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THE 



NATURAL SYSTEM 



OF TEACHING 



GEOGRAPHY 



W. H. H. BEADLE, A.M., 


Pres. Madison State Normal School of South Dakota 


AND 


A. F. BARTLETT, A.M. 




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CHICAGO: 


A. FLANAGAN, Publisher. 




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SECOND COPY, 






46592 • 

Copyright 1899 

BY 

A. FLANAGAN. 
TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 




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TO THE TEACHER. 

The central idea and aim of the system taught in this book is to impress upon the pupil's 
mind -A picture of the icorld, defiiiitc and clear. This is accomplished through the learning of maps, 
not by looking at them and finding answers to printed questions, but by the repeated drawing of 
them; first the easier continental forms, but mainly by repeatedly drawing a// of them z« the hemis- 
phere, and successively adding mountains, rivers, gulfs, bays, lakes, islands, cities, boundary lines 
of countries and smaller details. The work is continued until the pupil is able readily to draw 
from memory the map of either hemisphere, on a7ty scale, and to locate correctly all facts and 
places of importance, and to enter in place the names of the products, the character of the people's 
civilization and the names of the persons especially distinguished in each country. In addition 
the pupil is to be trained to take any particular country or state, his own especially, and magnify 
its map by a larger scale and fill it with greater detail. He is also to be trained to draw cross 
sections of continents and countries and give with each the principal elevations and indicate the 
great valleys, plains, slopes and plateaus, also the lakes with their surface elevations and depths, 
using the sea level as the datum line for all. 

When the astronomer photographs a section of the starry sky and his instrument is directed 
steadily by clock-work upon it, the sensitive plate will first show the brightest stars, then 
those of lower and lower magnitude, until finally it will picture remote stars and nebulae which 
are hardly visible to the eye through the best telescope. Whether the brightest or the smallest, 
all these will be printed in the right relation to one another. So the child begins with the simpler 
and easier continental forms, as separate objects to be drawn (perhaps by the aid of card-forms 
made for him, as a part of his "form work" or drawing). Then with the hemisphere maps he 
adds steadily the facts and places, with their names, until he has a mental picture of the earth's 
surface with all the features before mentioned, and all in approximately correct relations of area, 
direction and distance. He will thus learn geography more fully and correctly and in briefer time 
than is otherwise possible. Then correlation of history and other subjects with geographj"^ becomes 
easy. As he studies the relations of man and nature, about history and literature, campaigns and 
discoveries, or reads the current events of the world, his mental picture, always rising for his use, 
locates the facts instantly, correctly and naturally. His interest is quickened in all other subjects. 
He has a basis for sound general intelligence; for history, literature and all the developments and 
changes, politically and socially, that make the progress of the world of such increasing interest. 

The system and the book are planned primarily for the successive grades and classes of our 
public schools, but the skilled teacher easily adapts them to the needs of normal school and 
academy classes when the whole subject of geography is taken up anew and completed in a half 
year. After the introductory work upon mathematical geography the hemisphere is drawn with 
the simpler continental forms. Then daily, upon paper and the black-board, the work goes on in 
mapping along with the subject matter .study. As all the time saved from memorizing map 
questions is given to the hemisphere map drawing the whole work is accomplished much more 
thoroughly and completely in the same time as has been shown every half year since the introduc- 
tion of the system. Where the metliod is first introduced a like course is u.seful with the higher 
classes or grades in the public schools. It is practical and time-saving under every reasonable 
condition. 

W. H. H. B. 



"4. The economy of time and energy: The pupil not only acquires more in much shorter 
time and easier, but retains most of what he learns, instead of forgetting most of it, as is usually 
the case. 

"5. The increasing interest which the pupil takes in the study. The constant develop- 
ment and growth of the world-picture in his hand fascinate him, and geography becomes the 
most popular study. 

' ' This method is not to be confounded with map drawing as usually understood. The aim 
here is to secure a ivorld-picture, and not that of an isolated continent or country." 

