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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
Entered , according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by LEA & BLANCHARD, in the Clerk’s Office, of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Dear Sir John , I avail myself with pleasure of your permission to dedicate my book to you, as it gives me an opportunity of expressing my admiration of your talents, and my sincere estimation of your friendship. London, 29th February, 1848....
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ADVERTISEMENT.
ADVERTISEMENT.
The improvements and additions embodied in the new London edition are fully enumerated in the Author’s Preface. The American publishers have supplied what was much needed, a complete Glossary of Scientific and Technical Terms; which, with some few additions scattered through the pages, and enclosed in brackets [ ], were prepared by Dr. Ruschenberger. These additions, while they have improved the work, have added materially to the number and size of the pages. The publishers, consequently, trust
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PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION.
PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION.
Since the publication of the first edition of this work, the Author has been able to correct many inaccuracies that had crept into it, and to collect much new matter from works since published, which is embodied in the present edition, and has considerably added to its size. The recently-published Second Volume of Baron Humboldt’s invaluable “Cosmos,” [1] with Colonel Sabine’s learned notes, and sundry papers that have appeared in the scientific periodicals of Europe, America, and India, bearing
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CHAPTER I. GEOLOGY.
CHAPTER I. GEOLOGY.
Of Physical Geography—Position of the Earth in the Solar System—Distance from the Sun—Civil Year—Inclination of Terrestrial Orbit—Mass of the Sun—Distance of the Moon—Figure and Density of the Earth from the Motions of the Moon—Figure of the Earth from Arcs of the Meridian—from Oscillations of Pendulum—Local Disturbances—Mean Density of the Earth—Known Depth below its Surface—Outlines of Geology. Physical Geography is a description of the earth, the sea, and the air, with their inhabitants anima
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CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
Direction of the Forces that raised the Continents—Proportion of Land and Water—Size of the Continents and Islands—Outline of the Land—Extent of Coasts, and proportion they bear to the Areas of the Continents—Elevation of the Continents—Forms of Mountains—Forms of Rocks—Connection between Physical Geography of Countries and their Geological Structure—Contemporaneous Upheaval of parallel Mountain Chains—Parallelism of Mineral Veins or Fissures—Mr. Hopkins’s Theory of Fissures—Parallel Chains simi
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CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
The High Lands of the Great Continent ( continued )—The Caucasus—The Western Asiatic Table-Land and its Mountains. The Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmora form but a small break in the mighty girdle of the old continent, which again appears in immense table-lands, passing through the centre of Asia, of such magnitude that they occupy nearly two-fifths of the continent. Here everything is on a much grander scale than in Europe: the table-lands rise above the mean height of the European mountains,
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CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
The High Lands of the Great Continent ( continued )—The Oriental Table-Land and its Mountains. The Oriental plateau, or table-land of Tibet, is an irregular four-sided mass stretching from S.W. to N.E., enclosed and traversed by the highest mountains in the world. It is separated from the table-land of Persia by the Hindoo Coosh, which may be considered as the western prolongation of the Himalaya, occupying the terrestrial isthmus between the low lands of Hindostan and Bucharia. The cold dreary
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CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
Secondary Mountain Systems of the Great Continent—That of Scandinavia—Great Britain and Ireland—The Ural Mountains—The Great Northern Plain. The great northern plain is broken by two masses of high land, in every respect inferior to those described; they are the Scandinavian system and the Ural mountains, the arbitrary limit between Europe and Asia. The range of primary mountains which has given its form to the Scandinavian peninsula begins at Cape Lindesnaes, the most southerly point of Norway,
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CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
The Southern Low Lands of the Great Continent, with their Secondary Table-Lands and Mountains. The low lands to the south of the great mountain girdle of the old continent are much broken by its offsets, by separate groups of mountains, and still more by the deep indentation of bays and large seas. Situate in lower latitudes, and sheltered by mountains from the cutting Siberian winds, these plains are of a more tropical character than those to the north; but they are strikingly contrasted in the
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CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
Africa—Table-Land—Cape of Good Hope and Eastern Coast—Western Coast—Abyssinia—Senegambia—Low Lands and Deserts. The continent of Africa is 5000 miles long from the Cape of Good Hope to its northern extremity, and as much between Cape Guardafuï, on the Indian Ocean, and Cape Verde, on the Atlantic; but from the irregularity of its figure it has an area of only 12,000,000 of square miles. It is divided in two by the equator, consequently the greater part of it lies under a tropical sun. The high a
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CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
American Continent—The Mountains of South America—The Andes—The Mountains of the Parima and Brazil. Some thinner portion of the crust of the globe under the meridians that traverse the continent of America from Cape Horn to the Arctic Ocean must have yielded to the expansive forces of the subterranean fires, or been rent by contraction of the strata in cooling. Through this the Andes had arisen, producing the greatest influence on the form of the continent, and the peculiar simplicity that preva
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GEOLOGY OF SOUTH AMERICA.
