot's Ledge Liglit-Housc. This famous structure was composed of nine iron piles, from CO to 03 feet in height, each of which was ten inches in diameter, and firmly imbedded five feet deep in the solid part of the rock on which it was situated. These piles were strongly braced together, but in the fury of the gale were twisted oir as if they had been made of wood. After the gale had subsided, a huge block of granite, estimated to weigh seven tons, to which the keeper had attached a hawser extending from the structure, was found to have been washed 400 or 500 feet towards the shore. IV. The rate at which waves travel, is strikingly exhibited by the following circumstances narrated by Prof. Bache : " On the 23d of December, 1854, an earthquake occurred at Simoda, on the island of Niphon, Japan. The harbor was first emptied of water, then For what is the Indian Ocean remarkable ?— To what three general movements is the Ocean subject ? — Describe each of them. — What are Waves? — How high are they?— Give an example to illustrate their force. 34 PHYSICAL GEOGEAPHY. an enormous ^Yave rushed in, which again receded, leaving the harbor dry. This was repeated several times, and thus several great waves were formed. At San Francisco, there are self-acting tide-gauges, which indicate any dis- turbance in the level of the sea ; and these gaitges, four thousand eight hundred miles from the scene of the earthquake, marked the time at which the waves arrived. The first one travelled across the Pacific in twelve hours and sixteen minutes, or at the rate of nearly four hundred miles an hour. The others followed at intervals of about an hour each." Tides. V. Tides are alternate risings and fallings of the water of the surface of the ocean, which occur regulai'ly twice in every day. On all coasts of the ocean where tides are felt, the water is in restless motion at all times, even when there is not a breath of wind. It is only on the coasts of inland seas, gulfs, and bays, which penetrate far into the land, as the Baltic and Black Seas, that tides are not experienced. If a convenient place be chosen for observation, as a gradually sloping sea-beach, we shall notice for about sis hours a continued rise of the water up the beach, each wave advancing higher and higher: this rise is called the Jiood tide. For about ten or fifteen minutes the water will be at rest : this is termed Mgli water. The water then recedes for about sis hours as gradually as it rose : this is called ebh tide. Here it remains at rest for about ten or fifteen minutes, which is called low xoater; and then commences to rise again, and so on alternately. The perpendicular height to which the tide rises maybe very plainly seen upon the surface of a rock on the beach, or upon a stake fised in the sand. VI. Tides do not rise to the same height on all coasts. In the open ocean the rise is small. Thus, at the Sandwich Islands, it is only about two and a half feet ; and at St. Helena, about three feet. On coasts, however, where the tides are interrupted, or forced around a headland, or up a narrow bay, they some- times reach an amazing height. At St. Malo, on the northern coast of France, the highest tides rise forty or fifty feet ; and, in the Bay of Fundy, they are often sixty or seventy feet in height, advancing with such rapidity that swine, feeding on the shell-fish upon the beach, are sometimes overtaken by the flood, and drowned. The highest tides of the principal ports of the Atlantic coast of the United States, vary from three to twelve or fifteen feet. VII. The height to which the tide rises at any given place is not always the same. It changes every day, and these changes are connected with the phases of the moon. At the times of the new moon, and of the full moon, the flood rises higher, and the fall of the ebh is greater than at other times : these are called Spring tides. During the first and last quarters of the moon, the ebb and flow are least : called Neap tides. The dif- ference between Neap and Spring tides, at Boston, is about five feet ; at New York, two feet ; and at Brest, on the coast of France, about eleven feet. VIII. The connection between the tides and the place of the moon and sun was known to the ancients, but Newton first demonstrated the influence of these bodies in producing them. To understand this influence, some knowledge of the laws of attraction is necessary. Attraction is that power which draws bodies towards each other. The moon and sun attract the earth ; the moon, by reason of its lesser distance, is estimated to exer- cise about three times the power of the sun. Neither the Give an example to illustrate the speed witli which "Waves travel. — W^hat are Tides? — Describe the tidal movement as it would be observed on a sea-beach. — State the height to which the Tide rises on different coasts. — Explain the terms Sjiviiig (idea and Neap tides. — What causes Tides ? attractive influence of the moon, however, nor of the sun and moon combined, is strong enough to disturb the solid matter of the land of the earth ; but either is sufficiently powerful to raise the more easily lifted particles of the sea. To explain clearly the influence of the moon and sun in producing tides, let us suppose the earth to be a globe entirely covered with water, and let it le represented in the annexed diagram by E, then M will represent the moon, S the sun, and a b c d the water covering the earth. Fig;l m-xsm- This figure represents the moon and sun as attracting the earth in the same direction. Their influence is, of course, the strongest on that portion of the earth which is nearest to them, and the water is accordingly elevated at a, drawn thither from b and c. The water is also raised at d, and this is caused by the entire solid matter of the earth being drawn from the water at d, thus producing the same effects as if it had been raised by the direct action of the moon and sun. Figure I represents Spring tides and hio-h water at a and d, and low water at b and c. Fi!!?.2 Figure 2 represents the moon and sun as attracting the earth in different directions ; the moon's influence being greatest, it is high water and Neap tides at b and o, and low water at a and d. The greatest rise of the water does not happen at the moment when the moon is directly over it, but occurs a little later; some "time being required for the water to run up and form a wave. IX. The earth, however, is not a sphere entirely covered with water, and the peculiar conformation of the land causes a very difierent tidal movement from that in the case supposed. It has been ascertained that the only part of the sea, of sufiicient extent and depth to admit of the formation of a tidal wave, is the great ocean south of Australia. When, therefore, by the revolution of the earth upon its axis, this part of the ocean is brought nearest to the moon, a great tidal wave is created. The numerous islands and coral reefs of the Pacific, and the peculiar canal-shape of the Atlantic, prevent the origination of tides in either of these great oceans. So, also, the small extent of inland lakes and seas pre- vents all tidal movements in such bodies of water. Which has the greatest influeuee in producing Tides, the sun or moon ? — Explain figure 1. — Explain figure 2. — In what part of the ocean do Tides originate? — What prevents their formation in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans? — In inland lakes and seas ? OCEANIC MOVEMENTS. 35 X. The tidal wave wliich first receives its impulse south of Australia, follows the apparent westward course of the moon, entering from the south the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, bearing high water to all the coasts it visits. Like other waves, it is not an onward flow of the water, except over shoals, and near the land. In the deep and open ocean its velocity is a thousand miles an hour, but near the laud its movement is much less rapid. The progress of a tidal wave is represented by lines on the map at the tnp of the page, called co-tidal, because they connect places which have high water at the same time. If we suppose it to be high water on the east coast of Tasmania at 11 o'clock, A. M. — at 11, at night, the wave will have reached the southern, point of the peninsula of Ilindoostan ; at 1 o'clock, next morning, it will have passed the Cape of Good Hope : and advancing rapidly in the deep waters of the Atlantic, it will reach Newfoundland at 11 o'clock, A.M., or in '21 hours from the time it started from Tasmania. The spaces between the co-tidal lines, proceeding from east to west, indi- cate the progress the tidal wave makes in two hours. Currents. XL The currents of the ocean are among the most important of its movements. They are like vast rivers in the midst of the sea — transferring its waters from the Poles to the Eipator, and from one ocean to another. XII. Currents are caused by the heat of the sun, the rotation of the earth, the saltness of the sea, by winds, tides, the melting of ice, and by various minor circumstances. They are constant, periodical, or temporary. XIII. Constant currents are those great ocean streams which have their origin in permanent causes, and flow in one direction throughout the year. In what direction does the tidal wave flow ? — Wliat do you understand by co-tidal lines? — How long does it t.ake tlie tidal wave to flow from St. Helena to the Cape de Vcrd Islands? — Is it hi^'h water first at the Cape dcVerd Islands or the West Indies? XIV. The nature of these causes is yet imperfectly under- stood. The following theory seems to be the one most generally adopted : — The heat of the Torrid Zone occasions a more powerful evaporation at the Equator than is experienced anywhere else : immense quantities of water are constantly rising from the surface, in the form of moisture, and are borne away by the winds. Therefore, to supply the vacancy at the Equator, caused by this circumstance, the heavier, because colder, waters of the Poles move towards the Equator. The rotation of tho earth promotes the movement of the Polar water towards the Equator, in the following manner : — The waters of the ocean are impelled towards that part of the earth's surface which revolves with the greatest rapidity; and as the rotary motion of the earth is more rapid at the Equator than anywhere else, the waters of the Polar regions thus receive an impulse towards the Equator, in addition to that caused by the heat of the Torrid Zone. The combined action of these two forces causes large streams to descend from both Poles towards the Equator. When the water leaves the region of the Poles, where the rotary motion is slight, it flows directly north and south ; but as it advances towards the Equator, where the surface of the earth revolves with great rapidity, it can- not at once acquire the same velocity — consequently it is left behind ; and instead of running north and south, as it would do if the earth's surfiiee did not turn round, it flows in an oblique direction towards the west, until finally it forms a great equatorial current setting towards the west : while the trade- winds, which blow in a general westerly direction, combine to increase its velocity. Were it not for the land, such would be the uniform and constant flow of the waters of the ocean. The presence of the land interrupts tho regularity of this great westward movement of the waters, sending them to the north or south, and also occasioning temporary and periodical currents. XV. Periodical currents are occasioned by tides, and by peri- odical winds, called monsoons. (See article MoNSOONS, p. 4-3.) These currents are freijuent in the eastern seas : one flows into the Red Sea during six months in the year, and out of it during the remaining six. In the Persian Gulf, this order is reversed. What are the Currents of the ocean like? — By what are they caused ? — What are Constant Currents ? — E.\plain the generally-adopted theory of the cause of Currcllt^ ? — By what are the Periodical Currents occasioned ? 36 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. In the Indian Ocean and China Sea, the waters are driven alter- nately backwards and forwards by the monsoons. XVI. Temporary currents are caused by tides, melting ice, and by gales of considerable duration. There are strong local currents produced by tides, flowing through narrow channels and projecting coasts: as "Ilurlgate," in East River, seven miles from New York, where the water has a velocit}' of six miles an hour; and the " Roost" of Sumburgh, at the south promontory of the Shetland Isles, which runs at the rate of fifteen miles an hour. These local currents sometimes meet from opposite quarters, and cause a whirlpool, like the long-celebrated Maelstrom on the coast of Norway, occasioned by the meeting of tidal cur- rents round the adjacent island; XVII. Let us trace the course of the great system of constant currents, through the various deviations occasioned by the out- lines of the land. This system has different names in the various parts of its course : — 1. Antarctic Current. — In consequence of the natural tendency of the Polar water towards the Equator, a great oceanic stream flows northward from the Antarctic Sea. Driven by the westerly winds which prevail in that quarter, it bends towards the western coast of South America. Here it is divided : a small part rounding Cape Horn, while the greater body flows north along the coast of South America, until turning suddenly to the west, it is lost in the Equatorial current of the Pacific. 2. Equatorial Current of the Pacific. — This great stream flows westward, with a breadth of 3500 miles, until its progress is interrupted by the shores of China, Farther India, and the islands of the Indian Archipelago ; bat a part forces its way between the islands, and joins the equatorial current of the Indian Ocean. Passing round the northern end of M.adagascar, it flows through Mozambique Channel, and around the Cape of Good Hope. It then moves northward along the western shores of Africa, until it is turned aside by the coast of Guinea, and forms the Equatorial current of the Atlantic. 3. Equatorial Current of the Atlantic. — ^^Moving westward, this stream reaches Cape St. Roque, in Brazil. Here it divides into two branches. Ore branch, setting southward along the coast of South America, is turned towards the east before reaching the mouth of the La Plata, and assumes tlie name of the Southern Connecting Current. 4. Southern Connecting Current. — This stream stretches directly across the Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope, and passing 200 miles south of the westward Cape Current, pursues its course into the Indian Ocean. 5. Guiana and Carihbean Current. — The principal branch of the Equa- torial current of the Atlantic takes a north-westerly direction, from off Cape St. Roque ; and rushes along the coast of Brazil, with such rapidity and depth, that its course is but little affected by the powerful streams of the Amazon and Orinoco. After passing through the Caribbean Sea, and sweeping around the Gulf of Mexico, it flows between Florida and Cuba, assuming the name of the Gulf Stream. 6. Gulf Stream. — This powerful stream passes north-easterly along the coast of North America to Newfoundland, where it turns to the east, and reaches the Azores ; there it takes a southerly direction, and is gradually lost in the Atlantic Ocean. An important branch leaves the Gulf Stream, near Newfoundland, setting towards Great Britain. It is divided by the British Isles — part of it flowing towards the western shores of France, and another branch to the coasts of Norwiiy, where its waters can be readily distinguished by their warmth. The waters of the Gulf Stream are warmer, more salt, and of a deeper blue than those through which it passes. Be- tween Florida and Cuba it flows with great velocity, and has a high tem- perature. As it proceeds north, its breadth becomes greater, while its depth and speed diminish ; and although losing much of its heat as it proceeds north, it still retains throughout its entire course a higher temperature than that of the surrounding ocean. By what are Temporary Currents caused? — Give examples of such Currents. — De- scribe the Antarctic Current. — The Equatorial Current of the Pacific. Of the Atlantic. — In what direction does the Southern Connecting Current flow? Along what coasts docs the Guiana and Caribbean Current flow? — Where is the Gulf .Stream? 7. North African and Guinea Current. — Commencing off the coasts of Ireland and Spain, this current, after sending a stream through the Straits of Gibraltar, moves down the coast of Africa, alongside of the Equatorial current, with which perhaps its waters finally mingle. This current, in con- nection with the Gulf Stream, completes the entire circuit of the Northern Atlantic Ocean. 8. Grassy Sea. — "Midway the Atlantic, in the triangular space between the Azores, Canaries, and Cape de Verd Islands, is the Sargasso Sea. Covering an area equal in extent to the Mississippi Valley, it is so thickly matted over with Gulf weed that the speed of vessels passing through it is often much retarded. When the companions of Columbus saw it, they thought it marked the limits of navigation, and became alarmed. To the eye, at a little distance, it seems substantial enough to walk upon. Patches of the weed are always to be seen floating along the Gulf Stream. Now, if bits of cork or chaff', or any floating substance, be put into a basin, and a circular motion be given to the water, all the light substances will be found crowding together near the centre of the pool, where there is the least motion. Just such a basin is the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf Stream, and the Sargasso Sea is the centre of the whirl. Columbus first found this weedy sea in his voyage of discovery; there it has remained to this d.ay; and certain observations as to its limits, extending back for fifty years, assure us that its position has not been altered since that time." — Matiry's Physical Geography of the Sea. 9. Arctic Current. — This stream originates in the masses of ice which surround the North Pole. Passing down the coasts of Greenland and Labrador, it reaches the Gulf Stream on the coast of Newfoundland. Here it divides : one portion flowing south to the Caribbean Sea, which it enters as an under-current; while the other flows down the coast of the United States, inside of the Gulf Stream. 10. Japan Curi-eni. — This is a current which has been lately investigated, entering the Pacific from the Indian Ocean, bearing many striking points of resemblance to the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic. Lieut. Bent, who was attached to Commodore Perry's late Japanese expedition, reports this cur- rent as being well known to the Japanese, who called it the Eu7-o siwo, or black stream ; the name being undoubtedly given to it on account of its dark blue color, as compared with the adjacent ocean. This current pours a stream of warm water through the China Sea, between Borneo and Anam, which corresponds to that between Florida and Cuba ; it flows north-easterly along the coast of Asia, as the Gulf Stream follows the line of the American coast; and it imparia a warmth and moisture to the Aleutian Islands and the north- western coasts of America, similar to the efl^ect produced by the Gulf Stream upon the western and northern shores of Europe. Moreover, there is a cold current flowing southward down the coast of Asia, inside of this northward current, corresponding to the southward current of our eastern coast. To complete the resemblance, there is a southward current along the coast of California and Mexico, corresponding to the continuation of the Gulf Stream by the North African and Guinea current ; and masses of floating sea-weed occur in the Pacific, not unlike the Sargasso Sea of the Atlantic. XVIII. Counter Currents. — A countei'-current is a stream which runs by the side of, or beneath, another current, and in an opposite direction to it. There is scarcely a strait joining two seas that does not furnish an exam- ple — a current running in along one shore, and a counter-current running out along the other; or a surface-current running in one direction, and au under-current in another. Lieut. Maury remarks : "We may lay it down as a law in the system of oceanic circulation, that every current in the sea has its counter-current ; * * * for wherever one current is found cai'rying off water from this or that part of the sea, to the same part must some other current convey an equal volume of water, or else the first would, in the course of time, cease for the want of water to supply it." Thus the North African and Guinea current runs- for a thousand miles along the northern margin of the Equatorial current of the Atlantic, and in Along what coasts flows the North African and Guinea Current? — Describe the Sar- gasso Sea. — The Arctic Current. — State some points of resemblance between the .Japan Current and the Gulf Stream. — What are Counter Currents? — Give examples of them. OCEANIC MOVEMENTS. 37 View in the Arctic Ocean. an opposite direction to it. Tin' suutlicrn connecting current forms a counter-current to the stream which flows westward around the Cape of Good Hope. The ITnlted States current, wliich flows soutliward inside the Gulf Stream, is another example. XIX. Under Currents. — Many of the counter-currents flow beneath the surface with immense force and velocity. Navigators report that there is a powerful under-current flowing from the Atlantic into the Arctic Ocean. "They describe," says Maury, " huge ice- bergs, with tops high up ^^ in the air, and, of course, .,^g^ i^^^i^ the bases of which e.ttend far down into the depths ^ _js^ of tlie ocean, ripping and tearing their way, with terrific force and awful violence, through the sur- face-ice or against a sur- face-current, on their way into the Polar basin." The existence of an open sea at the l-oles, north of the dreary wastes of ice in the Arctic Ocean, had for some time been supposed by hydrogra- phers. Its existence was also inferred from the well-known fact, that the birds and animals of the Arctic regions are found at certain seasons migrating to the north, evidently in search of a milder climate. This infer- ence has recently been confirmed by the explorations of Dr. Kane, who actually reached the margin of it in Latitude 82° 30', north of Greenland. Lieutenant Maury attributes the cause of this open sea, which is supposed to be free from ice, chiefly to the under-current of water flowing to the north, which he has so graphically described. He supposes this current to come from the warmer regions of the Equator, and to rise to the surface near the Poles, communicating its warmth to the waters of those regions. XX. The extent, temperature, and velocity of currents have an important influence upon climate and navigation. Their velocity varies at different points of their course. The average velocity of some of the great currents is 60 miles a day — while at some points it is 120 miles. Near Cape Corrientes, on the African coast, west of Madagascar, a velocity of 139 miles a day has been observed. It is, there- fore, obvious that a knowledge of the ocean currents is of the utmost import- ance in navigation. Lieutenant Maury states that very recently a fine frigate took a hundred days to sail from the United States to Rio Janeiro, while another vessel, which left at the same time, performed the same voyage, by the aid of the thart of the currents, in thirty days. In the waters near the Equator, where long calms prevail, a vessel may be carried hundreds of miles by the force of the current alone. Where a powerful current flows through a labyrinth of islands, navigation is often rendered very difficult and dangerous: this is the case in the China Seas and Indian Archipelago. In the West Indies, a vessel going from •Jamaica to the Lesser Antilles is prevented, by baffling winds and currents, from sailing directly across the Caribbean Sea, and must go round through the ocean, outside of the Caribbee Isles — a voyage requiring several weeks ; while the return passage, directly across the Caribbean Sea, is made in as many days. Vegetable matter and the seeds of plants are transported by currents from one region to another. Coral islands thus become clothed with vegetation, and are fitted for the habitation of man. Vast quantities of timber are Repeat Maury's description of tlie cfTects of the under-current which flows into the Arctic Ocean. — To what docs he attribute the cause of the open Polar Sea? — Give examples to illustrate the velocity of Currents. — Hive examples to illustrate their influence upon navigation. — State some other important offices performed by Currents. thrown upon the islands in the Polar .Sea. The bodies of men, animals, and plants of unknown appearance, brought to the Azores ))y the Gulf Stream, suggested to Columbus the idea of land beyond the Western Ocean, and thus led to the discovery of America. XXI. Ocean currents carry on a constant exchange between the waters of the Poles and those of the Equator, and thus dimi- nish the extremes of heat and cold in every Zone. The temper- ature of the currents is either higlier or lower than that of the surrounding ocean, according to the heat of the climate in which they have their origin. This difi'erence amounts to from 10° to 30° Fahrenheit. The Antarctic current pours a cold stream along the western coast of South America, producing an important effect upon the climate of Chili. \i renders the temperature of the Equatorial current three degrees colder than that of the adjacent waters. The waters of the Equatorial current again become heated in the Gulf of Mexico, and under the name of the Gulf Stream, flow forth into the Atlantic, ten degrees warmer than the surrounding ocean. The Gulf Stream, pouring out a vast flood of warm water over the surface of the Atlantic, makes the climate of northern Europe mild and moist ; while the shores of Labrador, in the same latitude, washed by the cold waters of the Arctic, are encased in ice. The waters of the Gulf Stream preserve, even in winter, the heat of summer. The difference between their temperature and that of the sur- rounding waters is greatest in winter, being twenty and even thirty degrees at the Banks of Newfoundland, and off Cape Hatteras. " The presence of the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, with their summer heat in midwinter, off the shores of New England, is a great boon to navi- gation. No part of the world affords a more difficult and dangerous navi- gation than the approaches of our northern coast in winter. In makino- this part of the coast, vessels are frequently met by gales which mock the seaman's strength, and set at nought his skill. In a little while his bark becomes a mass of ice, with her crew frosted and helpless ; she remains obe- dient only to her helm, and is put away for the Gulf Stream. After a few hours' run she reaches its edge, and almost at the next bound passes from the midst of winter into a sea at summer heat. Now the ice disappears from her apparel ; the sailor bathes his stiffened limbs in tepid waters ; feel- ing himself invigor.ated and refreshed by the genial warmth about him, he is ready for a fresh endeavor." — Lieut. Maury's Physical Geoympliy of the Sea. So the ice-bound ships in the Northern Pacific seek refuge in the warmer waters of the Japan Current, when beaten back from the inhospitable ports of Kamtschatka. On the other hand, the Arctic currents bear their cold waters to the coasts of the United States and to the shores of the Caribbean Sea, modifying the intense heat, and counteracting the numerous causes of pestilence. Thus, the great currents of the ocean play their. part in renewing and invigorating the life of the globe. XXII. Recapitulation. — It has thus been shown that the ocean is that great body of salt water, which covers about three- fourths of the earth's surface ; and that it is subject to the three great movements of AVaves, Tides, and Currents. It appears that the wave movement, and that of some currents, are incon- stant, dependent upon local circumstances ; while the flow of the tides, and of most currents, is constant, depending upon perma- nent causes. It appears, also, that the movements of the oceanic waters are of vast importance to man — promoting navigation, moderating the severity of extreme climates, transporting seeds, and in various other ways contributing to his happiness and enjoyment. What effects have Currents upon the temperature of difl^erent countries? — Illustrate your statement by examples. — Repeat Maury's description of the approach to the coast of New England in winter. — What Current in the Pacific resembles the Gulf Stream in the warmth of its waters ? — Recapitulate the subjects of this and the preceding chapter. o o o i — 1 l/2 I t. B .2 ■S I -s -3 C- a> SO § I CO P>" a « w ^ -2 a g ili I- O s rt ci .■:= ■ 1 CO c t Tl e= M hr [ g '^ a -3 3 3 r3 3 T^ -n ^ i5 .0 c w "w J3 tT ta «S "- C (U CJ P^ rC 3 3 S P. p. a ^ ^ 3 rt 3 CJ fij UJ ai ^ ^ Cm ri 1— ( ft 3 1 ,j=i 1 .^ e*-. ° « o == „-- 3 o rt •§ 83 1 3 O OT 'I' ^ C5 '. 3 "is cj -^ w o I n o g g ;i 5 "3 Si: a s rt t*- o o J3 ° t. ^ a S. 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(-• ^ H - a « © 3 3 © '1 CV. a bO -3 © 3 < ^ u +i 3 Ei 3 -3 fe P- H 3 © n ft 1 tn 3 a - vi/ S- CJ fi J= ;i; t- ft, Lii 3 O g =i= J. ^ ■§ a =J ^ — J2 ei =^2 ^ o -c 3 CV. © -^ rs © ^ a B ^- o 5 -S " -3 'to fe tc -^ ^ i- Em =2 -3 © a g •: .2 -^ t^ "t^ .t^ « .a a '5 E !^ J © © . -3 j=: > a •§ =3 -S 5 ° S ^ ^ ^ ^ a d ^ = 'S fi d ?> T -^ 3 ^__ (^ © © o '^ QJ I> O CO -- o 3 ^ 3 tZS , a. s 2 3 ^ o a >^ 3 p|i 3 ^ .— © ;; s ■= ^ s 'g " 5 5 ■§ S -a 2 J O 9 ■t< I j: a -3 -» 2 ^ O > d e^- -e ° ■r ^ _o o ?J ^ a 2 a I fe == a o <; o ft 3 .? .2 ^ ft 3 — ^ s s sa a •S < 5 i (3S) to J3 3 o ^1 cJ PART III. METEOROLOGY. —-'fe/^ Meteorology (from the Greek, "a ?o/i'?/ discoxirse") is that department of Physical Geography which treats of the phenomena of the Atmosphere, especially in its relations to heat and moisture. The subject ^^■ill be considered under the general divisions of, 1. The Atmosphere. 2. Temperature. 3. The Winds. 4. Jloisture of the Atmosphei-e — Dew, Fogs, Rain, Snow, and Hail. 5. Climate. 6. Electrical and Optical Phenomena. CHAPTER I. THE ATMOSPHERE. I. The Atmosphere is that fluid which we breathe, and which entirely surrounds the earth. The atmosphere was formerly supposed to be a simple element, but the investigations of modern chemists have shown it to be composed almost en- tirely of dry air and the vapor of water. Dry air is formed of two simple substances or gases — oxygen and nitrogen — in the proportion of 20 or 21 ]«arts of the former, to 79 or 80 parts of the latter. The amount of the vapor uf water in the atmosphere fluctuates : in the dryest weather it is supposed to be at least one per cent. II. The atmosphere has weight, is very elastic, and naturally colorless. Of what does Meteorology treat? — Under what general divisions may the subject be considered? — ^\'lint is the Atmosphere ? — Of what is it composed? The fixct that the atmosphere has weight, was not verified until the com- mencement of the seventeenth century, though it had been surmised much earlier. It is now known that it exerts a pressure, or has a weifiht, of about fifteen pounds on every square inch of the earth's surface ; which is equal to the weight of a column of mercury, one inch square, and 30 inches high — or a column of water, one inch square, and 34 feet in height. The pressure of the atmosphere was noticed by Galileo, but demonstrated by his pupil Torrecelli, who invented the barometer, a simple instrument, consisting of a column of mercury, balanced or pressed upwards into vacuum by the weight of the atmosphere. The mercury in this instrument regularly falls as we ascend above the level of the sea, thus showing a decrease in the atmospheric pressure or weight. The amount of its fall indicates the eleva- tion to which we have ascended, thus rendering it easy to determine the height of mountains. The mercury in the barometer is usually high in calm and fair weather— it falls when it is wet and stormy; hence the value of this instrument as a weather-glass. What properties has the Atmosphere? — What is the amount of its pressure ?