In introducing any new method it has been found generally that explanations and directions 
to the teacher alone, however full and explicit, will not insure success. It is especially true of 
this system. The work must be definitely mapped out and graded/or the pupil, as well as for the 
teacher, and the pupil must have before him correct models from which to copy his maps. 

It has, therefore, been the aim of the authors and the publishers to put this book in substan- 
tial and economical form, so that it maj' be placed in the hands of pupils as well as teachers, and 
be used in conjunction with and not in place, of the regular text-book in geography. 

The teacher is often tempted when presenting or using this method for the first time, to try 
' ' short cuts ' ' and ' ' better ways ' ' than 'those suggested, with the great risk of wasting valuable 
time, and not unlikely ending in confusion and partial failure. Let us, therefore, caution all to 
follow the instructions exactly as given. When the system has been mastered, excellent results 
will be secured certainly and quickly. Only then, if at all, may it be safe to experiment. 

The outline of work for each grade has been'given in full, and is, in the main, quite in har- 
mony with the most advanced thought and best methods of today. In addition to this, and to 
guard against every possibility of failure, instructions to teachers have been inserted throughout 
the book, where there seemed to be any need of it, even at the risk of being charged with much 
repetition. 

Some supplementary matter, treating subjects of interest, and usually more fully than is 
done in the common texts, is appended, without much reference to logical sequence or complete- 
ness in number of topics, which may serve as supplementary reading for the pupils as well as 
lessons for studj'. The articles, " A Trip to Greenland, " by the eminent scientist and author. 
Professor G. F. Wright, and " A View of Europe," by Fanny E. Coe, the author of those admir- 
able readers, "Our American Neighbors" and "Modern Europe," were written especially for 
this book, and well illustrate the authors' idea of one of the best methods of giving children 
vivid impressions of other lands, climates, products, people, etc. The teacher should try to give 
clear, living pictures of other regions and countries by similar means. Pupils may be encour- 
aged to read articles of like character found in books and magazines on "The Hot Regions," 
" The Islands of the Sea," stories about the United States, South America, Asia, Africa, etc. 
A list of books suitable for such supplementary reading and adapted to the different grades, also 
a list of books for reference and instruction of teachers are given. These are not exhaustive, as 
excellent works of this character are constantly appearing. 

The chapter on Commerce- will prove useful to advanced pupils for reference and study, as it 
contains much valuable and interesting information in regard to important products not readily 
found elsewhere. 

Our grateful acknowledgments are due the many teachers who have aided in the work by 
their suggestions and criticisms, and especially to Sanford Niles and Professor G. F. Wright for 

valuable assistance. 

W. H. H. B. 
A. F. B. 



PREFACE. 

This book is intended as a supplement to the regular text-book in geographj', and not in any 
sense as a substitute for it. 

The system of teaching geography here presented is not a theory merely, but a practical 
method, every detail of which has been carefully worked out and tested in the school room. The 
idea was first suggested to the authors by the generally unsatisfactory results secured from teach- 
ing the subject in the usual way, and which were only partially remedied by the many improved 
texts that were issued. The time and energy expended by both teacher and pupil seemed to 
them to be out of reasonable proportion to the results secured. Of the great mass of matter 
studied but little was retained, and there was always more or less confusion in the mind of the 
pupil in regard to those prime essentials of geographical knowledge, — form, comparative size, 
drainage, relative position, climate, products, etc. 

In the words of that experienced and able critic, Sanford Niles, * who fully investigated the 
system in the school room: — 

"It [the system], is based upon the truth of the following propositions: 

" 1 . The foundation essentials of geographical knowledge, as form, position, comparative 
size, relation, are best acquired from a map, and, however learned, are always remembered by 
means of a mental map-picture. 

"2. This mental picture is rendered more definite and permanent by use of the hand in 
forming it. 

" 3. Bj^ copying a picture until it can be reproduced readily in absence of the original, a 
mass of details as to form, size, and relation of parts is mechanically acquired that would be abso- 
lutely beyond the power of the memory to retain, or even gra.sp from description alone. The 
memory is thus actually reUeved of burden. 

