530 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



composition. Its medical practitioners sur- 

 geons and physicians have a high reputation. 

 Its university and medical schools, its high 

 school, and its various other educational insti- 

 tutes have a high repute. Population, 31t'>. 171*. 



Egypt is a country in the northeast of 

 Africa, whose territory extends up the valley 

 of the Nile as far as the Equator, embracing 

 Nubia, Ethiopia, Darfur, etc. Egypt proper 

 extends from the mouth of the Nile to the first 

 cataract at Assouan and is usually distinguished 

 into Upper, Middle, and Lower Egypt, which 

 last comprehends the Delta. The Delta begins 

 just below Cairo, about ninety miles from the 

 sea, and its greatest breadth is about eighty 

 miles. It is this part of the country which is 

 chiefly cultivated, its fertility being derived 

 from the annual inundations caused by the 

 overflow of the*Nile. -The rest of the country 

 is mainly sandy desert, with some remarkable 

 oases on the west of the Nile. The climate of 

 Egypt is hot and dry, but not unhealthy. The 

 date-palm, the acacia, and the sycamore, are 

 scattered throughout the country; large plan- 

 tations of roses are found in the province of 

 Feiyoom; and the soil and climate are well 

 suited for cotton, sugar, rice, indigo, cucumbers, 

 melons, and onions, as well as for maize, wheat, 

 and millet. There are no metals in Egypt, but 

 salt, nitre, marble, red granite, oriental ala- 

 baster, and limestone, are found. The com- 

 merce of the country is very considerable, and 

 centers chiefly in Alexandria, which suffered 

 severely, however, in the war of 1882. The 

 capital is Cairo, which is the largest city in 

 Africa. 



Eiffel Tower, a structure erected on the 

 banks of the Seine in Paris, the loftiest in the 

 world, being 985 feet in height, and visible from 

 all parts of the city. It consists of three plat- 

 forrns, of which the first is as high as the towers 

 of Notre Dame; the second as high as Stras- 

 burg Cathedral spire; and the third, 863 feet. 

 It was designed by Gustave Eiffel, and erected 

 in 1887-89. There are cafes and restaurants on 

 the first landing, and the ascent is by powerful 

 elevators. 



England, the most southern and richest 

 portion of the island of Great Britain, is bounded 

 north by Scotland, east by the German Ocean, 

 south by the English Channel, and west by the 

 Atlantic Ocean, the principality of Wales, and 

 the Irish Sea. Maximum length, 425 miles; 

 breadth, fluctuating between sixty-two and 280 

 miles; coast line, about 2,000 miles. Area, 

 50,812 square miles. The principal islands be- 

 longing to it are those of Man, Lundy, Scilly, 

 Walney, Sheppey, Wight, Lindisfarne, and the 

 Channel Islands. Chief rivers: Severn, Thames, 

 Trent, Mersey, Ouse, Medway, Tyne, Dee, Tees, 

 Wear, Derwent, and Eden. Lakes: Derwent- 

 water, Ulleswater, Windermere, and Keswick. 

 Estuaries: those of the Thames, Mersey, Hum- 

 ber, Severn, Dee, Southampton Water, and the 

 Wash. It has numerous capes and headlands. 

 Mountains: The principal moun tains are those 

 of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Yorkshire, 

 with the Cheviots on the Scottish border, the 

 Derbyshire "Peak," and the Cotswolds in Glou- 

 cestershire. Numerous forests are spread over 



the country. Soil: The major part of the land 

 is fertile and highly productive, owing to an 

 admirable system of tillage ; while well-fur- 

 nished farm houses and comfortable cottars 

 everywhere meet the eye, and evince that ta-io 

 for neatness and rural beauty which is so char- 

 acteristic of the nation. The same features, 

 too, on a larger and grander scale, are found in 

 ( the country-seats of the nobility and squirarchy. 

 The climate is generally moist, but mild ami 

 healthful. Chief towns: London (capital of the 

 British Empire), Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, 

 Birmingham, Hall, Bristol, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 

 Sheffield, Bath, Oxford, Carlisle, etc. 



English Channel, the arm of sea which 

 separates England from France, extending, on 

 the English side, from Dover to Land's Kml: 

 and on the French, from Calais to the island of 

 Ushant. On the east it communicates with the 

 German Ocean by the Strait of Dover, twenty- 

 one miles wide; and on the west it opens into 

 the Atlantic by an entrance about 100 miles 

 wide. At its greatest breadth it is about 150 

 miles. 



Erie Canal, the largest artificial wati-r- 

 way in the United States, serving to connect the 

 Great Lakes with the sea. It begins at Buffalo 

 on Lake Erie, and extends to the Hudson at 

 Albany. It is 387 miles long; has in all 

 seventy-two locks; a surface width of seventy 

 feet, bottom width of forty-two feet, and depth 

 of seven feet. It is carried over several largo 

 streams on stone aqueducts; was opened in 

 1825; and up to 1901 had cost for construction, 

 enlargement, and maintenance $52,540,800. In 

 November, 1903, the people of New York voted 

 favorably on the question of enlargement of the 

 canal to accommodate one-thousand-ton barges. 

 Erie, Lake, one of the great chain of North 

 American lakes, between Lakes Huron and On- 

 tario, about 265 miles long, 63^ miles broad at 

 its center, from 200 to 270 feet deep at the 

 ' deepest part; area, 9,600 square miles. The 

 whole of its south shore is within the territory 

 of the United States, and its north within that 

 of Canada. It receives the waters of the upper 

 lakes by Detroit River at its northwest extrem- 

 ity, and discharges its waters into Lake Ontario 

 by the Niagara River at its northeast end. 

 The Welland Canal enables vessels to pass from 

 it to Lake Ontario. 



Etna, or i:< na. Mount, the greatest 



! volcano in Europe, a mountain in the province 



| of Catania, Sicily; height, 10,874 feet. It rises 



j immediately from the sea, has a circumference 



! of more than 100 miles, and dominates the whole 



j northeast of Sicily, having a number of towns 



and villages on its lower slopes. The top is 



covered with perpetual snow; midway down is 



the woody or forest region; at the foot is a 



region of orchards, vineyards, olive groves, etc. 



The eruptions of Etna have been numerous, 



and many of them destructive. That of 1169 



overwhelmed Catania and buried 15,000 persons 



in the ruins. In 1669, the lava spread over the 



country for forty days, and 10,000 persons are 



| estimated to have perished. In 1693, there was 



| an earthquake during the eruption, when over 



60,000 lives were lost. One eruption was in 



1755, the year of the Lisbon earthquake. Among 