- invented the Barometer? — Of what practical use is this instrument? (39) -Who 40 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. III. The atmosphere is in a high degree elastic, possessing the property of occupying less space under the influence of great pressure, and returning to its original volume when the pressure is withdrawn. Its density is not uniform, but diminishes from below upwards, because the lower portions receive the pressure of the air above. IV. The height of the atmosphere is not known, but it is sup- posed to extend upwards, about 50 miles. Yet by far the greater portion is within 15 or 20 miles of the earth's surface ; and at a much less distance it becomes so rarefied as to be incapable of supporting life. In ascending high mountains, the rarity of the air sensibly diminishes the intensity of sound, renders respiration diiEoult, and causes a great loss of physical strength. Humboldt, who ascended Mt. Chimborazo to the height of more than 19,000 feet, describes the blood as bursting from his nose and ears ; and Captain Gerard, who ascended the Himalaya to a height even greater than that reached by Humboldt, speaks of the great physical debility and mental dejection there experienced on the least motion. CHAPTER II. TEMPERATURE. I. Temperature is the quantity of sensible heat which a body possesses, as indicated by a thermometer. The thermometer is a very simple instrument, constructed on the principle that bodies expand with heat, and contract with cold. It consists of a small gkss tube, with a bulb at the bottom, attached to a graduated scale. The bulb is filled with mercury, which, on being exposed to the action of heat, expands and rises in the tube, forcing out the air which filled it ; the top of the tube is then sealed up, and the instrument is ready for use. Let the bulb be immersed in melting ice, and the height of the mercury marked on the graduated scale will denote the freezing point of water; and if the bulb be inserted in boiling water, the height to which the mercury rises will indi- cate the boiling point of water. Above, below, and between these points, the graduated scale is marked oif in degrees indicating the different temper- ature to which the mercury is exposed. There are three kinds of thermometers in common use in various parts of the world: Fahrenheit's, Reaumur's, and the Centigrade. Fahrenheit's, that most generally used in the United States and England, and the standard adopted in this work, fixes the freezing point of water at 32°, and the boiling point at 212°. Reaumur's, in most common use in Germany, fixes the two points respectively at 0° and 80°; and the Centigrade, the standard in France, and in many scientific works, fixes them at 0° and 100°. One degree of Centigrade is equal to 1'8° Fahrenheit ; and one degree of Reaumur is equal to 2}° Fahrenheit. Thus, if you wish to change the tem- perature from Centigrade to Fahrenheit, multiply the degrees given by I'S, taking care to add 32°, the difference in the freezing points. In the same manner, if you wish to change from Reaumur, multiply by 2 J, and add 32°. Thus, 20° Reaumur is equal to 77° Fahrenheit, as follows: — 20 X 2} = 45 -f 32 = 77. And 20° Centigrade is equal to 68° Fahrenheit, thus: — 20 X 1-8 = 36 + 32 = 68. What is understood by the elasticity of the atmosphere? — To what height is it sup- posed the atmosphere extends? — State some of the effects produced by its rarity at a high elevation. — What is Temperature ? — E.xplain the construction of the thermometer. — State the difference between the three in most common use. II. The temperature of the solid body of the earth varies ac- cording to its depth. Neither the heat of the sun nor the effects of cold are experienced beyond a moderate depth ; and at a dis- tance rarely exceeding 50 or 60 feet, a limit is reached at which the temperature is invariable from year to year. In the Torrid Zone, under the Equ.ator, this limit is not more than one foot from the surface ; and in temperate climates, it is reached at the dis- tance of about 60 or 65 feet. In the Polar regions the ground is perpetually frozen, in some cases to the depth of 300 or 400 feet. III. Below the line of invariable temperature, the mercury rises one degree for every 54 feet of descent. At this rate of increase, water would boil at the depth of two miles, and iron would melt at the depth of twenty-four miles. The temperature of the globe, as a whole, has undergone no sensible change for thousands of years. The earth throws off into the air all the heat that it receives from the sun ; while M. Arago has demonstrated that the effects of the internal heat have not affected its mean temperature one-tenth of a degree for 2000 years. IV. The temperature of the ocean varies, according to the depth and the latitude. This variation is not uniform, being greatly modified by various local circumstances, such as the pre- vailing currents and the melting of the Polar ice. At a certain depth, vai-ying with the latitude, a limit of water in the deep sea is reached which has an invariable temperature of about 39°"5. At the Equator this temperature is found at the depth of 7200 feet. From the Equator toward* the Poles it rises, until at about Latitude 56°, it reaches the surface, where the temperature of the water is 39°'5 ; from this parallel it sinks again, and at Latitude 70° it is found at a depth of 4500 feet. o. S rt s s ^ tj rt Si u'face of cvi Ihe Ocean rf ^ ■*■■-■: fe - =- — , "" ' ;-;^A."'^'"-r-'^ i'iagram representing the Oceanic Limit of Invariable Temperature. The greater parts of the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, during eight months in the year, are covered with ice. In summer, their waters, though open, are by no means clear, but exhibit immense icy m.asses, floating to and fro, and often drifted by winds and currents far into the heart of the Atlantic, where they are dissolved in its warmer waters. These floating masses ore of two kinds : sheet ice and icebergs. The latter, which are of fresh water formation, will be considered in connection with glaciers. Sheet ice resembles that of lakes and rivers, presenting a generally level surface. Sheets of ice, when of great extent, are called ice-fields, and some- times have an area of 100 square miles, rising from two to eight feet out of the water. Smaller sheets are called floes. Fields and floes, when broken up, and the fragments crowded together, form what is called a fack. The temperature of the surface of the ocean is more uniform than that of the land. The rays of the sun penetrate to a greater depth in water than in the ground. A much greater mass, therefore, is warmed, yet it is very slowly warmed and cooled ; so that it does not undergo any very rapid or violent changes. While the surface of the ground, on the contrary, being affected to only a moderate depth, receives and throws off the heat of the sun's rays with great rapidity. The greatest variation in the temperature of the open sea throughout the year, at any given place, is only 10 or 12 degrees, while that of the land is sometimes 160 degrees. Accordingly, the sea is At what depth from the surface of the solid body of the earth is found the line of invariable temperature? — Does it become warmer or colder below this line? — State the depths from the surface of the ocean at which it is found. — E.'iplain the terms ice- fields, fioes, and packs, — How does the temperature of the ocean compare with that of the land? TEMPERATURE. 41 cooler tlian the land in summer, and warmer in winter; it is also cooler than the land during the day, and warmer at night. Its temperature, like that of the land, is not affected by the internal heat 6f the earth. The Oceanic warmth Equator, or line of greatest heat of the surface of the ocean, is for the most part to the north of the geographical Equator. In the Oulf of Mexico it extends as far north as Latitude 2cS°, the Gulf Stream bearing thither the warm waters of the great Equatorial current. V. Fresh watei' becomes heaviest at the temperature of 31)°"2. If it be lieated above or cooled below tliis point it will rise, and the heavier water will sink. Since, then, water cools very slowly, deep lakes, in the most rigorous climates and severest seasons, will be frozen to but comparatively a slight depth. Shallow lakes in the Polar regions are often frozen to the bottom, conse- quently no fish can live in them ; while the deep lakes, which, owing to this kind provision of Nature, are never frozen to the bottom, are abundantly stocked with the finest fish, affording almost the entire means of subsistence to the wandering tribes of these sterile regions. VI. Springs appear at the surface of the earth at all temper- atures, from that of freezing, nearly or quite to the boiling point. Their temperature depends upon that of the reservoirs from which their supplies of water are received, and the character of the soil through which it passes to the surface. Warm and hot springs derive their supplies from waters which have ascended from a great depth, variously affected by contact with the heated rocks of the interior. Commodore Wilkes, of the United States' Exploring Expedition, describes water, with a temperature from 200° to 210°, oozing up through the gravel and sand of the beach on one of the Feejee Islands. Humboldt describes a spring near Porto Bello, in South America, with a temperature of 207°. The Hot Springs of Arkansas, about eighty in number, have a temperature averaging from 135° to 100°. VII. The temperature of the atmosphere chiefly depends upon the amount of heat received from the land and water. But little of the sun's heat is absorbed by the air before it reaches the earth. The sun's rays first strike the surface of the earth, and are either directly reflected, or are first absorbed, and then radiated, or thrown off into the atmosphere. VIII. The temperature of a place depends upon the direction and amount of the sun's rays, on its vicinity to the sea, on the prevailing winds to which it is exposed, and on its elevation above the level of the sea. 1. The temperature of a place depends upon the direction and continuous time in which the sun's rays fall upon it. When the sun is most nearly vertical to any place, that is, when it is nearest to being directly over head, the greatest number of his rays reach tho surface of the earth at that place, imparting a greater amount of heat than at other times. This is the reason why it is warmer in our lati- tude at mid-day than at sunrise or sunset. In the equatorial regions, accordingly, over which the sun is nearly vertical during the whole of the j-ear, the mean temperature is the highest. Moreover, since the days and nights between the Tropics are of nearly equal length, the temperature during the year is quite uniform. The mean equatorial temperature of the air is about 83°. Tropical Africa is the hottest region on the globe, the mean tomperature reaching 85°-10; that of tropical Asia is 82°'94 ; and that of America, 80°-0G. The temperature of the air decreases as the distance from the Tropics to- wards the Poles increases. Thus, the mean temperature of the year, at the subjoined places, ranges as follows: — Give the renson wby deep lakes in the Polar regions are not frozen to the bottom. — On what docs the tem|ierature of springs depend? — On what does the temperature of the atmosphere depend ? — On what does the temperature of a place depend ? — Why docs the direction of the sun's rays affect the temperature of a place ? — Illustrate your statement. 6 N. Utituilc. Cairo 30° Philadelphia 40° (Juebec 4C° Tfrnjerature. 72°. 52°- 42°. Melville Island 70° 47' l°-7. The temperature is not, however, as in the equatorial regions, uniform, but ranges between points far removed from each other. Thus, in the cele- brated northern expedition of Captain Parry, 1819-20, the maximum daily temperature at Jlelville Island, Lat. "0° 47' N., on the 17th of .July, was 00° above ; while the minimum, on the loth of February, was 50° below 0: the maximum and minimum points being 110° apart. There are greater differences. During the Russian expedition to Khiva, in 1840, the mercury fell to 45°-4 below zero ; and for more than three months the mean temperature was about 0°. In June, the temperature rose to 114°-8. Thus, in the course of a few months, the troops were exposed to a variation of 100°. At Franconia, N; II., the mercury rose to 102° on July 13th, 1849, which was 140° higher than on the 0th of February following. niFFERESCE BETWEEN SOME MIXIMUM AND MAXIMFM TEMl'ERATCRES. Places. Difference. I Places. Difference. Rome 73° Prague 109° Copenhagen 90° I Petersburg 117° Paris 108° | Moscow 126° The high maximum temperature observed in the extreme nortliern lati- tudes is the result of the continuous time that the sun's rays fall upon those regions. During the brief summer of the Arctic regions, the power of the sun's beams, though feeble from the obliquity of their direction, accumulates in the long days, and sometimes produces in sheltered spots, effects which mio-ht be more naturally expected in the Torrid Zone. Pitch h.as been melted on the sides of ships — at Quebec, grapes sometimes ripen in the open air— and the summer temperature is often quite oppressive. It is owing, also, to the accumulated power of the sun's rays that the month of July is warmer than the month of June in our latitudes, notwith- standing the greater length of the days and the smaller inclination of the sun's r.ays in June ; the days are longer than the nights, and the quantity of heat imparted to the earth during the day is greater than the amount lost by radiation during the night : the maximum effect of this accumulation, or the hottest day, is generally observed in the latter part of the month of July. The variation in the mean annual temperature at any one place, from year to year, is very slight. Thus, the highest mean annual temperature in Geneva, Switzerland, for 20 years, from 1796 to 1815 inclusive, was 51°-6; the lowest, during the same time, 46°-9 — the difference being only 4°. 7. At Paris, in the years between 1803 and 1813, the variations from the standard mean never exceeded it more than 3°-4, or fell short of it more than 2°'9. The variable produce of our harvests is owing more to a change in the distribution of heat through the different months, than to any differ- ence in the annual supply. 2. The temperature of a place is dependent upon its vicinity to the sea. The ocean is warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the land. The atmosphere over it, partaking of its temper- ature, and borne by the winds to places situated on or near the coast, gives to them a more uniform temperature than to those at a distance from the sea. These facts are illustrated in the following table:— Mean Mean Jlean Summer Temp. Winter Temp. Temp, of the Year. North Capo 43°., Irkoutsk C0°., Reikiavik (Iceland) 53°. JIoscow ^7 .. Falkland Islands 53°., Quebec 6S°. 23° 32° 0° 33° 30° 39° 10° 40° 39° 47° 14° 420 What effect upon tho temperature of a place has the continuous time which the sun's r.ays fall upon it ? — Illustrate your statement.— Uow do the mean annual temperalui-es of places compare from year to year?— What effect has the vicinity of the ocean upon the temperature of a place ? 42 PHYSICAL GEOGKAPHY. The cui-rents of the sea materially affect the temperature of places conti- guous to them. The Gulf Stream moderates the severe cold of Newfound- land, Iceland, and the coast of Norway. Humboldt ascribes the coolness on the shores of Peru to the cold sea current which flows along that coast. In the Pacific Ocean, near Lima, the temperature is C0°"2 ; while in the same latitude, out of the current, it is 79°'2. 3. The temperature of a place depends also upon the pre- vailing winds to which it is exposed. The effect of a change in the direction of the wind, in producing a change of temperature, is a subject of common observation. In the higher latitudes these changes are often strikingly marked. Captain Scoresby, while in the neighborhood of the polar ice, observed that the mercury fell 34° in sixteen hours, by reason of the sudden veering of the wind to the north. It is undoubtedly owing in a great measure to the warm south-west trade- winds that the western coasts of North America and of Europe have a higher temperature than their eastern coasts. The mean annual temperature of Nain, in Labrador, (Lat. 57° 10',) is O^'S helmv the freezing point, while on the western coast, at New Archangel, (Lat. 57° ?>',) it is 12° above this point. 4. The temperature of a place depends upon its elevation above the level of the sea. The repeated observations of aero- nauts and of travellers who have ascended high mountains, have established the fact that the temperature of the atmosphere decreases according to the perpendicular height above the sur- face of the earth. The rate of decrease is about 1° for each 352 feet of ascent. A traveller, who should ascend one of the high peaks of the Andes, in tropical America, would find on the plain at its base the luxuriant produc- tions of the tropics, and an oppressively hot atmosphere ; at an elevation of GOOO feet, he would experience the warmth of summer in the Temperate Zones ; at the height of 10,000 feet, he would find the climate of spring in the same Zones ; at 12,000 feet, only a few stunted shrubs would be found growing ; and at an elevation of 15,000 or 16,000 feet, he would arrive at a region of perpetual snow. State the influence of the currents in producing a change of temperature. — Give examples to illustrate the effect of the winds upon the temperature of a place. — What effect has the elevation of a place upon its temperature? — Recapitulate the subjects of this chapter. IX. Recapitulation. — It thus appears that the temperature of the land of the earth varies with the depth ; that the temper- ature of the ocean varies with the depth and the latitude ; that the temperature of the atmosphere chiefly depends upon the amount of heat received from the land and the water. It follows that the heat of the land and the water, imparted to the atmo- sphere, determines the temperature of different places upon the earth : and that they vary with reference to the direction and continuance of the sun's rays, to proximity to the ocean, to the direction of the prevailing winds, and to the elevation above the level of the sea. CHAPTER III. THE WINDS. I. Wind is air in motion. The motion of the air is produced by a disturbance of its equilibrium, and the principal cause of this interruption is heat. The air expands and becomes lighter with heat; contracts, and becomes heavier with cold. When, therefore, any portion of the earth's surface is heated more than the surrounding districts, the air above it becomes heated also, and rises, causing an upper outward current. At the same time, the colder, heavier air rushes in to fill the space occupied by the ascending air, producing a lower inward current. A very simple experiment will illustrate the effect of a change of temper- ature in causing currents of the atmosphere. Let a lighted candle be held near the top of a door opening from out of a heated room into the external air, the current of warm air passing out will give to the flame an outward direction ; hold the candle near the floor, and the current of cold air pressing in will give the flame an inward direction. II. Currents of air receive their names from the direction from which they blow; currents of water from the direction towards which they flow. III. Winds, at different elevations, frequently blovv' in oppo- site directions. This is manifest from the fact that clouds, at a high elevation, are often seen moving towards a point of the compass opposite to that indicated by the weather-vane. The occurrence of upper counter-currents is very decisively proved by the following circumstances : — The inhabitants of the island of Barbadoes, in the West Indies, observed, one day, to their astonishment, a shower of ashes fell from the sky. This came from the volcano of St. Vincent, which is situated directly west of their island. The ashes had been launched high into the air, and transported from west to east, in the opposite direction to the trade-wind blowing below. On the 25th of February, 1835, the ashes emitted from the volcano of Cosiguina, in Guatemala, fell in the streets of Kingston, in the island of Jamaica. Kingston is 700 miles in a north-east direction from the volcano, and the trade-wind at the surface was blowing to the west. Aeronauts, who have ascended in balloons during a complete calm at the surface of the earth, have frequently encountered, when at an elevation of a few thousand feet, powerful currents carrying them at the rate of a mile a minute. What is \7'ind? — What is the principal cause of winds? — Give an illustration of cur- rents of air created by heat. — In what respects are currents of air and water differently named? — What proof is there that winds at different elevations blow in opposite direc tions? THE WINDS, 43 IV. Winds may be distinguislied as constant, periodical, and variable. Constant winds, prevailing witliin the tropics, are called "trade-winds," and maintain nearly the same direction a!id rate throughout the entire year. Periodical winds are those which regularly prevail in various parts of the earth at a certain time of the day or year, as the monsoons. Variable winds pre- vail in the regions beyond the tropics, the same wind seldom lasting many successive days. V. Trade Winds. — The origin of these winds may be easily explained. The equatorial regions are the hottest on earth. The air over those regions, therefore, becomes heated, and rising, flows over the colder masses on either side towards the north and south, from which directions the colder air rushes in to supply the place of the warmer currents constantly ascending. Thus, a northward and a southward current are created in each hemi- sphere : the one flows near the surface of the earth, and the other some distance above it. If the earth were at rest, the surface- winds of the tropical regions in the Northern Hemisphere would be north, and those of the Southern Hemisphere south. The earth, however, revolves from west to east, and the atmosphere which surrounds it partakes of its motion. The masses of air from the Poles, un- able, by reason of friction and other causes, to acquire the full measure of the earth's increased rotary velocity, fall behind, and are gradually turned ft-om a direct northerly and southerly into a north-eastern and south- eastern direction ; and, on approaching the Equator, they form the great easterly trade-wind which sweeps round the equatorial regions unceasingly, at a speed of from 10 to 20 miles an hour. The wind from the Poles, on its way to the Equator, takes the name of the North-east trade-wind in the Northern Hemisphere, and the South-east trade-wind in the Southern. " The North-east and South-east trades," says Lieut. Maury, " blow perpetually, and are as steady and constant as the current of the Mississippi Kiver, always moving in the same direction." The Trade-winds extend generally about 30° on each side of the Equator, but their limits vary considerably in ditferent parts of the ocean ; and being influenced by temperature, vary also with the seasons. The limits of the North-east trade-wind advance with the sun to the north, from winter to summer, and retreat with it towards the Equator, from summer to winter. The average varying limits of tlie Trade-winds in the Atlantic Ocean, at different seasons, are stated in the annexed table, taken from .Johnston's Physical Atlas : — North-east Trade-ttind. | SouTu-EAST Trade-wind. j Northern Limit. 28° N. 30° 45' " 2S° 20' •' 24° 45' " Southern Limit 5° 45' N. 11° 20' " 10° 50 45* « Northern Limit. 1° 30' N. 3° 16' " 3° 15' " 2° 30' " gouthern Limit. Unknown. ti It u Winter The North-east Trades commence in the Atlantic Ocean, a short distance from the African coast, and after being interrupted l)y the high lands of the American Continent and the islands of the Caribbean Sea, blow across the Pacific Ocean to the region of the Monsoons, about Longitude 14.5° East. The South-east Trades commence with the African coast, and extend across the Atlantic, and over the great plains of the Amazon to the foot of the Andes. Interrupted by this lofty chain, they commence again a short distance from the South American coast, and extend across the Pacific to Australia. West of Australia, and south of 10° S. Lat., they are continued nearly to the coast of Africa. The numerous islands of the Pacific, between the meridian of the Mar- quesas Islands, 139° W., and the east coast of Australia, give to the South- east Trade-wind much the character of a Monsoon, the variation in the tem- perature causing a change in the direction of the wind. In the open sea, AVhat are Constant Winds ? — AVhat Periodical ? — What Variable ? — Explain the cause of the Trade-winds. — W'hat name is given to the one north of the Equator? — AVhat name is given to the one south of the Equator? — Give the extent of the North-east Trades. — Of the South-east Trades. — Where is the region of Calms ? however, the direction of the trade-wind is maintained. So, also, in the region of the North-east Trades, in the Caribbean Sea, westerly currents called iviida rales (rainy winds,) prevail from July to December, alternating with the trade-winds. Where the North-east and South-east Trades approach each other, they tend to produce a purely eastern breeze, but this is not perceptible, on account of the continued ascent of the air caused by the excessive heat. This is the region of calms so much dreaded by sailors, which would be almost perfectly so, were it not for the frequent violent rains which disturb the equilibrium of the atmosphere, occasioning sudden squalls and storms. The limits of this region of calms at different seasons is given in the tiible the southern limit of the North-east Trade being its northern, and the northern limit of the .South-east Trade being its southern boundary. The extension of the Trade-winds further to the north than to the south of the Equator, may be accounted for by the greater quantity of land in the Northern than in the Southern Hemisphere, which retains a greater amount of heat, and by the additional warmth furnished by the northerly course of the warm Equatorial current. (.See page 35.) VI. Periodical Winds. — The Land and Sea Breezes, Mon- soons, Etesian Winds, and Northers of Mexico and Texas, are of this class. VII. Land and Sea Breezes. — On the sea-shore, especially on the coasts of tropical islands, a breeze from the sea is expe- rienced a few hours after sunrise. At first it is light and scarcely perceptible, but increases till mid-day; it is strongest between two and three o'clock in the afternoon, dying away to a perfect calm at sunset. Soon after sunset, a breeze from the land com- mences, and continues till morning. These breezes are caused by the difierent temperature of the land and water ; the land being hottest through the day, and coolest at night. Around spacious lakes, those in the northern part of the United States for example, for the same reasons, there is a breeze from the lake by day, and towards it at night. VIII. Monsoons. — The Monsoons are winds which prevail in the Indian Ocean, blowing part of the year in one direction, and part in the oppo- site one. The term is derived from the Malay \iovAMoussin, signifying a season. Commencement of the Monsoons. The North-east Monsoon, which prevails north of the Equator from about the middle of October to the middle of March, is a continuation of the North- east Trade-wind. The South-west Monsoon prevails north of the Equator, extending from the coast of Africa to about Longitude 145° East, from about the middle of April to the middle of September. This wind is caused by the greater warmth of the land, during the summer, than the sea. The air over the southern part of Asia, being heated more than that over the ocean, rises, and that of the sea rushes in to supply its place, causing the South- west Monsoon. South of the Equator, in the region of the Indian Ooe.an, north and north- west of Australia, a south-east wind prevails from about the middle of March to the middle of October, and a north-west wind from about the middle of Why do the Trade-winds extend further north of the Equator than south of it ? — How do you account for the Land and Sea Breezes ? — What are the Monsoons ? — "When and where does the North-east Monsoon prevail? — The South-west? — The North-west? — The South-east? 44 PHYSICAL GEOGKAPHY. September to the middle of April. The south-east wind is a continuation of the South-east Trade-wind, which, south of 10° South Latitude, blows regularly throughout the year. It is summer in Australia, south of the Equator, when it is winter in countries north of the Equator. The North-west Monsoon, which is caused by the heat of this large island, rarely blows with force and regularity except in the months of December and January. During the intervals between the establishment of the two monsoons, or from about the middle of March to the middle of April, and from the middle of September to the middle of October, calms and light breezes alternate with furious gales, hurricanes, and violent thunder-storms. Jlonsoons prevail also, though not so decidedly, on the coast of Brazil, and Pacific coast of Central America ; the cause of them being the unequal tem- perature of the sea and land, which has been already explained. The Monsoons are much stronger than the Trade-winds, frequently amounting to gales. They are also more serviceable to navigation from the change in their direction : for a ship sailing with one monsoon to a distant port, may be aided on the return voyage by its successor. IX. Etesian Winds. — The ancients gave this name (signifying annual or seasonal,) to periodical winds which blow strongly from the north in the Mediterranean Sea in summer. The cause assigned for these winds is the intense heat of the Desert of Sahara, lying to the south of the Mediterranean. With the aid of these winds, a passage across the sea from Europe to Africa in summer is much quicker than the return. X. Northers. — The Northers are violent winds from the north, which sweep the prairies of Texas and the low plains of Mexico. They prevail from October to March, seldom continuing to blow with severity, however, more than four or five days in succession. They are cold winds, most severe in the months of December and January. XI. Variable Winds. — The winds of the temperate and polar regions, since the same current rarely continues many successive days, are properly classed as variable. The prevailing direction of these winds, however, is clearly defined, and may be easily explained. Those of the Northern Hemisphere are south-west; of the Southern, north-west. The hot air which rises from the equatorial regions, and blows off towards the north and south, descends as it cools, and approaches the surface of the earth at about Lat. 30°, here encountering the currents proceeding from the Poles towards the Equator. For precisely the same reason as that which causes the winds from the Poles to bend towards the west, these " Return Trade-winds," as they are called, bend towards the east ; and in the Northern Hemisphere are south-west winds : in the Southern, north-west. They are more powerful than the winds from the Poles, and thus become the prevail- ing winds ; yet by no means have the constancy of the Trade-winds. The point at which the winds from the Equator and Poles encounter each other is a region of calms, similar to that existing between the trade-winds. On the ocean, these regions are well defined, advancing to the north and south with the change of seasons. They are called by Lieut. Maury the Calms of Cancer and of Capricorn. The Calms of Cancer have been long known to mariners as the " Horse Latitudes." This name was derived from the fact that vessels, engaged in carrying horses from New England to the West Indies, were often delayed by the baffling winds of this calm region, until their stock of water was nearly exhausted, and they were compelled to throw some of the horses overboard to save the others. The direction, extent, and elevation of mountain ranges, the occurrence and character of low lands, the vicinity of bodies of water, and all important changes in temperature, are among the reasons which will account for mate- What kind of weather prevails during the int«rvnls between the establishment of the Monsoons?