"4. Correct notions of the parts in relation to themselves and the whole can only be 
obtained from a view of the whole. The picture should be drawn as a whole, to give correct 
notions of relations of parts. 

"The fact that the first primary child, soon after entering school, writes sentences in script 
without knowing a letter, suggested that drawing simple outHne maps is not beyond the capabil- 
ity of children of the lower grades. The chief object of the method is to get a picture of the world, as 
shozvn by the hemisphere maps, indelibly impressed on the mind of the pupil. This is accomplished 
by requiring him to draw outline maps of the hemispheres, adding details gradually and in order 
of importance. Care is taken to draw all maps of separate countries on the same projection, so 
they will fit in the hemisphere, and on the same scale where two or more maps are drawn at the 
same time. Thus, correct notions of form, size, etc., are always kept before the mind of the pupil. 

" All this is done according to a natural order of sequence. Each step is fully developed and 
made clear to the pupil as taken up. The simple outline maps gradually grow in excellence -and 
completeness under his hand, while his imagination, guided by definite knowledge, builds them 
into a great and beautiful world, teeming with animal and vegetable life — all contributing to the 
welfare of man. 

* * * * X- it * * # -X- * * 

" Some of the points which especially commend it are: 

"1. The definite mental picture it gives of the world as a whole, and its parfs in their true 
relations — an end we strive in vain to reach by usual methods. 

"2. The saving to the. memory which this picture gives, and the opportunity it furnishes for 
exercising the powers of reason and imagination. The world-picture springs into the mind with- 
out efifort. The child sees the picture, and thinks the relatio?is. It enables him to journey about 
the world with ease and delight. 

' ' 3. The superior results, both in quality and quantity, as may be inferred from the preceding. 



<*In N. Y. School Juurnal of June 11, IS9S.) 



CONTENTS. 



Instruction to Teachers and Outline of Work 

Story of the Earth ' . 

Some Things to Learn and Remember 

Maps and Map Drawing of the Continents and Hemispheres .... 

Directions for Drawing the Continents and Hemispheres by Diagram 
Highlands and Lowlands of the Earth . . . . ' . 

Relief Maps ..... \ ....... . 

How to Draw Parallels of Latitude and Meridians of Longitude for every 

ten Degrees ' . 

How TO Draw a Map of the United States by Diagram 
Methods of Finding Distances between Places on Maps 
How TO Find the Scale of any Map .... 
Longitude and Time 



How to Find the Latitude and Longitude of a 
Standard Time ....... 

Mercator Charts and how to Draw them 
Life and Products of the Earth 
The Seasons, Solstices and Equinoxes 
The Zones with their Products 
Climate ........ 

The Races of Men 

The Tropic and Polar Circles 

How to Learn about the Sun's Journey 

The Atmosphere, Trade Winds, etc. 

Vapor, Dew, Rain and Snow .... 

Glaciers and Icebergs 

The Ocean the Great Storehouse of Water 
The Effect of the Ocean on Climate 
The Gulf Stream and Japan Current . 

Climatic Zones 

Altitude and Latitude Compared . 

The Mariner's Compass and Magnetic Poles 

The International Date Line 

Forests 

A Trip to Greenland 

A View of Europe ...... 

Commerce, Great Articles of Commerce, etc. 



Place on 



THE 



Earth 



PAGB. 

5 
22 
24 
26-44 
44-51 
56 
59 

60 
61 
63 
65 
65 
65 
66 
66 
69 
70 
71 
73 
74 
74 
77 
78 
82 
83 
83 
84 
84 
85 
86 
86 
87 
88 
89 
97 
107 



INSTRUCTIONS TO TEACHERS, 

AND OUTLINE OF WORK. 

