LESSONS IN 





these > ' 'aiua Socundim i 



I it noooKsary to consult the 



nation he hud obtained in tin.-* 



the ililforent quarters of the world then 



magnitudes : T> "iie-thinl ; to 



: icu one-fifth of the whole. 



reded Ptolemy, was distinguished 

 :il knowledge. II' 1 took advantage of all 

 nporury writn-.s to compose a complete treatise 

 mi lli- Mil.jee! of geography and map*; and he oven j>: 



ted and improved in proportion 



us he obtained mure e\:iet information ; but it is to be regretted 



At lost appeared, about the 

 utury, tho famous Ptolemy, who lived at 

 :; . .-ui'l taught astronomy there. His system 

 :ei>;,'r;ij>hy, which stood unimpeached for about 

 :!!il received the name of tho Ptolemaic system 

 from it* uutii..!-, was not superseded till Copernicus appeared; 

 ;uul notwithstanding his errors, duo more to the ignorance of 

 .:;.! than to himself, hj-t name is still revered as a geo- 

 r and astronomical observer. His work entitled tho 

 , or Great Construction," is a monument of his 

 labour and his learning. Ho examined tho ratio of the length 

 of tho gnomon or style of the sun-dial to its shadow at the 

 eiuiinoxes and the solstices; ho calculated eclipses ; he investi- 

 gated the calculations founded on the difference of climate, and 

 carefully consulted tho reports of travellers and navigators. 

 He reduced his information and observations into a regular 

 system, and expressed the positions of places by longitude and 

 latitude, after the manner of Hipparchus. His great work 

 : s nearly of an elementary picture of the earth, in which 

 its figure and size, and the positions of places on its surface, 

 are determined. It contains only a very short outline of tho 

 division of countries, with scarcely any historical notice. It is 

 supposed that a detailed account was added to this outline, but 

 it has not reached us. His geography is contained in eight 

 books, and is certainly more scientific than any previous work 

 on the subject. He taught how to determine the longitude by 

 lunar eclipses, and by this method ascertained that of many 

 placefe with tolerable accuracy. 



According to Ptolemy, the limits of the world were Thule on 

 the north, and the Prassum Promontorium on the south, the 

 former being, most probably, some part of Norway, and the 

 fatter some unknown point south-west of Madagascar. Its 

 limits on the west wore the Fortunate Isles, now the Canaries ; 

 and on the east, Thiuce in Sinre or China. He rejected the 

 theory of all preceding geographers, who represented the world 

 as surrounded by an impassable ocean on all sides ; and he 

 replaced it by an indefinite expanse of unknown land. He rejected 

 tho true reports of circumnavigation of Africa, and extended its 

 limits southward beyond all reasonable bounds. 



With Europe, Ptolemy was tolerably well acquainted ; and 

 bo described Germany and Sarmatia with some degree of accu- 

 racy. He knew the Ems, tho Weser, the Elbe, the Oder, and 

 the Vistula. Ho calls Jutland the Cimbric Chersonese or 

 Peninsula, and tho Baltic, the Sarmatic Ocean ; but he failed 

 in his account of tliis inland sea. He was better acquainted 

 with the south of Russia in Europe, with the Tanais, the Borys- 

 thenes, and the Euxine, or Black Sea. In his description of the 

 Mediterranean there are many errors ; but his account is more 

 accurate with them all than that of any previous geographer. 

 In regard to Asia, his knowledge was obscur* and unsatisfactory, 

 though some features can be still identified with fact. Here he 

 described tho " Golden Chersonese," and the Magnus Sinus, or 

 Great Bay of India. Those appear to have been the Indo- 

 Chinese countries of Ava, Pegu, and Malacca, with their adjacent 

 gulfs or bays ; and Thina), which he places at this remote 

 corner, is supposed to be Siain, rather than any place in China. 