— Which are most serviceable to navigation, the Monsoons or Trade-winds ? —Describe the Etesian Winds.— The Northers.— Why are the winds of the Temperate and Polar regions called Variable ?— What is the prev.ailing direction of the winds of the Northern Hemisphere? — V/hat of the Southern Hemisphere? rial changes in the prevailing direction of the winds, especially those of the Northern Hemisphere. XII. Some interesting deductions from the elaborate work of Prof. Coffin, on the Winds of the Northern Hemisphere, pub- lished by the Smithsonian Institute, are here subjoined: — 1. In the Arctic regions of North America, lying within the Polar Circle, the mean direction of the wind is about N. N. W. 2. Between the parallels of Latitude 60° and 66° N., there appears to be a belt of easterly or north-easterly winds. 3. South of this region we find a Zone of westerly winds, about 23J° in breadth, entirely encircling the globe. It embraces the southern portion of British America, all of the United States, except the extreme southern part, nearly the whole of Europe, and most of the northern half of Asia. Out of 251 stations in North America, east of the Mississippi, and situated within this belt, all but six have the mean direction of the wind westerly. Out of 142 stations situated in this belt, 117 have the mean direction of the wind from some point between north-west and south-west. The eight stations of Asia, lying in this belt, all have the mean direction of the wind westerly. 4. South of this belt the mean direction of the winds is easterly. 5. Valleys strikingly modify the direction of winds. XIII. Winds may be divided also with reference to their phy- sical characters, into hot and cold, moist and dry. Those blow- ing from the ocean, or large bodies of water, are moist ; those from deserts, or the interior of continents, are dry. Those from the Polar regions, or descending from snow-capped mountains, are cold ; and those from the Torrid Zone are hot. A Sand-Storm in the Desert. XIV. The Simoom or Samiel, Khamsin, Harmattan, Sirocco, and Solano, are noted hot winds. The Pamperos and Bora are cold winds. 1. The Simoom, known in the deserts of Arabia, Nubia, Persia, and Syria, derives its name from its temperature and supposed pestilential character: Statfrthe cause of these winds. — Where are the Calms of Cancer? — Of Capricorn? — By what name have the Calms of Cancer long been known to mariners? — Why this name ? AVhat conclusions with reference to the winds of the Northern Hemisphere are drawn from the elaborate work of Prof. Coffin ? — State some of the physical characters of winds. — Describe the Simoom. THE WINDS. 45 tlio Anibic iS'tnHHfn signifviiig at once liut and iiuIsdiiohs. The Turks call It Samii!, -wliicli likewise means poison. But tliou;;li dai]};c'rous, and some- times fatal in its effects, its pestilential and deadly attributes may be regarded as an Oriental fiction. Tlie Simoom blows only occa.sionally during intense lieat«, and seldom lasts longer than fifteen or twenty minutes, though some- times it continues for days. 2. The Khamsin (fifty,) is the name given to a hdt south wind, not so oppressive as the Simoom, which blows in Egypt, Ci'iitinuing at intervals for a period of somewhat more or less than fifty days, from the end of April until June. 3. The nannaitan is a very dry, hot wind, which blows from the Sahara over the coast of Guinea, during the months of Decemlier, January, and February. It generally occurs three or four times during the season, and continues usually from one to six days, though it has been known to last fifteen days. A fog or haze always accompanies it, so dense that the sun is only visible for a few hours at noon. 4. The Sirocco, a well-known hot wind of Greece and Italy, and the Solano, a hot wind of Spain, are usually ascribed to the vicinity of the Sahara. 5. The Pamperos are cold south-west winds, which originate among the snow of the Andes, and sweep with great violence over the level Pampas of Buenos Ayres. So sudden and violent are these winds, that persons bathing in the La Plata River have been drowned, finding it impossible to regain the shore while they raged. 6. The Bora, a north-east wind, common in Dalmatia, on the eastern shores of the Gulf of Venice, is sometimes so furious as to overturn horses at the plough. XV. Whirlwinds. — We often see in the streets of our cities and towns, especially on a warm summer afternoon, just before a shower, many small whirlwinds, by which dust, leaves, and other light objects are raised uj) into the air. They are generally caused by the conflict of two winds meeting at an angle, in the same manner that eddies and whirlpools are formed in water by two currents being obliquely impelled against each other. When the winds thus meeting are powerful, great damage ensues, trees being torn up, and buildings destroyed. XVI. Tropical Storms, variously named Hurricanes, Typhoons, Cyclones, and Tornadoes, are revolving winds, which occur in certain localities at particular seasons of the year, often occa- sioning immense destruction of life and property. Meteorologists are not agreed as to all the causes of these terrific storms, (hough the condensation of the vapor of the atmosphere, caused by sudden changes in its temperature, is undoubtedly the principal one. When these storms occur upon a grand scale, they are accompanied by much thunder and lightning, and immense quantities of rain. They seldom approach nearer to the Equator than 8° or 10°, and rarely extend beyond the tropics, raging most furiously in the vicinity of continents and islands. From recent investigations by Mr. Redfield, Col. Reid, and others, it ap- pears that these storms may be regarded as great whirlwinds, from 50 to 500 miles in diameter, revolving around a calm centre. The place of this centre, meanwhile, advances along a definite line upon the globe with a velocity varying from two to thirty or forty miles an hour. In the Northern Hemi- sphere, the direction of the whirlwind is from right to left, or opposite to the movement of the hands of a watch. In the Southern Hemisphere, the direction of the wind is from left to right, or with the movement of the hands of a watch. The storm is most furious, and, of course, most dangerous, nearest this calm centre ; the navigator, therefore, who finds himself within the limits of the hurricane, will, if possible, sail in the opposite direction from this centre. Describe the Khamsin. — Harmattan. — Sirocco. — The Pamperos. — Bora. — By what are whirlwinds generally caused? — What is the principal cause of tropical storms? — State the result of recent investigations into the character of tropical storms. To enable him to do so, the following rule is given in the London Admiralty Manual: — " When sure that you are within the limits of a Cyclone, stand erect, and look full in the wind's eye ; then, if in the Northern Hemisphere, turn your- self 90°, or one quarter of the circle, round to your right, (if in the Southern, as much to your left,) and ycm will have the centre of the hurricane facing you." This will be made more clear from an examination of the annexed drawing, which is designed to represent a West India Hurricane. O '% j| 'o/-, ■',■,■■ ■' .~»> VS 5 IP " wwi^t'.noia.ai ^ .^' I S L A N D S St. Let C represent the calm centre of the storm, then the arrows will show the direction in which the wind revolves, and A B will represent the lino along which the storm advances. Now, let us suppose a vessel at a, the commander, who "stands erect, and looks full in the wind's eye," will find the wind there to be due north ; turning one quarter round to the right, ho has the direction of the calm centre, or place of greatest danger, due east from his vessel : and, knowing its direction, the experienced navigator knows what course to take to avoid it. XVII. There are three well-known hurricane regions : the West Indies, the Indian Ocean, and the Chinese Seas. Of 127 hurricanes in the West Indies, recorded in 354 years, from 1493 to 1847, 15 occurred in July, 36 in August, 25 in September, and 27 in October. The only months in which no hurricanes have been known in this region, are January, April, and May. Some idea of the immense force of these storms may be derived from the description of the hurricane at Barbadoes, August 10th, 1831. "By this awful visitation, the whole face of the country was laid waste, 2500 persons perished, and 5000 were wounded. The force of the wind may be estimated by the fiict that a piece of lead, 400 pounds in weight, was lifted and carried to a distance of 1800 feet." In the Indian Ocean, the chief period of the occurrence of hurricanes is from November to .June. They are most frequent in Janifary and March. In the Bay of Bengal, they often prevail in May, but are most numerous in October and November. In the Chinese Seas, the typhoons occur at about the same season of the year as the West India hurricanes. The vicinity of Cape Horn, and the region of the Gulf Stream, beyond the Tropics, are noted ocean-storm regions. It was in one of the terrible gales of the Gulf Stream region that the ill-fated steamer San Francisco was lost, in December, 1853. It first encountered the gale at Lat. 39° N., and Lon. 70° W., but before the vessel was abandoned, it had drifted with the stream several hundred miles to the north-east. XVIII. AVater-spouts are occasioned by whirlwinds near the surface of the water. They are much dreaded by sailors, though it is doubtful if large vessels have ever been destroyed by them. Sometimes twelve or fourteen may be seen at once in the Medi- terranean Sea. State the rule by which a navigator may know in what direction to find the place of greatest danger. — Explain the diagram. — Name the three principal hurricane regions. — By what are water-spouts occasioned? 4G PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. Navigation. | XIX. The knowledge of the locality and direction of the winds and currents is of the utmost imjjortance in navigation. Formerly, the average time of a sailing vessel from England to the United States ■was sixty days ; now the same voyage is often made in less than half that time. " I knew an officer," says Captain Basil Hall, "who was ordered to cruize in the Mozambique Channel, between Africa and Madagascar, until a certain day, and then to proceed to the Isle of France. At the time appointed, he sailed to the northwai-d, but though he proceeded nearly to the Line in search of a north-west wind, he could not make a bit of easting ; and after sis weeks of ineffectual struggle between the north end of Madagascar and the Equator, he was obliged for want of water to run for a port in Africa, where he lost half of his crew by sickness, and was compelled to bear up at last for the Cape of Good Hope, and the whole object of his mission was defeated." If this officer, at the season of the year he was ordered to sail for the Isle of France, had taken a southerly course from Madagascar, he would have found a south-west wind which would have taken him, in fifteen or twenty days, directly into the port which he wished to reach. XX. A series of careful observations have recently been con- ducted under the direction of Lieutenant Maury, by which a pretty accurate knowledge of the currents of the air and sea have been obtained, and the result has been furnished to navi- gators in the form of sailing-charts. By following the directions of these charts, the time required for voyages has been greatly shortened. " The average passage out from the Atlantic ports to San Francisco," says Lieut. Maury, " is upwards of 180 days, but vessels with these charts on board have made it in 107, in 97, in 96, in 91, and even in 90 days ; and their masters, after making allowance for the improved models of their ships, ascribe this great success to the information vv-hich they derived from these charts as to the winds and currents by the way." The properly-trained seaman of the present day knows not only whore to expect the existence of the prevailing winds at the different seasons, but how to turn them to the best advantage in prosecuting his voyage. "It is one of the chief points of a seaman's duty," says Captain Basil Hall, " to know where to find a fair wind, and where to fall in with a favorable cur- rent. If we take a globe, and trace on it the shortest route by sea to India, and then fancy that such must be the best course to follow, we shall be very much mistaken. And yet this is very much what our ancestors actually, did, until time, and repeated trials, and multitudinous failures, gradually taught them where to seek for winds, and how to profit by them when found. According to this 'rule of thumb' sailing, a ship had only to steer from England to Madeira, pass the Canaries and Cape de Verdes, and then make a direct course to the Cape, and thence to India. On trial, however, this ex- periment always failed ; for, on getting near the Equator, a series of calms and squalls put a stop to this rectilinear scheme, and the mariners of old were then forced to toil along the coast of Africa, or were driven towards that of the Brazils, and very often came back in utter helplessness." XXI. Gieneral Principles in Navigation. — [Selected from •Johnston's Physical Atlas, and Maury's Sailing Directions.) — In the navigation of the great oceans by wind-propelled vessels, it is-a general rule that, in sailing from east to west, it is neces- sary as soon as possible to enter the zone of the trade-winds, and to endeavor to keep outside of that zone in sailing from west to east. 1. From Europe to America. — In sailing from England to the United States, vessels are much retarded by westerly winds, which prevail in the proportion of two to one. They must also keep to the north of the Gulf Stream, whose eastward current would still farther oppose their passage. The Gulf Stream advances and recedes north and south with the sun, being Give examples to illustrate the importance to navigators of a knowledge of the locality and direction of the winds. — State some of the results of the observations con- ducted under the direction of Lieut. Maury. farthest north in September, and farthest south in March ; the route must, of course, be adapted to this circumstance. After passing the Banks of Newfoundland, the voyage is favored by the Arctic Current running south- west. The above is the route pursued by the steam and sailing packets from England to our northern ports. The southern route from Europe to America, although much longer in the distance to be traversed, is by some authorities reckoned preferable to the foregoing. On quitting Europe by this route, the object is to steer south or south-west, according to the prevailing winds, in order as soon as possible to reach the zone of the trade-winds. Once in the region of the trade-winds, the course westward must be shaped in accordance with the position of the port to be attained. 2. From ilie United States to Europe. — The return to Europe is favored by the Gulf Stream and by the prevailing winds. The average passage for sailing vessels from New York being only 23 days, while that of the oppo- site voyage is 40. The passage from west to east has been accomplished in 13 days. 3. From New York to San Francisco. — On leaving New York, the ship must sail eastward to about the 60th meridian, before attempting to go south. The reason of this is, that if she were to steer directly from New York to Cape St. Roque, the North-east trades would carry her too far west, on to the northern shores of Brazil, and she would thus be retarded in passing around Cape St. Roque. After reaching the meridian of 60°, she takes the North-east trades as soon as possible, and passes Cape St. Roque at about the meridian of 32°. Thence her course along the coast inside of the Falkland Islands to Cape Horn is quite direct. The passage around Cape Horn is the most difficult part of the voyage, owing to the westerly winds of that quarter, which blow around the Cape in violent puffs and gales. After doubling Cape Horn, the vessel must sail far to the west, in order to enter the region of the South-east trades at a great distance from the coast, as these winds blow with much greater force and regularity far out at sea, than when within the disturbing influences of the land. After crossing the Equator, and getting into the North-east trades, the course is north-west, till these winds are passed. The vessel is then within the region of prevail- ing westerly winds, by which she may sail directly into port. 4. From the United States or Europe to China, India, and Austr^tua. — Ves- sels usually make for Cape St. Roque, as if they were bound to C;i ■> Horn. Having passed inside of the Island of Trinidad (opposite Rio Janeiro), they can then taks the westerly winds and Southern Connecting Current, and make for the Cape of Good Hope. If the ship is bound for Australia, the best course is to pass about 1000 miles south of the Cape. The route thence to port is entirely in the region of prevailing westerly winds. From the Cape of Good Hope to India and China, the voyager has the choice of several routes, in the selection of which he must be guided by the season of the ye.ar, and the consequent direction of the monsoons. The explanation of these routes is, however, too complicated for the purpose of this work. South of the Calms of Capricorn, according to Lieut. Maury, the westerly winds prevail with great regularity entirely around the globe ; in the Pacific, especially, they blow almost with the steadiness of triide-winds. Vessels, therefore, that are bound from Europe and America to Australia, had better go by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and return via Cape Horn. For the locality of many routes between various ports, which require no particular description, see AVind Map of the World. XXII. Recapitulation. — It has thus been shown that a change in the temperature of the atmosphere is the principal cause of Winds, and that they may be classified as Constant, Periodical, and Variable ; the Constant and Periodical Winds prevailing principally within the Troj)ics, and the Variable in the regions beyond the Tropics. It has been shown, also, that a knowledge of the locality and direction of the Winds is of vast importance in navigation. What is the general rule to be observed in sailing from east to west, and from west to east? — Describe the course to be taken in the various routes enumerated in this chapter. — Recapitulate the subjects of this chapter. •■v ^T £Dm 48 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. CHAPTER IV. MOISTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE. Dew, Fogs, Clouds, Rain, Snow, and Hail. I. If a vessel be filled with water, and exposed to the open air, the quantity of the fluid will soon diminish, and after a time will entirely disappear. The stones wet by a summer shower, the plants covered by the morning dew, generally become dry soon after the sun has begun to shine upon them. In all these cases the water is evaporated — being converted by the heat into invisible vapor, and diffused through the air. So evaporation goes on from the oceans, lakes, rivers, and moist ground of the entire globe. Since evaporation depends upon heat, it is apparent that it will he greatest in amount during the hottest season of the year and the warmest part of the day. It is apparent, also, for the same reason, that the quantity of vapor will decrease in proceeding from the Equator towards the Poles; and as water is less abundant in the interior of continents than in maritime regions, the amount of evaporation will diminish from the coast towards the interior, provided the temperature is the same. The average annual evaporation in the Temperate Zones is estimated at from 36 to 37 inches. That of the Torrid Zone probably amounts to from 90 to 100 inches. The difference in the quantity of evaporation between hot and cold seasons is shown by the fact, that, in the vicinity of London, the amount in June was 3| inches, while that of January was less than half an inch. II. The air is only capable of receiving a certain quantity of vapor. This capacity depends upon its temperature : increasing with heat, and decreasing with cold. When as much has been taken up as its temperature will permit it to receive, the air is said to be at the dew-point, or the point of saturation ; and any farther supply floats in a state of cloud or mist, or is resolved into a fluid condition, and falls to the surface of the earth again. When, too, the atmosphere is satui'ated, the least decrease in its temperature is followed by the precipitation of moisture. III. Detv is the moisture collected during the night, in the form of small drops of water, on the surface of plants and other bodies. Its deposit takes place on clear, still nights, when the surface of the bodies on which it collects is cooler than the dew- point of the surrounding atmosphere. The explanation is simple. It has been already stated that the dew-point is that temperature of the atmosphere which will admit of no decrease with- out parting with some of its moisture. Most, perhaps all, bodies exposed to the open air after sunset, cool more rapidly than the atmosphere ; when their temperature falls below the dew-point of the adjacent air, they con- dense its vapor into small drops of water, which are deposited on their surface. If, on a warm summer day, a pitcher be filled with cold water, and per- mitted to stand for a short time, the outside of it will be covered with moisture, in the form of numerous small drops of water. This moisture is the vapor of the atmosphere which has been condensed by the cold surface of the pitcher, in precisely the same manner that dew-drops are condensed by plants and other bodies. IV. Clear nights are most favorable to the collection of dew. What causes water to disappear if exposed to the open air? — On what does evapora- tion depend? — When and where will evaporation be greatest in amount? — On what does the capacity of the air to receive vapor depend? — What is Dew? — Explain the cause of dew. because bodies cool much more rapidly on such nights than on cloudy ones. Gentle breezes facilitate its deposit, by bringing a greater portion of the atmosphere into contact with the cold bodies by which its vapor is condensed ; while strong breezes utterly prevent this deposit, by not permitting the air to remain long enough in contact to be cooled below the dew-point. Dew is most abundant in maritime countries, and in regions where the air contains a great amount of moisture. The average annual quantity throughout Great Britain is estimated at a depth of five inches. Within the Tropics, where the sky is clear, and the evaporation very great, the dew is so abundant that its effects are almost like that of a gentle shower of rain. V. Hoar-frost, or White-frost, is frozen dew. When the objects by which the vapor is condensed are cooled below 32°, (the freezing point,) the vapor no longer appears in the form of drops of water, but in minute icicles, called Hoar-frost. VI. Mists, or fogs, are masses of vapor resting upon or near the surface of the earth. They consist of an immense number of exceedingly small, hollow globules of water, and are formed when the air is saturated, and generally when the moist soil and bodies of water are warmer than the atmosphere ; the vapors of the warmer air near the surface being condensed by the colder air above, and made visible. In countries where the soil is moist and warm, and the air moist and cold, thick and frequent fogs maybe expected. This is the case in England. The dense fogs which prevail in the vicinity of the island of Newfound- land, are caused by the great difference between the temperature of the atmosphere and that of the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. In some parts of the equinoctial regions, fogs sometimes continue during a considerable portion of the year. On the coast of Peru, in South America, they supply the place of rain, which is of very rare occurrence. Humboldt relates that Lima is often covered with a fog h.alf the year, especially in the morning and evening. VII. In Autumn, soon after sunset, on a fine, clear day, we frequently observe fogs hanging over the rivers and lakes, while the adjacent land is free from them. They are caused by the soil cooling more rapidly than the water. The atmosphere over the land becomes cooler than that over the water, and as the latter, being warmer, gently rises, the vapor of the cooler air which presses in to take its place is condensed, and a fog ensues, confined to the expanse of water. Fogs of an ordinary density are easily dispersed by a brisk wind, and quickly disappear before the rays of the morning sun. In the -one case the air being kept in constant motion, and in the other its temperature being increased — both preventing the condensation of vapor. VIII. Clouds are masses of visible vapor, difiering in no respect from fogs, except in position. They are suspended at a consi- derable elevation in the atmosphere, instead of being confined to the surface of the earth. Travellers, on the summit of high mountains, frequently speak of their view being intercepted by fogs below; while to the inhabitants in the valleys these fogs are clouds. Clouds range from 150 feet to five miles in height: their average elevation being about two and a half miles. Though heavier than the atmosphere, they are supported by the ascending currents of heated air, and by the dif- ferent winds — -as soap-bubbles and dust are borne to great heights and distances. State the circumstances most favourable to the deposit of dew. — What is Hoar- Frost? — What are Mists? — What is the cause of mists or fogs? — Where do fogs occur most frequently? — What are Clouds? — How do they differ from fogs? — How are they supported in the atmosphere? MOISTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 49 IX. Clouds have been divided, according to tlit-ir foi-m, into tlirce distinct classes: — 1. The Cirnm (also called the Curl-chud, ami by sailors the Cats /ail,) uccupies the higliest position in the atmosphere, and resembles a lock of liair, or a white feather. It is composed of thin, white threads, that fre- quently arrange themselves in parallel bands. Owing to their great eleva- tion, they must consist of minute particles of ice, or flakes of snow. It is among these clouds that circles around the sun and moon, called lialox, are formed. They are supposed to indicate a change of weather, and last but a few hours, often but a fesv minutes. They are subject to the upper cur- rents of wind. 'J'lio rain which falls to the ground is not all derived from the higher clouds which float in the atmosphere ; but also from the lower regions, between them and the surface of the earth. Prof Dove states that the yearly amount of rain which falls on the roof of the Royal I'alacc at Berlin, is 18 inches in depth ; while that on the pavement below, amounts to 20 inches. The average annual fall of rain on the top of the Observatory at Paris, for ten years, from 1817 to 1827, was 19-88 inches ; in the court, a hundred feet below, it was 2221 inches. XI. The distribution of rain is very unequal — the amount varying greatly between different places, and at different seasons of the year. The quantity of rain falling in a single day in tropical regions is often immense. Thus, in Sierra Leone, on two successive d.ays (the 22(1 and 23d of August, 1828), the fall was 20 inches ; and at Cayenne, in French Guiana, Admiral Roussin collected 10 inches in 10 hours. On comparing sever.al years, however, the annual amount of rain, like the annual amount of heat, I is found to be remarkably uniform ; long-continued droughts and excessive moisture being more the result of unequal distribution, than of any varia- tion in the annual mean. The absolute greatest annual fall of rain is reported as follows: — Place. Authority. Inches. Cherrapongi, British India, Johnston's Physical Atlas Tropical Asiii. (Folio Edition.) 610-3 Mjibabaleshwar, British India, 1 Tropical Asia. Petcrraann. .S03 San Luis de Maranham, Brazil, Johnston's Phy.sical .\tlas, Tropical America. (Folio Edition.) 280 JIatouba, Gu.adeloupe, Johnston's Physical Atlas, West Indies. (Folio Edition.) 292 Sierra Leone, Tropical Africa. Peterinann. 313 XII. The following are general laws relative to the distribu- tion of rain : — 1. It decreases in quantity from the Equator to the Poles, because heat, which is the origin of vapor and the cause of rain, decreases in the same direction. The average annual fall of rain in the tropical regions of the Western Continent is stated in .Johnston's Physical Atlas (Folio Edition), at 113 inches; that of the Eastern Continent, at 79-7 inches. The average annual quantity in the Temperate Zone of the Western Continent (United States), is stated on the same authority at 39 inches ; that of the Eastern (Europe), at 34 inches. Rainy days are more numerous in the Temperate Zones than in the Equatorial regions. Between the Tropics, during the dry season, weeks and frequently months pass without a drop of rain falling, or a cloud being seen ; while in some places in the Temperate Zones, as the island of Sitka, on the north-west coast of North America, there have been years in which there were only furty days during which r.ain or snow did not fall. 2. The quantity of rain decreases as we recede from the coasts to the interior of a continent, because the laud supplies less vapor than the sea. The truth of this general law, though there are many exceptions to it, especially in the case of mountain chains, has been abundantly proved by many observations in Europe and the United States. The western coasts of Great Britain, France, and Portugal, have an annual average of from 30 to 50 inches; Coimbra, in Portugal, has 111 inches of rain. In Poland and Russia, the fall is 15 inches ; at Ekaterinburg, east of the Ural Mountains, it is 13 inches ; and in the interior of Siberia, the amount is still less. The annual number of rainy days also decreases with the increased dis- tance from the sea. On the eastern coast of Ireland it rains 208 days in the year ; at Irkoutsk, in Siberia, only 57 days. Into what three distinct classes are clouds divided ? — Describe each of them. — What Give examples to illustrate the amount of rain which falls in some tropical places. — name is given to the rain-cloud? — What changes occur in the atmosphere to cause the I State and illustrate the first general law with reference to the distribution of rain. — full of rain ? — Why does less rain fall upon the top of a building than upon the ground? | The second. 