52 THE FIGURE OF THE EARTH 



from geodesic measurements by Colonel Clarke and 

 General Schubert. 



There is still a great deal to be learned with regard to 

 the symmetrical arrangement of the terrestrial features. 

 A glance at the map (Fig. 6) seems to suggest that the 

 land hemisphere in its collapse has fallen in with some 

 approach to symmetry. 



The Pacific Ocean has broken across the Pacific girdle 

 of land into the second annular ocean at three places, 

 situated roughly at about 120 from each other, one 

 between South America and the Antarctic continent, 

 the second between the latter and Australia, the third, 

 corresponding to the Arctic Ocean, between America and 

 Europe. These three inbreaks face the three longest sides 

 of Africa. 



Africa itself is a trilobed mass of land. Its north-west 

 lobe points towards the Carribean Sea, the site of a 

 vanished continent ; its south lobe extends in the direc- 

 tion of the Antarctic continent, from w T hich it is separated 

 by the second annular ocean of Mr. Jeans, as the north- 

 west lobe is from America ; the north-east lobe, on the 

 other hand, is continuous with Asia, from which, how- 

 ever, it differs in structure, and there have been periods 

 in geological history when a wide oceanic channel 

 connecting the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean 

 separated these two masses. Still it must be admitted 

 that it is the extension of Asia to the west and south-west 

 that constitutes the greatest disturbance of terrestrial 

 symmetry, as here described. 



In the figure (Fig. 6) six great circles are drawn inter- 

 secting in the middle of Africa, and making equal angles 

 of 60 with each other ; three of them, shown by con- 

 tinuous lines, run in the direction of the three lobes ; the 

 other three, shown by broken lines, are intermediate 

 with these, and correspond to regions of greatest sub- 