Before attempting to give instruction in geography according to this method, 
even in the lowest grades, the teacher should make herself familiar with the whole 
system, and especially by practice with the map drawing. She should read care- 
fully and understandingly the outline of work so as to get a clear notion of the 
philosophy and plan. Much study outside of the text-book is necessary for the best 
work, especially in thfe higher grades. Geography is the broadest study taught in 
our schools, and is one of the most useful. It should be the most interesting to 
pupils. In order to make it so the teacher must be thoroughly interested in it her- 
self and full of the subject. She should read as many books bearing on geography 
as possible, so as to have a stock of stories and interesting and useful matter to 
draw from as occasion requires. The black-board and crayon should be freely used 
in illustrating things talked about. Every lesson should be carefully planned and 
prepared by the teacher in advance. 

No other branch offers such an opportunity for Nature Study and Language 
Work. Much should be made of it. 

This book is intended to give a method of teaching geography and supplement 
the regular text-book in geography — not to take the place of it. 

For the guide of the teacher, the work for the first few years is mapped out 
somewhat in detail. 

FIRST AND SECOND YEARS. 

Relative Position as Expressed by the Terms, Over, Under, Above, Be- 
low, In, On, Upon, Before, Between, Behind, Front, Back, 
Up, Down, Rigkt, Left, Center, Corner, 
Middle, Etc. 

Place objects and have pupils imitate; place, and have pupils describe position; 
dictate, and have pupils place; place several objects, remove, and have pupils 
replace from memory. 

Direction of Places from Self and from One Another. 

Begin with directions in the school room; then, at convenient times, walk with 
the class on the school grounds, asking questions like the following: 

(5) 



6 NATURAIv SYSTEM OF 

What direction are we from the school house ? What direction is the school 
house from us? What direction is the bird flying? Which way are we going ? 
Whicli way does the weather vane point? Is this an east-and-west, or a north-and- 
south. road? From which way does the wind come? In what direction does the 
brook flow? 

Plants and Animals — Language Work. 

Teach the pupils to distinguish the colors of flowers, fruit, foliage, etc.; to 
name plants that grow in the house, in the garden, in cultivated fields; to name 
trees and shrubs that grow in yards and orchards; and a few of the common trees 
of the forest. Talk with pupils about the homes of ants, of bees, of hornets, of 
wasps and of other insects; creatures that burrow in the earth, such as the mole, 
the woodchuck and the gopher; of the partridge and the way he drums. Have the 
pupils tell where the common birds build their nests; how they feed their young; 
what food they eat; etc. Talk about the squirrels that live in the trees, the dog, 
the cow, the sheep, and other domestic animals, how they serve man, and above all, 
tell or read stories of animals, breathing a spirit of kindness toward all our friends 
in feathers and furs. Encourage pupils to talk about these things, and language 
will be made to go hand in hand with geography. 

Stories About People in Far-Off Lands. 
Tell or read stories of the people of other lands — the Eskimo, the Arab of the 
desert, the Negroes of Africa, the Nomads of Central Asia; the homes they live in; 
their clothes; their food; what they do; the animals they use. 

The friends of many of the children once lived in lands beyond the sea. Have 
children tell what they have heard about these lands and about journeys across 
the sea. 

Different Modes of Traveling. 

Relate stories about caravans crossing the great deserts; of reindeer and sledges 
speeding over the snow; of dogs drawing their masters on fields of ice; of mule 
trains slowly climbing the narrow mountain paths; of trappers and hunters pad- 
dling along lonely streams. Use pictures at every step. 

The Air or Atmosphere. 
Tell pupils that air is all around, over land and water; that plants and auimals 
and people would die without it; that the tiny drops of water in the clothes hung 
out to dry, in the moist earth, in puddles, etc., are all the time being taken up into 
the air; that clouds are but moisture or tiny water drops, gathered and floating 
high in the air. The air rushes into the stove and it roars. We say the stove 
draws. The air is rushing and roaring out of doors. We sa}^ the wind is blowing. 
The air is in motion. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 7 

The Sun, Moon and Stars 

Are all far, far away from the earth. The sun gives us light and heat. We 
could not live without it. There could be neither plants nor animals without light 
and warmth from the sun. 