1. Cirrus. 2. Cumulus. 3. Stratus. 4. Nimbus. 2. The Cumulus (heap or pile,) is usually seen in the form of avast hemi- Bpherical heap of vapors, resting on a horizontal base. It may be called a summer cloud, most frequently occurriug during that season, and resembling a mountain of snow, lighted up by the sun. It begins to form early in the morning, reaches its greatest magnitude in the hottest part of the day, and breaks up towards sunset. 3. The Stratus cloud consists of horizontal bands near the surface of the earth, and belongs to tjje night, — forming at sunset, and breaking up at sunrise. 4. The Kimhxis, or rain-cloud, is much more dense and heavy than the others. It is fringed at the edges, and has a dull grey or leaden hue. Any of the other varieties of clouds may change to the Nimbus. X. Rain. — As the quantity of vapor in the atmosphere in- creases, or a change in temperature causes its more rapid con- densation, the clouds, growing more heavy, sink to a lower level ; and the small globules of water, of which they are composed, becoming larger, form drops of rain, which, increasing in size, fall to the earth. 50 .PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 3. In the Temperate Zones of both hemispheres, more rain falls upon the ■western coasts than upon the eastern, because they are exposed to the prevailing westerly winds, which, passing over the ocean, are highly charged with moisture. Within the Tropics, on the contrary, the eastern coasts, especially those of the New World, are more moist than the western, because of their exposure to the trade-winds. The average annual fall of rain on the west side of England is 45'5 inches; on the east side, 27'4 inches: on the west side of Ireland, 47 '4 inches ; on the east side, 29'7 inches. 4. More rain falls in mountainous than in level districts, be- cause the mountains arrest the clouds, and their cold summits condense the vapors which these clouds contain. Much less rain, on the contrary, falls on elevated table-lands than on the low plains, because the mountain chains which usually form the boundaries of table-lands draw from the clouds the greater part of their moisture. The average annual fall of rain among the mountain ranges of the British Islands is 40'59 inches ; on the plains, 24'51 inches. The annual rain fall at Berne, at the foot of the Alps, is 43 inches ; and on the Great St. Bernard, at an elevation of about 8000 feet, and the highest meteorological station in Europe, 63 inches. High mountain ranges sometimes occasion an excess of moisture on one side of them. At Bergen, in Norway, west of the Scandinavian Mountains, the average annual rain fall is 82 inches ; while at Stockholm, on the eastern side, it is only 21 inches. The clouds brought from the Atlantic by the prevailing south-west winds are arrested by the mountains, and nearly all the moisture is withdrawn from them. In like manner, the Sierra Nevada of the United States arrests the moist south-west winds of the Pacific, depriving them of nearly every particle of moisture ; so that while California is .abundantly watered, the Great Basin of Utah on the east, receiving but little rain, is mainly a barren desert. The diiference in the quantity of rain which falls on table-lands and low plains, is strikingly illustrated in the Spanish Peninsula. - On the coasts of Spain and Portugal, the annual rain fiill is from 25 to 35 inches ; on the table-land of Spain, it is only 10 inches. 5. More rain falls in the Northern than in the Southern Hemi- sphere. Lieut. Maury assigns the following reason for this fact. The Southern Hemisphere contains three times as much water as the Northern ; the amount of evaporation, therefore, in the former is much greater than in the latter. The South-east trade- wind bears away a much greater amount of moisture than the North-east. Where the two trade-winds meet, near the Equator, they rise into the higher regions of the atmosphere and cross each other, the South-east current proceeding to the north, and the North-east flowing to the south. When they afterwards descend to the surface, in the Temperate Zones, the South-east trade, being more moist, contributes a much greater amount of rain to the Northern Hemisphere, than the North-east to the Southern. The average annual fall of rain in the Temperate Zone of the Northern Hemisphere, as stated by Johnston (Physical Atlas, Folio edition), is 37 inches ; that of the Southern Hemisphere, 33 inches. It is evident, also, that more rain falls in the Northern than in the Southern Hemisphere, from the greater number and larger size of the rivers in the former than in the latter ; if we except the La Plata, in South America, and the Orange and Zambeze, in South Africa, there is scarcely a river of any magnitude in the South Temperate Zone. How does the quantity of rain which falls upon the western coasts of different coun- tries compare with that which falls on the eastern ? — How does the quantity which falls on mountains and table-lands compare with that which falls on the plains? — Give ex- amples. — Why does more rain fall in the Northern than in the Southern Hemisphere? XIII. The surface of the earth may be classified as com- prising — 1. Rainless Regions. 2. Regions of Periodical Rains, and 3. Regions of Frequent Rains. 1. Rainless Regions. — The rainless districts of the New World comprise a tract of country along the coast of Peru, and a part of Central America, Lower California, and the Table-land of Mexico. On the Eastern Continent, they consist of an enor- mous tract of country, 1200 miles wide, commencing in Africa near the Atlantic coast, and extending in a north-easterly direc- tion, across the Red Sea nearly to the River Indus ; and another tract nearly as large, lying north of the Himalaya Mountains, including the Table-land of Thibet, the Desert of Gobi, and a part of Mongolia. The entire area of the rainless districts is estimated at six and a half millions of square miles. In some parts of them, not a drop of rain falls; and in others, it is only known at long intervals, and in very small quantities. The rainless district of Northern Africa is a desert region, the intense heat arising from which disperses the clouds that the moist winds from the Atlantic and Mediterranean cause to blow over it — a decrease in tempera- ture being always requisite to the fall of rain. The rainless districts of Central Asia lie to the north of the Himal.aya Mountains. This lofty range arrests the naoist south-west winds which blow from the Indian Ocean, and draws from them nearly every particle of their moisture ; so that, though the countries south of this range are among the most abundantly watered upon the globe, those north of it are barren deserts, on which scarcely a drop of rain falls. The rainless district of Peru is situated in the region of the South-east trade-winds. These winds bear abundant moisture across the plains of South America to the foot of the Andes ; climbing this high chain, their moisture is all precipitated on the eastern declivity, and on the coast of Peru they are cool and dry. The fogs and copious dews, which prevail along the Peruvian coast, in a great degree compensate for the absence of rain. Occasional showers are, however, experienced ; and thunder is sometimes heard, but so rarely, that such occurrences are noted as shocks of earthquakes are in the United States. The quantity of rain in the centre of Australia, in the central part of Southern Africa, on the low plains of Patagoni.a, and in the western part of the United States between the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains, is very limited ; during some years, indeed, no rain falls. 2. Periodical Rains occur in the tropical regions, where seasons of excessive moisture are followed by months of entire absence of rain. The length of the rainy season varies in difier- ent districts, but generally lasts from three to five months. In some parts of these regions there are two rainy and two dry seasons annually. Periodical rains follow the apparent course of the sun. From April to October, when the sun is in the Northern Hemisphere, they prevail north of the Equator ; from October to April they prevail south of it. The trade- wind belts and region of calms advance with the sun to the north in summer, and recede with it towards the south in winter. The region of equatorial calms is one of almost constant precipitation ; to all places, therefore, which it passes on its way from the north to the south, and from the south to the north, it brings abundant rains : and to all places which it passes twice during the year, it brings two rainy seasons. More rain falls in a single month in the tropical regions than during the entire year in most parts of the Temperate Zone. There is a striking simi- larity in the character of these rainy days. The sun usually rises in a clear sky — a little before noon, clouds appear ; and at noon the rain commences frequently pouring in torrents for four or five hours: at sunset, the clouds disappear, the rain ceases, and not a drop falls during the night. How may the surface of tho earth be classified with reference to the quantity of rain that falls ? — Which .ire the principal rainless districts ? — Why does it not rain in North- ern Africa? — In Central Asia? — On the eo:i?t of Peru ? — Where do Periodical Rains occur ? — Describe these rains. — What sections have two rainy seasons during the year? MOISTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 51 In the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean, the fall of rain is depend- ent upon the monsoons, and nut upon the change of seasons. The influence of the monsoons extends to the Himalaya Mountains, and far into the inte- rior of China. During the prevalence of the South-west Monaoon, from the middle of March to the middle of September, the western coasts of the peninsulas of Southern Asia are washed by abundant rains, and the eastern enjoy fine clear weather. When the North-cast Monsoon blows, the eastern coasts of Southern Asia, Africa, and Madagascar are visited by rains, while the western coasts of the Asiatic Peninsulas are dry. The western coasts of Patagonia and Chili are watered by heavy winter rains — the opposite coasts by light summer rains. Around Cape Horn the rain is almost perpetual : according to Johnston, 153'75 inches were collected hei'e in forty-one days. In California, the rainy season is during the winter and spring. In Oregon, rain is most abundant in winter. 3. Region of Frequent Rains. — In countries beyond the Tropics, rain is not confined to any particular time of the clay or season of the year. In the region of Frequent Rains it does or may rain during every day of the year, and the rains are probably as common during the night as the day ; whereas, within the Tropics, during many months, not a drop of rain falls, and even in the rainy season the nights are generally dry. The rain in this region is not always equally distributed throughout the entire year. Thus, in Southern Europe, more rain falls in winter than in summer. XIV. The annual rain fall of the entire globe is estimated by Johnston as follows : " Within the Tropics, the mean annual fall of rain is about 8*50 feet ; in the Temperate Zones, 3-05 feet ; and in the Frigid Zones, 1-25 feet." 'CUDERBACk -mTB/'hii A Snow Storm. XV. Snow, which is the frozen vapor of the atmosphere, falls when the temperature of the air is at or below the freezing point. If the air near the surface is sufficiently cold, the snow reaches the earth ; but if it is too warm, the snow melts near the surface, On what depends the fall of rain in eour tries bordering on the Indian Ocean? — Re- pent Jotinston's description of the ditfereni e in the fall of rain in the tropical regions, and reg »ns beyond the Tropics. — What is Johnston's estimate of the annual r.ain fall ot" the ( otire globe? and descends in the form of rain, while at the same time it may be snowing at a greater elevation. The colder the atmosphere, the less moisture it contains Snow, therefore, rarely falls on very cold days : neither is the quantity which falls on the summits of very high mountains, as thi' Himalaya and Andes, large, com- pared with that which descends to a lower level. Tlie common expression, that it is " too cold to snow," is quite correct. Flakes of snow, when collected on objects of a dark color, and examined, are observed to be of a beautiful and regular form, similar to the annexed representations. XVI. Snow never falls to the level of the sea between the Tropics ; but from the Equator to the Poles, at different eleva- tions, forms a permanent covering of the earth's surface. The northern and southern limits of the fall of snow to the level of the sea, are indicated by lines on the rain-map of the world. It may be stated as a general law, that from the northern limit thus indicated towards the North Pole, and from the southern limit towards the South Pole, the quan- tity of snow, and the number of days on which it falls, increase. The number of days in which snow falls in Europe increases in the fol- lowing order from south to north: — Rome has one and one-half snowy days in each winter; Venice, five and one-half: Paris, twelve ; Copenhagen, thirty; and St. Petersburgh, one hundred and seventy-one. XVII. It has been already stated that the temperature de- creases in ascending above the level of the sea. It is evident, therefore, that in all latitudes, and at all seasons of the year, a limit may be reached, above which the moisture precipitated will all fall in the form of snow, and constitute a permanent covering to the earth's surface : this limit is called the snow-line. South L.Tlitii<1e. Norlli Latiliidf. 30,000 ■^ =/ g^f^^%^S, 1 ! Diagram rcpr the Elevation of the Snow Line between the North and South Poles. If we suppose a line representing the limit of perpetual snow to be drawn from the South to the North Pole, in tlie direction of the Andes and Rocky Mountains, wo shall find that in the Polar regions it corresponds with the level of the sea ; in the latitude of the Straits of Magellan, 53° South, it is 3700 feet above the level of the sea; in lat. 43° South, GOOD feet; lat. 33°, 14,700 feet ; in lat. 15°, about 15,000 feet; and in the Andes, near Quito, 1° South, where it attains its greatest elevation, 18,300 feet : from this point it descends gradually towards the North Pole. Under what circumstances does snowfall? — Is it ever too cold to snow? — What portion of the earth's surface is permanently covered with snow? — State the number of d.ays on which snow falls in some of the principal cities of Europe.— What is under- stood by the ''snow line"? 52 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. The actual height of the snow-line is variously affected by local causes: such as the vicinity of the sea, the prevailing direction of the wind, and the amount of heat radiated from the adjacent table-lands. Thus, on the south- ern slope of the Himalaya Mountains, the snow-line is reached at the eleva- tion of 12,982 feet; while farther north, on the northern slope of the same range, it rises to 16,630 feet. This is owing to the radiation of heat from the adjacent plains and plateaus of Thibet, and to the remarkable serenity of their atmosphere. XVIII. Glaciers. — Intimately connected with the fields of perpetual snow, and dependent upon them for their origin, are Glaciers or Ice Rivers. They are found in all latitudes. In the Polar regions they form a permanent covering of the earth at the sea level; receding through the Temperate and warm Zones, their hold on the earth is found to depend on the elevation ; until in the Equatorial regions, they are permanent only on the sum- mits and in the valleys of high mountains, at an elevation of 15,000 or 16,000 feet. View of a Ghui'-r nii the Northern Coast of Greenland. (Drawn by George G. White, from a Slietch by Dr. Kane.J The principal localities of glaciers, besides the Polar regions, are, in America, the Andes of Chili and Patagonia ; in Europe, Iceland, the Scan- dinavian Mountains, the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Caucasus Mountains ; in Asia, the Himalaya, Kuen LUn, and Altai Mountains ; in Africa, the Atlas range. The extent of surface covered by glaciers has not been defi- nitely ascertained. In the Alps alone there are 1500 square miles of ice, from 80 to 000 feet thick ; ninety-five square miles of snow and ice clothe Mont Blanc. Some of the glaciers of the Alps are from 15 to 20 miles in length, and three miles in breadth. Dr. Kane, in his recent Arctic Expe- dition, discovered, on the northern coast of Greenland, an immense glacier 500 feet high, which he followed along the base for 80 miles. XIX. Glaciers may be compared to the icicles which hang from the eaves of a snow-covered roof. As these icicles owe their origin to the melting of the snow upon the roof, so also the glaciers are caused by the melting of the snow which perpetually covers the mountain peaks above. In elevated mountain valleys, glaciers are formed by the fall of snow, which is increased in amount by immense quantities precipitated from the adjacent mountain peaks. This mass is subjected to alternate freezing and thawing, until, in the progress of centuries, the valley becomes filled with a body of ice constituting the glacial formation. XX. The ice of glaciers differs from pond or river ice, being less transparent and more porous. It is not formed in layers. What are Glaciers ? — State the principal localities in which they occur ? — To what may they be compared? — How are they formed? — How does the ice of glaciers differ from other ice? but is a mixture of ice, snow, and water. The lower part of glaciers contains the most pure and solid ice. As seen through the numerous fissures, it has a green hue ; at the bottom, a blue tinge ; but the entire mass frequently exhibits every variety of blue. The observations and experiments of many scientific men have demon- strated that glaciers have a regular descending motion, by which they are often pushed below the limit of perpetual snow. That of the Aar descends 1500 feet, and that of the Lower Grindelwald 5000 feet, below the snow-line. Thus reaching the warm cultivated grounds below, they are wasted by the increased temperature, and are of essential service in supplying water to the surrounding lands ; they form also the sources of rivers. Were the snow precipitated at once into the valleys, its sudden melting would overflow and devastate the surrounding countries ; congealed in the form of glaciers, it is held suspended, and forms an unfailing supply of water during the protracted droughts of summer. The Rhone issues from the glacier of Mount Furea; and the Ganges flows at once a rapid stream, 40 yards broad, from a huge cave in the perpendicular front of a glacier. Glaciers, by their enormous onward pressure, break oif masses of rock from the sides and bottoms of their valley-courses, and carry along everything that is movable; forming large accumulations of earth and stones in front, and along their sides. These accumulations are called moraines. XXI. Icebergs are huge masses of fresh-water ice, broken off by the waves from the glaciers in the Polar seas. They are of various dimensions, from a few yards to miles in cii'cumference, rising hundreds of feet out of the water. They have the appear- ance of glittering chalk-cliffs, towering aloft in fantastic shapes, and presenting a most sublime spectacle. Great numbers of icebergs are annually drifted by marine currents far into the Atlantic Ocean. As they slowly melt in its waves, they cool the water sensibly for 40 or 50 miles around, and lower the temperature of the air to such a degree that their approach is plainly perceived long before they come in sight. They are often encountered in such numbers that the sea is covered with them as far as the eye can reach. In the spring, the Arctic icebergs come within the routes of navigation, and occasion the loss of many vessels every year. XXII. Avalanches are large masses of snow and ice which roll down the mountains, and sometimes cause fearful destruction. They destroy houses and villages, break down whole forests, and sometimes even interrupt the course of rivers. In 1478, sixty soldiers, in the district of St. Gothard, in Switzerland, were destroyed by an avalanche. In 1595, the course of the River Rhine was so much interrupted by the fall of a great avalanche across it, that the water rose, and drowned many men and cattle. XXIII. Hail is frozen rain. It is usually formed at a great height in the atmosphere, and appears to owe its origin to the sudden condensation of vapor, caused by the meeting of winds of different temperatures. Its fall is generally accompanied with thunder and lightning, and frequently occasions much damage. Ilail-stones sometimes fall as large as hen's eggs. XXIV. Recapitulation. — It thus appears that heat is the chief cause of all those conditions of the atmosphere which have been described in this chapter, viz. : Dew, Hoar-frost, Fogs, Clouds, Rain, Snow, Glaciers, Avalanches, Icebergs, and Hail. It is an important fact, that since the amount of heat which the globe annually receives from the sun is the same from year to year, the annual moisture caused by that heat is unvarying, not- withstanding local changes. What are Icebergs? — In what ocean are they often found?-— What is an Ava- lanche? — What is Hail? — How is it formed? — Recapitulate the subjects of this chapter. p ^ \ %: -7^ J = CJtt-iS,.^ -r ,U *- /t— /'V: '^'h :.' 1 ' i ■^Jl -J-- Is 1^- ^ * O p=; o o I — I fe ©Q^ , o c a ^ 3 '? In o 1 -a o 1 T3 o c it p o *J ^ ^ > « H "3 1 CJ -n rt >. 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"3 '£ 'S 2 10 — ''•St: 'a 1.2 S. ■^ 2 S -a 3 "^ -2 a ^ ° ^ £ 1 "H w *^ ~ d « ^ '^* - -^ ^ a S -* 2 3 c * S =^ I c - g- 3 S 2 5 2 « «- '^ -^ g — a <3 , a a> t_( 3 2 ^ as> a rs c 2 M ^ 5 > ^ a &s a pj 5 >■ > 1 S'f: S- Ck '^ 1 ^ <» =^. 5 = J ri c £ a H a s g hJ s^« a ■2 a 2 ; I S J. I I = "■ I =3 .5 c fl a a ^ a -5 £ I j ^ 3 ^ * ■ CA O4 I fl. (53) := ^ •a '5 2 ■- a 54 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. CHAPTER V. CLIMATE. I. The -word Climate signifies the condition of the atmosphere uith regard to heat and coUl, moisture or di-yness, healthiness or unhealthiness. Climate is chiefly dependent upon temperature, by which winds, and the amount of rain or snow are in a great measure determined. The purity of the atmosphere, or its mixture with noxious gases, the amount of electricity, and the clearness of the sky, are also important circumstances. According to the laws of temperature, (see page 41,) it is evident that if the earth had everywhere a level surface, of similar character, either of land or water, so as to absorb and radiate heat equally, the decrease of the mean annual temperature from the Equator to the Poles would be uniform. II. Numerous circumstances, however, disturb this uniformity, viz. : the irregular surface of the land, the vicinity of the sea, and the nature of the soil. III. The most important diversities in the surface of the land, affecting climate, are the elevation of a country above the gene- ral surface, the slope of the land, and the position of the moun- tains and plains. 1. Elevation above the General Surface. — We have seen (page 42,) that the temperature of the atmosphere decreases according to the height above the level of the sea. This is owing to the fact that the air derives its heat chiefly from the warmed surface of the earth ; the heat which is so radiated diminishes with the distance from the general surface, so that places situated far above the level of the sea, receive but a sm.ill part of the warmth thus imparted. When, however, the elevated region is of great extent,_as in the case of table-lands, the country has a radiation of its own, which raises the temper- ature much higher than that of an isolated mountain chain. We have seen the effect of this circumstance in the snow-line of the Himalaya Mountains, where the heat imparted to the northern slope by the table-lands of Thibet, raises the limits of perpetual snow higher upon the northern than upon the southern side. For the same reason, the cities of Mexico, Quito, Popayan, and Bogota, situated on elevated plains, have a warmer climate than they would have at the same height, if on isolated mountains. It is obvious that countries which are at different elevations, though in the same latitude, must have diiferent climates ; and that in the same country there may be great diversity of climate, according to the elevation of the surface. Hence, while the tropical valley or plain is oppressively hot, and may be loaded with luxuriant vegetation, the tropical mountain, rising a few thousand feet above it, is as cold in its higher regions, and as bare of vegetation, as any Polar island. Thus, in Mexico, where there are low coasts, high table-lands, and moun- tains covered with perpetuJil snow, there are distinct and well-defined climatic districts: — 1. Tierras Calientes. — The hot regions, including the country of the east and west shores below the height of 2000 feet, where bananas, sugar, indigo, and cotton flourish luxuriantly. Mean temperature, a,bout 77°. 2. Tierras Templadas. — The temperate regions, between the heights of 2000 and 5000 feet, where oaks, cypresses, tree ferns, and the grains of Europe and the United States are encountered. Mean temperature, from 68° to 70°. What does the word Climate signify? — Upon what is climate chiefly dependent? — Slate some of the circumstances which disturb the uniformity of climate. — Name the most important diversities in the surface of the land affecting climate. — Give illustra- tions of the effect of elevation above the general surface. 3. Tierras Frias. — The cold regions, from 5000 to 8000 feet high, beyond which limit the climate soon becomes rigorous, fruit will not ripen, wheat and oaks disappear, and pines occur. In Switzerland, the beautiful vegetation in the valleys and on the plains at the foot of the Alps, — the vineyards, orchards, forest-trees, and grains, — have for the most part disappeared at the height of 6500 feet. 2. The Slope of the Land. — Where the land is so inclined that the rays of the sun fall directly upon it, the heat is greatly increased. A familiar example of this fact is afforded by the superior fertility of a field which lies upon the south side of a hill. The opposite sides of valleys or mountains often present striking contrasts in the character of the vegetation. 3. The Position of its Mountains and Plains. — The articles on Winds and Rain exhibit the influence of wind in transferring the temperature and moisture of one region to another. Thus, the great plains of South America allow the moist winds from the Atlantic to sweep over the face of the country, softening the tropical heat, and imparting that character of humidity by which South America is distinguished. The Andes, however, by opposing the further progress of these winds, occasion the dryness and sterility which characterize a large part of the Pacific coast. The low plains in the northern regions of both continents allow full sweep for the cold winds from the Poles ; the southern shores of Europe are ex- posed to the winds which blow from the burning sands of Sahara; the southern peninsulas of Asia receive the warm winds from the Indian Ocean, while they are prevented from reaching Central Asia by the immense moun- tains and plateaus of that region. So, too, the Sierra Nevada cuts off the Great Basin of Utah from the south-west winds which bring warmth and moisture to the shores of California. A change in the position of these mountains and plains would produce a complete alteration in the climate of the various countries. Were the moun- tains of Asia removed to the shores of the Arctic Ocean, we should no longer see those striking contrasts which now exist, between the bleak and barren plateaus of the interior, and the tropical peninsulas on the southern margin. The abundant moisture and luxuriant vegetation of South America would be in a great degree lost by the transfer of the Andes to the Atlantic coast. IV. The vicinity of the sea is one of the most powerful influ- ences in determining the climate of a country. In the article on Temperature we have seen that those regions which are open to the influence of the ocean, partake of its moist and equable climate ; while those which are removed from this influence are commonly dry, and subject to great excesses of heat and cold. Thus, places which have the same mean annual amount of heat m.aj' difi'er greatly in the nature of their climate. Those regions which are near the sea may be said to have an oce ^ o o T-l * a s O o -z a s ft c« >-> H 11 a c M ^ 0) I a s o g a rt W 3 O '3 ■s 3 O Ol 5 ^3 £ o s <3 rt m Tl o o 13 a J a- 1^ rt 1 a -._. :^ CI a 1= -G >, ji; ^ • 'A 1 41 o 3 C o a P 1 1 ^ a . 6: a. o fc = 3 's p- o a - a .2 « o o 3 1 ^ cu is 1 J=l ^ C3 CV. is a CV. fll O '> j. <: 5 o o «3 a "^ o ^ ^56 © ^ KJ — O 5 ^ 2 -a o &D *^ '^ 1 J a ^ 5 'S "^ I — p. a 45 ^-=21 p. . I C ^ =^- j3 11 „ TS O C r-J ^ d) o HI g ci> _ 01 £5 5. a a a = 5 S a 5 a *^ ■a -" »^ ta ' n a "^ o ^ a H to a> o Q 2 5- 5 =^ -S 2 -5 5 f^ £ W -f ... ■§ a ~ — s M o CV. c3 f^ H o o _^ CJ ^p ,j^ i^ a> o n « -1 u ce u o H Cm o u C ^3 a i§ . -1 n o u 3 u H p H >. ;~ t) ti. a .j= J3 c3 d a .^ c 3 >* 1 o o ■« & J -i ^ a w 2 a CD 's. a .S 5 £■■ fe: S 2 ja -' — ' g<1 (56) yG£)^ ■^«^^^pL^K^ ELECTRICAL AND OPTICAL TIIENOMENA. 