GEOLOGY OF SOUTH AMERICA.
The most remarkable circumstance in the geological features of the South American continent is the vast development of volcanic force, which is confined to the chain of the Andes, and where it has acquired a considerable breadth, as in the Peru-Bolivian portion, to the part nearest the sea-coast. It would be wrong, however, to say that there are no traces of modern volcanic action at a great distance from the sea: [54] it is one of those theories which recent discoveries in both continents have
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CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
Central America—West Indian Islands—Geological Notice. Taking the natural divisions of the continent alone into consideration, Central America may be regarded as lying between the Isthmus of Panamá and Darien and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and consequently in a tropical climate. This narrow tortuous strip of land, which unites the continents of North and South America, stretches from S.E. to N.W. about 1200 miles, varying in breadth from 20 to 300 or 400 miles. As a regular chain, the Andes des
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CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
North America—Table-Land and Mountains of Mexico—The Rocky Mountains—The Maritime Chain and Mountains of Russian America. According to the natural division of the continent, North America begins about the 20th degree of north latitude, and terminates in the Arctic Ocean. It is longer than South America, but the irregularity of its outline renders it impossible to estimate its area. Its greatest length is about 5100 miles, and its breadth, at the widest part, is 3500 miles. The general structure
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CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
North America ( continued )—The Great Central Plains, or Valley of the Mississippi—The Alleghany Mountains—The Atlantic Slope—The Atlantic Plain—Geological Notice—The Mean Height of the Continents. The great central plain of North America, lying between the Rocky and Alleghany Mountains, and reaching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, includes the valleys of the Mississippi, St. Lawrence, Nelson, Churchill, and most of those of the Missouri, Mackenzie, and Coppermine rivers. It has an
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CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Continent of Australia—Tasmania, or Van Diemen’s Land—Islands—Continental Islands—Pelasgic Islands—New Zealand—New Guinea—Borneo—Atolls—Encircling Reefs—Coral Reefs—Barrier Reefs—Volcanic Islands—Areas of Subsidence and Elevation in the Bed of the Pacific—Active Volcanos—Earthquakes—Secular Changes in the Level of the Land. The continent of New Holland, situate in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, is so destitute of large navigable rivers that probably no very high land exists in its interior, whic
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
Arctic Lands—Greenland—Spitzbergen—Iceland—Its Volcanic Phenomena and Geysers—Jan Mayen’s Land—New Siberian Islands—Antarctic Lands—Victoria Continent. Greenland , the most extensive of the Arctic lands, begins with the lofty promontory of Cape Farewell, the southern extremity of a group of rocky islands, which are separated by a channel five miles wide from a table-land of appalling aspect, narrow to the south, but increasing in breadth northward to a distance of which only 1300 miles are known
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CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
Nature and Character of Mineral Veins—Metalliferous Deposits—Mines—Their Drainage and Ventilation—Their Depth—Diffusion of the Metals—Gold—Silver—Lead—British Mines—Quicksilver—Copper—Tin—Cornish Mines—Coal—Iron—Most abundant in the Temperate Zones, especially in the Northern—European and British Iron and Coal—American Iron and Coal—Arsenic and other Metals—Salt—Sulphur—Diffusion of the Gems. The tumultuous and sudden action of the volcano and the earthquake on the great masses of the earth is i
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CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
The Ocean—its Size, Colour, Pressure, and Saltness—Tides—Waves—their Height and Force—Currents—their Effect on Voyages—Temperature—The Stratum of Constant Temperature—Line of Maximum Temperature—North and South Polar Ice—Inland Seas. The ocean, which fills a deep cavity in the globe, and covers three-fourths of its surface, is so unequally distributed that there is three times more land in the northern than in the southern hemisphere. The torrid zone is chiefly occupied by sea, and only one twen
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RIVERS.
RIVERS.
