101 



PHILADELPHIA. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



163 



are Kut;;,a uu its upper course, and Poti, ancient Phasis, at its mouth. 

 - was navigable in ancient times for large ships for 38 miles from 

 the coast, and for smaller vessels as far as the fort of Sarapana (Shara- 

 pan), on the boundaries of Colchis and Iberia, from which place goods 

 were conveyed by waggons in four days to the river Cyrus. (Stnibo, 

 XT. 498 ; Plin., ' Hist. Nat.,' vi. 4.) The Phasis was sometimes con- 

 sidered as the boundary between Asia and Europe (Herod., iv. 45), 

 and was regarded in the time of Augustus as the northern boundary 

 of the Roman dominions in that part of Asia. (Strabo, vi. 2S8.) 

 Kp'in the junction of the Rion and Quirilla the river is navigable for 

 boats at all seasons, has no obstructions, and is from 20 to 30 feet 

 deep, with a current of about 24 miles an hour. It flows through a 

 level country, which is lower than the banks of the river. There is a 

 bar at the mouth of the Phasis, with only 6 feet water, the only 

 circumstance that prevents the river being entered by the largest 



In ancient times there were 120 bridges over the Phasis (Strabo, xv. 

 500; Plin., ' Hist. Nat,' vi. 4), and many towns upon it, of which the 

 most important were JK, the old capital of the ^Eetes, which is cele- 

 brated in the legends of the Argonautic expedition, and Phasis (Poti), 



<1 at its mouth. The valley of the Phasis was in ancient times, 

 as now, famous for great numbers of pheasants, which were first it is 

 said (Mni-t ' Ep.,' xiii.) brought into Greece by the Argonauts, and 

 named Phnsinui, from this river. 



PHILADELPHIA. [Lroix] 



PHILADELPHIA, a city and port of entry, and formerly the 

 capital of the State of Pennsylvania, United States of North America, 

 is situated between the Delaware and Schnylkill rivers, in 39* 57' N. lat, 

 75 10' W. long., 136 miles N.E. from Washington. With the excep- 

 tion of New York, Philadelphia is the largest city in the United 

 States. The population, which was only 69,403 in 1800, waa 340,015 

 in 1850. 



Philadelphia is about 120 miles from the Atlantic, following the 

 course of the Delaware, and about 55 miles from it in a straight line. 



- immediately above the junction of the Schuylkill with the 

 Delaware, anil occupies the space, about 2 miles in width, between the 

 two rivers, and a considerable space on the opposite side of the 

 Schuylkill ; it in about 5 miles in length, but the city proper is only 

 2 miles long and 1 mile wide. The streets which run north and south, 

 parallel with the rivers, ore called First-street, Second-street, and so on, 

 except Broad-street and Schuylkill street. These streets are crossed 

 at right angles by others which run from east to west, and which are 

 almost all named after tree*, us Chestnut-rtreet, Walnut-street, Ac. 

 The squares thus formed are subdivided by smaller streets and alleys. 

 Most of the principal ttrreta have rows of locust and other trees, 

 which afford a pleasant shade in the summer. The houses are gener- 

 ally of brick, bat many of them have the outer steps and also the 

 window-sill) of white marble. The city is lighted with gas and well 

 pared. There are a few squares, which are very prettily laid out and 



J. 



Of the public buildings of Philadelphia, the old State House, now 

 known as Independence Hall, is one of the most interesting, though 

 one of the plainest. The Declaration of Independence was read frm 

 the steps in front of the buildin.', on the 4th of July, 1776. The United 

 Mate* court, and the city and county courts are now held in it. The 

 United States mint is a very Urge and handsome edifice of brick 

 faced with marble, with an Ionic portico of six pillars, each 3 feet in 

 diameter. The Custom-house, formerly the United States bank, is a 

 large and splendid building, constructed entirely of white marble on 

 the model of the Parthenon at Athens : the portico, at each end, con- 

 lists of eight fluted Doric columns, 27 feet high and 4 J feet in diameter. 

 The Merchants Exchange, in the basement of which are the post-office 

 and various mercantile offices, is a spacious and hnndsomx marble 

 edifice with a semicircular portico ; it is 114 feet long, 95 feet wide, 

 and three stories high. Several of the banking-houses are among tho 

 leading architectural features of the city. The Bank of Pennsylvania, 

 which is 125 feet long by 51 feet wide, is designed after the Temple 

 of the Muses at Athens, with a portico of six Ionic columns at each 

 end, and is constructed rntirely, even to the dome and roof, of white 

 marble. The Philadelphia Bank, and Girard Bank are also built of 

 white marble, with commanding Corinthian porticos. One or two of 

 the most recent banks are Italian palatial edifices. 



The number of churches in the city and its suburbs is upwards of 

 17'.'. including places of worship belonging to all the leading sects; 

 but the only one which is remarkable in an architectural point of view 

 is the recently-erected Roman Catholic cathedral, which is said to be a 

 very magnificent pile. The other leading ecclesiastical buildings are 

 tliii Episcopal chnrche* of St Andrew's, in the Ionic, and St. Stephen's 

 and St. Mark's in the Gothic sttle; St Peter's Roman Catholic church ; 

 the r'ir-t and Seventh Prenhyterian churches ; and the Baptist church 

 in Snom -street. Education is carefully provided for ; the city and 

 count; of Philadelphia being constituted a school district, under duly 

 qualified controllers and directors, whose duty it is to see that tho 

 system, of uniform grade* of free instruction consulting of a high 

 school, a normal school, grammar schools, secondary, and primary 

 schools i efficiently carried out. There were in 1853 in the district 

 280 schools, with 80 mala and 760 female teachers, and 25,836 male 

 and 21,249 female scholar*. The building* of the University of Phil.i- 



atoa. DIT. vol. IT. 



delphia are very spacious. The University has departments of law 

 and medicine, aa well as of arts. Philadelphia is generally regarded 

 11 the medical metropolis of the Union. Besides the University 

 Medical school, which had 450 students at the last report, there are in 

 ;he city the Jefferson Medical College, with 514 students ; that of 

 Pennsylvania College, with 150 students; and the Philadelphia College 

 of Medicine, with 75 students ; besides several medical schools which 

 do not grant degrees. The College of Physicians publishes its 

 ransactions quarterly. There are also theological and law schools. 