57 CHAPTER VI ELECTRICAL AND OPTICAL PHENOMENA. I I. The subjects of this chapter are not usually treated in works upon Physical Geography ; yet, since they properly belong to the department of Meteorology, it will not be out of place to refer to them in this manual. II. Eleetrical Phenomena. — All we know of the nature of electricity is, that it is a mighty force, called, for the sake of convenience, a fluid. It appears to exist in every substance in nature, in both solid and fluid bodies, and may be roused from its repose by a variety of causes, such as friction, heat, and chemical action ; but we are totally igno- rant of the reason why these causes excite it. When thus roused, it be- comes visible, often dis- plays tremendous power, and sometimes produces the most destructive effects. There arc two kinds of electricity: the positive and the negative. Two bodies, charged with differpnt kinds of electi-ieity — one with positive, the other with negative — liave an attraction for each other. When two l)odies thus differently electrified are brought into each other's vicinity, if they are highly charged, the one imparts a portion of its electricity to the other, and receives from it in return an equal quantity of the opposite kind. This interchange is effected with immense rapidity, causing a flash and explosion. Tliere is a certain class of substances through which electricity passes with great facility: such as niet.als, water, trees, plants, and the human body. These are therefore stj'led conductors. Through other substances, as glass, silk, and the atmosphere, its passage is more difficult. The latter are called non-conductors. The atmosphere, especially when it is dry, is one of the most complete non-conductors known. III. Thunder and Lightning. — If two clouds, differently elec- trified, approach within a certain distance of each other, their electricity begins to accumulate on the sides nearest each other. When this accumulation has become sufficiently intense to over- come the resistance of the non-conducting atmosphere between, an interchange takes place ; in the flash and explosion which fol- lows, we have the phenomena of thunder and lightning. The same interchange frequently takes place between a cloud and the eartii, in which case the lightning passes upwards and downwards. Tluindi'r is caused by the violent displacement of the air produced by the passage of the lightning, and its rush brick again into the partial vacuum created. The lightning is perceived first, because sound travels slower than light. The louilest thunder can scarcely be heard at the distance of ten miles ; and is less intense, therefore, than the report from a piece of heav}' artillery. What do we know of Electricity ? — How many and what kinds of Electricity are tliere? — What do you understand by conductors ? — By non-cunductors ? — What is the cause of thunder and li';iitning? IV. There arc three kinds of lightning : tlie zig-zag, sheet, and globular. Tlie rapidity of the movement of a flash of lightning condenses the air iinmediately in advance of its path, so that great resistance is offered to its further progress in that direction ; hence the lightning darts from side to side. This is called zig-zag lightning. Sheet lightning, the most common form, is an expanded flash, illuminating whole clouds, 80 as distinctly to show their entire outline. Globular lightning, or b.alls of fire, have been often seen. Mr. Chalmers states that on Nov. 4th, 1749, on board the ship Montague, he observed a ball of blue fire, as largo as a mill-stone, ndling iilong on the surface of the water, at about three miles distance. When it had come within forty yards of the ship, the ball rose perpendicularl}', with a fearful explosion, and shat- tered the main top-mast to pieces. Heat lightning (lightning without thunder,) is to be attributed to the moist state of the air which favors its conductibility, occasioning very fre- quent but weak discharges. This lightning is sometimes attributed to the reflection of storms below the horizon. The color of lightning is orange, white, or blue. Lightning, in its course, follows the best conductors, attaching itself prin- cipally to metals, and after metals to damp substances ; but inferior con- ductors may be chosen which present to the fluid the most direct route to the earth. Hence, objects raised above the surface, whether good or bad conductors, are peculiarly exposed to the stroke of lightning: as church- steeples, bouses, trees, (especially solitary ones,) the masts of ships, animals in the midst of a plain, and men on high points of land. Other circumstances being equal, there is of course greater safety on a non-eonducting than on a good conducting surface. Some particular objects seem to be especially liable to strokes of light- ning. St. Mark's tower, at Venice, is an example. It has been struck nine times, and once entirely consumed ; but in 17G6 a lightning-conductor was put up, which has since protected it. '■■V l)r. Fi-anklin's Experiments with Electricity. V. Liqhtning Rods. — Dr. Franklin, who first discovered that lightning and electricity were the same, also invented the means of averting its destructive power. How many kinds of lightning are there? — What are their names? — What causes zif.jag lightning? — Sheet lightning? — Glolnilnr lightning ? — What is heal lightning? — AVho invented lightning-rods? 58 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. Metallic rods are attached to the building, slightly projecting above it, and in direct eomnninication 'vrith the ground. As they offer an easier pas- sage to the fluid than is presented by the miiterials of the building, the lightning passes harmlessly to the earth. A good lightning-rod will protect a circle having a diameter of sixty feet. VI. The quantity of electricity in the atmosphere diminishes, like heat and light, from the Equator to the Poles. It increases with the distance from the surface of the earth. Hence, it is within the Tropics that thunder-storms are the most frequent and violent. The coast-line of Peru, however, where thunder and lightning never occur, is a remarkable exception. The thunder-storms become fewer and less violent as we recede from the Tropics, and, in some places in the Polar latitudes, are entirely unknown. At the Faroe Islands, thunder is seldom heard, and lightning is never known to do any injury. VII. There is a class of quite harmless phenomena caused by a strong degree of electricity. When the air is highly charged with electricity, as in storms of snow and rain, it sometimes be- comes visible in the form of pale-colored flames, quivering on the points of non-conductors or of insulated conductors. A phenomenon of this kind was witnessed by Mr. Henry Ware, of Cam- bridge, Massachusetts. Returning home at 11 o'clock at night, across Cambridge bridge, his attention was attracted by a loud hissing noise from the lamp-posts. On raising his hand to the rim of his hat, he felt sharp pricks on his forehead, accompanied by discharges of electric sparks. On examining the lamp-posts, he saw electric sparks streaming from every point, to the distance of three or four inches. The sound was distinctly heard across the bridge, which is forty feet wide. It was snowing fast at the time. ■'/X'fifMir'ii''- St. Elmo's Fire. Mariner's Light, or St. Elmo's Fire, often remarked by the ancients, is a phenomenon of this description, usually reckoned by sailors a fortunate omen. It was noticed during the voyages of Columbus and Magellan. M. Forbin thus describes its appear.ance, as observed by him in 1696: — Does the quantity of Electricity increase or decrease from the Equator to the Poles ? — Where do the most thunder-storms occur, at the Equator or in the Polar Latitudes? — Describe the Mariner's Light. — Wbiit is the cause of it? — Describe the Aurora Borealis. — What is the cause of this phenomenon? " The sky was suddenly covered with thick clouds. Fearing a gale, I had all the sails reefed. There were more than thirty St. Elmo's Fires on the ship; one of them occupied the vane of the mainmast, and was about nine- teen inches long. I sent a sailor to fetch it. When he was aloft, he heard a noise like that which is made when moist gunpowder is burned. I ordered him to take off the vane; he had scarcely executed this order, when the fire quitted it, and placed itself at the top of the mainmast, whence it could not possibly be removed." Admiral Smyth describes one observed by him in 1807, while on board the frigate Cornwallis, in the Bay of Panama, of such brilliancy "that they could see each other's faces on deck." VIII. The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Light, is a flickering light of varying intensity, seen at night streaming up from the north towards the zenith, often illuminating the whole northern heavens with brilliant, variously-colored shooting flames. This phenomenon is doubtless owing to atmospheric electricity, which, at great heights, becomes luminous. During the occurrence of an Aurora, electrical action upon the wires of the telegraph has been observed. The Northern Lights, to us merely an object of curiosity and fascination, are of great practical utility to the natives of high latitudes, relieving their dreary winter night, and compensating for the long absence of the sun. IX. Optical Phenomena are those singular appearances which are sometimes produced by Light in its passage through the atmosphere. Optics is the science of light and vision. Sir Isaac Newton discovered that light is a compound of several different colors. He admitted a sunbeam into a dark chamber, through a hole in the shutter, in which he inserted a prism (a three-sided solid piece of glass) ; the light which shone through this glass consisted of seven different colors. Sir David Brewster has since proved the seven colors to result from three primary rays : the red, the yellow, and the blue. That endless variety and combination of tints displayed by the skj, the flowers of the fields, the rich hues of the autumnal woods, and the gorgeous plumage of tropical birds — in short, the colors of all objects, arise from their varying capacity of absorbing or reflecting certain rays. The reflec- tion of all the rays causes white, and the absorption of all produces black. X. Optical phenomena are due to the reflection of light, to its separation into the primary colors, and to its refraction. The refraction (jf the rays of light is the bending or distortion from a straight line, which they undergo in passing through a dense medium — as in water, or when the sun is near the horizon. XL The Bainhow. — When vapor has been condensed into fluid drops of water, and the spectator has liis face to the showery cloud, with the sun shining at his back, he sees the glorious vision of the Rainbow. A ray of light, on entering a rain-drop, is sepa- rated into its primitive colors, as if by a prism, and is then reflected from the rear side of the drop. When the rain is copious, and the sun is shining brightly, a second bow appears outside of the first, but fainter, and with the order of the colors inverted. This secondary 'oow is produced by reflection from the first. The spray of a cataract, and the shower of an artificial fountain, often exhibit the phenomenon of the rainbow. When the sun is near the horizon, the bow forms a perfect semi-circle to an observer on the plain ; but the gi^eater the height of the sun above the horizon, the sm.aller is the proportion of a circle presented by the rainbow. In our latitude, po rainbow is visible during the middle of the day in summer. Lunar rainbows are sometimes seen, though they are of rare occurrence, on account of the feebleness of the moon's light. They fvre commonly white, or of a yellowish hue. Where are the Northern Lights most brilliant? — What are Optical Phenomena? — What was Sir Isaac Newton's discovery with reference to Light? — What did Sir David Brewster prove? — To what are Optical Phenomena due? — What do you understand by the refraction of light? — How is the Rainbow formed? — What is a Lunar Kainbow? ELECTRICAL AND OPTICAL PHENOMENA. 59 XII. JLiIos, Coronse, or Glories, are colored circles sometimes seen around the .sun and moon. They are owing to the inflection or bending of the rays of light by the globules of vapor with which the atmosphere is charged. When these circles are small and clearly marked, it is because the atmosphere is overcharged with moisture ; hence, there is truth in the common remark, that "a dense halo portends rain." XIII. Mock-suns [Parhelia,) and Mock-moons [Paraselcnx,) are quite common in the Arctic regions, where minute crystals of ice and snow float in the air, and reflect the image of tlie sun and moon. Captain Parry, during his winter sojourn at Melville Island, saw one that continued from noon till six o'clock in the evening. XIV. In certani conditions of the atmosphere, strange illu- sions occur with regard to objects upon the surface of the earth. The mirage (delusive appearance of water,) common in the plains of Asia and Africa, on the edge of the horizon, is a well-known instance. When the weather is calm, and the ground is highly heated, the landscape at a distance assumes the appearance of a pure transparent lake. So perfect is the illusion, that the traveller, oppressed with heat and thirst, is deceived into the hope of speedy refreshment. "On one occasion," says Admiral Smyth, in his work upon the Mediter- ranean Sea, " the illusion which I witnessed was so perfect, that it was with difBculty I could persuade my companion, whose extreme thirst made him long to reach the water, that the supposed lake was receding from us as we advanced ; until our amused Ar.ab guides pointed to another SarAb formed in the space over which we had ridden." Siirdb (vapor of the desert,) is the Arabic term for what we call mirage. With the Arabians it is a common emblem of deceit. Mahomet says : " The actions of the unbelievers are like the Sarah of tlie plain ; he who is thirsty takes it fnr water, and finds it to be nothing." This phenomenon is caused by the different density of the layers of air near the ground, by which the rays of the sun are unequally refracted. When the sun has heated the sandy plains, and, by radiation, the air above them, the clear blue sky is reflected, and appears like an extensive sheet of water, in which the eminences and objects around seem inverted. XV. The most remarkable effect of irregular refraction re- corded, is the celebrated Fata Morgana of the Straits of Messina. It is said to occur in calm, sultry weather, when the tides are at their highest. At such times, multiplied im.ages of all the objects existing on the two lines of coast — as castles, arches, towers, houses, trees, animals, and mountains — are presented in the air with wonderful precision and magni- ficence. XVI. Strange figures in the air, which were once regarded as real supernatural beings, are produced by natural objects, en- larged and distorted by peculiar reflection. The vision of troops of horses and armies, marching and counter-marching in cloud- land, has been caused by some animals pasturing on an opposite height, or travellers quietly pursuing their journey. As two travellers were standing on the summit of Ben Lomond, in Scot- land, watching the sun set in the west, the attention of one of the party was arrested by the appearance of two gigantic figures pictured on a cloud in the east, apparently stiinding on an enormous pedestal. He pointed out the phenomenon to his companion, and immediately one of the figures was observed to strike the other on the shoulder, and point towards them. They waved their hats, and the shadovTy figures made a similar movement, faith- fully imitating every gesture. The spectacle continued about a quarter of an hour. What are Hnlos ? — By what other names are they known ? — Where are Mock-suns and Mock-moons most common ? — What is understood hy Mirage ? — Repeat Admiral Smyth's description of the delusion. — What is the Arabic term for Mirage? XVII. When the state of the air is favorable to extraordinary refraction, the distance to which the spectator may see is greatly enlarged, and objects are magnified as if seen through a telescope. Mountains, unseen before, are bmught within the range of visibility ; and low coasts assume a bold and precipitous outline. The chain of the Hima- laya has been transiently beheld from a point in the plains of Bengal, fnini which it had never been seen before. XVIII. In the Polar regions, it is very common for extraor- dinary and unequal refraction to play fantastic tricks with ter- restrial objects. Captain Scoresby gives the following details: — ".June 19, IS22, the sun was very hot, and the coast suddenly appeared to come fourteen or eighteen miles nearer. Above distant ships their own image was seen inverted and magnified ; in some cases, it was very high above the ship, and then it was always smaller than the original. The image of a ship thatw.as it.self below the horizon, was seen for several minutes. A ship was even surmounted by two ships, one in the right position, the other inverted. Some days later, the most curious phenomenon was to see the inverted and perfectly distinct image of a ship that was below our horizon. We had before observed similar appearances; but the peculiarity of this was the distinctness of the image, and the great distance of the ship it represented. Its outline was so well marked, that on looking at this image through a telescope, I distinguished the details of the rigging, and recognised it as my father's ship. When we afterwards compared our log-books, we saw that we were then thirty miles apart, far beyond the limits of distinct vision." Ignis Fntuus. XIX. The Ignis Fatuus, or Will-o'-the-wisp, is a wandering meteor, peculiar to places where putrefaction and decomposition are going on. It appears in battle-fields and marsh lands, with a flickering, unsteady motion, a few feet above the ground, and speedily vanishing. It is thought to be caused by gases arising from decayed animal or vegetable matter. Describe the Fata Morgana. — Give illustrations of the effect of Mirage in various parts of the world. — Repeat Captain Scoresby's description of the spectacle seen by him in the Polar regions. — What is the Ignis Fatuus? — By what is -t caused? PART IV. RGANIC LIFE. Organic Life is that department of Physical Geography which treats of vegetable and animal life. The subject may be considered under the three general divisions of Botanical Geography, Zoological Geography, and Ethnography. Plants and animals exist in the bosom of the ocean as well as on land. They live in the extremes of heat and cold, in the Polar and Equatorial regions. They occupy the summits of the loftiest mountains, and the dark vaults of caverns, far below the surface of the earth. No part of the globe is known to be entirely destitute of animal and vegetable life. species; while in Jamaica there are about four thousand. The number also decreases from the level of the sea upwards. II. Vegetable forms are divided into two great classes : the Cryptogamous (flowerless) plants, and the Plicenogamous (flower- ing) plants. The plants which have no flowers, properly so called, comprise the mosses, lichens, fungi, ferns, and sea-weeds. The Phoenoganious plants comprise two divisions : the Endogenous (in- creasing from within), and Exogen.ous (increasing from without). Endoge- nous plants have stems increasing from within, as the numerous grasses, lilies, and the palm family. Indian corn and the sugar-cane are Endoge- ' nous plants. E.xogenous plants increase by coatings from without, as trees, I where the growth of each year forms a circle of wood around the pith or Under what three divisions may the subject of Organic Life be considered? — Of what Into what two great classes are vegetable forms divided? — What are Cryptogamous does Botanical Geography treat? — What is the entire known number of plants ? plants? — Phcenogamous plants? — How are the latter divided ? — Describe each of them. (60) CHAPTER I. BOTANICAL GEOGRAPHY. I. Botanical Geography treats of the different divisions of the vegetable kingdom, and their geographical distribution. The entire number of different species of plants known to botanists exceeds one hundred thousand ; and as large regions of the earth have not yet been explored, the whole number upon the globe is undoubtedly much greater. The number of species decreases from the Equator towards the Poles. Thus, in Spitzbergen, the botanists compute that there are not above thirty BOTANICAL GEOGRAPHY. 61 centre of tlie stem. Tliis class is the most perfect in its orj;i\iii7,atii)n, aiul by far tlie most numerous — including the trees of the forest, and most floiv- ering shrubs and herbs. III. The E.xogens furnish examples of gigantic size and great age. The Adansonia, or Baobab, of Senegal, Africa, though attaining no great height, rarely more than filly feet, has a trunk sometimes thirty-four feet in diameter. The mammoth trees of California, eighty or ninety in number, occupy a solitary district containing an area of about 200 acres. Some of them are more than 300 feet in height, and 100 feet in circumference. Twenty- one feet of the bark from the lower part of the trunk of one of these huge trees, was arranged in its natural form in San Fran- cisco for e.xhibition. It formed a spacious room in which was placed a piano, and seats for forty persons. Sm ..^^: The B.inian Tree. The Banian Tree of India sends out shoots from its horizontal branches, which, reaching the ground, take root and form new stems, till a single tree multiplies almost to a forest. A Banian tree, near the River Nerbuddah in India, is described as covering an area 2000 feet in circumference. It hiig 350 large and more than 3000 small stems, and an army of 7000 men has rested beneath its shade. M. Adanson eatimatcd the age of the Baobab which he saw in Senegal, to be 5150 years. One of the mammoth trees of California, above described, is supposed to be over 2000 years old. A Yew tree at Fountain's Abbey, Yorkshire, England, is known to be more than 700 years old; its existence in 1133 being an histurical fact. IV. Vegetation is most luxuriant in tropical countries. There an abundance of moisture combines with light and heat to pro- duce trees of an enormous size, flowers of the most brilliant colors, and climbing plants in great number and variety ; all of which combined present so dense a mass of vegetation as to be almost impenetrable, even to the explorer who advances with axe in hand. The Fan Palm, an East India species, has leaves in the form of an umbrella, eighteen feet across. Humboldt describes a plant growing on the banks of the River Magdalena, the helmet-shaped flowers of which are of such dimensions as to serve the children for hats. The magnificent lily, Victoria llef/la, a native of Guiana, and successfully cultivated in hot-houses in the United States, has leaves fnmi five to six feet, and a flower fifteen inches in diameter. These are specimens of the vegetation of the Torrid Zone. V. Proceeding from the Equator, tropical plants disappear, and new forms of vegetation mark the change from a hot to a temperate climate. Bright green meadows, abounding wth tender herbs, succeed to the tall rigid grasses which form the im- penetrable jungle. Instead of the towering ever-green forests, trees which cast their leaves in winter, as the oak, maple, and beech, appear. Here the cereal grains and the vine come to their highest perfection. The vine is less aflectcd by a cold winter than by a cool summer. In Europe, the northern limit of its successful cultivation on the west coast of France is Latitude 47° 30'; but in Germany, where the summers are warm, and the winters colder than on the coast of France, it is cultivated as far north as Lat. 52° 30'. In the United States, the southern limit of its suc- cessful cultivation is Lat. 32°; the northern, on the Atlantic coast, Lat. 42°; on the P.acifie, Lat. 46°. VI. Receding further from the E(iuator, magnificent forests of the fir and pine tribe prevail : as in Canada, the northern part of the United States, Central Russia, and the countries bordering on the southern shores of the Baltic. Some of the grains cannot be cultivated there, and several trees common to the Temperate Zone are no longer found. Gradually, as higher latitudes are approached, the trees dwindle to mere dwarfs, and finally all wooded vegetation disappears. Give illustrntions of the size and age of some Exogenous plants. — Describe the vegetation of tropical countries. — Give examples of the vegetation of tropical coun- tries. A I'ine Forest. The northern limit of the forests is a line running along the extreme north of the Eastern Continent, and extending in the Western, from Hudson's Bay, What change occurs in vegetation proceeding from the Equator? — State the limits of the cuUiv.ition of the vine. — What ch.mge is noticed in the veget;ition receding fur- ther from the Equator ? 62 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. Lat. 60°, to Behring's Strait, crossing the Mackenzie River at Lat 68°. The dwarf birch, a mere bush, is the last tree found on drawing near the eternal snow of the North Pole. Near Hammerfest, Lat. 70° 40', the most northern town in Europe, it grows in sheltered hollows between the mountains, to about the height of a man ; and its branches, trailing on the ground, form a shelter for the ptarmigan, a bird of the grouse family, which inhabits the most northern districts. VII. In the Polar Zones, some low flowering annuals, as saxi- frages, gentians, and chick-weeds, flourish during the brief but hot summer ; a few perennials, never rising higher than four or five inches from the ground, also accommodate themselves to this rigorous climate. At last, no development of vegetable life is seen, except lichens and the microscopic forms that cover the snow. The extreme northern regions of America produce a species of lichen, to which the name of iripe de roclie has been given. This lichen is much esteemed by the Canadian hunters and voyageurs as an article of food. Various species of fungi, which are highly injurious, if not absolutely poi- sonous, in temperate regions, appear to lose their pernicious qualities in cold climates, where they are even eagerly sought as articles of food. VIII. Thus distinct vegetable regions are observed from the Equator to the Poles, defined by the Isothermal lines, and not by the parallels of Latitude. Similar changes mark the ascent above the level of the sea, the height of the elevation correspond- ing to distance from the Equator, in its efiects upon vegetation. This change of vegetation is most strikingly exhibited by isolated moun- tains. The Peak of Teneriffe, Lat. 28°, is an example. This mountain is divided_by Von Buch into five botanical districts : — 1. Theregion from the level of the sea to a height of V2.i9i feet. — Here Palm trees, the sugar-cane, the banana, and other plants similar to those of the fertile level districts of the same latitude in Africa, are found. 2. Tlie region from the height of 1248 to 2748 feet. — Here grow the vine, wheat, olive, and the fruit trees of Europe. 3. From 2748 to iZ^Ofeet. — This is known as the region of laurels. Many evergreens and a species of oak characterize its vegetation.. 4. From 4350 to (>2'I0 feet. — This is the region of pines. The vegetation is similar to that of the regions near the northern limit of trees. 5. From 6270 to 11,061 feet. — Here are found a species of broom, and some low flowering plants, which furnish food to the goats that run wild on the mountain. Above this elevation there are only a few lichens and mosses, and tlie summit is entirely destitute of vegetation. IX. All plants appear to have been created in certain specific localities ; from which they have been diffused by the action of nature, or transported by man to regions remote from their original station. Some plants appear to be confined to their original locality, which is often a very limited area. Thus, the Cedar of Lebanon, of sacred fame, appears to be restricted in its growth to the mountains of Syria. The beautiful flower, IHsa Ch-andiflora, is limited to a spot on the Table Mountain, in South Africa. A species of Marjorum was discovered in 1700, on a rock in the little island of Amorgo, one of the Grecian Archipelago. It was observed eighty years afterwards on the same rock, but has never been found elsewhere. Some plants are confined entirely to one continent. Thus, there are upwards of 300 species of heath spread over the Eastern Continent, from the Cape of Good Hope to a high northern latitude ; while the Western does not produce a single native specimen. The New World contains many families, the Cactus, for example, which are not found in nature in the Old. The principal natural agents in the diffusion of plants are the winds, the currents of the ocean, rivers, and many animals. Seed? are borne by these agents from their natural locality to other sections of the globe, where the plant takes root, and becomes established in regions sometimes thousands of miles fram its native home. What is the northern limit of forests ? — State the character of the vegetation of the Polar Zones. — What changes mark the ascent above the level of the sea? — What are the principal natural agents in the diffusion of plants? X. Providence has so endowed those plants which are of most value to man as articles of food or of luxury, that their cultiva- tion in various climates and on difi'erent soils may be widely ex- tended. Such plants have been transported by man to regions very distant from those in which they were originally found. Wheat, rye, oats, and rice were brought from the Old World to the New. Most of the finer fruit trees, as the apple, pear, peach, fig, cherry, and orange, were introduced into Europe from Western Asia by the Romans, whence they have been brought to the United States. A variety of the plum (the damson or damascene,) was obtained from the vicinity of Damas- cus. The name of the damask rose indicates the importation of that beautiful flower from the same quarter. In return for these gifts, the New World has supplied the Old with tobacco, Indian corn, and the potato ; the two latter of which now furnish sustenance to many millions of human beings. XL The principal food-plants of the Torrid and Hot Zones are Rice, Bananas, Bread-fruit, Dates, Cocoa-nuts, Yams, Cas- sava, and Sago. 1. Rice is the chief food of perhaps one-third of the human race; and requiring for its successful cultivation a considerable amount of heat and abundance of moisture, is principally produced within the Tropics. It is extensively cultivated, however, in countries beyond the Tropics. Its native country is unknown, but was probably Southern Asia. It was introduced into America by Columbus in 1493. In such estimation is this grain held in Asiatic countries, that on some of the natives of India being told none was produced in Great Britain, they spoke of the inhabitants as objects of pity, wondering how they could possibly exist without rice. Banana Trees. 2. Bananas and Plantains are now cultivated in the tropical regions of both hemispheres. There are many varieties of these plants, requiring difi'erent degrees of temperature for ripening their fruit. Humboldt esti- mated that a given space of ground, planted with the banana, would yield one hundred and thirty-three times as much nutritive substance as a similar extent of wheat. With what peculiar properties has Providence endowed most food-plants? — Give illus- trations of the diffusion of some of these plants. — Which are the principal food-plants of the Torrid and Hot Zones? — A^'here is Rice grown? — Bananas? BOTANICAL GEOGRAPHY. 63 3. The Bread-fruit tree grows to the height of forty feet. It has leaves resembling those of the fig, ami bears large fruit, which, when cooked, is said to taste like wheaten bread. This tree yields fresh fruit for eight or nine months in the year, and during the rest of the time, the fruit is prepared like dough, and bread baked from it is eaten. It is estimated that three trees are .sufficient to feed one human being. This tree does not appear to thrive beyond the Tropics, nor where there is a difference of more than 10° or 12° between the temperature of the summer and the winter. The Date-Palm Tree. 4. Dates. — The fruit of the Date-palm is the most important article of food in most parts of Northern Africa. The tree is a native of this region, and LTows in such abundance between the Atlas range and the Great Desert, that the Arabs name the country Beled-el-Jerid (land of dates). Dates are cultivated to some extent in the Warm Zone of Southern Europe and South- western Asia, though they are principally produced in the Hot Zone. 5. Cocoa Kuts. — The Cocoa-nut palm, which produces this well-known fruit, is abundant in the Wast Indies and the tropical islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The trunk of this tree furnishes wood ; the fruit yields the kernel, oil, and milk; the shell is used for household utensils; cloth is manufu;ture'iOO pounds, and may afford 500 or GOD pounds. Thus, a man goes into the woods and cuts his bread, as we hew our firewood." XII. The principal food-plants of tlie Warm and Temperate Zones are Wheat, Rye, Oats, Barley, and Potatoes. Indian Corn is an important bread-plant of these Zones, but is also cul- tivated in tropical regions. 