Rivers have had a greater influence on the location and fortunes of the human race than almost any other physical cause, and, since their velocity has been overcome by steam navigation, they have become the highway of the nations. They frequently rise in lakes, which they unite with the sea; in other instances they spring from small elevations in the plains, from perennial sources in the mountains, alpine lakes, melted snow and glaciers; but the everlasting storehouses of the mightiest floods ar
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AFRICAN RIVERS.
AFRICAN RIVERS.
In Africa the tropical climate and the extremes of aridity and moisture give a totally different character to its rivers. The most southerly part is comparatively destitute of them, and those that do exist are of inferior size, except the Gariep, or Orange River, which has a long course on the table-land, but is nowhere navigable. From the eastern edge of the table-land of South Africa, which is very abrupt, rise all those rivers which flow across the plains of Mozambique and Zanguebar to the In
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CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Asiatic Rivers—Euphrates and Tigris—River Systems South of the Himalaya—Chinese Rivers—Siberian Rivers. The only river system of importance in Western Asia is that of the Euphrates and Tigris. In the basin of these celebrated streams, containing an area of 230,000 square miles, immense mounds of earth, in a desolate plain, point out the sites of some of the most celebrated cities of antiquity—of Nineveh and Babylon. Innumerable remains and inscriptions, the records of times very remote, have bee
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RIVERS OF NEW HOLLAND.
RIVERS OF NEW HOLLAND.
After America, the land of the river and the flood, New Holland appears in more than its usual aridity. The absence of large rivers is one of the greatest impediments to the improvement of this continent. What it may possess in the interior is not known, but it is certain that no large river discharges its water into the ocean, and most of the small ones are absorbed before they reach it. The streams from the mountains on the eastern side of the continent are mere torrents, and would have short
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CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XX.
Lakes—Northern System of the Great Continent—Mountain System of the same—American Lakes. The hollows formed on the surface of the earth by the ground sinking or rising, earthquakes, streams of lava, craters of extinct volcanos, the intersection of strata, and those that occur along the edges of the different formations, are generally filled with water, and constitute systems of lakes, some salt and some fresh. Many of the former may be remnants of an ancient ocean left in the depressions of its
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CHAPTER XXI.
CHAPTER XXI.
Temperature of the earth—Temperature of the Air—Radiation—Foci of Maximum Cold—Thermal Equator—Its Temperature, mean and absolute—Isothermal Lines—Continental and Insular Climates—Extreme Climates—Stability of Climate—Decrease of Heat in Altitude—Line of Perpetual Snow—Density of the Atmosphere—The Barometer—Measurement of Heights—Variations in Density and their Causes—Horary Variations—Independent Effect of the dry and aqueous Atmospheres—Mean height of Barometer in different Latitudes—Depressi
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LIGHT.
LIGHT.
We know nothing of the size of the ultimate particles of matter, except that they must be inconceivably small, since organized beings possessing life and exercising all its functions have been discovered so minute that a million of them would occupy less space than a grain of sand. The air is only visible when in mass; the smallest globule of steam tells no more of its atoms than the ocean; the minutest grain of sand magnified appears like the fragment of a rock—no mechanical division can arrive
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ELECTRICITY.
ELECTRICITY.
Electricity pervades the earth, the air, and all substances, without giving any visible sign of its existence when in a latent state, but, when elicited, it exhibits forces capable of producing the most sudden, violent, and irresistible effects. It is roused from its dormant state by every disturbance in the chemical, mechanical, or calorific condition of matter, and then experience shows that bodies in one electric state repel, and in another they attract each other. Probably their mutual attra
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MAGNETISM.
MAGNETISM.
Magnetism is one of those unseen imponderable existences which, like electricity and heat, are known only by their effects. It is certainly identical with electricity, for, although it never comes naturally into evidence, magnets can be made to exhibit all the phenomena of electrical machines. Terrestrial magnetism, which pervades the whole earth, is extremely complicated; it varies both with regard to space and time, and, probably, depends upon the heat of the sun, upon his motion in the eclipt
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CHAPTER XXIII.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Vegetation—Nourishment and Growth of Plants—Effects of the different Rays of the Solar Spectrum—Classes—Botanical Districts. In the present state of the globe, a third part only of its surface is occupied by land, and probably not more than a fourth part of that is inhabited by man, but animals and vegetables have a wider range. The greater part of the land is clothed with vegetation and inhabited by quadrupeds, the air is peopled with birds and insects, and the sea teems with living creatures a
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ARCTIC FLORA OF THE GREAT CONTINENTS.
ARCTIC FLORA OF THE GREAT CONTINENTS.
