676 



MAPLE MAPPE-MONDES. 



tmvunls the attainment of accuracy, in regard to 

 longitudes, when Galileo discovered, in 1610, tlie 

 eclipses of Jupiter's satellites. Until, however, 

 C'avini published his tables, in 1668, nothing accu- 

 rate was known respecting their eclipses and revo- 

 lutions. Cassini laboured indefatigably to improve 

 ;phy, by allying it strictly with astronomy, 

 iind loudly complained that it needed a total reform. 

 Delisle, his friend, set seriously about the task of 

 reconstructing the geographical edifice. In the 

 year 1700, he published his map of the world, as 

 well as separate maps of Europe, Asia, and Africa, 

 boldly departing from the examples of his predeces- 

 sors, and making free use of the materials which the 

 improvements in astronomy had placed within his 

 reach ; so that he may be considered the creator of 

 modern geography. He died in 1726. His distin- 

 guished disciple, D'Anville, appointed geographer of 

 the king of France at the age of twenty-two was 

 remarkable for correctness of judgment and fineness 

 of penetration. Though he proceeded much on con- 

 jecture, he rarely erred. He completed what Delisle 

 had begun. For further information on the subject 

 of geography and geographical works, see Geo- 

 graphy, and Gazetteer ; see, also, Degrees, Measure- 

 ment of. 



The whole number of maps which have been pub- 

 lished may amount to from 23,000 to 24.000, of 

 which, however, hardly 4600 are original. The 

 first maps engraved on metal were made by Bueck- 

 ink and Schweynheym, in 1478 ; the first cut in 

 wood, by L. Holl, in 1482. (See Hauber's Essay 

 towards a circumstantial History of Maps (in German, 

 Ulm, 1724); Hubner's (q. v.) Museum Geographi- 

 cum.) Among the maps prepared of late years in 

 Great Britain, those of Arrowsmith are distin- 

 guished. 



MAPLE (acer) ; a genus of plants, peculiar to the 

 northern and temperate parts of the globe, consisting 

 of trees or arborescent shrubs, having opposite and 

 more or less lobed leaves, and small flowers, which 

 are either axillary or disposed in racemes. The 

 fruit consists of two capsules united at base, each 

 containing a single seed, and terminated by a wing- 

 like membrane. In one instance, the leaves are 

 compound and pinnated. Twenty-seven species are 

 known, of which six are found in Europe, twelve are 

 found in North America, six very beautiful ones in 

 the islands of Japan, and the remainder in different 

 parts of Asia. 



The red maple (A. rubrum), is one of the most 

 common and most extensively diffused of American 

 trees. It grows in moist situations, from lat. 49 to 

 the gulf of Mexico, both in the Atlantic and Western 

 States. The bright red blossoms, appearing at a 

 time when there is no vestige of a leaf in the forest, 

 render this tree very conspicuous at the opening of 

 spring ; and again, at the close of the season, it is 

 not less conspicuous, from the scarlet colour which 

 the leaves assume when they have been touched by 

 the frost. The leaves are cordate at base, unequally 

 toothed, five-lobed, and glaucous beneath. It attains 

 the height of seventy feet, with a diameter of three 

 or four at the base. The wood is easily turned, and 

 when polished acquires a silken lustre ; it is hard 

 and fine-grained, and is employed chiefly for the 

 lower parts of Windsor chairs, sometimes for saddle 

 trees, wooden dishes, and similar purposes. 



The variety called curled maple, from the acci- 

 dental undulation of the fibres, is one of the most 

 ornamental woods known, and bedsteads made of it 

 exceed in richness and lustre the finest mahogany. 

 It is sometimes employed for inlaying, but its most 

 constant use is for the stocks of rifles and fowlin 

 pieces. The white maple is chiefly remarkable for 



the beauty of its foliage, the leaves being larger and 

 much more deeply lobed than those of the preced- 

 ing, and glaucous beneath. The flowers are incon- 

 spicuous ar.d greenish yellow, and the fruit is larger 

 than in any other of the species. It is not found so 

 tar south as the preceding, and is most abundant 

 west of the mountains ; its range extending beyond 

 the sources of the Mississippi, and within the basin 

 of the Arkansaw. It attains large dimensions, hav- 

 ing a trunk five, and sometimes eight feet in diame- 

 ter. The wood is little used, but the charcoal is 

 preferred by hatters in some places. 



The sugar maple (A. saccharinum) is a valuable 

 tree. Besides the sugar which is obtained from the 

 sap, the wood affords excellent fuel ; and from the 

 ashes is procured potash. The sugar is superior in 

 quality to the common brown sugar of the West 

 Indies, and when refined, equals the finest in beauty. 

 The sap of all the maples contains a certain quantity 

 of sugar, but in none, that we know of, does it exist 

 in so great a proportion as in this and the following 

 species. A single tree of this species will yield five 

 or six pounds of sugar. The leaves are smooth, and 

 five-lobed, with the lobes sinuately dentate. It 

 grows in cold and moist situations, between the 

 forty-second and forty-eighth parallels of latitude, and 

 on the Alleghanies to their south-western termina- 

 tion, extending westward beyond lake Superior, and 

 is abundant in the northern parts of Pennsylvania, 

 the western portion ot New York, Upper Canada, 

 New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and in the northern 

 parts of New England. The potash is exported 

 from the two principal northern ports, New York and 

 Boston. To the latter place the wood is brought in 

 great quantities from Maine for fuel, and is esteemed 

 hardly inferior to hickory. 



A variety, with undulations, like the curled maple, 

 and containing besides small spots, is called bird's 

 eye maple, and forms exceedingly beautiful articles 

 of furniture. The charcoal has the preference in the 

 forges of Vermont and Maine. 



The black sugar maple (A. nigrum) is a more 

 southern tree than the preceding, and is exceedingly 

 abundant on the Ohio and the other great rivers of 

 the West. It has not been observed north of lati- 

 tude 44, and does not extend into the lower parts of 

 the more southern states. The leaves resemble, in 

 form, those of the sugar maple, but may be disti 

 guished by the pubescence of the inferior surface. It 

 attains very lofty dimensions. The wood is little 

 used, but is preferred for the frames of Windsor 

 chairs, and furnishes the best fuel, after the hickor- 

 ies. The sap yields abundance of sugar, which is 

 manufactured in America to a vast amount annually. 

 The ash-leaved maple, or box elder (A. negundo), 

 abounds chiefly west of the Alleghanies, where it has 

 a very wide range, extending from lat. 53 to the 

 gulf of Mexico, and also within the chains of the 

 Rocky Mountains. It is easily known by its com- 

 pound leaves, and becomes a large tree. The wood 

 is fine-grained, but is little used. 



The striped maple, or moose-wood (A. striatmri) 

 is a large shrub, chiefly remarkable from the white 

 lines on the bark, which give it an elegant appear- 

 ance. It is a northern plant, and in some places the 

 cattle are turned loose into the woods to browse on 

 the young shoots at the beginning of spring. The 

 wood has been sometimes employed for inlaying 

 mahogany, but it is of inferior quality. 



The wood of the common European maple is much 

 used by turners, and on account of its lightness is 

 frequently employed for musical instruments, parti- 

 cularly for violins. 



MAPPE-MONDES ; the French term for maps 

 of the world. See Maps. 