1. Wheat is cultivated throughout the greater part of the Warm and Tem- perate Zones. AVe have no certain knowledge of its native country, but it is generally supposed to have been Tartary or Persia. The first wheat sown in North America consisted of a few grains accidentally found by a slave of Cortez, among the rice taken for the support of the army. 2. Rye, Barley, and Oats have a further northern limit, and endure a more rigorous climate than wheat. Barley is found as far north in Lapland as Lat. 70°. Oats was formerly the principal grain of Northern Europe. At a later period, rye displaced it. Now, wheat is rapidly taking the place of rye ; and wheaten bread, formerly regarded as a luxury, and seen only upon the tables of the rich, is a common article of food for other classes. 3. Potatoes. — The potato is supposed to be a native plant of Peru and Chili, where it still exists in a wild state. Its culture now extends, accord- ing to Humboldt, from the extremity of Africa to Lapland. In the Hot and Torrid Zones, however, like other plants peculiar to the temperate regions, it is only found at an elevation where the climate corresponds with that of the Temperate Zones. It has a more northern limit th.in barley, being cultivated in Iceland, where no grains are grown. 4. Indian Corn (also called Maize,) is principally cultivated in the Tem- perate and Warm Zones, but it is grown in the tropical regions. Like the potato, it is a native plant of America; and, like that also, it has been widely diffused throughout the different parts of the earth. In South Ame- rica it was grown, though witli great difficulty, around the Inca's Temple of the Sun, on an island in Lake Titicaca, 12,795 feet above the level of the sea, to furnish a sacrifice to the Sun-god, and that the corn grown there might be distributed throughout the nation ; a single kernel raised near the temple being regarded as a noble and fortune-bringing object. XIII. The climate of some large tracts of land upon the globe is such that no bread-plants can be cultivated. In these coun- tries, bread must be obtained from more favored lands, or animal food substituted. Thus, dried fish forms the chief substitute for bread among the inhabitants of the northern parts of Siberia and America. If we imagine a line drawn, separating these regions from the bread countries, it may be called the "Bread lini." It is represented on the map (page 04), and corresponds very nearly with the Isotherm of 32°. Labrador, Iceland, and Greenland, have no bread-plants ; and in the Faroe Islands there is only an inconsiderable cultivation of barley. XIV. In some of the bread countries, where the population is dense, the failure of the crop of a particular plant is the cause of famine. Thus, in India, a scanty rice crop is the occasion of great distress, and its failure causes universal famine. The failure of the potato crop in Ireland, in 1847, caused a frightful destruction of human life. In many of the bread countries, where the soil is fertile, the climate favorable, and the population comparatively sparse, a large surplus of grain is collected, which is sent to regions less favored in this respect, and containing a more dense population. Thus, China receives rice from India ; the United States exports wheat, corn, and rice to Europe and South America ; and the countries upon the Baltic and Black Seas send wheat to Norway, Great Britain, and France. Name the principal food-plants of the Warm and Temperate Zones ?— Where is Wheat cultivated ?— Rye, Barley, and Oats ?— Of what country is the Potato a native ?— Indian Corn?— What is substituted for bread in Siberia ?— What countries export breadstuffs? 64 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 60 40 20 20 - 40 M ^160 140 120 100 80 60 — -t 1 1 Longitude West from Greenwich 40 2 20 4 60 80 1 00 1 20 NORTH E R,.N y^ Z ti E "^ "^ > PER '^m ^^ * •- ' <^ \tY F A R T I A L I, y'^^^V^ ir Ejy: ■:i:«~,S U M M t: K : V E a F.'^A T I O X L /?|[/f IVE D TO a f E W,^ Long tude East frcm Greeowicli A N ;-:,D SNOW 140 160 ^-^J^ % SO IMATE OF MOS ' Limit -f, ' i A C T E R t ! I, Maple t ^ '^ \ P t R Vq^ f|*WU A L ICE A N :. D » IN U w M B R: V E O E^, A T I O K L t'^f-ffk D TO A F E V{,j^'%9 S ^..■E.i^/iJ t^iP..-* $ S E S AN D...^.,S. / X 1 P R A O B 8 i:M Birch W'^p^9e\^ud ^■■'j,rA.h^i,Yl€ °'""'e,D^LT«.'t oi Arcc Circle j^^,^„, „„„ ^ ■;■.-. V A-S T J^y F':P^^,,e''W-.1^S ^P^Tn D "'' E X T E y S T-VE M-E-A-D-O-W S *■" ^'''^•j^'.'\^''^jf f;';-*'' '*«,■,*■ ( V' ''.'?:; Ct- ,','/ 5yi,^'-'V^ »_ Upmn ._ir ...n Siberian Pine f=f~:-. :'--^ -.'J l>' ' Bircb I? Onta 5r 3 •-' ■■'!5 wheal p ^, V- tBP •~- w '■!k --;."■■--- ~ Apples ^.; j^\ N. L™„ n(.;Wj'--"---v!a V,™ g= c,"^» T.M.c4P"- i^ CLIMATE .'X O F^ c.a'^' „.j*_ fc- E UROPEAN AN_ *''W,>^ O r^^^^^^^"''^^ co*^" " Sandwicli Is ___ ''^'^^^^''-^~. ^'^^■■■■•^^^ E X T E y S I'VE *''^'' t- BeechC l?»'S/i''^VValnut __^ Flax S t Wjl,?.— -- •:,'/ Cork >^:', -AiV^ tiv=^ Flax Great Des ■■■J.y^Brcail Frull ^^ m\^^^^ A ,.^^°''S I '"'" A •Sa^T^^eiiii/ T R OP I C A L npomlV; .^^^^^ _„^A=^l^.^ ^'e Ap,i™. „„,^„^ ,.^- ---^.gp|aAPAN.SLAKD8 Peach ^* Camphor \:\j^^Affl^^^^^'^ R O^P iCAL ^ GRAIN 8 (?''. "^■'/i^l^lv & "'p'if'il T"t "i ■ ''tea Tropic of Cancer Q RE AT '''^^•:. RICHNESS &L. SocietyM^V.-. '"^:%Marqi;esas I Is ■•■'«*^"-- F ■■',fe ''"'"^>"'"=' O ^VJr*^P E R I D I C A L .1 R ' VX fl/ETV \cherimovtt— Gum *" ^j'' >>,' Of OROANIC LIFEr^^Rce rnri'i'3 Elastic ? J,'.- -.-'I „ ' " 'V o ? i^.ii^n I'MaEgrove :; J , , '-''■' ^ ,r- --A^^ ^ Paraguay /!■ Sou'liern L'^liLei.?. '^^~ CbtUilalm"-^"" vin'r"^-' ~ '/^Heatb, AloeJ^v ■.■■.■|^"Ear CLIMATE OF EUROPEAN -^J ThjBllo £/^{- AND TROPICAL A Wheat jji O RAIN ~U{ty..^^.^I7^^--}i"--^'-^^S^'''-^-?L^.^^^^ SELDOM INDIOENOUS: [llji it) Pine A* -t* /'/:' S o u t'ii"J. - >■■ .-I'm 3*"^:- jft p I c A L o-*'-'"*R A I N ^' _\ ■'"^- - ~^. ^ -'-"^^~^r— --£2 !^'"'"' 'i/iRopJATlC PLAKTS, SHRVBS ^tSi^'' ■'-'W^^asih^'^':/ -■'^i'f-l^^X^y.iKi.'-^My^ BAKANAS '■■-'''■'^i.ionr __ ■-— ' 'c^^'''"^&^^^^^Mf^^^S^)''':M- .;-&i; jivladagasear [;';.-— .■^"BiVl ad agasear ^ .;'■* ■■.S^ugar AND PLAN ; :;;7ViMj5^'iVORrH£RW J-fitTZT TREES E:krT/HELV' XBSBWT;^ LVm'i't " 'o"^'- t'ire'""GV"o 'wtb"""o"f t h'e"' Vine CHART SHOWING ^ ]^^ §[] ^ ° "'* ^ r a i- i m ..'.J^^'Tussock Gtasa '^^f SOUTHERN ZONE Lone'tude West from Greenwich. "r"Tf"'ri.e SVi-S'th'"-i"t"'W'hriVr"Hy"e-''i"id »tlicr NiVVh'eVo whea'v.iLjJioaui -y^y f,y. OF FREQUENT RAINS Loiigilude East from Greenwich 40 20 20 40 . 60 ,' m oGi^ 140 120 100 80 60 4ff 20 20 40 60 100 120 140 160 -/Gor^ IS 000 10000 10 20 30 40 30 20 10 Popocatepetl DISTRIBUTION or PLANTS ■ IN A icouca^,ui TERTICAL DIRECTION". Sarato , An(lcs/!i./!\ofPem / :i| amies of Hiliiiucniljiiro U \ Aa A\ Trevw'tt^Fmk. ZiuncIn'iiguirftL \ Hunalaya M'* ,3font Blanc 'I »> iaiirli Stlle I „ -Jt ij I 1/1 k I lr«^» 7T1 //VfV/.^A Ifiuitffe )^/^-^r^H /~^ft / 1 ft S Aln-s ^dl'ia^ll A lSi,?<"i-'^ a / 1/ 'I l! 'I * 40 30 20 10 O 10 20 30 -JO SO 6( ^ Lat.S. EASTERN HEMISPHERE lat.N. GO 50 lU 30 20 10 O 10 20 30 iO _ Lat.N. WESTERN HEMISPHERE Lat-S. XV. The plants of most value to inan, as furnishing mate- rials for clothing, are Cotton, Hemp, and Flax. 1. Cotton. — India is probably the native country of the cotton plant, though it is now most extensively cultivated in the southern part of the United States. It has been grown to some extent in Southern Europe, and is an important article of culture in tropical South America, the West Indies, Mexico, Egypt, and Southern Asia. The value of the cotton exported from the United Stales for the year ending June 30, 1851, was one hundred and tvrelve millions of dollars. 2. Hemp and F/ax are productions of the Temperate Zone, and are exten- sively cultivated in the United States, Great Britain, the countries south of the Baltic, and on the great plains of Russia. Whatplantsareof most value toman for clothing?— Where is Cotton most cultivated? -What was the value of that exported in 1851?— Where are Hemp and Fln.\ cultivated? XVI. The Tea plant. Sugar-cane, Coffee, and Cocoa trees are principally cultivated in the Hot Zone. I. Tea. — The tea shrub is an evergreen plant, indigenous in China and Upper Assam. It is cultivated to some extent in other parts of the world, but the tea used in this country is all brought from China. If left to itself, the tea plant may attain a height often or twelve feet; but in cultiva- tion, it grows generally only five or six feet. Its leaves may be used after the third year of its growth ; but in order to secure a good crop, the plant is usually replaced at the end of the seventh year. The limit of its profitable cultivation in China may be considered the parallel of 25° on the south, 33° on the north, and Thibet on the west. Tea was first introduced into England about the year 1660. In 1664, the East India Company presented the King What Zone produces Tea, Sugnr. Coffee, and Cocoa ? — In what countries is Tea indi- genous ? — State the limits of its successful cultivation in China. BOTANICAL GEOGRAPHY. 65 of England, Cliarlcs II., with two pounds of tea ; and in 10G7, a sliip received orders to bring home 100 pounds. The value of the tea imported into the United States for the year ending June 30, 18.')4, was nearly seven millions of dollars. In China and -Japan, tea, in the truest sense of the word, is a national beverage, and has been so for at least a thousand years. It is used by all, from the Kmperor to the common people, taken without sugar or milk, at all meals, and at all hours of the day. Male, or Paraguay tea, is the dried leaf of an evergreen tree which grows in great abundance in the dense forests of the northern and eastern pro- vinces of Paraguay. It is extensively used in the southern and eastern countries of South America. Vi. X'^' A Sugar Plantation. 2. Siif/ar Cane is grown beyond the limits of the Torrid Zone, though it is properly a tropical jdant. It is cultivated most extensively in the Southern United States, the West Indies, Brazil, Mauritius, Bourbon, the Sunda and Philippine Islands, and British India. The plant was found wild in several parts of America, and also in many of the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Sugar has been known in India from very early times ; but it was used by the Greeks and Romans only as a medicine, and esteemed a great rarity. 3. Coffee. — The coffee tree is a native of the highlands of Southern Abys- sinia, whence it was taken to Southern Arabia in the fifteenth century. It has been introduced, and is now extensively cultivated in Brazil, .Java, Ceylon, the West Indies, and other tropical regions. It may be raised as for north as latitude 30°, where the mean temperature is about 70°. In Arabia and Java, where the best coffee is produced, the plant is a tree fifteen or twenty feet in height; in the West Indies, it is cut down from the top that it may spread and bear more fruit. It is an evergreen tree, and when in blossom, its white and sweetrscented flowers resemble a plant covered with snow. The use of coffee became general in Egypt about the time of the discovery of America by Columbus. In 1511, the Governor of Mecca prohibited it, on the ground that it was injurious to health : but his decision was over- ruled by the Sultan at Cairo, who was himself a coffee-drinker. Twenty years after, a zealot of Cairo preached against eoffee-drinking, and so vio- lently enraged his hearers, that they collected in a mob, and destroyed the coffee-houses. So serious, indeed, became the excitement, that the Chief •Judge called together the wise men of the city, who deciding that it was both allowable and useful, it was again established in public favor. It was first introduced into England in 1652. The first coffee-house in Paris was established in 1072. 4. Cocoa. — The eocoa tree is a native of America, but has been transported to other parts of the world, and is now successfully cultivated in Tropical America, India, Japan, and the islands of the Indian Ocean. Chocolate is prepared from Cocoa. What is M.ite ? — Where is it used? . — Where is Sugar-cane principally cultivated? — ■ Wlicre is Coffee grown ?^What is said of its historj? — Where is Cocoa cultivated? y X^'1I. The spices in common use in the various countries of the globe, as Pepper, Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmegs, and Vanilla, art' principally produced in the Torrid Zone. 1 . Itpper. — The pepper plant is a climbing shrub, producing reddish-brown berries, each of which contains one seed. These berries, dried, constitute the black pepper of commerce. They are usually gathered twice a year, commencing with the third year of the growth of the shrub, and continuing till about the twentieth year, when the plant becomes useless. The shrub was found wild on the Malabar coast of Ilindoostan, and is cultivated there, in Sumatra, Siam, and Malacca. Cayenne pepper is principally produced in Guiana, in South America, but it is also cultivated in the tropical regions of the Eastern Continent. 2. Cinnamon. — The cinnamon of commerce is the inner bark of a tree, growing chiefly in Ceylon, of which island it is probably a native. 3. Cloves. — Cloves are the dried buds of a small evergreen tree, thirty or forty feet high, which is cultivated almost exclusively on the little island of Amboyn.a, one of the Spice Islands. 4. Xtt/me//s are the seeds of a tree thirty feet high, now grown chiefly on the Banda Islands. The covering of the nutmeg is the mace of commerce. 5. Vanilla. — This well-known aromatic is produced in Mexico, Central America, and Brazil. XVIII. The principal narcotics used in different parts of the earth are Tobacco, Opium, and the Betel. 1. Tobacco was found by the Spaniards in America when they landed. It was introduced into Europe in \r>5',), by being transported to Lisbon as a medicinal herb. Through Sir Walter Kaleigh, (who brought it to England in 1586,) and other young men of fashion, the custom of smoking spread rapidly through England, Holland, Spain, France, and Italy, to Turkey, Persia, India, and even to China and Japan. In 1019, the British King, •James I., wrote a book against its use; and in some countries, laws were passed, prohibiting its culture. These attacks, however, did not prevent its continued and increased use. Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, parts of the United States, and some sections of Europe and Asia, constitute the principal sources of its production. 2. Opium is prepared from a species of poppy, and is very extensively used in China and Turkey as a narcotic. 3. The Betel plant is a climbing shrub which grows in Ilindoostan and the islands of the Indian Ocean. The leaves are chewed in combination with the Areca nut, and the custom of so using them is as prevalent as a similar use of tobacco in the United States. XIX. Recapitulation. — It thus appears that vegetation is most luxuriant at the level of the sea, in the tropical regions ; and that similar changes in its character are observed receding from the Equator, and ascending above the general siu'face. It appears, also, that while some plants are confined to narrow limits, others, including the greater part of those ■which are of most importance to man, are susceptible of being widely diflused. QUESTIONS ON THE MAP. Name the principal food-plants of the Torrid and Hot Zones. — Which one of them is regarded as most important? — From what plant is Cassava prepared? — Where \s it most used ? — What is Sago ? — Do Yams grow on trees ? — In what region are Dates cul- tivated ? — Where does the Bread-fruit tree grow? — What tree produces Cocoa-nuts? What are the principal food-plants of the Warm and Temperate Zones ?— Name those in the immediate vicinity of your own residence. — What countries export food-plants? • — Name some others which import them. — Name some of the plants thus exported and imported. — What plants are important as furnishing materials for clothing? — Where do they grow? AVhere is Tea cultivated ? — Cofff e ? — The Sugar-cane ? — What kind of plant produces Pepper? — Where does it grow ? — From what island is Cinnamon obtained? — Do Nut- megs grow on a tree or shrub? — What is Mace ? — Where are Cloves produced? — Vanilla? Name the spices in common use. — Where are they produced ? — AVhat are the principal narcotics? — What is said of Tobacco? — Recapitulate the subjects of this chapter. 66 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. CHAPTER II. ZOOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY. I. Zoological Geography treats of the different divisions of the aninial kingdom, and their geographical distribution. II. Folio-wing the classification of the learned French naturalist, Baron Cuvier, the animals upon the globe may be considered as comprising four principal divisions — variously subdivided into classes, orders, families, species, and varieties. Division 1.- — Vertebrated Animals. — This division includes all animals which have an internal slieleton joined to a bacli-bone. It comprises four classes : — 1. Mammalia (animals wiiioh produce their young alive, and for a time suckle them, as the cat, dog, lion, &c.). 2. Birds. 3. Reptiles, and 4. Fishes. Division 2. — Molhiscoiis Aimnah. — Ammala of a soft texture, and having no skeleton ; generally furnished with a stony covering or shell : as the oyster, snail, and mussel. Division 3. — Ariicnlaied Animals. — Animals consisting of a number of joints or rings, soft or hard, supplying the place of a skeleton : as the lobster, worms, spiders, and insects. Division 4. — Radiated Animals. — So called because in many cases their organs are arranged like rays proceeding from a centre ; also called Zoophytes, or plant animals, from the resemblance of some species to plants. The coral insect and microscopic animals belong to this division. III. Animals, as well as plants, appear to have been originally created in certain specific localities, from which they have been to some extent dispersed according to their power of locomotion, their ability to endure change of climate, and to procure proper food, and the absence of other obstacles to their migration. Some animals appear to be limited strictly to their original locality. Thus, the Kangaroo is confined to the islands of Austr.alasia ; the Grizzly Bear to the mountains in the north-western part of the United States ; and the far- famed Bird of Paradise to New Guinea and the adjacent islands. The winds and currents have often been the means of widely dispersing some animals. Thus, insects and birds have been transported by the winds from the continents to adjoining islands. The White Bear has repeatedly made the passage from Greenland to Iceland on drifting ice. Wolves and foxes have often been seen on great cakes of ice far out at sea, and thus probably have frequently been transported from one land to another. A live Boa Constrictor, coiled round the trunk of a cedar tree, was found on the shores of the island of St. Vincent, one of the West Indies. The monster had pro- bably been washed out by the flood of one of the gi'eat South American rivers, and borne thither by the force of the currents. Man has largely contributed, voluntarily and involuntarily, to the dis- persion of animals. They have spread domestic species throughout the civilized world, planting them on lonely islands as a source of supply to future visitors. AV'ith them, also, some of the most troublesome animals, as rats and mice, common in merchant-ships, have been transported to the remote islands of Oceanica. Man has also greatly restricted the range of many animals, especially those of a dangerous or savage nature. Thus, the buffalo once inhabited North Carolina, but they have retreated westward before the settler, and are now found only on the plains east of the Rocky Mountains. Wolves and bears, not many years since, were numerous in New England and in New York: now they are very rarely found in those States. The Auroch, the wild ox of Europe, a very savage animal, of which a few still linger in the forests of Poland, formerly roamed in great numbers through Central Europe. Of what does Zoological Geograpby treat? — Name the four divisions of the animal icingdom. — Name the different classes of Vertebrated animals. — Give examples of the contracted area occupied by some animals. — State some of the means of their diffusion. IV. The Mammalia, or Quadrupeds, are the most perfect of the animal creation. They diifer greatly in appearance and habits, but correspond in the one particular of suckling their young. They are divided into the following orders : — 1. Qnadrmnana (four-handed), monkey, ape. 2. Carnivora (flesh-eaters), bear, cat, dog. 3. Marsvpialia (pouched), opossum, kangaroo. 4. Rodentia (gnawers), beaver, squirrel, rat. 5. Edentata (toothless), .sloth, armadillo. 6. Pachydermata (thick-skinned), elephant, horse, hog. 7. Ruminantia (chewing the cud), camel, ox, sheep. 8. Marine Mammalia — whale, dolphin, seal. 1. Quadrumana. — No animals of this order are found on the Western Continent, north of Central America ; and none in Europe, except upon the rock of Gibraltar — whose inacces- sible heights have been long occupied by a race of monkeys, identical with the Barbary ape. In the New World, their range extends from Central America to the Pampas of Buenos Ayres ; in the Old World, they inhabit all of Africa, the southern part of Asia, and the islands of the Indian Archipelago. There are 170 different species of the monkey tribe, 91 of which belong to America. The American species are very different from those of the Old World ; they bear much less resemblance to man, and are more gentle and lively. They are most numerous in the forests of Brazil and Guiana. The ape and baboon .are confined to the Old World. The ourang-outang, the name signifj'ing in the Malay language, " wild man of the woods," inha- bits Malacca, Cochin-Ohina, and Borneo. The chimpanzee, which inhabits Western Africa, has the nearest resemblance to man of any animal. They live in troops, construct huts of branches of trees, and arm themselves with stones and clubs for defence against man and elephants. In a domestic state they are very docile, and readily learn to walk, sit, and eat like men. 2. Carnivora. — Carnivorous animals include all the land mam- malia which feed on other animals. The order numbers 514 spe- cies, and is subdivided into four principal families, namely: I. Cheiroptera (animals with winged arms). II. Insectivora (ani- mals that feed on insects). III. Bigitigrada (animals which walk on their toes). IV. Plantigrada (animals which walk on the entire soles of their feet). Carnivorous animals are spread over the entire globe, their food existing in all sections. Many spe- cies are, however, confined to a very contracted area. What are the i!ammaUa? — 'Sam& the orders into which they are divided.— Describe the order Qiiarfi-iimaiin.— State their geographical range.— Describe the order Cnrnivora. —Name the four principal families.— What are some of the animals of tlie Clieiroptera ? ZOOLOGICAL CiEOGRAniY. 67 Some species of bats, wliicli belong to tbe family Ckeiropiera, are widely distributed ; ranging; in the Old World fiom the Arctic Circle to the southern extremity of Australia, and extending over almost the entire Western Con- tinent. They are nocturnal animals, and in temperate climates pass the winter in a torpid state. The most remarkable species of this family, in the New World, is the vampire bat of South America, which, feeding entirely on the lilood of other animals, attacks all kinds of quadrupeds, and even human beings, A species, popularly known as " flying cats," belongs to tliis family, and abounds in the Molucca and adjoining islands. These singular creatures are about the size of a full-grown cat. During the day, they are found sus- pended from the branches of trees ; and in the night, they fly about, utter- ing a loud cry like that of a goose. To preserve fruit from their attacks, it is necessary to cover it with a net. The animals of the family Insrc/irora, as the name implies, are appointed to keep in check the overwhelming increase of the insect world. The largest one of them is the hedge-hog, which lives in Europe and Asia. Of the numerous varieties of the family Diti'itigrada, two merit especial notice, viz., the cat and the dog. The cat tribe, in some one of its species, is a native of all parts of the world, except Australia, the Philippine Islands, Japan, and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. The only representatives in Europe, in a wild state, are the cat and lynx. The puma, or cougar, known as the American Hon, and the jaguar, are peculiar to America. The tropical regions of the Old World contain the most numerous animals of this tribe. Tbe lion, the most powerful of the beasts of prey, is confined to Africa and the southern parts of Asia ; the tiger, the scourge of the East Indies, and the most cruel of quadrupeds, inhabits Southern Asia, and the adjoining islands; and the leopard and panther, two closely-related animals, are widely spread over Africa, the hottest regions of Asia, and are also found in the islands of the Indian Archipelago. The domestic dog, of which there are many species, has attended man in all regions and in all climates, and has everywhere been bis faithful com- panion and friend. There are two instances of the existence of wild dogs : the dhole of India, and the dingo of Australia. The principal wild animals of the dog tribe are jackals, wolves, and foxes. The jackal, the characteristic dog of Africa, ranges from India and the Caspian Sea, as far south as Guinea. They are very numerous in Northern Africa. The wolf has a wider range. In America, wolves are found from the Arctic Circle to near the Isthmus of Panama. In the Old World, from the same northern limit to Arabia and India; and from Spain, on the west, to the eastern shores of the continent: not occurring, however, in India beyond the Ganges. But of all animals of the canine tribe, excepting the domestic dog, the fox is the most extensively diffused. It is found throughout the greater part of America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The red fox inliabits the wood-lands of North America ; the black fox, the Siberian forests ; and the white fox, the polar regions, coming down for food, in mid-winter, on the American Continent, to near the parallel of 50°. Hyenas, martens, and otters represent other ti'ibes of the family Di'(/ifi- ijrada. The spotted hyena is limited to Africa; the striped hyena is found throughout Africa, and in tbe southern countries of Asia. These snarling, disgusting creatures are chiefly nocturnal animals, inhabiting caverns, and subsisting on dead bodies. The more important species of the marten tribe, the ermine and sable, valuable on account of their furs, have their province in the polar regions of the two continents. Two species of sea otter, the most valuable of fur- bearing animals, are peculiar to North-eastern Asia, North-western America, and the Aleutian Islands. On what do the family Insectivora feed? — Name tbe different animals of the cat tribe found wild in America. — Europe. — Asia. — Africa. — Name the principal wild ani- mals of the dog tribe. — State the countries they inhabit. — Give the names of the coun- tries in which animals of the family Plnutitfradit are found. Of animals belonging to the family i'/a»C/. voracity, occupies the polar regions of both continents. Abyssinia, Thibet, Syria, and Sumatra have each different species. Tlie raccoon, badger, and wolverine, are numerous in the western parts of the United States, and are also members of the family Hantigrada. Tliey are not found in Oceanica. 3. The Marsiipialia, of wliich there arc 123 known species, are animals furni.shed with a pouch, in which the females carry their young while very small ami imperfectly formcil. They are not found on the Eastern Continent, and on the Western are repre- sented by only one family, the opossums, spread from the Northern United States to the La Plata River. The order specially char- acterizes Australia, the Spice Islands, and New Guinea. The kangaroo, the principal animal of this order, and the largest native animal of Australia, was first discovered by Captain Cook in 1779. It is found in all the explored parts of Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. 4. The Rodentia, or gnawers, so named from the manner in which they file or gnaw with their front teeth, number 604 dif- ferent species. The beaver, mouse, rat, musquash, or musk-rat, S(iuirrel, and porcupine, arc the best known animals of this order. The Rodent families of the Old World -generally differ from those (if the New, but the common mouse appears to be distributed over all Europe and North America ; and rats have been transported in ships to all quarters of the globe. The beaver of North America, hunted for its fur, and now comparatively rare, has a geographical range from tbe Atlantic to the Pacific, and from about Lat. .37° to Lat. G8°. They live solitarily during the summer, but in winter herd together in huts, which they ingeniously construct, partly above and partly below the surface of running streams. 5. The Edentata, of which there are only 28 different species, are animals characterized by the absence of front teeth. They peculiarly belong to Central and South America, and only occa- sionally occur in the southern regions of the Old AVorld. The sloths, armadillos, and ant-eaters are the principal animals of this order. Describe the order Marstipialia. — IIow many species does it contain ? — W'hich family is represented on the Western Continent? — Which is the largest animal of this order? — Describe the order Ilodetitia. — Name some of the principal animals. — AVhat is the peculiarity of animals of the order Edentata? — Where are they most numerous? 68 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. Sloths inhabit the dense forests of Brazil, where they can traverse many miles without touching the ground. They suspend themselves by one limb from the boughs of the trees, using the others to draw towards them the adjacent branches, on the foliage of which they feed, never leaving a tree till it is entirely stripped of its leaves. The armadillo is remarkable for a scaly and hard bony shell which covers its head and body, and often its tail. It is much hunted by the inhabit- ants on account of its flesh, which, when roasted in the shell, is said to be extremely delicate. ^'.