 The literary and scientific institutions are numerous and important. 

 The oldest scientific institution in the United States is the American 

 Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, which reckons among its 

 members distinguished literary men in all parts of the world, and the 

 proceedings of which have a very high reputation. The library con- 

 tains upwards of 20,000 volumes and an extensive collection of medals, 

 maps, engravings, &<x The Philadelphia Library, commenced by Frank- 

 lin in 1731, has a marble statue of Franklin placed over the front door. 

 The library contains 60,000 volumes. The Historical Society of Penn- 

 sylvania has also a high reputation. The Academy of Natural Sciences 

 possesses a library consisting of upwards of 13,000 volumes, and the 

 finest collection of botanical, geological, and ornithological specimens 

 in the Union. The Philadelphia Athenajura, established in 1814, haj 

 a library of about 12,000 volumes. The building is a very elegant 

 Italian one. There are besides, the Franklin Institute, Mercantile, 

 Apprentices, German Society, Friends, Law Association, and Phila- 

 delphia Hospital libraries. The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts 

 has fine galleries of paintings and statues by the best masters : au 

 annual exhibition of the works of living artists is held here in May. 

 There are also an Art Union, a Graphic Association, and an Artists' 

 Fund Society. Tho Philadelphia Museum is a vast structure 238 feet 

 long and 70 feet wide, and contains a very extensive collection of 

 objects of interest ; but it belongs rather to the places of amusement 

 than of instruction. There are three theatres, and a musical hall 

 capable of accommodating 2000 persons, in the city. 



Philadelphia has a large number of benevolent asylums. One of 

 the most remarkable is Girard College, on asylum for the gratuitous 

 instruction and support of destitute orphans, founded by Stephen 

 Girard, a Frenchman, who from an humble origin became a banker in 

 Philadelphia, and left nearly the whole of his large property towards 

 beautifying Philadelphia and New Orleans and establishing this college. 

 He bequeathed two millions of dollars for the foundation of the 

 college, nearly the whole of which has been spent in constructing the 

 buildings and improving the grounds which are about 40 acres in 

 extent. The central building is in form of a Corinthian temple, 218 feet 

 long, 160 feet wide, and 90 feet high. It has a colonnade of eleven 

 columns on each side, and a portico at each end of eight columns, 

 each 6 feet in diameter and 55 feet in height. The entire structure, 

 including the roof, is of fine white marble. Besides this central 

 building there are four others, each 125 feet long, 52 feet wide, and 

 three stories high, faced with marble. In 1852 there were 305 orphans 

 in the college. There are four other orphan asylums in the city the 

 Orphan's Society of Philadelphia, St John's (Roman Catholic) Male 

 Orphan Asylum, St Joseph's Female Orphan Asylum, and the Coloured 

 Orphan's Asylum. The Pennsylvania Hospital was instituted in 1751, 

 and has since relieved a vast number of patients. The buildings 

 occupy au entire square, in the middle of which is a bronzed leaden 

 statue of William Peun. A branch of this hospital for lunatics has 

 been removed to a more open site at West Philadelphia, where the 

 cnpacious buildings stand within inclosed grounds of above 40 acres. 

 The Friends' Asylum, for the insane, is situated near Frankfcrd. Tho 

 House of Refuge, a school for the reformation of character, occupies 

 a plot of ground 400 feet long by 230 feet broar), inclosed by a stone 

 wall 20 feet high. The main building is 92 feet long by 30 feet deep. 

 It receives all destitute males under 21 and all females under 19 years 

 of age. Daring 1852 there were admitted 1(54 boys and 60 girls in 

 the white, and 36 boys and 44 girls in tho coloured department. The 

 other hospitals are the City Hospital, founded by the state in 1818; 

 the State Deaf and Dumb Asylum, in a granite building 964 feet long 

 by 63 feet deep ; the Institute for the Blind ; Wills' Hospital for 

 Diseases of the Eye, an excellent institution, founded by a gentleman 

 named Wills ; the City Almshouse and Infirmary ; Christ Church 

 Hospital, for indigent females; and St. Joseph's Hospital ; besides four 

 dispensaries, several widows' asylums, asylums or retreats for children, 

 three Magdalene asylums, and various other charitable institutions. 

 There are also numerous religious societies. 



The sanitary condition of the city is regulated by a Board of Health 

 of 18 members. The public markets are on a very extensive scale, 

 well supplied with all kinds of provisions, and generally admired for 

 their cleanliness. 



The works for supplying Philadelphia with water arc situated at 

 Fair Mount, near the city, on the left bank of the Schuylkill. A dam, 

 1248 feet long, thrown in a eloping direction across the Schuylkill, 

 keeps back the water, which is raised by eight powerful pumps (each 

 lifting 1,260,000 gallons in 24 hours), into four vast reservoirs on tho 

 summit of a hill 100 feet above the level of the river and 50 feet 

 above the highest part of the city. The water is conveyed to tho city 

 in pipes. About a mile higher up the Schuylkill are other water- 

 works on a smaller scale, for the supply of Spring Garden and KM 



M 



