CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



Tropics, because at these distances from the equa- 

 tor the sun turns in his annual path ; they are known 

 respectively as that of Cancer and that of Capri- 

 corn, from constellations situated in a correspond- 

 ing part of the sky. At the same distance from 

 each pole is a parallel line that on the north 

 being styled the Arctic, and that on the south, the 

 Antarctic Circle. The space between the tropics 



Equ.tor 



^ Troyit 



Capri 



C.VeZ. 



is called the Torrid Zone, because the sun, being 

 always vertical in some part of that space, pro- 

 duces a greater degree of heat than is felt in 

 regions where his rays strike more obliquely. The 

 spaces between the tropics and the Arctic and 

 Antarctic Circles are styled the Temperate, and 

 the spaces within these latter circles, the Frigid 

 Zones. Lastly, a line, which cuts the equator 

 obliquely, touching upon opposite points of the 

 tropics, is called the Ecliptic; it properly belongs 

 to the sphere of the heavens. A series of lines 

 drawn from pole to pole over the earth's surface, 

 and cutting the equator at right angles, are called 

 Meridians, from the Latin meridies, mid-day. 

 Every place upon the earth is supposed to have 

 one of these passing through it, although it is 

 usual to describe only twenty-four upon the sur- 

 face of the terrestrial globe. When any of these 

 is opposite the sun, it is then mid-day, or twelve 

 o'clock, with all the places situated on that meri- 

 dian ; and consequently midnight with those on 

 the opposite meridian, on the other side of the 

 earth. 



The exact situation of a place upon the earth, 

 or its latitude and longitude, is determined by 

 means of these circles. They are all divided, as 

 already stated, into 360 parts, which parts are 

 called degrees; these degrees again into 60 equal 

 parts, called minutes ; the minute into 60 others, 

 called seconds; and so on. They are usually indi- 

 cated by certain signs thus, 8 5' 7", is 8 degrees 

 5 minutes 7 seconds. The latitude of a place is 

 its distance measured in that manner from the 

 equator. If it lies north of that line, it is in north 

 latitude; if south of it, in south latitude. There 

 being only 360 degrees in the circumference of the 

 earth, and the distance from the equator to either 

 of the poles being only a fourth part of it, a place 

 can never have more than 90 degrees of north or 

 south latitude. The longitude of a place is the 

 distance of its meridian from another, which is 

 called the first meridian. The first meridian is 

 quite arbitrary, and it is a matter of indifference 

 through what ' point we draw it, provided it be 

 settled and well known which one we adopt, so as 

 to prevent mistakes. In Germany, the island of 



52 



Ferro is generally adopted ; in France, the obser- 

 vatory of Paris ; and in England, that of Green- 

 wich. Longitude is reckoned either east or west 

 of the first meridian ; and 180 is therefore the 

 utmost degree of longitude. Some geographers, 

 however, reckon longitude all the way round the 

 globe. From the meridians all tending to a point 

 at either pole, the degrees of longitude necessarily 

 decrease as we approach these points from the 

 equator. 



Besides these terms and technicalities, which 

 refer to the earth as a whole, there are others 

 employed to designate its separate portions of 

 land and water. Thus of the land, a continent 

 is any vast region uninterrupted by seas ; an 

 island, any smaller portion surrounded by water ; 

 a peninsula, a portion nearly surrounded by water ; 

 an isthmus, the narrow neck which connects a 

 peninsula with the mainland ; a cape, promontory, 

 or headland, a point of land jutting out into the 

 sea. As to the water, a large uninterrupted extent 

 of sea is called an ocean; smaller portions are 

 known as seas; a bend of the sea into the land, a 

 bay ; a deeper indentation, a gulf; a narrow strip 

 of sea, a strait or channel; and where the sea 

 stretches inland to receive the waters of some 

 large river, it is termed a firth or estuary. Refer- 

 ring to the surface of the land, without any refer- 

 ence to water, extensive flats are known as plains, 

 steppes, pampas, &c. ; smaller ones as -valleys, 

 straths, and dales ; elevated land is spoken of as 

 rising into hills, or, still higher, into moimtains / 

 and level elevated tracts are known by the name 

 of table-lands or plateaux. Running water makes 

 its appearance in springs, many of which conjoined 

 form streams, and streams rivers ; and where 

 these become stagnant, and spread out into inland 

 sheets, they take the name of lakes. The bound- 

 ing-line of land and water is termed the shore, and 

 the land bordering on the sea in any place is 

 generally spoken of as the coast or sea-board. 



DISTRIBUTION OF LAND AND WATER. 



To exhibit the earth's surface at one view, it is 

 usual to map it into two halves or hemispheres 

 the Eastern comprehending the one great conti- 

 nent of the Old World, or that known to the 

 ancients ; and the Western, or New World, discov- 

 ered and explored since the close of the fifteenth 

 century. To these, modern geographers add a 

 third namely, Oceania, or the Maritime World, 

 partly situated in both hemispheres, and com- 

 prising Australia and the vast groups of islands 

 which stud the Pacific Ocean. It will be seen at 

 one glance that the sea and land are very unequally 

 distributed that they preserve no regularity of 

 outline or form and that either is placed indif- 

 ferently as to position, on the earth's surface. 

 Many fanciful conjectures have been offered to- 

 account for the configuration of the existing con- 

 tinents, but none of them seem to have any founda- 

 tion in fact 



Though we are thus unable to account for the 

 present relative arrangement of sea and land, there 

 is one determining principle sufficiently clear 

 namely, that so long as the same quantity of water 

 remains on the globe, a fixed amount of cubic 

 space will be required to contain it. If the differ- 

 ence between the elevations and depressions of 

 the solid crust be small in other words, if the 



