accurate authorities; while those that discuss their ETHNOGRAPHY are the result of much earnest research. Under the last-named head have been sketched, not only the race, religion, national character, form of government, and education of the different nations, but their language and literature have also received the attention to which they are entitled. The former of these is briefly described, and its relation to other languages carefully stated; while the latter embraces elaborate lists of all the more Eminent Names that adorn the literature of their country. The ethnographical sections are followed by brief descriptions of the Army and Navy, Public Debt, Revenue and Expenditure, Commerce, Manufactures, Exports and Imports, Inland Communication, and Foreign Possessions (if any) of the various states, in the preparation of which the most recent statistics have been consulted. The DESCRIPTIVE NOTES, which are appended to the Political Divisions, are considerably more numerous than is customary in geographical manuals, especially the notes on the counties and towns of the British Isles, and all other parts of the British Empire. The PRONUNCIATION of geographical names is invariably a matter of deep interest, alike to teachers and pupils. Instead of following the prevalent custom of giving the pronunciation of difficult words, all arranged in one general catalogue, the Author considered it much more conducive to the student's improvement to insert, under each individual country, short but explicit Rules founded on the peculiar genius of its own language, and followed by appropriate examples, as pronounced by the natives. : The Author cannot conclude these observations without expressing his deep obligations to those valued friends who so generously assisted him in his self-imposed task. His best thanks are due to the Rev. M. Mackay, Fordyce, for his aid in connection with the topographical sections, the minuteness and accuracy of which are in a great measure the result of his unwearied labours and to A. Keith Johnston, Esq., LL.D., Her Majesty's Geographer for Scotland, for the many valuable items of recent information with which he favoured the Author during the composition of his Manual, and for his great kindness in volunteering the final revision of the proof-sheets. Great aid has also been received throughout from the various published works of this eminent geographer, especially from his admirable Dictionary of Geography,' and the new edition of his 'Physical Atlas of Natural Phenomena,' which will long remain the great thesaurus from which other writers will draw their most valuable materials, and the publication of which has formed an era in the annals of physical geography. MANUAL OF GEOGRAPHY. GEOGRAPHY is that science which has for its object the description of the surface of the Earth, or of that member of the Solar System which forms the abode of Man. Though in regard to practical importance it occupies the foremost place among the physical sciences, it has been the last to receive the attention which is due to it. It consists of two principal branches-viz., Ancient Geography, which embraces the lengthened period intervening between the earliest dawn of history and the fall of the Roman Empire; and Modern Geography, which extends from that event to the present time. The latter is subdivided into four departments-viz., Mathematical, Physical, Political, and Historical. Mathematical Geography treats of the Earth in its relations to other celestial bodies; of its motions, form, and magnitude; and of the true position of places on its surface. Physical Geography treats of the configuration of the Earth's crust; the materials of which it is composed; the soil and climate that prevail at different parts of the surface; and the effect of the latter on its living inhabitants-plants, animals, and man. Political Geography-the only branch of the science which received adequate attention in the schools of this country till of late years-treats of the artificial or political divisions of the surface into empires and states; their extent, population, and material resources; their government, people, religion, language, and civilisation. Historical Geography endeavours to establish when and by whom the different countries were first peopled; the political changes which they have subsequently undergone; and especially the progress of geographical discovery in modern times. The first and second of these branches require separate consideration; the third and fourth will be treated of in connection with the individual countries. A 2 PART I. MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 1. POSITION OF THE EARTH AND ITS RELATION TO OTHER WORLDS.-The earth on which we live is not to be regarded as an isolated, independent body, having no relations to other worlds; but as one of the members of a large family of similar bodies collectively called the Solar System, all the parts of which are united in one beautiful and harmonious whole by the mysterious power of gravitation. The Solar System. This system is so named from the fact that the sun (Lat. sol) is by far the largest body belonging to it-that he is placed in the centre, all the other members of the system revolving around him, either directly or indirectly-and especially to distinguish it from the numberless other systems that are located around it in universal space, each of which has probably its own sun or star as the immediate centre of its light, heat, and gravitating power. So far as presently known, the solar system consists of 134 distinct bodies-viz., the sun; 9 large planets revolving around him in nearly circular orbits; 106 planetoids, or smaller planets, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, supposed by some to be the fragments of a large disrupted planet; 18 satellites or moons, one of which belongs to the earth, and all the others to the four most distant planets; besides a host of comets, which move in extremely elliptical orbits, and myriads of meteorites. Only a very few of this large number were known to the ancients-viz., the Sun, Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and a few of the more remarkable comets. All the remainder have been discovered since the invention of the telescope by Galileo in the beginning of the seventeenth century. The centre of this wonderful piece of mechan1sm is occupied by the sun, a huge mass of opaque matter, 1,245,000 times the size of the earth, but surrounded by a luminous atmosphere. Though stationary in relation to the other members of the system, he is in reality advancing through space-carrying in his train his numerous retinue of planets, satellites, comets-with a velocity of 17,580 miles per hour. This velocity, however inconceivable, is exceeded nearly fourfold by that of the earth in her annual circuit round the sun. The planets move around the sun in elliptical, but nearly circular, orbits, and in the same general direction, though at various distances, velocities, and periods of revolution, as shown in the following tables (p. 6, 7). The satellites perform similar ellipti |