- '^, n -^5" J J /w^l'Il— n- The ant-eater feeds almost entirely upon insects, especially, as its name implies, on ants. 6. The Pacliydermata, or thick-skinned order, numbering 39 species, comprise the largest and most powerful of all land ani- mals, and also some of the most useful domesticated by man. The important families of this order are : I. The Elephant. II. The Rhinoceros. III. The Hippopotamus. IV. The Horse, and V. The Hog. -"'^^ M There are two species of the elephant, inhabiting two distinct regions. The Asiatic species ranges from the lower slopes of the Himalaya Moun- tains, through all India, on both sides of the Ganges ; through the peninsula of Malacca, the south of China, and the islands of Sumatra and Ceylon. The African species, of smaller size, and supposed to be more ferocious and less sagacious, inhabits the countries from the northern borders of Cape Colony to Lat. 15° North. The range of the rhinoceros is nearly the same as that of the elephant. It is found, however, in Java, where the elephant is wanting. The hippo- potamus, or river horse, of which there is but one species, appears to be confined to the rivers and lakes of Middle and Southern Africa. Both these animals are remarkable for their stupidity and ferocity. The native country of the horse is unknown. It is now found wild on the plains of Central Asia, the llanos and pampas of South America, and the prairies of North America ; but in all these cases, its present condition is probably a return from the domesticated to a wild state. The horse was introduced into America by the Spaniards, soon after the discovery of the Continent by Columbus, and is now very generally diffused throughout the civilized world. This valuable and beautiful animal seems to arrive at perfection in warm and temperate regions, and to degenerate in cold climates. The ass was probably domesticated at an earlier period than the horse. It is a native of Central Asia, and still ranges there in immense troops, free and unreclaimed, migrating north and south, according to the season. The beautiful, gaily-striped, but vicious zebra, resembling in form the ass, and the more handsomely-formed, sober-colored quagga, are peculiar to Southern Africa. The European wild boar, which is the parent stock of the domestic hog, has a wide geographical range. It occurs generally throughout the Old World, from France eastward to the Asiatic shores of the Pacific, and ex- What country does the Sloth inhabit? — For what is the Armadillo remarkable?— Name the important families of the order Pnchydermata. — How many species of the Elephantare there?— State the regions inhabited by the Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus. tending as far north in Asia as Lat. 60°. It is not found in Spain, Italy, and Persia. The domestic hog is now spread throughout the earth. It was unknown in America till introduced by the Spaniards towards the close of the fifteenth century, but has since run wild, and formed large herds in many parts of the Continent. 7. The order Ruminantia numbers 180 different species, and includes all animals which chew the cud. The animals of this order are remarkable for their elegance of form, and for their usefulness to man. They furnish him with food, milk, tallow, leather, horn, and other products, and also serve him as beasts of burden. The principal families of this order are as follows : I. Camels. II. Llamas. III. Camelopards (Giraffes). IV. Deer. V. Antelopes. VI. Goats. VII. Sheep, and VIII. The Ox. The name Ruminantia intimates the singular faculty possessed by these animals of masticating their food a second time, after it has been returned to the mouth from the stomach. This faculty depends on the structure of their stomachs, which are always four in number — the first three being so disposed that food may enter into either of them. The first and largest stomach receives a quantity of vegetable matter, coarsely bruised by the first mastication. This matter passes thence into the second sto- mach, where it is moistened and compressed into little pellets or cuds, and returned to the mouth to be re-chewed. The food thus re-masticated, descends directly into the third stomach, whence it passes to the fourth, which is the true organ of digestion, analogous to the stomachs of animals in general. Camels .are confined to Southern and Central Asia and Northern Africa; and limited to two species, both of which are completely domesticated. The drouiedary is a fleet variety of the Arabian camel. The camels of the East are represented in the Western Hemisphere by the llamas of South Where is the Horse found wild ? — What is the country of the Quagga and Zebra? — When was the Hog first introduced into America? — Name the principal families of the order Rnmiuani-ia. — What does the term liitminantla imply? — Where are Camels found? ZOOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY. G9 ^•fyrs , 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 60 SO 100 120 140 160 -/SOe^ QUADRUMANA. 9. Puma. 19. White Bear. Pachydermata. R0MINANTIA. 44. Auroch. 1. Chimpanzee. 10. American Panther. 21). Black Bear. 26. Elephant. 35. Camelopard. 45. Cashmere Goat. 2. Ourang Outang. 11. Canada Lynx. 21. Brown Bear. 27. Khinoceros. 36. Camel. 46. Llama. Carnivora. .3. Lion. 12. 1.1. Dingo. Wolf. Marsupialia. 22. Kangaroo. 28. Hippopotamus. 29. Horse. 37. Reindeer. 38. Deer. Marine Mammalia. 47. Spermaceti Whale. 4. Tiger. 14. Fox. 30. Ass. 39. Elk. 48. Greenland Whale. 5. Striped Hyena. 15. Marten. Edentata. 31. Zebra. 40. American Buffalo. 49. Seal. 6. Ounce. 16. Sable. 23. Armadillo. 32. Quagga. 41. Zebu. 50. Walrus. 7. Lynx. 17. Ermine. 24. Ant-Eater. 33. Wild Boar. 42. Yak. 51. Narwhal. 8. Jaguar. 18. Grizzly Bear. 25. Platypus. 34. Peccary. 43. Musk Ox. 52. Grampus. America, principally found on the west side of the Andes, from New Grenada to the Straits of Magellan. The alpacca is a species of llama, with long, woolly hair. The camelopard (giraffe), the tallest of all animals, is confined to the desert regions of Africa. The deer family include all those ruminating animiils which are furnished with solid horns, or antlers. The elk, or moose-deer, is as large as a horse. Jt has broad, solid, and very heavy antlers; and belongs to the northern regions of both Continents. The reindeer is more capable of enduring cold than the elk, and hence occupies the highest latitudes. It is peculiar to the glacial regions of both Continents, and is the animal so celebrated for the services which it renders to the Laplanders. The true musk-deer, noted for its secretion of musk, is an inhabitant of Central Asia. Africa is peculiarly the land of the antelope, the most numerous in spe- cies of any of the families of the Rmninantia, differing widely in size, color, habits, and station. A few court the shade of the forests; some inhabit the lofty table-lands ; but the greater number roam the plains in troops. The gazelle, long noted for its large, mild, black eye."!, i.s found in Egypt, Bar- bary, and through all the country bordering on the Great Desert. Of two European species, one is the chamois, so remarkable fjr its agility, dwelling on the highest regions of the Alps, and other lofty mountains. Tlie parent stock of the common domesticated goat is unknown. The Cashmere goats, occupying the declivities of the Himalaya Mountains, and upper plains of Thibet, are celebrated for the tine wool which grows among their hair, of which cashmere shawls are made. The largest and most powerful of all ruminating animals belong to the o.x tribe. The common domestic ox is a native of the Old World ; and though now living in Lapland, as far north as 70°, probably came from the warmer parts of the Temperate Zone. The Brahminy bull, a sacred animal in India, is distinguished by a hunch on its back. The musk-ox, named from the odor of its flesh, inhabits the coldest regions of North America. QUESTIONS ON THE CHART. What animals of the order Quadrumana are found on the Eastern Continent? — On the Western ? — On which Continent are the most ferocious Carnivorous animals? — Are they most numerous in Polar regions, or near the Equator? — Name five Carnivorous animals of North America. — Name an animal of the order Marsupialia, and state where it may be found. — In what Grand Division are the Edentata most numerous? — Name three ditferent animals of the order Pachydermata found in Africa. — How do these ani- mals compare in size with the Carnivora? — Which do you think the most valuable animal of this order? — What valuable animal of the order Ruminantia is found in Africa? — In Lapland? — In the United States? — In South America? — In Thibet? — What countries does the Yak inhabit? — The Giraffe? — What savtige animal of the order Ruminantia inhabits the western part of the United States? ro PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. The Aurocli, or European bison, a very savage animal, which was abundant in Germany in the time of Charlemagne, is now found in the forests south-east of the Baltic Sea. It is the largest European quadruped. The American bufiiilo roams in great numbers on the prairies east of the Rocky Mountains. The Cape buifalo, which inhabits the forests of Southern Africa, is a very large and ferocious animal. All these species are remarkable for their daring energy, boldness, and untamable disposition. The Yak, or mountain ox of Central Asia, is the highest ranger of the tribe. Its chosen abode is where the average annual temperature is below the freezing-point. Hence it lives amid eternal snow on the table-land of Thibet, the roof of the world, at an elevation of 15,000 feet. The fine-haired, bushy tail of this animal furnishes the well-known oriental insignia of rank. The phrase, " Pacha of three tails," signifies the number of tails of the Yak which that officer is allowed to have carried on State occasions. 8. Marine Mammalia. — This order includes all the marine animals -which suckle their young. Several of the species are popularly considered as fishes, resembling them in external ap- pearance. The order forms two distinct families : the AmpJiibia (animals which live both on land and in water), and the Oetacea (animals of the whale kind). Seals and walruses are the principal animals of the family AmpJiibia. Their favorite habitation is the Frigid, and the colder parts of the Tem- perate Zones, in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The walrus, a grim-looking animal, exceeding in size the largest bull, is much hunted for its oil, and for its tusks, the ivory of which is employed in the arts. It is exclusively confined to the Arctic regions. Whales were formerly much more numerous, and more generally distri- buted through all the oceanic waters than at present. They have been driven almost entirely from the Atlantic Ocean, and much reduced in num- bers in the waters of the Arctic and Pacific, by the untiring pursuit of man. In the Antarctic Seas, however, into which man has not so often intruded, they are still very numerous ; and it is to that quarter the attention of whale adventurers is now directed. The spermaceti whale, se valuable for the oil principally found in its head, has its habitation in all the oceanic waters, except the Polar Seas. This huge animal, sometimes 75 feet in length, has been known to fight desperately when attacked by the whalemen, and has even destroyed ships by strokes of its enormous tail. The common black, or Greenland whale, the chief species pursued by man, is now found principally in the Arctic, and in the northern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is valuable for its oil and bone. The Great Rorqual, of the Northern Atlantic, is the largest of living animals, being sometimes from SO to 100 feet long. The dolphins, so remarkable for their voracity, and the swiftness of their motions, are found in almost every latitude. Shoals of porpoises, spouting and tumbling in pursuit of the herring and mackerel which constitute their prey, may be seen in all parts of the Atlantic. The Grampus is the largest and fiercest animal of the porpoise tribe, sometimes even attacking the whale. The Manatus, Dugong, and Stellerine, popularly known as sea-cows, sirens, and mermaids, are herbivorous animals, feeding on sea-weed, and the herbage at the bottom of streams. The Manati are chiefly found near the mouths of rivers which flow into the warmest parts of the Atlantic Ocean : as the Amazon, the Orinoco, and the rivers of Western Africa. The Dugong inha- bits the shallow parts of the Indian Ocean. It sits upright when suckling its young, thus giving rise to the fable of the mermaid. V. Birds constitute the second class of the vertebrated ani- mals. They are the most favored of all animals in their powers of locomotion ; yet, like the Mammalia, most species are confined by geographical laws to particular districts. The most beautiful varieties of birds are found within the Tropics ; where, also, with the exception of two orders (the waders and swimmers), the number of species and individuals is greatest. What does the term "Pacha of three tails" signify? — Name the two families of the ordQr Marine Mammalia.—V^hich are the principal animals of the family jln)^/ii'6j'af — Cetacea ?■ — How large is the sperm whale ? — "Where are the most beautiful birds found ? Birds are divided by Cuvier into the following six orders: — 1. Rapaces (birds of prey), eagle, hawk, vulture. 2. Scansores (climbers), parrot, wood-pecker. 3. Oscines (songsters), robin, humming-bird. 4. Gallinacea (Oallina, a hen), domestic fowl, partridge, grouse. 5. Orallaiores (waders), snipe, heron, crane. 6. Natatores (swimmers), duck, penguin. The entire known number of species exceeds 6000. 1. Rapaces. — The principal birds of prey are : Vultures, Eagles, Hawks, and Owls. The condor, a species of the vulture family, is the largest of all flying birds, sometimes measuring fifteen feet from tip to tip of the wings. On one occasion, Humboldt saw this bird floating over the summit of Mount Chimboi'azo, at an elevation of 22,000 feet. The secretary bird, so called on account of the resemblance of the tuft of feathers upon the top of its head to a pen behind the ear of a man, is a species of the vulture family, which inhabits Southern Africa, and preys upon serpents. 2. Scansores. — Parrots, Toucans, Wood-peckers, and Cuckoos, are birds of this order. The birds of the parrot fomily are .remarkable for the beautiful color of their plumage, and their power of imitating the human voice. They princi- pally inhabit the tropical regions. The toucans are all natives of Tropical America. The wood-peckers are widely spread, being found in all quarters of the globe, except Australia. 3. Oscines. — The songsters constitute the most numerous order of birds, and include those most generally known in temperate regions : as the Lark, Robin, Swallow, and Sparrow. The Mock- ing-bird, of the southern part of the United States, one of the finest of song-birds, and remarkable for its great facility of imi- tating almost any sound, belongs to this order. 4. Gallinacea. — Birds of this order are much more numerous in the Old World than in the New ; the greatest number of spe- cies being found in Tropical Asia. The domestic fowls, Quails, Pheasants, and Pigeons, are gallinaceous birds. Name the six orders of birds. — What is the entire known number of species? — What are the principal birds of prey? — Name those of the order Scansores. — To what order does the Mocking-bird belong? — To what the domestic fowls. Quails, and Pheasants? ZOOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY. 71 cy^Ti 160 140 120 lOQ 80 GO 40 20 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 "^^D© ©QGv. 160 140 120 100 80 ino 120 140 JfiO J2£>'& Kapacks. 12. Snowy Owl. 22. Resplendent Trogon. 33. Crowned Pheasant. 44., Crane. 55. Canada Goose. 1. Condor. 13. Owl. 23. Oriole. 34. Partridge. 45. White Spoonbill, 56. Whistling Swan. 2 King Vulture. [Alps. 14. California \'ulture. 24. Bird of Paradise. 35. Ptarmigan. 46. Apteryx. 57. Stormy Petrel. 3. Gre.at Vulture of the 15. Common Buzzard. 25. Nigbtingale. 36. Lyre Bird. Natatores. 58. Penguin. 4. Griffin Vulture. 16. Iceland Falcon. 26. Hoopoe. Grallatores. ■ 47. Great Auk. Reptiles. 5. Sociable Vulture. 17. Secretary Bird. 27. Plaiutain Eater. 37. Cstrich, 48. Cormorant. 69. Boa Constrictor. 6. Common Vulture. SCANSORES. 28. Senegal Web-crest. 38. Emu. 49. Albatross. 60. Crocodde. 7. Turkey Buzzard. IS. Toucan. Gallinacea. 39. Cassowary. 50. Great North'n Diver. 61. Alligator. S. Bald Eagle. liS. Macaw. 29. Turkey. 40. Adjutant. 51. Eider Duck. 62. Python. 9. Crowned Eiigle. 20. ToothbiU. 30. Black Grouse. 41. Flamingo. 62. Duck. 63. Green Turtle. 10. Wedge-tailed Eagle. OSCINES. 31. Silver Pbeas.ant. 42. Sacred Ibis. 53. Bernicle Goose. 64. Cobra de Capello. 11. Osprey. 21, Huraming-Bird. 32. Gold Pheasant. 43. Stork. 54. Snow Goose. 65. Rattlesnake. The turkejf, a native of America, was introduced into Europe during the sixteenth century, and is now widely diffused throughout the Eastern Con- tinent. The Guinea fowl, oriji;inany from Africa, is still found there in a wild state. The peacock, well known for the beauty of its plumage, is a native of Northern India. 5. G-rallatores and Natatores. — The waders and swimmers are far more numerous in the temperate and polar regions than in tropical countries. The most remarkable species of waders, how- ever, occur in tropical and southern climates. The African and South American Ostrich, the Cassowary, and Australian Emu, are among the most extraordinary as well as most gigantic birds. Ducks, swan, geese, pelicans, penguins, and gulls, are among the principal birds of the order of swimmers: all more numerous in temperate than in tropical regions. The eider duck, valuable for its eggs and the down taken from its nest, is an important and interesting species, inhabiting the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Penguins are found along the coast of Patagonia. The black swan, a very curious species, lives in Australia. The migration of birds is an interesting fact in Natural History. Some migrate singly — others in flocks — and others still in vast armies. Alex- ander Wilson estimated a flock of pigeons which passed above him, in Canada, for the greater part of a day, to have been a mile in breadth, and 240 miles in length ; and to have contained (three birds being assigned to the square yard,) 2,230,272,000 pigeons. Many birds alternate regularly between two distant countries, as food becomes scarce or abundant by the change of season. The rice-bird of Carolina is known further north as the reed-bird of the marshes in the vicinity of the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and the bob-o-link of New England. QUESTIONS ON THE CHART. Which is the largest of the Rapacious birds ? — What Gr.and Division does this bird inhabit?— On which Continent do you find the Bald Eagle?— In what part of the world the Secretary Bird ?— To what order does the Macaw belong ?— Where is this bird found? Name three birds of the order Oscines. — What part of the world does the Bird of Paradise inhabit ?— Where do you find the Nightingale ?— Where Humming-Birds? Of what Grand Division is the Turkey a native ?— The Guinea fowl ?— The Peacock ? — To what order do Quails, Pheasants, and Partridges belong? Name five difi'erent birds of the order of Waders. — Which bird of this order is the largest ?— What Grand Division does it inhabit ?— Name a bird of this order which in- habits Australia. — Where do you find the Cassowary ? — The Adjutant? Name six birds belonging to the order of Swimmers.— Where are they to be found? 72 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. VI. Reptiles, of wliich there are 657 kiio-\vn species, diminisli in number, size, and noxiousness, from the Equator to the Poles. Crocodiles and serpents are among the principal families of this class. There are three tribes of the crocodile family, namely: the true crocodile, which is confined to the tropical rivers of Africa ; the alligator, or cayman, which is exclusively an American species ; and the gavial, vrhioh inhabits the Ganges and other Asiatic rivers. The alligators of the rivers and marshes of the southern part of the United States are more savage than those of South America, sometimes attacking men and animals. The number of species of harmless serpents is more than three times, and the number of individuals more than twenty times, as great as that of the venomous. The rattlesnake, one of the most venomous of serpents, is exclu- sively an American family. The cobra de capello, the dancing snake of Indian jugglers, is a vei-y venomous serpent, peculiar to vSouthern Asia. The boa constrictor, generally from ten to twenty feet long, lives in the great tropical forests of South America, where it often hangs from the Boughs of trees to watch its prey. The python, which is exclusively a serpent of the Eastern Continent, is of about the same size as the boa constrictor. Frogs and salamanders extend further towards the polar regions than any other reptiles, reaching, in North America, on the Mackenzie River, the 67th parallel of latitude. Reptiles, in cold and temperate climates, bury themselves in the ground, and lie torpid during the winter ; in hot climates, during the dry season, they also fall into a similar state. VII. Fishes constitute the fourth class of vertehrated animals. Some of the species are widely distributed throughout all the oceanic waters, while others appear to be confined to particular localities. The greater number of fish, used by man for food, frequent sho.al water. The cod and mackerel are examples. Sharks roam in the deep ocean of tropical and warm climates. Flying-fish never go beyond the parallel of 40°; their most active enemies, known from their brilliant colors as "gilt heads," observing the same limit. Several kinds of fish are eminently social and migratory. The herrings issue every year from the depths of the Arctic Ocean, and repair in vast shoals to the coasts of the United States, Western Europe, Kanitschatka, and the Aleutian Islands. Cod annually visit the coasts of Newfoundland, where vast numbers of them are caught. Pike and salmon are the only species of fresh-water fish common to Europe and North America. The pike, however, is unknown west of the Rocky Mountains. Salmon go up rivers to spawn, and make extraordinary leaps over falls to reach the places suitable for depositing their eggs. Name some of the principal families of Reptiles. — Which of the Crocodile family is found in America? — Africa? — Asia? — How does the number of harmless serpents com- pare with thjit of the venomous. — Describe the fourth class of vertehrated animals? VIII. The inferior orders of the animal kingdom — the Mollus- cozis, the Articulated, and the Radiated animals — are much more numerous than the Vertehrated. division, which has already been described. The division MoUusca comprises principally marine animals : as the oyster, and various species of shells. They are most rem.arkable for their size and beauty in the Torrid and Hot Zones ; thus, the pearl-oyster only comes to perfection in the equatorial ocean. Some families of the division Arlicnlaied animals are of direct utility to man : as the honey-bee, silk-worm, and cochineal insect. A far greater number indirectly promote his benefit: such, for example, as destroy animal and vegetable substances in a state of decomposition, and those that prey on other noxious tribes, and are thus instrumental in keeping them within due bounds. Microscopic animals, which belong to the division Sadiaied animals, exist almost everywhere, and in numbers which bafile the power of arithmetic to express, or the mind to conceive. They live in fog, rain, snow, and ice, in the ocean, in stagnant water, in boiling springs, on the surface of the snow in the Arctic regions, in volcanic ashes, and in peat earth twenty feet below the surface soil. If a drop of water be examined with a microscope, it will be found literally to swarm with animal life. Sir .James Ross sent some surface ice, of a brownish-yellow color, which he collected near Mt. Erebus, in the Antarctic regions, and which he sup- posed was colored by volcanic ashes, to M. Ehrenberg, the noted Prussian mioroscopist, for examination. The coloring matter of this ice was found to consist of microscopic animals, almost the whole of which reached the great naturalist's residence at Berlin alive, four years after they were collected. Such, indeed, is the tenacity of life in the microscopic animals, that they have been known to recover after an exposure to 248° of heat, and drying in vacuo for 28 days. IX. Reeaj)itulation. — It thus appears that the animals upon the globe comprise four principal divisions, the lower orders of which are far the most numerous, both in species and individuals. The Eastern Continent has contributed a much greater number of the higher orders, the vertehrated animals, to the domesticated races than the Western. The horse, ox, ass, camel, goat, hog, many sheep, dogs, and domestic fowls, being native animals of the Old World ; while the llama, turkey, and some sheep and dogs, are the only domestic animals of importance native to America. The largest and most savage animals are also found on the Eastern Continent : as the elephant, rhinoceros, lion, and tiger. The learner will not fail to recognise the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, in so constituting those animals which are most useful to man, that they can exist in different parts of the earth, under very different conditions. Thus, the lion and tiger cannot live in cold countries, nor can the white bear sustain the heat of the equatorial regions, while the patient ox can equally well endure severe cold or fervent heat. Nor will he fail also to recognise the care of Providence in the remarkable adaptation of each animal to his natural condition. Thus, animals of the Torrid Zone, as the Barbary dog and the ape, are supplied with a slight coat of hair ; while animals of the Arctic regions, as the sable, ermine, and bear, are provided with the thickest furs. Deer, hare, and other animals designed to seek safety in flight, have limbs expressly formed for speed ; while those of the elephant are formed for strength, and adapted to support the enormous weight of his body. Name the three inferior orders of the animal kingdom. — Describe the Molluscous ani- mals. — Name some of the Articulated animals most useful to man. — What is said of the number of Microscopic animals ? — Recapitulate the subjects of this chapter. ETHNOGRAPHY. 73 CHAPTER III. ETHNOGRAPHY. I. Ethnography treats of the different varieties of the human race, and their geographical distribution. Man, the head of the animal kingJom, and lord of the creation, has the whole earth for his abode. He can adapt himself to every variety of climate, soil, and situation ; and deriving nourishment from all kinds of food, his habitations extend to the farthest bounds of animated nature. II. Owing mainly to the flexibility of his constitution, although obtaining much artificial aid, man can subsist under the greatest climatic extremes. The Esquimaux endure the cold between the parallels of 70° and 80° ; the African negroes live under the burning sun of the Equator ; while Europeans, accustomed to an intermediate temperature, have borne the rigor of the highest accessible latitude, and the fiercest heat of the Torrid Zone. The power of the human frame to resist cold, appears to depend greatly on the amount of food which the individual consumes. It is well known that the Esquimaux eat as much as ten or twelve pounds weight of animal food in twenty-four hours, its eiFect being heightened by its fat and oily quality. A much larger supply of animal than vegetable food is required in a cold climate ; while amid torrid heat, rice and fruit form an appropriate diet. The human race can also adapt itself to very different states of the atmo- sphereas todensity, though with a varying capacity in different individuals. Some travellers are very painfully affected by the rarity of the atmosphere upon lofty elevations, while others suffer very little inconvenience. Mr. Darwin, who experienced much difficulty in breathing on crossing the Portillo pass of the Chilian Andes, intimates that, at Potosi, about 13,000 feet above the sea, though strangers suffer at first from the atmosphere, no inconve- nience is felt after a short stay. Lieut. Ilerndon, who, in 1851, crossed the Ataranga pass of the Alps, 16,04-4 feet in height, experienced no inconve- nience whatever, though one of bis companions suffered exceedingly. III. The human race are not confined to any particular diet, but subsist in different situations with equal facility on very dif- ferent kinds of food. Vegetables are the chief food of the nations within the Tropics ; animals, of the polar tribes ; both animals and vegetables contributing to support the inhabitants of tem- perate climates. In high latitudes, where the ground is covered with snow throughout the greater portion of the year, and vegetation is very scanty, entire hordes live on fish and seals. Towards the Equator, where vegetation flourishes most, vast numbers thrive, with no other articles of support than cocoa-nuts, bananas, yams, and rice. In the intermediate districts, the special region of the cereal grains, where animal food can also be as readily procured, a mixed diet prevails. IV. Few portions of the globe have been discovered destitute of a native human population. Among the principal of them are Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, Iceland, St. Helena, the Madeira and Falkland Islands, and the Antarctic Lands. V. The leading physical differences observable among man- kind are varieties of strength, stature, proportion of the limbs, texture of the skin, color, character of the hair, and the form of the skull. Of what does Ethnography treat ? — Under what different conditions can man live ? — On what docs the power to resist cold appear to depend? — Is any inconvenience experienced in ascending high mountains ? — Why ? — What sort of food is principally eaten in the Arctic regions? — -In the Torrid Zone? — In Temperate climates ? — Name some portions of the glohe which contained no native human population. 10 Both barbarous and civilized races exhibit the diversities of physical power which are found in individual families ; but, contrary to popular opinion, upon comparing the two together, the result of experiment shows the savage to be inferior to the civilized man in muscular energy and capa- city of endurance : though some of his senses, as sight and hearing, are remarkably vigorous. While a difference in stature will be observed in the same families, there are examples of tribes departing generally from the ordinary height. The Esquimaux, Laplanders, and Hottentots, are examples of diminutive size. The Patagonians, Caribs, Tonga islanders, and some of the tribes of Central Africa, are tall. Among the Bosjesmen of Southern Africa, the average height of the men is stated to be about four and a half feet, and that of the women four feet. The Patagonians average six feet, and very frequently exceed it. VI. Mankind differ in the propoi-tional size of parts of the bony skeleton, and in the texture of the skin and hair. Such differ- ences are observable in individuals of various families, but they seem to be peculiar to particular tribes. Thus, some of the negro tribes have broad flat feet, a projecting heel, and a greater length of the fore-arm, measured in proportion to the upper arm and height of the body. The skin is also softer and more velvety, a characteristic of some of the South Sea Islanders. The hair has likewise that peculiar character which has led to the African nations being styled in general " woolly haired," fine, wiry, and crisp ; while that of the Mongolian tribes is strong, straight, and scanty; and that of Europeans, long, soft, and flowing. VII. A difference in the color of the skin, hair, and eyes, is one of the most obvious distinctions of mankind. The African nations are black ; the American Indians are copper-colored ; and the inhabitants of Europe and the United States have a fair skin, with color in their cheeks. Omitting exceptional cases, there is a mutual correspondence between the color of the skin, hair, and eyes. Light hair is generally found to be accom- panied by a fair, transparent skin, and light blue or grey eyes ; and a dark skin has usually associated with it black hair and dark eyes. A most remarkable individu.al variety, not constituting tribes or nations, is the Albino. The hair is of a milky-white or cream tinge ; the color of the skin is the same, occasionally of a pinkish hue ; and the eye is pink, the pupil being intensely red. Albinos are usually of negro parentage, but occur in other races. VIII. The last important physical diversity apparent among mankind is the form of the skull, which varies remarkably, pre- senting several well-defined shapes, distinctive of great groups of the human population. IX. A great difference is also observable among mankind with reference to language, degree of civilization, religion, and form of government. The entire number of known languages .and dialects in the world is 3664, distributed as follows: — American, 1624; Asiatic, 937; European, 587; African, 276 ; Oceanic, 240. Some modern writers on philology classify this large number of lan- guages and dialects into a few great divisions, each containing those which bear a grammatical resemblance to each other. Those of the Old World are considered by Chevalier Bunsen to constitute but five divisions. What are the principal physical differences observable among mankind ? — Which is strongest, the barbarous or civilized races ? — Name some varieties of the human race noted for their stature. — Name some noted for peculiarities in the formation of the skeleton.