82 GEOGRAPHY. 



15. Prussia {Plate 18). 



The state of Prussia is situated between the meridians of 5^ 44 and 

 22° 44' of longitude east of Greenwich, and the parallels of 40° 8' and' 

 b^^ 52' N. lat., and is divisible into a large eastern and a smaller western 

 portion. The former is bounded on the east by Russia and Poland, south 

 by Austria (Galicia, Moravia, Bohemia), Saxony, and the Duchy of Saxony, 

 west by the Electorate of Hesse-Hanover, Brunswick and Mecklenburg, 

 and north by the Baltic. The smaller portion is bounded to the N. E. and 

 S. by various German states, Bavaria, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, Waldeck, 

 Hesse-Lippe, and Hanover, and west by France, Belgium, ^nd the Nether- 

 lands. The area of the whole monarchy amounts to about 81,280 square 

 geographical miles, of which a sixth belongs to the western part. 



The mountains of Germany which belong under this head are : in the 

 south-east, the Sudetes, the Glatzer- and Riesen-Gebirge (highest summit 

 5300), the Thuringerwald ; in the western part, the Egge, the Westerwald, 

 the Hundsriick, the Lippische Wald, the Sauerland Mountains, the Siebenge- 

 birge, the Hochvvald, and the Eiffel. The principal streams are : 1. The 

 Weichsel, which rising in Germany enters Galicia, returns again to Ger- 

 many, and below Marienwerder divides into two arms, the most eastern of 

 which, the Nogat, empties by twenty mouths into the Frische Haff, while 

 the western, which retains the name of Weichsel, divides near the sea into 

 the Old and Dantzig- Weichsel, and empties by fourteen mouths into the 

 Frische Haff, and by two into the Gulf of Dantzig. 2. The Oder, which 

 rises in Moravia at the foot of the Sudetes, passes into Silesia, and flows 

 ibr over five hundred miles through Prussian territory. Its tributaries are, 

 to the right, Olsa, Klodnitz, Bartsch, Warthe, Ihna ; to the left, Neisse, 

 Ohlau, Weistritz, Katzbach, Bober, Gorlitz, Neisse, and Ucker. 3. The 

 Elbe, which rises on the southern slope of the Riesengebirge, and empties 

 into the North Sea about eighty-five miles below Hamburg. Such of its 

 tributaries as belong here, are : to the right, the Black Elster, and Havel 

 with the Spree ; to the left, Mulde and Saale. 4. The Weser merely 

 touches the territory of Prussia, forming for a short distance the line of 

 separation from Brunswick. 5. The Rhine, from Bingen to above 

 Coblentz, forms the boundary to Nassau, and passes through the western 

 part of the state to enter the Netherlands below Emmerich. Its Prussian 

 tributaries are, to the right, Lahn, Sieg, Wupper, and Ruhr ; to the left, 

 Nahe, Moselle, and Erft. 



The climate and productions of Prussia are not essentially different from 

 those of Germany. In addition to the cereaHa, the culture of flax, tobacco, 

 hops, fruit, and the vine, is of importance. Cattle are not raised in large 

 quantities, but the rearing of sheep is attended to more and more. Prussia 

 is very rich in minerals, especially silver, copper, lead, iron, salt, sulphur, 

 lignite, and stone coal. 



The population amounted, at the end of 1846, to 16,112,948 souls. It is 

 densest in the Rhine provinces, and sparsest in Pomerania. The 

 82 



