GREAT BEAR 



GREAT DIVIDING RANGE 



and California, is bounded W. by 

 the Wasatch Mts. and E. by the 

 Sierra Nevada and the Cascades, 

 and covers an area of more than 

 200,000 sq. m. A vast arid region 

 diversified by a series of indepen- 

 dent nit. ranges extending from 

 N. to S., its highest altitude ap- 

 proaches 5,000 ft., from which it 

 slopes away to the S. and dips 

 beneath sea level. 



Lakes are numerous, and among 

 the largest are the Great Salt 

 Lake and Lakes Sevier and Utah on 

 the E., and Lakes Carson, Walker, 

 Owens, Harney, and Malheur on the 

 W., all saline or drained to salt 

 lakes. The only considerable per- 

 manent river within the basin is 

 the Humboldt. Where irrigation 

 has been applied the soil is fertile, 

 but the greater part of the region 

 is desert. Much mineral wealth 

 underlies the basin, and vast tracts 

 are covered with alkali and salt. 



Great Bear. Popular name of 

 the well-known northern constella- 

 tion Ursa Major (q.v.). 



Great Bear. Extensive lake of 

 Canada. In the N.W. Territories, it 

 touches the Arctic Circle. Irre- 

 gular in shape, it has a length of 

 176 m., and breadth varying from 

 25 m. to 46 m. ; its area is 11,200 

 sq. m., and its average depth 270 

 ft. Frozen over for the greater 

 part of the year, it abounds in fish, 

 and discharges into the Mackenzie 

 river by the Great Bear river. The 

 trading station of Fort Franklin 

 is on its shores. 



Great Britain. Name used for 

 the island which includes England, 

 Wales, and Scotland, also the ad- 

 jacent small islands. It is thus the 

 United Kingdom less Ireland. The 

 official use of the word dates from 

 1603, when James I united the 

 crowns of England and Scotland, 

 and called himself king of Great 

 Britain. There was much objec- 

 tion to this style, which was de- 

 clared illegal by the courts of law, 

 but it persisted. The word had been 

 used previously, but in a looser, 

 more poetic sense, having originated 

 in the desire to distinguish Great 

 Britain from Little Britain or 

 Brittany. See Britain ; England ; 

 Scotland ; United Kingdom. 



Great Central Railway. Fng- 

 lish rly. company, the main line of 

 which runs 

 from London 

 to Manchester. 

 Its total mile- 

 age is 2,688, 

 and on this 

 basis it ranks 

 seventh among 

 English rlys. 

 Its London 

 terminus is 

 Marylebon e 



Station and Manchester terminus 

 London Road. The line also serves 

 Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, 

 Bradford, Halifax, and Lincoln, as 

 well as some of the outer western 

 suburbs of London. It owns docks 

 at Immingham, near Grimsby, and 

 at Grimsby itself, and has done 

 much to develop both ports. Its 

 goods traffic consists largely oi the 

 coal of the N. Midlands, which it 

 carries to the coast. It has a fleet of 

 steamers plying between Grimsby 

 and Antwerp, Rotterdam,' and 

 other continental ports. It owns 

 four canals the Macclesfield, the 

 Peak Forest, the Ashton, and the 

 Chesterfield and several hotels. 

 Its shops are at Gorton and Dukin- 

 field, near Manchester, and its 

 general offices in London. The 

 total capital is over 56,000,000. 



The Great Central developed 

 from the old Manchester, Sheffield 

 and Lincolnshire Rly. The latter 

 was originally a line running from 

 Manchester to Sheffield, and opened 

 in 1845. Other lines were ab- 

 sorbed, and soon it was serving 

 Lincolnshire, and had purchased 

 the docks at Grimsby, this amalga- 

 mation being formed 'into the Man- 

 chester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire 

 in 1849. Other additions were 

 made, but the great change came 

 in 1897 with the extension to Lon- 

 don and the present title. The line 

 from Sheffield to London was 

 opened for goods traffic, 1898, and 

 for passengers, 1 899. Since then the 

 line's extensions have been mainly 

 in three areas : Cheshire and South 

 Lancashire, Middlesex and Bucking- 

 hamshire, and the East, Midlands. 

 It is now a constituent company 

 of the London and North -Eastern 

 Rly. See Railways. 



Great Circle. Line on the 

 earth's surface which lies in a 

 plane through the centre of the 

 earth, or any circle on the earth's 

 surface which divides the world 

 into two equal parts. Thus all meri- 

 dians of longitude are halves of great 

 circles, but the equator is the only 

 parallel of latitude which satisfies 

 the conditions, since the planes of 

 other parallels do not pass through 

 the earth's centre. The shortest 

 line joining any two points on the 

 earth's surface is on a great circle, 

 hence the ascertaining of great 

 circles is of great importance in 

 navigation, (q.v. ). 



The great circle through London 

 and Melbourne crosses Calcutta 

 and almost touches Trinidad ; that 

 which is the edge of the land hemi- 

 sphere touches Formosa, Sumatra, 

 and almost touches Japan, Mada- 

 gascar, and Cape Town. 



Great Contract. The financial 

 arrangement suggested in 1611, 

 but not carried out, between James 



I and the English parliament. 



It was proposed by Robert Cecil, 

 earl of Salisbury, that James I 



should surrender the revenue 

 which he raised from his tenants 

 in the old feudal ways, by aids, 

 fines, etc.. and should in return 

 receive a fixed sum of 200,000 a 

 year. The Commons offered 

 100,000 and then agreed to 

 double that amount, but both 

 sides put forward further demands 

 and the bargain was never clinched. 

 G'eat Dane. Name popularly 

 applied to a breed of German 

 boarhonnds. It is the largest of 

 the European mastiffs, and has 

 long been bred in Germany and 

 Denmark. It stands 34 inches high 

 at the shoulder, and good speci- 

 mens weigh about 180 Ib. It is 

 still employed in the Black Forest 

 for hunting purposes, but its 

 general use is as a watchdog. It is 

 smno'h coated, and should be grey, 



Great Dane. Champion Stella of 



Seisdon, a first prize winner and 



champion example ot the breed 



t black, or black and yellow in colour. 

 Naturally its ears droop, but are 

 usually trimmed to a pointed shape 

 to give the animal a more alert 

 appearance. The Great Dane was 

 introduced to Great Britain in 1870, 

 when its great size and fine appear- 

 ance rapidly made it a favourite. 

 In disposition it is friendly and 

 faithful, but its great strength and 

 determined will make it often diffi- 

 cult to control. See Dog. 



Great Dividing Range. General 

 name of the vast mountain 

 system of E. Australia. It extends 

 from the N. of York Peninsula 

 in Queensland, and trends S. 

 and S.E. to the borders of New 

 South Wales ; it then turns S.S. W. 

 through that state and Victoria, 

 terminating at its S.E. extremity. 

 The westerly extension from here 

 is known as the Australian Alps, 

 and also as the Great Dividing 

 Range. The highest summits are 

 found in New South Wales, 

 Kosciusco (7,300 ft.) and Town- 

 send (7,265 ft.) being the loftiest. 

 There are several other peaks over 

 5,000 ft. The various sections of 

 the Great Dividing Range have 

 different names, e.g. the Muniong, 

 Macpherson, and Bellender ranges, 

 and the Blue Mountains. 