In the most northern parts of the Arctic lands the year is divided into one long intensely cold night and one bright and fervid day, which quickly brings to maturity the scanty vegetation. Within the limit of perpetual congelation the Palmella nivalis (or red snow of Arctic voyagers), a very minute red or orange-coloured plant, finds nourishment in the snow itself, the first dawn of vegetable life; it is also found colouring large patches of snow in the Alps and Pyrenees. Lichens are the first v
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FLORA OF BRITAIN AND OF MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN EUROPE.
FLORA OF BRITAIN AND OF MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN EUROPE.
The British islands afford an excellent illustration of distinct provinces of animals and plants, and also of their migration from other centres. Professor E. Forbes has determined five botanical districts, four of which are restricted to limited provinces, whilst the fifth, which comprehends the great mass of British plants, is, everywhere, either alone or mixed with the others. All of these, with a very few doubtful exceptions, have migrated before the British islands were separated from the c
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FLORA OF TEMPERATE ASIA.
FLORA OF TEMPERATE ASIA.
The vegetation of western Asia approaches nearly to that of India at one extremity, and Europe at the other; of 281 genera of plants which grow in Asia Minor and Persia, 109 are European. Syria and Asia Minor form a region of transition, like the other countries on the Mediterranean, where the plants of the temperate and tropical zones are united. We owe many of our best fruits and sweetest flowers to these regions. The cherry, almond, oleander, syringa, locust-tree, &c., come from Asia
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FLORA OF THE INDO-CHINESE PENINSULA AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
FLORA OF THE INDO-CHINESE PENINSULA AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
Many of the vegetable productions of the peninsula beyond the Ganges are the same with those of India, mixed with the plants of the Indian Archipelago, so that this country is a region of transition, though it has a splendid vegetation of innumerable native productions, dyes of the most vivid hues, spices, medicinal plants, and many with the sweetest perfume. The soil in many places yields three crops in the year; the fruits of India, and most of those of China, come to perfection in the low lan
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INDIAN FLORA.
INDIAN FLORA.
The plains of Hindostan are so completely sheltered from the Siberian blasts by the high table-lands of Tartary and the Himalaya mountains, that the vegetation at the foot of that range already assumes a tropical character. In the jungles and lower ridges of the fertile valley of Nepal, and on the dark and airless recesses of the Silhet forests, arborescent ferns and orchideous plants are found in profusion, scarcely surpassed even in the islands of the Indian Archipelago—indeed the marshy Tariy
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ARABIAN VEGETATION.
ARABIAN VEGETATION.
The third division of the tropical flora of Asia is the Arabian, which differs widely from the other two, and is chiefly marked by trees yielding balsams. Oceans of barren sand extend to the south, from Syria through the greater part of Arabia, varied only by occasional oases in those spots where a spring of water has reached the surface; there the prevalent vegetation consists of the grasses, Holcus and Panicum dicotomum growing under the shade of the date-palm; mimosas and stunted prickly bush
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FLORA OF AUSTRALIA.
FLORA OF AUSTRALIA.
The interior of the Australian continent is so little known, that the flora which has come under observation is confined to a short distance from the coast; but it is of so strange and unexampled a character, that it might easily be mistaken for the production of another planet. Many entire orders of plants are known only in Australia, and the genera and species of others that grow elsewhere assume new and singular forms. Evergreens, with hard narrow leaves of a sombre, melancholy hue, are preva
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FLORA OF MEXICO AND THE WEST INDIES.
FLORA OF MEXICO AND THE WEST INDIES.
Mexico itself unites the vegetation of North and South America, though it resembles that of the latter more nearly. Whole provinces on the table-land and mountains produce alpine plants, oaks, chestnuts, and pines spontaneously. The Cheirostemon, or hand-tree, so named from the resemblance its stigma bears to the human hand, grows here, and also in the Guatemala forests. The low lands of Mexico and Central America have a very rich flora, consisting of many orders and genera peculiar to them, and
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FLORA OF TROPICAL AMERICA.
FLORA OF TROPICAL AMERICA.
Although the flora of tropical America is better explored than that of Asia or Africa, there must still be thousands of plants of which we have no knowledge; and those which have come under observation are so varied and so numerous, that it is not possible to convey an idea of the peculiarities of this vegetation, or of the extent and richness of its woodlands. The upper Orinoco flows for some hundred miles chiefly through forests; and the silvas of the Amazons are six times the size of France.
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ANTARCTIC FLORA.
ANTARCTIC FLORA.
