NEWFOUNDLAND 



4151 



NEWFOUNDLAND 



fessor of mathematics in the United States 

 Navy in 1861, and personally supervised the 

 construction of the 26-inch equatorial telescope 

 at the Naval Observatory. From 1894-1901 

 he was professor of mathematics at Johns Hop- 

 kins University. He directed several eclipse 

 expeditions, was secretary of the Transit of 

 Venus Commission in 1871-1874, and in 1882 

 1 the transit of Venus at the Cape of 

 Good Hope. Becoming director of the .Yu<<- 

 i manack in 1877 he held that post until 

 age compelled his retirement in 1897. 



Ni \vcomb 's work was fittingly recognized in 

 America and Europe; he was a member of 

 marly every Imperial and Royal Society of 

 Europe and was the first American after Ben- 

 jamin Franklin to be made an officer of the 

 Legion of Honor of France. He was president 

 of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science (1877), president of the So- 

 ciety for Psychical Research (1885-1886), presi- 

 dent of the American Mathematical Society 



(1897-1898) and vice-president of the National 

 Academy of Sciences from 1883 to 1889. He 

 received numerous prizes and degrees from so- 

 cieties and universities both in America and 

 Europe. 



NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION, the 

 name of a colonial union formed by Massachu- 

 setts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven 

 in 1643, which lasted for forty years. It is of 

 special interest as the first attempt at union 

 among the colonies. The official name was The 

 United Colonies of New England. It was or- 

 ganized to secure united action against the 

 Dutch, the Indians and the French. Articles 

 of confederation were carefully drawn up and 

 adopted; among them was a clause providing 

 for the return of fugitive servants, which was 

 probably the origin of later fugitive slave laws 

 and American extradition. Authority was 

 vested in a board of eight commissioners, two 

 from a colony, but each colony had full con- 

 trol of local affairs. 



EWFOUNDLAND, nu'jundland, a 

 rupnf <!. f on-swept island lying off the coast of 

 North \ directly across the entrance to 



the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, forming with Labra- 

 dor since 1917 the Dominion of Newfoundland. 

 It lies nearer to Europe than any other part of 

 the North American continent, its most eastern 

 point being only 1,640 miles from Valentia, Ire- 

 separated from Cape Breton Island 

 on th Miuthwost by Cabot Strait and from 

 Labrador on the northwest by Belle Isle Strait. 

 Physical Features. The island, roughly tri- 

 angular ami -an area of 42,734 square 

 is about equal in sice to the state of 

 Virginia, a size of Nova Scotia. Its 

 steep cliffs and rocky headlands are penetrated 

 by deep fiords and by many large and sheltered 

 bays which are dotted with a great number of 

 rugged islets. 



;or is a rocky table-land, broken by 

 low, parallel mountain ranges crossing th- is- 



land from northeast to southwest, and by iso- 

 lated peaks known as tolls. Great herds of 

 reindeer roam the straggling forests and barren 

 hills, and the bear, wolf, lynx, marten and 

 beaver lure the trapper into the wildest parts 

 of the interior. The Newfoundland dog (which 

 see) is the only animal peculiar to the island, 

 but it is now found thrrc but mrrly. In the 

 valleys there are wide marshes and many lakes 

 and ponds bordered by forests of pine, spruce 

 and fir. The principal streams follow the trend 

 of the mountain ridges. The Exploits River, 

 flowing northeast through a chain of lakes, 

 nearly crosses the island, and the H umber and 

 Gander are other large streams. 



The northeast coast, which is washed by 

 the Arctic Current, is cold and damp, and the 

 bays are filled with floating ice and are subject 

 to dense fogs, but the climate of the western 

 shores is more temperate than that of Canada 

 as a whole. 



