XI. On the Relative Quantities of Land and Water on the Surface of 

 the Terraqueous Globe. By S. P. Rigaud, A.M. Savilian Professor 

 of Astronomy in the University of Oxford. 



[Read Feb. 1.3, 1837.] 



From the constitution of the Earth it is obvious that the greatest 

 part of it is unfitted for the habitation of human beings. This, how- 

 ever, has been well accounted for. The fertility of the land depends 

 upon the moisture of the atmosphere, which could not be furnished 

 in sufficient supply, except from a wide expanse of waters and witli 

 mountains which may assist in its condensation. The oceans, therefore, 

 bear a large proportion to the continents; but tlie relative distribution 

 of them still remains a subject of great difficulty. The more accu- 

 rately we study nature, tlie more clearly we see the operation of final 

 causes, and, as a general truth, there can be no doubt that some 

 beneficial objects are attained by the relative situation of those dif- 

 ferent portions of land, which rise above the level of the waters. 

 Future investigations may lead to the discovery of them, and the 

 best assistance, which can at present be given to the inquiry, must 

 depend upon obtaining an accurate view of the facts. Even if we 

 can as yet advance no further than physical phtenomena, it is well 

 wortii while to examine them with precision. 



The irregular figures and sinuous outlines of tlie land are serious 

 impediments to the common methods of measuring its extent. It has 

 therefore been suggested, that by cutting out tlie delineations of it 

 and weighing tlie several parts, an estimate might be made of its 

 relative magnitude. Dr Halley, in 1693, published an account, which 

 he had in this manner collected of the number of acres in each 