Tierra del Fuego and Kerguelen’s Land are the northern boundary of the antarctic lands, which are scattered round the south pole at immense distances from one another. On these the vegetation decreases as the latitude increases, till at length utter desolation prevails; not a lichen covers the dreary storm-beaten rocks; and, with the exception of a microscopic marine plant, not a sea-weed lives in the gelid waves. In the arctic regions, on the contrary, no land has yet been discovered that is en
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ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF CEREALIA.
ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION OF CEREALIA.
The plants which the earth produces spontaneously are thus confined within certain districts, and few of them would survive a change of circumstances; nevertheless, Providence has endowed those most essential to man with a greater flexibility of structure, so that the limits of their production can be extended by culture beyond what have been assigned to them by nature. The grasses yielding the grains are especially favoured in this respect, though their extension depends upon the knowledge and
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MARINE VEGETATION.
MARINE VEGETATION.
A vegetable world lies hid beneath the surface of the ocean, altogether unlike that on land, and existing under circumstances totally different with regard to light, heat, and pressure, yet sustained by the same means. Carbonic acid and ammonia are as essential, and metallic oxides are as indispensable, to marine vegetation as they are to land-plants. Sea-water contains ammonia, and something more than a twelve-thousandth part of its weight of carbonate of lime, yet that minute portion is suffic
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CHAPTER XXVIII. Distribution of Insects.
CHAPTER XXVIII. Distribution of Insects.
Three hundred thousand insects are known: some with wings, others without; some are aquatic, others are aquatic only in the first stage of their existence, and many are parasitical. Some land insects are carnivorous, others feed on vegetables; some of the carnivorous tribe live on dead, others on living animals, but they are not half so numerous as those that live on vegetables. Some change as they are developed; in their first stage they eat animal food, and vegetables when they come to maturit
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CHAPTER XXIX.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Distribution of Marine Animals in general—Fishes—the Marine Mammalia—Phocæ, Dolphins, and Whales. Before Sir James Ross’s voyage to the Antarctic regions, the profound and dark abysses of the ocean were supposed to be entirely destitute of animal life; now it may be presumed that no part of it is uninhabited, since during that expedition live creatures were fished up from a depth of 6000 feet. But as most of the larger fish usually frequent shallow water near the coasts, deep seas must form barr
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CHAPTER XXX.
CHAPTER XXX.
Distribution of Reptiles—Frogs and Toads—Snakes, Saurians, and Tortoises. Reptiles , more than any other class of animals, show the partial distribution of animated beings, because, being unable to travel to any great distance, they have remained in the places wherein they were originally stationed; and as they inhabit deserts, forests, and uncultivated ground, they have not been disturbed by man, who has only destroyed some individuals, but has not diminished the number of species, which is pro
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DISTRIBUTION OF ARCTIC AND EUROPEAN BIRDS.
DISTRIBUTION OF ARCTIC AND EUROPEAN BIRDS.
The birds of Europe and North America are better known than those of any part of the globe. New species are constantly discovered in Asia, Africa, and South America; and extensive regions in the East are yet unexplored: however, about 6000 have already been described. There are 503 species of birds in Europe, many of which are distributed over Asia and Africa, without any apparent variation; and 100 of our European species are also in North America. Of these, 90 are land-birds, 28 waders, and 62
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BIRDS OF ASIA AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
BIRDS OF ASIA AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
European birds are widely spread over Asia; most of the Arctic sea-fowl frequent its northern coasts: between 50 and 60 European birds are also Siberian, and there are above 70 European species in Japan and Corea, which probably are also inhabitants of Siberia and the Altaï Mountains, and several are identical with the birds of North America; so that the same affinity prevails in the feathery tribes of the Arctic regions as in the vegetable productions. Asia Minor is a country of transition, and
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AFRICAN BIRDS.
AFRICAN BIRDS.
A great number of European birds are also inhabitants of Africa, and many migrate there in winter, yet the birds of this continent are very peculiar and characteristic; those in the north and north-east, and at the Cape of Good Hope, are best known, but the greater part of tropical Africa is still unexplored. It may be observed, generally, that the tropical birds differ from those of north Africa, but are, with a few exceptions, the same with those in the southern part of the continent, and the
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BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.
BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA.
Of 471 species of North American birds, about 100 are also found in Europe, the greater number of which are water-fowl, and those common to the northern coasts of both continents. The sea-fowl on the North Pacific and Behring’s Straits are very much the same with those in the Greenland seas and the North Atlantic, but the great Auk or penguin, with featherless wings, still exists on the North Pacific, and the large white albatross, seldom seen in the North Atlantic, frequents Behring’s Straits a
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BIRDS OF SOUTH AMERICA.