— Name others noted for peculiarities in their skin, hair, or eyes.— State some diversities, other than physical, observable among mankind. 74 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. The degree of civilization which various tribes have attained, and the forms of government under -n-hich they live, are very different. In some countries, the United States and Great Britain for example, life and property are under the protection of the law, and held sacred. In other parts of the world, as Dahomey, in Africa, life is taken at the will of the king, on the most trifling pretexts. Most, if not all, of the different varieties of the human race appear to have some idea of a Supreme Being, though with many rude tribes it is very im- perfect. The Christian religion, as taught in the Holy Scriptures, only prevails among the most highly civilized nations. The forms of worship vary in other nations, becoming, in many cases, the lowest and most degrading superstitions. X. Takins into consideration the diversities of mankind which o have been heretofore enumerated, the entire human family may be regarded as constituting five races, each distinguished by marked and characteristic peculiarities. These races are seve- rally named as follows: — 1. The Caucasian, or white race; 2. The Mongolian, or yellow race ; 3. The Ethiopian, or black race ; 4. The Malay, or brown race ; 5. The American, or red race. Naturalists of the past and present century have arrived at very different conclusions, as to the number of races into which mankind may be divided. The distinguished Baron Cuvier writes, " that of certain hereditary pecu- liarities of conformation which constitute what are termed races, three in particular appear eminently distinct : the Caucasian, or white ; the Mongo- lian, or yellow ; and the Ethiopian, or Negro." But this naturalist was undecided whether to refer to either of these, the Malays, the Papuans, the Australians, South Sea Islanders, and Indians of America. Dr. Prichard, a very high authority, observes that " comparing the prin- cipal varieties of form and structure which distinguish the inhabitants of different countries, there are seven classes of nations, which may be sepa- rated from each other by strongly marked lines." The Ethiopian and Malay races, in the classification adopted in this work, are each considered by Dr. Prichard as constituting two races. Dr. Pickering, the naturalist of the United States' Exploring Expedition, and a gentleman probably whose own individual observation has exceeded that of any of the naturalists who have written on this subject, in the first chapter of his very excellent and interesting work, says : " I have seen, in all, eleven races of men ; and though I am hardly prepared to fix a positive limit to their number, I confess, after having visited so many different parts of the globe, that I am at a loss where to look for others." In his classification, the races are arranged under four colors: the white includes the Arab and Abyssinian ; the brown, the Mongolian, Hottentot, and Malay ; the blackish-brown, the Papuan, Negrillo, Indian of Ilindoostau (also called Telingan), and Ethiopian; and the black, the Australian and Negro races. In the classification of this book, the Arab, Abyssinian, Te- lingan, and part of the Ethiopian races, of Dr. Pickering's classification, are included in the Caucasian ; and the Papuan, Negrillo, Hottentot, Australian, Negro, and remainder of the Ethiopian races, are included in the Ethiopian. The race described in this work as American is included by Dr. Pickering in his Mongolian and Malay races. Other writers of greater or less note have adopted still different classifications. The classification adopted in this book is that of Blumenbach, and is essentially the same with that previously made by the great naturalist, Buffon. In the light of modern ethnographical science it may or may not be the most correct, but since it is that most generally known, it is most con- venient for the purposes of this work — which is not so much to show the history of the different races, as their present geographical distribution. The pupil who wishes further to investigate this most interesting subject, is referred to the works of Dr. Prichard, the " Races of Men," by Dr. Pick- ering, and the " History of the Human Species," by Col. Hamilton Smith. State some facts to show the difference in the civilization of different countries. — In what nations does the Christian religion prevail? — Into how many races may the whole human family be divided? — What was the classification of Baron Cuvier? — What was Dr. Prichard's ? — Quote the language of Dr. Pickering upon this subject. XI. The Caucasian race comprises the inhabitants of Hindoos- tan, Afghanistan, Persia, Turkey, Arabia, Georgia, Circassia, and a section of Chinese and Independent Tartary, in Asia ; the Great Desert, Barbary States, Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia, in Africa ; all of Europe (except the Finns, Laplanders, Magyars of Hungary, and Turks), and the descendants of Europeans in America and other parts of the globe. 1. European. 4. Arab Chief. Caucasian Race. 2. Circassian Chief. 5. Brahmin, or Hindoo Priest. 3. Georgian Girl. 6. Western Hunter. This vast section of the human family comprehends at present, and has ever done since the date of authentic history, the most perfectly formed, vigorous, and intellectual of mankind. The Egyptians, Hindoos, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Greeks, and Romans, successively represented the civilization of past ages. They founded mighty empires, and obtained paramount influence in the world — a heritage which has descended to the nations of Western Europe, and their off-shoot in the United States. The Caucasian race received its name from the supposition that it originated in the mountains of Caucasus, whence it is supposed to have spread into Europe and Asia. Col. Hamilton Smith conceives the true origin of the race to have been in the beautiful vallej's where the Indus, Amoo, and Cashgar have their upper courses, among the mountains of Hindoo Koosh, the true Caucasus of the ancients. A small, beautifully-shaped head, oval face, expanded forehead, small mouth, regular features, symmetrical shape ; fine, copious, and flowing hair ; complexion generally white, but of all shades — fair, florid, olive, swarthy, and even black — are the peculiar characteristics of the Caucasian race. It is only in this race we find the full-bearded man, and the clear, transparent skin, which admits the soft-spreading blush of woman. The European and American divisions of this race, the Abyssinians of Africa, and Armenians of Turkey and Persia, profess the Christian religion. The Arabs of Asia and Northern Africa ; the Berbers, Egyptians, and Moors of Northern Africa; and the Persians, Afghans, and some other tribes of Asia are Mohammedans. The Hindoos are Pagans. What does the Caucasian race comprise ? — What has been the character of this race in past times? — What is its present character? — From what does it derive its name? — Describe this race. — Which nations profess the Christian religion ? — Which the Moham- medan ? — Name the principal Pagan nations of this race. The entire number of the Caucasiiiii race distributed as follows : — ETIINOG estimated at 4TU,0()(),000, Inhabitants of Europe 250,000,000 European colonists anil their descendants in America 30,000,000 European colonists and their descendants in other parts of the globe, 2,0(M),000 Arabs, Berbers, Moors, Egyptians, Abyssinians, and other tribes of Northern Africa 22,0011,000 Inhabitants of South-western Asia 106,000,000 Total 470,000,000 XII. 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P< o = .2 a o 'a ■g -a 3 'e: ts a (-1 n i-i te ® S ^ ^ ^ .£•■ a> "^ 3 " ■s 3 § -g aj £ S. O 15 3 „ to Xi 4) S 3 fn ,, 1 3 g: S I .^ c^ .^ 2 3 I g " s 2 a -2 b* 3 " -^ a CO O ^ U a a 3 >-i -a >» 5> a r— o 3 « I o 3 I tf a ^ a 5 c2 o t S " a >. .2 a 'a r i3 c- _^ d ^O) d ;5 O — > I * -a "-^ a J -a ^ „ 3 CO « -5 •- •" "^ "t: C a> o M a S ^ o — ^ S 'S = a <: -° 3 £ -J « ' V Cj P r, JZ S 2 -- ? ■ i i^ 1 I 2 bg"! a =? 1 J3 3 .-So ^ o I 2 3 = „ a. c - I J3 J= 4, ■"■ bo bo J3 ® _«; ^ c3 a < ^ .2 i be 4) O § 2-So O 3 _ a 83m a j: ?5 3 r' Tofjh. Benicia (Be-m'sk'-i-a). Ben Lo'-mond {Ben means "hill," or "mountain." Bergen (Bur'-ghen). Bermudas {Der-moo'-dm), Berne {Bum). Biscay {Bia'-kif). Blumenbach {Bho'-men-bahk). Bogota {Bo-gO'tah'). Bokhara {Bo-Jcah'-i-n). Bolan {Bo-lafi7t'). Bonin Sima {Bo-neen See'-ma). Bora {Bo' -rah). Bourbon {Boor' -hxin). Brah-ma-poo'-tra, "Son of the Creator." Brazil {Brah-ze^V). Buenos Ayres {Bo'-nna A'-n'z), — 1 "good air." PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY. Cairo (ICi'-ro). Cam'-el-o-pard. Cam-er-oons'. Can-av'-er-al, Car-ac'-cas. Car-ib-be'-an. Car'-ib. Car-niv'-o-ra, "flesh-eating." Cassiquiare (Cah-see-kee-ah'-re). Cau-ca'-si-an. Cau'-ca-sus. Cau'-ver-y. Cayenne {JCi-eun'). Ce'-re-al. Applied to plants that pro- duce bread-corn. Derived from Ceres, the ancient fabled goddess of corn. Ce-ta'-ee-a. Cevennes [Sa-ven'). Cey-lon'. Charlemagne {Sharl-vmhu). Cheiroptera (Ki-rop'-ter-a). Cherrapongi ( Cher-a-poon-jec*). Chicago (She-katt'-go). Chihuahua (CH-waw'-tca). Chili (Chil'-le). Chim-bo-ra'-zo. Chim-pan'-zee. Cobi {Co' -be), — "sea of sand." Coch'-i-neal. Co'-chin Chi'-na. Coimbra {Co-eem'-hra), Colorado {Co-lo-rah''do). Cor-ri-en'-tes. Cosiguina (Co-Be-ghee'-na). Costa. Rica {Koa'-tah Ree'-ka), — "rich coast." Cotopaxi (Ko-to-pax' -ee). Cryp-tog'-a-mou8. Cumana {Koo-mah-nah'). Cuzco {Koo8-ko). Dahomey {Dah-ho-may'). Dant'-zio. Dar-da-nelles'. Dec'-can. Desaguadero (Dea-ah-gwa-da'-ro), — " the outlet." Dcs Moines (Se-moin'). Despoblado (Dea-po-blah'-do), — *' uninhabited." Dig-it-i-gra'-da, — from Latin, digitut, " toe," and gradna, "step." Disa Grandiflora (Deo'-za Gran-di- flo'-ra). Dwina {Dicee'-na). E. E-den-ta'-ta. Eider (I'-der). Ekaterinburg (E-kat-e-ri' -nen-hurg), — *' Catherine's town." Elbruz, or Elburz {El-brooz', or Et-boorz'). Endogenous (En-dnf-e-nous). Equador {Ek-wa-dore'). Esmeralda [Ea-mer-nM'-du). Eth-nog'-ra-phy. Eu-phra'-tes. Ex'-o-gens. F. Falkland {Fmck'lavd.) Fa'-roe. Fata Morgana (Fah'-ta Mor-gah'-na). Fingal (Fiiig-gawV) ; a district of Ire- land, which was formerly settled by Fins — whence the name. Fu-e'-gi-an. Fun'-gi. Latin plural o( fungiis — a mushroom ; a toadstool. G. Galapagos {GahU-pa-gos). Gallinacea {Gall-i-na'-she-a) Ganges {Gan'-Jez), — "flowing through the earth to Heaven." Gentian {Jen' -shun). Ghauts {Oaicta). Gila {Hee'-la), Glaciers {Glaa'-e-tra). Gneiss {Nice). Gral-la-to'-res. Great St. Ber-nard'. Grenelle {Gra-nel'). Guadalupe {Gwmo-da-loop'). Guanaxuato {Gwah-7iah-hira'-to). Guatemala {Gwak-ta-mah'-la). Guayaquil (Owi-ah-keel'), m Guiana {Ghee-ah' -na), Guinea {Ghin'-ee). Ilan-hai {Ilahi-hi'). Hai, hae, or Aciy, means "sea," in Chinese. Hec'-la. Hen-lo'-pen. Her- cu-la'-ne-um. Himalaya {Him-aM'-a). Hin-doo-stan'. Hip-po-pot'-a-mus. Hoang Ho {Whahng'-ho')j — "yellow river j" so named from the color which the clay banks give to its waters. Hy-drog'-ra-phy. "^ Ibarra {E-bar'-ra). Ignis Fatuus. Latin, — ignii, "fire," and/a?Ki(s, "foolish." Imbamburu ( Eem~bahm-boo' -roo). In-sect-iv'o-ra. I'-o-wa. Iran (E'-rahn). Irkoutsk (Ir-kootsk'). Ir-ra-wad'-dy, — " the great river." Irtysh (Eer'-lish). Isalco (E-aahl'-co). I-tas'-ca. Jag-u-ar'. Jalapa (Hah-lah'-pa). Jan May en ( Yan Mi'. en). Ja-pan'. Jap-an-ese'. JoruUo [Ho-rooV-yo). Ju'-ra. Jut'-land. K Knmtschatka {Kam-shat'-ka). Kanawha {Kan-aic' ~wah). Kan'-sas, — "smoky water." Ka-tah'-din. Khiva (A'ee'-fa). Kilimandjaro {Kil-e-rnrtht-jah-ro'). Kirghis {Keer-gheez'). Kuen LUn {Kwen-hott'). Kunchinginga {Koon-chiu-jivg'-gah). Kurile {Koo'-ril). Kuttenberg {Koo'-ten-herg). Lab' -ra- dor. La-drones'. Islands of the " ladrones," or tkievea — so named by Magellan, on account of the thievish disposi- tion of the natives. La-goon'. Lar'-a-mie. Lassa {Ilfalis'-sah), — "Land of the Divine Intelligence." Lava {Lah'-va). Lianos {Le-ah'-nos). Lich'-en. Lima [Lec'-mah). Lipari {Lee-pah' -re). Llama {Lah'-ma). Llano Estacado {Le-ah'-no Ea-tah-cah'- do), — "staked plain." Llanos {Le-ah'-nos). Louisville {Loo'-is-vH). Lupata {Loo'pah' -tah). 6 SQ^ 23 (89) -SB% mGl ^ 90 PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY. M. Mack'-i-naw. Madeira {Ma-dee'-ra). Derived from the magnificent forests with which these islands were formerly covered — the Portuguese word Madera signifying " timber.'* Mad'-rid. Maelstrom {Male' -strum), 'mill-stream.' Mag-da-le'-na. Magellan (Ma-Jel'-an). Magyar {Mah'-yar)* Mahabaleshwar, or Mahableshwur, {Mah'hah-hlesh-wur'). Mal-a-bar'. Mal'-dive, — " thousand isles." Mam-ma'-Ii-a. Ma-na'-tus. Man-tchoo'-ri-a. Maritime (Mar'-e-tim), — from Latin, mare, " the sea." Mar'-jo-ram. Mar'-mo-ra. Marquesas {3far-ka'-8aB). Mar-su-pi-a'-li-a, — from Latin, Marsii- piujyi, a " pouch." Mendocino {Men-do-eee' -no). Messina (Mes-see'-nak). Met-a-mor'-phic, — from a Greek word, signifying *' change." Me-te-or-o-log'-i-cal, Me-te-or-ol'-o-gy. Mirage (Me-razhe'). Mis-sis-sip'-pi, — "father of waters." Mol-lus'-cous. Latin, j^/o^/«8cus, "soft." Mo-luc'-ca. Mon-soon'. Monte Nuevo {Mon'-ta Noo-a'-vo). Monterey {Mon-te-ray'). Mon-te Kos'-si. Mont-mo-ren'-cy. Moscow (Mos'-Jco), Mozambique {Mo-zam-heek'). My-sore'. N. Nan-ling'. Nat-a-tor'-es, — from Latin, NatOy *'to swim." Natch'-ez. Ne-a-pol'-i-tan. Neches (Netch'-iz). Ner-bud'-dah. New' -found-land. New Gran-a'-da. Ne-va'-do de So-ra'-ta, — " snow-chid." Nic-a-ra'-gua. Niger (Ni'-Jer), Nueces {Noo-a'-ces). Nyoe (iVee-er'). 0. O'-a-ses. PI. of Oasis. Obi (O'-be). O-des'-sa. O-hi'-o, — " the beautiful river." O-ke-cho'-bee. O'-ri-no'-co, — " coiled serpent." P. Pacha, or Pasha; and, as applied to Barbary, Bashaw (Pa-skaiv'). Pachydermata {Pak-i-der' -ma-ta). Pam'-pas, — " treeless plains." Pam'-pe-ros, — "violent winds which sweep over the Pampas." Pam'-li-co. Papua {Pap'-oo-a). Frizzled; from the enormous frizzled heads of hair of the natives. Paraguay {Par-a-grca'). Parime, or Parima (Pak-ree'-mah). Pas-sa'-ic. Peck-a-ga'-ma. Pelagic [Pe-Iaf-ic). From Latin, PelaguB, "the sea," Peling {Pa-ling'). Per-en'-ni-al, — " perpetual." Ph£e-nog'-a-mus. Phi-lol'-o-gy. The knowledge or study of the languages. Philippine {Fil'-i-pin). Named after Philip IL of Spain. Phos-pho-i"es'-cence. A feeble kind of light without heat. Phys'-i-cal. Relating to matter. Plan-ti-gra'-da. Plat'-i-num. Plu-ton'-ic. Relating to the regions of fire. Pluto was the fabled god of the infernal regions. Pompeii {Pom-pa' -ye). Pont-char-train'. Popayan {Po-pah-yahn'). Por'-to Bel'-lo, — "fine harbor." Porto Rico {Ree'-co)f — "rich harbor." Potosi {Po-to-8^e'). Prussia {Prrnh'-e-a). Ptarmigan {Tar'-mi-gan)t Ptolemy {Tol'-e-my). Pu'-get. Pustza {Pooz'-tzaJi), Pyr'-en-ees. a. Quad-ru-ma'-na. Quito {Kee'-to). Ra-pa'-C63. Latin, Rapax, " greedy." Rar'-i-fied. Rarified air is thin, in op- position to condensed air. Reaumur [Ro'-mer). Reitiavick {Ri'-ke-a-vik). Richelieu {Reesh'-el-yoo). Rio de la Plata {Ree'-o da lah Plak'-taJi) — "river of silver." Rio Grande {Rw Grand'). Rio Janeiro. Commonly pronounced Ri'-o Ja-nee'-ro, "January River." Rio Negro {Ree'-o Ne'-gro), — "Black River." Russia {Rush'-e-a). Ruth'-er-ford. Sa-bine'. Sabrina {Sah-hree' -nah). Sac-ra-men'-to. Sahara {Sali-hah'-rah), Saint Law'-rence. Saltillo (Sahl-teel'-yo). Sa'-mi-el. Samoiedes {Sam-oi'eedz'). San Diego {San De~a'-go). San Joaquin {San Ho-ah-lceen'), pro- nounced almost Waic-lceen. San Salvador {San Sal-va-dore'), — "Holy Saviour." Santa Barbara (Sau'-ta Bar'-har-a). Santa F6 {San'^ta Fa),—'' holy faith." Santorini {San-to-ree' -nee). Saxifrage {Sax'-e-fraje), Scan-so'-res. Latin, " to climb." Sco'-ri-a, (PI. Sco'-ri-se). Volcanic cinders. Senegal {Sen-e-gawV). Se-rin-ga-pa-tam'. Severo Vostochnoi {Sa-va'~ro Vos-toh'- noi). Shanghai {Shang-hi'). Si-be'-ri-a. Sierra Diavolo. Sierra {Se-er'-a,) is a Spanish word, signifying "saw;" and is applied to a mountain-ridge, because at a distance it often pre- sents a notched appearance. {Sier- ra De-ah' -vo-lo, "Devil's ridge.") Sierra Leone {Le-o'-na). Sierra Madre {Mah'-dra). Sierra Morena {Mo-ra'-nah). Sierra Nevada {Na-vah'-dah), — "snow- clad mountain -ridge." Si-lo'-am. Si-moom'. Si-roc'-co, Sirikol {See-ree-hoV), Sit'-ka. Snieuw Bergen {Snoio' Ber'-ghen), — " snow-mountains." Solano {So-lah'^no). St. Anthony {An'-to^ny). St. Ber-nard'. St. Croix (Croi). St. Gothard {Go-tard), St. HeUe'-na. St. Louis {Loo'-ib). St. Roque {Rohe). Steilacoom {Sti-la-coom'), Stellerine [Stel-hr-een'). Steppes {Steps). Stra'-ta. PI. of Stratum. Layers or beds of anything: as sand, gravel, or rocks. Stromboli {Strom' -ho-lee). Su-ma'-tra. Sumbawa {Soom-haw' -\Da). Sy'-phon. A bent tube used for draw- ing off water from casks. 6yr'-i-a. "^S4 T. Ta-co'-ra. Tahiti {Tah-hee'-tee). Tasmania {Taz-ma'-ne-a). Named in honor of Tasman, its discoverer. Tchad {Chad). Tehama {Ta-hah'-mah)f — "low land." Tehuantepec {Ta-wahn-ta-pec'). Teneriffe ( Ten-er-if). Terra, or Tierra del Fuego {Ter'-ra del Fu-e'-go), — "land of fire." Tequendama ( Ta-ken-dak'-mak). Thames {Temz). Thian Shan ( Te-ahn' Shahi'),—" Celes- tial Mountains." rhihei{ Tib' -et). TieTras Calientes {Te-er'-ras Cah-le-en'- tea), — "hot lands." Tierras Templadas ( Tem-plah'-daz), — " temperate lands." Tierras Frias {Free'-az), — "cold lands." Tolima { To-lee' -7nak). Torrecelli (Tor-re -eel' -lee). Tortugas ( Tor-too'-gaz), — " tortoises." Trin-i-dad'. Tripe de Roche {Treep de Roshe). Tristan d'Acunha (TriB-tahn' DaJt- coon' -yah. Ty-phoon'. u. Utah {U'-taio). Ural ( Yoo'-ral, or Oo-rahV). Uruguay ( Oo-roo-gwi). V. YaldB.! {VaU'-di), Valenciana ( Vah-len-se-ah'-naJt). Vancouver ( Van-coo'-ver). Venezuela ( Ven-e-zwe'-la). Ver'-te-bra-ted. Ve-su'-vi-us. Vindhya ( Viiid'-yah). w. Wabash ( Waio'-haah). Wah-satch'. Washita ( Wash'-e-taw). Winnipiseogec ( Wi7t-e-pe-eaw'-ke), — "beautiful lake among the high- lands." X. Xarayes {Hah-rV -ez), Y. Yakoutsk f Yah-lcootsk'). Yang-tse-Kiang ( Yahng-tse-Kee' -ahng) — "Son of the Sea." Ya-zoo'. Yenesei { Yen-e-aa'-e). Yu-ca-tan'. Yu'-ma. z. Zambeze (Zam-ha'-ze)., Zoological {Zo-o-loJ'-i'Cal). Zoology {Zo-ol'-o-jy). Zoophytes {Zo'-o-Jitcs). ^ b m of>^ £Dk § 9 APPENDIX. TABLE OF THE HEIfiHT OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAI, MOUNTAIN- PEAKS OF THE GLOBE. IB North America. Feet. Mount St. Elias, Russian America 17,860 Popocatepetl, Mexico 17,717 Mount Brown, Rocky Mountains 16,000 Sierra Nevada, California 15,500 Mount Hood, Ore£;on Territory 14,000 Fremont's Peali, Rocky Mountains 13,470 Long's Peak, " " 12,600 Mount Mitchell, highest of the Blue Ridge, North Carolina 6470 Mount Washington, White Mountains, New Hampshire 62.34 Mount Tahawus, or Marcy, New York 5300 SocTH America. Aconcagua, Chili 2.3,910 Chimborazo, Equador 21,420 Sorato, Bolivia 21,286 Europe. Elbruz, the highest of the Caucasus Mountains, Russia 17,776 Mont Blanc, highest of the Alps 15,668 Mount Maladetta, highest of the Pyrenees 11,436 Mount Scardus, highest of the Balkan Mountains, Turkey 10,000 Konjakofski-Kamen, Ural Mountains 5397 Ben Nevis, highest of the Grampian Mountains, Scotland 4368 Snowdon, highest mountain in Wales 3571 Asia. Kunchinginga, Himalaya Mountains 28,176 Dhawalaghiri, " " 28,000 Hindoo Koo, or Koosh, Cabul 20,000 Mount Ararat, Turkey in Asia 17,210 Mount Lebanon, Syria, Jeb-el-Makmel 12,000 Mount Olympus, Turkey in Asia 9100 Mount Sinai, Arabia 7497 Africa. Mount Kilimandjaro 20.000? Mount Kenia 20,000 ? Abl)a Yared, Abyssinia , 15,200 Piton des Neiges, Islo of Bourbon 12,500 Mount Miltsin, highest of the Atlas, Morocco 11,400 Snowy Mountains. Cape Colony 10,000 Peak of Pico, Azores 7613 OCEANICA. Mount Ophir, Sumatra 13,842 Semero Mountain. Island of Java 13,000 Mount Orohena, Society Islands 8500 Mount Kosciusko, New South Wales 6500 Mount Humboldt, Tasmania 5520 Height, in feet. Date of last eruption. TABLE SHOWING THE LOCATION, ELEVATION, AND DATE OF THE LAST ERUPTION OF SEVERAL ACTIVE VOLCANOES. Name of Volcano. Location. Aconcagua. Chili. 23,910 Gualatieri. Bolivia. 22,000 Arequipa. Peru. 20,320 Antisani. Equador. 19,137 Cotopaxi. Equador. 18,875 Tolima. New Granada. 18,020 Popocatepetl. Mexico. 17,717 Pichiocha. Equador. 15,924 Dem.avend. AVestern Asia. 14,695 St. Helen's. United States. 13,300 Mauna Loa. Sandwich Islands. 13,120 Erebus. Antarctic Land. 12,400 Teneriffe. Canary Islands. 12,182 Etn.i. Sicily. 10,874 Tomboro. Island of .Sumbawa. 7600 Jan Mayen. Island of Jan Mayen. 6874 Morne Garou. Island of St. Vincent's. 5007 Jorullo. Mexico. 4265 Vesuvius. Naples, (Italy). 3948 Galung Gung. Java. Pechan. Central Asia. 9v_ TABLE SHOWING THE AREA OP THE BASINS, AND THE LENGTH OF THE PRINCIPAL RIVERS UPON THE GLOBE.* Arctic System. Obi Yenesei Lena Kolyma Dwina Petchora Mackenzie's Back's Area of Basin. 1 I Atlantic System. Nile Niger Senegal Orange Gambia Coanza Rio Grande J Danube Dnieper Don Rhine Elbe Rhone Amazon Mississippi Rio de La Plata . Nelson's St. Lawrence Tocantins Orinoco San Francisco .... Rio Grande Pacific System. Amour Yang-tse-Kiang Hoang Ho Cambodia Columbia Colorado System of the Indian Ocean. Ganges (includingthe Basin of the Brah- mapootra) Irrawaddy Indus Euphrates Godavery Zambeze Continental Rivers Volga Sihon Amoo, or O.xus Ural 530,000 2800 317,200? 1400? 258,000 1650 110,000 650? The area is given in English square miles, and the length in statute miles. 1,233,000 1,045,000 792,500 143,000 142,000 65,000 588,800 45,000 700,000? 600,000? 1,000,000? 273,000 226,240 196,500 66,160 49,000 33,000 2,016,000 1,300,000 1,182,000 480,000 396,800 388,000 336,000 249,600 240,000 777,200 730,400 716,500 270,000 340,000 225,000 576,640 441,600 416,000? 261,000 123,750 250,000 Length. 2700 3250 2800 930 1000 700 2.500 600 2500? 2600? 1 ? ? ? ? 1750 1260 1120 700 800 650 3600 4100 2240 2000 2100 1300 1600 1650 2150 2800 3300 2700 2000 1200 1100 1960 2600? 2300? 1750 900 800? Authority. Johnston. J. H.Young Ansted. Johnston. Johnston. J. H. Younf Johnston. Johnston. It J.H.Young. Johnston. (( a li Ansted. Johnston. TABLE SHOWING THE AREA, AVERAGE DEPTH, AND ELEVATION OF THE PRINCIPAL LAKES ON THE GLOBE. Caspian Sea Sea of Aral Dead Sea Lake Baikal , Lake Sir-i-kol ... Lake Superior .. Lake Michigan .. Lake Huron Lake Erie Lake Ontario ..... Lake Nicaragua Lake Titicaca ... Great Salt Lake Area in Average Square Depth Miles. in feet. 145,000 250 30,000 100 300 200 14,000 31,500 900 23,150 1000 23,100 1000 7800 120 6900 500 4000 40 4000 1875 Elevation of surface ab. level of the sea. in feet. 36 1535 15,630 627 595 595 565 231 128 12,795 4200 Depression of surface bel level of the sea, in feet, 83-4 1312 (91) ./a APPENDIX. TABLE SHOWING THE LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE, THE ELEVA- TION ABOVE THE LEVEL OF THE SEA, THE MEAN ANNUAL TEMPERATURE, AND THE AVERAGE ANNUAL FALL OF RAIN AT VARIOUS PLACES IN THE UNITED STATES. [This valuable Table is compiled from the " Army Meteorological Register," and presents the result of all the records, in the Army Medical Bureau, for 33 years, from 1822 to the close of 1854.] ■3.H 3 „ a R :I.S Name of Place of Observation. Fort Kent, Maine Fort Fairfield, Maine Hancock Barracks, Maine Fort Sullivan, Eastport, Maine Fort Preble, Portland, Maine Fort Constitution, Portsmouth, N. H. ... Fort Independence, Boston Harb., Mass. Watertown Arsenal, Mass Fort Adams, Rhode Island Fort Wolcott, Newport Harbor, R. I. ... Fort Trumbull, New London, Conn Fort Columbus, N.T. Harbor Fort Hamilton, N. Y. Harbor West Point, New York Wiitervliet Arsenal, New York Plattsburg Barracks, NewY'ork Sackett's Harbor, New York Fort Ontario, New York Fort Niagara, New York Buffalo Barracks, New York Alleghany Arsen.il, Pittsburg, Pa Carlisle Barracks, Carlisle, Pa Fort Mifflin, Pa Fort Delaware, Del Fort McHenry, Md Fort Severn, Md Washington City, D. C Fort Washington, Md Bellona Arsenal, Richmond, Va Fort Monroe, Va Fort Macon, N. C Fort Johnston, N. C Augusta Arsenal, Ga Fort Moultrie, Charleston, S. C Oglethorpe Barracks, Ga Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Fla Fort Shannon, Pilatka, East Fla New Smyrna, East Fla Fort Pierce, East Fla Fort Dallas, East Fla Key West, Fla Fort Myers, South Fla Fort Brooke, Tampa Bay, Fla Fort Meade, Fla Fort Micanopy, Fla Fort King, Fla Cedar Keys, Fla Fort Fiinning, Fla Fort Barrancas, Pensacola, Fla Fort Morgan, Ala Mt. Vernon Arsenal, Ala Fort Pike, La Fort Wood, La New Orleans, La Baton Rouge, La Fort Jessup, L.a Fort Towson, Ind. Ter Fort Washita, Ind. Ter 2CB 47° 15' 46 46 46 07 44 54 43 39 43 04 42 20 41 21 41 29 41 30 41 21 40 42 40 37 4123 42 43 44 41 43 57 43 20 43 IS 42 53 40 32 40 12 39 53 39 35 39 IT 38 58 38 53 38 43 37 20 37 34 41 34 33 28 32 45 32 05 29 48 29 34 28 54 27 30 25 55 24 32 26 38 28 28 01 29 30 29 10 29 07 29 35 30 18 30 14 31 12 30 10 30 08 29 57 30 26 3133 34 24 14 68° 35' 67 49 67 49 66 68 70 20 70 49 71 71 09 71 20 71 20 72 06 74 01 74 02 74 73 43 73 25 76 15 76 40 79 08 78 58 80 02 77 14 75 13 75 34 71 35 76 27 77 02 77 06 77 25- 76 IS 76 40 78 05 81 53 79 51 81 07 81 35 81 48 81 02 80 20 80 20 81 48 82 02 82 28 S2 82 28 82 10 83 03 S3 87 27 88 88 02 89 38 89 51 90 91 78 93 32 95 33 96 38 < Q. 575 415 620 70 20 40 50 40 20 23 23 25 167 50? 1S6 262 260 260 660 704 500 20 10 36 20 50-90 60 120 8 20 20 600? 25 40 25 25 20 30 20 10 50 20 80 60? 50 35 50 20 20 200? 10 20 10 41 80? 300? 645 37°-04 3S-11 40-61 43-02 45-22 45-81 48-92 47-34 49-70 60-72 49-62 51-69 51-54 60-73 48-07 44- 46-38 46-44 47-91 46-25 50-86 61-10 63-85 56-06 64-36 55-42 56-14 67-S7 69-27 58-89 62-23 65-68 64-01 66-58 67-44 69-61 69-64 69-17 73-20 74-76 76-61 75-04 71-92 71-48 70-09 70- 69-60 70-20 68-74 66-88 66-84 69-86 69-25 69-86 68-14 66-34 61-69 62-21 36-46 36-97 39-39 45-25 35-57 35-30 4207 52-46 45-69 42-23 43-65 64-16 34-55 33-39 39-78 30-88 31-77 38-SO 34-96 34-01 46-27 42. 48-61 41-20 46-02 50-89 46-01 23- 44-92 53-33 31-80 48-6S 62-98 47-65 62-26 56-47 40-22 48-50 56-98 63-50 71-92 60-63 50-90 62-10 45-86 61-08 41-66 Name of Place of Observation. Fort Smith, Ark Fort Gibson, Ind. Ter Fort Scott, Mo Jelferson Barracks, Mo St. Louis Arsenal, Mo Newport Barracks, Newport, Ky Detroit, Mich Fort Gratiot, Mich Fort Mackinac, Mich Fort Dearborn, Chicago, 111 Fort Brady, Mich Fort Wilkins, Mich Fort Howard, Wis Fort Winnebago, Wis Fort Crawford, Wis Fort Armstrong, 111 Fort Atkinson, Iowa Fort Des Moines, Iowa Fort Ripley, Minnesota Fort Snelling, Min Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Council Bluffs, Nebraska Fort Kearney, Nebraska Fort Laramie, Nebraska Fort Arbuckle, Ind. Ter Fort Belknap, Texas Fort Worth, Texas Phantom Hill, Texas Fort Chadbourne, Texas Fort Graham, Texas Fort Gates, Texas Fort Croghan, Texas San Antonio, Texas Fort Merrill, Texas Fort Ewell, Texas Corpus Christi, Texas Fort Brown, Texas Ringgold Barracks, Texas Fort Mcintosh, Texas Fort Duncan, ISagle Pass, Texas Fort Inge, Texas Fort Lincoln, Texas Fort Clark, Texas Fort Fillmore, New Mexico Fort Webster, New Mexico Fort Conrad, New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico CeboUeta and Laguna, New Mexico Santa Fe, New Mexico Ijas Vegas, New Mexico Fort Union, New Mexico Fort Massachusetts, New Mexico Fort Defiance, New Mexico Fort Yuma, California .,.,. San Diego, California Posts Del Chino and Jurupa, California Monterey, California Fort Miller, California San Francisco, California Benicia Barracks, California Sacramento, California Fort Reading. California Fort Humboldt, California Fort Jones, California Fort Orford, California Fort Vancouver, Oregon Fort Dalles, Oregon Fort Steilacoom, Washington Territory Astoria, Oregon Great Salt Lake, Ut.ah 35° 23' 34 47 37 45 38 28 38 40 39 05 42 20 42 55 46 61 41 52 46 30 47 30 44 30 43 31 43 05 41 30 43 41 32 46 19 44 53 39 21 41 30 40 38 42 12 34 27 33 08 32 40 32 30 31 38 31 56 31 26 30 40 29 25 28 17 28 05 27 47 25 64 26 23 27 31 28 42 29 09 29 22 29 17 32 13 32 48 33 34 35 06 35 03 35 41 35 35 35 54 37 32 35 44 32 43 32 42 34 36 36 37 37 48 38 03 38 33 40 30 40 46 41 36 42 44 46 40 46 36 47 10 40 11 40 46 94° 29' 95 10 94 35 90 15 90 05 84 29 82 68 82 23 84 33 87 35 S4 43 88 88 05 89 28 91 90 40 92 93 38 94 19 93 10 94 44 95 48 98 57 104 47 97 09 98 48 97 25 99 46 100 40 97 26 97 49 98 31 98 26 98 98 57 97 27 97 26 99 02 99 21 100.30 99 07 99 33 100 25 106 42 108 04 107 09 106 38 107 14 106 02 105 16 104 67 105 23 109 16 114 36 117 14 117 25 121 52 119 40 122 26 122 08 121 20 122 05 124 09 122 52 124 29 122 30 120 65 122 25 123 48 112 06 460 560 1000? 472 460 500 580 698 728 591 600 620 620 770? 642 628 700? 780 1130 820 896 1250 2360 4519 lOOO? 1600? 1100? 2300? 2120 900? 1000? 1000? 600 160? 200 20 50 200? 400 800 845 900? 1000? 3937 6350 4576 5032 6000 6846 6418 6670 8366 7200? 120 150 1000? 140 402 150 64 50 674 50 2570 50 50 360 300? 50 4361 60°-02 60-81 54-50 55-46 54-51 56-26 47-25 46-29 40-65 46-75 40-37 41- 44-49 44-80 47-63 50-31 45-50 49-74 39-30 44-54 52-78 49-28 47-67 50-06 60-83 63-99 63-54 63-73 62-38 65-76 66-12 66-74 69-25 71-37 71-30 70-95 73-75 74-21 73-24 70-86 67-69 68-03 67-04 63-98 54-84 59-40 56-32 55-12 50-59 49-14 49-14 49-11 46-92 73-62 62- 63-28 55-29 66- 64-8S 68-29 59-89 62-09 62-80 51-40 53-62 52-65 52-79 60-82 62-23 53-24 42-10 36-46| 42-12 37-83 41-95 30-07 32-62 23-87 31-35 34-65 27-49 31-40 39-74 26-56 29-48 25-43 30-29 27-98 19-98 30-67 22- 40-86 17-22 31-88 40-6S 36-56 33-77 30-82 33-65 20-95 lS-66 22-20 27-99 20-58 21-80 9-28 8-79 6-76 9-42 12-05 19-83 19-24 19-24 20-54 16-64 3-24 10-43 13-77 12-20 24-51 23-59 16-62 21-32 29-02 16-77 16-77 68-52 45-50 14-32 51-75 THE END. b mo^ ./ZA AD 3 8 c 0' r o o -;ti ^°-^^, -^^n^ .^J' .^" .'^iC-J-, *-«. .0" ,-^' - % '" v^* ^-'%\ ^/ ;,^k^ "5- .V- <. ^^O^ e ■t^n^ V^ s"-^ '^' ^°--^, 'o V ■V r^O ^" -^4 ^^ ^^-■^ .£. 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