 Tho Serica of Ptolemy in the north of Asia is supposed, with 

 good reason, to be China, which was reached by great trading 

 caravans, which proceeded from Byzantium (or Constantinople), 

 across Asia Minor, crossing tho Euphrates at Hierapolis, and 

 passing through Media, by way of Ecbatana to Hecatompylos, 

 the capital of Parthia. Their next route was through Hyrcania, 

 Aria, Margiana, and Bactria, whence they ascended the table-land 

 of the interior of Asia, passed over the Monies Comedorum, or 



Mountain*, and reached the celebrated LUhtnot Pyryot, or 

 :i whom site w still a doubtful question 



anii.nt,' tfoi^niiihiT-. l-'n/m t:u- .-Utivii to the fro.-r :.- of Seri-n 

 w.i- a rc\,-n jii.^iilli.-i' hard aie 1 p'-nlou-, jouru.-v. Th* dMOdptiOO 



<;4 of Serica corresponds more exactly t 



than any other country ; and his account of the manners and 

 custom* of t 'ante identifies it still more. Moreover, 



the staple commodity of thin overland trade was silk, for which 

 China has been celebrated from time immemorial. Ptolemy 

 appears to have had a considerable knowledge of Hindostan or 

 India, both within and beyond tho Ganges; a knowledge said 

 to be superior to that of the moderns tQl within the limits of 

 the present century. With regard to Africa, this statement 

 may just bo reversed. But, on the whole, bis work mast be 

 considered a singular monument of industry, and a valuable 

 book of reference in all matters relating to the ancient geo- 

 graphy of the world. 



LESSONS IN FRENCH. V. 



SECTION I. FBENCH PRONUNCIATION (eotUmuad). 

 III. NAME AND SOUND OF THK VOWELS. 



38. E, e, ACUTE. Name, ay ; sound, like the letters ay in the 

 English word pray. 



EXAMPLES. 



FRENCH. PRONUN. ENGLISH. FRENCH. PBQKUK. ENGLISH. 

 Arrive 1 Ar-eev-ay Arrived. Oblige 1 O-ble-zhay Obliged. 

 Blere" Ayl-vay Raised. Pitfce'der Pray-ey-dny To proceed 



Ete" Ay-toy Summer. Pri : ine\lit<5 Pray - may -I'reme&i- 



Flagornd Flah-gorn-ay Wheedled. dee-tay tated. 



Forge" For-zhay Forged. Trouvd Troo-vay Found. 

 Joud Zhoo-ay Sported. Ve'rite Vay-ree-tay Truth. 



M<?rite May-reet Worth. 



39. E, e, GRAVE. Name, ai; sound, like the letters ai in 

 the English word stair. 



EXAMPLES. 



40. E, e, CIRCUMFLEX. Name, at; sound, like the letters 

 at in the English word stair. 



has a longer and broader sound than e. The mouth must 

 be opened wider in pronouncing the former than the latter. In 

 ordinary reading and common conversation, the difference 

 between and e is hardly perceptible. Still there is a differ- 

 ence ; just tho difference between pronouncing e like the letters 

 ai in the English word stair with the month half opened, and 

 pronouncing the same letters in tho same word with the mouth 

 well opened, and also prolonging the sound. Practice will 

 demonstrate this. 



EXAMPLES. 



Extreme Eks-traim Extreme. 



Tete 



Tait 



SECTION X. PLURALS OF PRONOUNS, ETC. 



1. Tho plural form of the pronouns le, him or it ; la, 



is les, them, for both genders. Its place is also before the verb. 



Voas les avez. Les avez-vous ? You haw thwi. HmMymithm? 

 Nous tie les avons pas, We have them not. 



2. Tho plural of the article, preceded by the preposition de, of 

 or from, is des for both genders. 



Des livres, des plumes, Of or /row the book*, qf the pent. 



Des f reres, des scours, Of or from the brothers, of the ufr. 



3. The same form of the article is placed before plural nouaa 

 used in a partitive sense [Sect. IV. 1]. 



J'ai des habits, J have doQm. 



Vous avez des maisona. You havt houtet. 