BIRDS OF SOUTH AMERICA.
The tenants of the air in South America differ more from those in North America than these do from the birds of Europe: there are not more than 50 or 60 species in common. South America has a greater variety of original forms than any other country; more than 25 genera, with all their species, inhabit that country only; of the passerine family alone there are at least 1000 species, all peculiar to it. The vultures are of different genera from those in Europe; the Condor of the Andes is the large
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AUSTRALIAN BIRDS.
AUSTRALIAN BIRDS.
The Australian birds are, in many respects, as singular as the quadrupeds and plants of that country: a white falcon is among its birds of prey, a black swan among its water-fowl, and of 45 genera, 35 are purely Australian. The passeres are so original, that many new genera have been found. The Cassican, a handsome bird of bright colours, approaching somewhat to the crow family, the Choucalcyon, the golden and black oriole, and one species of Philedon, are peculiarly Australian. The Menura super
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EUROPEAN QUADRUPEDS.
EUROPEAN QUADRUPEDS.
The character of the animals of temperate Europe has been more changed by the progress of civilization than that of any other quarter of the globe. Many of its original inhabitants have been extirpated, and new races introduced; but it seems always to have had various animals capable of being domesticated. The wild cattle in the parks of the Duke of Hamilton and the Earl of Tankerville are the only remnants of the ancient inhabitants of the British forests, though they were spread over Europe, a
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ASIATIC QUADRUPEDS.
ASIATIC QUADRUPEDS.
Asia has a greater number and a greater variety of wild animals than any country, except America, and also a larger proportion of those that are domesticated. Though civilized from the earliest ages, the destruction of the animal creation has not been so great as in Europe, owing to the inaccessible height of the mountains, the extent of the plains and desert, and, not least, to the impenetrable forests and jungles, which afford them a safe retreat: 288 mammalia are Asiatic, of which 188 are com
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AFRICAN QUADRUPEDS.
AFRICAN QUADRUPEDS.
The opposite extremes of aridity and moisture in the African continent have had great influence in the nature and distribution of its animals; and since by far the greater part consists of plains utterly barren or covered by temporary verdure, and watered by inconstant streams that flow only a few months in the year, fleet animals, fitted to live on arid plains, are far more abundant than those that require rich vegetation and much water. The latter are chiefly confined to the intertropical coas
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AMERICAN QUADRUPEDS.
AMERICAN QUADRUPEDS.
No species of animal has yet been extirpated in America, which is the richest zoological province, possessing 537 species of mammalia, of which 480 are its own; yet no country has contributed so little to the stock of domestic animals. With the exception of the Llama and Alpaca, and the turkey, and perhaps some sheep and dogs, America has furnished no animal or bird serviceable to man, while it has received from Europe all its domestic animals and its civilized inhabitants. Arctic America posses
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AUSTRALIAN QUADRUPEDS.
AUSTRALIAN QUADRUPEDS.
Australia is not farther separated from the rest of the world by geographical position than by its productions. Its animals are creatures by themselves, of an entirely unusual type; few in species, and still fewer individually, if the vast extent of country be taken into consideration; and there has not been one large animal discovered. There are only 53 species of land quadrupeds in New Holland, and there is not a single example of the ruminating or pachydermatous animals, so useful to man, amo
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CHAPTER XXXIII.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The Distribution, Condition, and future Prospects of the Human Race. More than 800,000,000 of human beings are scattered over the face of the earth, of all nations and kindreds and tongues, and in all stages of civilization, from a high state of moral and intellectual culture, to savages but little above the animals that contend with them for the dominion of the deserts and forests through which they roam. This vast multitude is divided into nations and tribes, differing in external appearance,
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GLOSSARY.
GLOSSARY.
A´bies. Lat. A fir-tree. Specific name of a tree. Abyssi´nica. Lat. Abyssinian; belonging or relating to Abyssinia. Aca´cia. Gr. ake , a point, and akios , not subject to worms: a thorny tree. A genus of the family Leguminósæ and order Mimósæ. About 300 species are enumerated; many of them yield gum. Aca´cia ara´bica. Arabian acacia. Aca´cias. Trees belonging to the genus acacia. A´cid. A term given by chemists to those compound bodies which unite with salifiable bases to form salts: for example
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