Days ok the Week, Months of the Year, Seasons. 

Distance as Expressed by the Indefinite Terms, Near, F.\r, Nearer, Farther, etc.; .and by the 
Definite Terms, Inch, Foot, Yard, Rod, and Mile. 

Have pupils point out objects that are near, nearer, farther, etc. Provide a 
foot rule, a yard stick, a pole or string one rod long, and show pupils how to use 
them, by measuring the length, the width and the height of a few prominent 
objects. Have pupils hold their hands one foot apart; stand one yard apart; stand 
one rod apart; etc. Point out objects one mile away. Tell how far it is to the 
church, the mill. 

Map and Form Work. 

The last part of second year, pupils ma^' profitably trace, as part of busy work, 
from cardboard forms, outlines of South America, North America, and, later, of 
Africa and Australia. These cardboard forms should be on the same scale, accu- 
ate, and taken up in the order named. Correct names should always be given. 
Pupils should be finally encouraged to draw the outlines by just looking at the 
forms and occasionally from memory. 



THIRD YEAR. 

Occupations of People All About Us and Far Away. 

Pupils should be encouraged to visit farms, market-gardens, shops, mills, quar- 
ries, mines, foundries and factories in company with parents or older brothers or 
sisters, in order to gain clear ideas, of the different occupations by which men live. 
Talk about these occupations and the things we buy at the store, the grocery, the 
lumber yard, etc., and lead children to tell what people in the other parts of the 
world must be doing. 

Commerce or Tr.\de. 

Ask pupils to name the things their parents raise or make to send abroad. 
What things do we receive from people far away ? What things do we send to 
people over the sea ? What things come to us from over the sea? How do we 
send what we have to sell? How are things brought to us ? (Transportation.) 



8 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

Forms of Land and Water. 

Most pupils have seen and are already familiar with the common forms of 
land and water, and they also know their names. They should now learn the 
parts of the hill and mountain — base, slopes, summit, peak; the parts of the 
stream — source, channel, right bank, left bank, mouth; the parts of the shore or 
coast — cape, promontory, peninsula, isthmus, etc.; and other geographical terms. 

The streams formed by melting snow or summer showers form opportunities 
for many valuable lessons. The rill itself is a river in miniature; the tinier 
streams flowing into it are its tributaries; the pools from which some of the stream- 
lets flow, are lakes, with inlets, outlets, bays, or gulfs. There are rapids and cata- 
racts, with stretches of still, navigable water for the boy's little boat, and there is 
an estuary opening into a large pool which will do fairly well for a sea. The rill 
with its tributaries represents a river system. 

The slope down which the rill flows, is a watershed; the land drained by the 
rill is its valley. Islands are seen here and there. In places where the ground is 
hard and the slope steep, the rill has cut deep into the soil, forming narrow valleys, 
gorges or canons; and where the ground is soft or sandy and the slope gentle, it 
has formed a wide valley. There are shoals, bars, and alluvial plains formed of 
black earth, sand and gravel brought down by the rushing waters. The shores of 
the tiny lakes have their capes, their promontories and their peninsulas. Notice 
how the rapid little stream carries down straws, sticks, and even pebbles, under- 
mines the homes of the beetle and other small animals, and sweeps them along 
with it, just as the larger floods carry great logs, roll large boulders, and destroy 
the homes of men. 

The streams formed by the summer showers also show in a striking manner 
how the surface of the earth is being changed by the action of running water. 
Right before our eyes hills are being worn down, valleys furrowed out, plains 
extended, islands formed, coast lines changed, and deltas built up. In places, lay- 
ers of soil, of clay, of sand, of gravel or hard-pan are exposed, and we get a glimpse 
of the structure of the earth near its surface. 

In our rambles with the children by the banks of these tiny brooks, we observe 
that the seeds of the trees, of plants sown in the fields or gardens, of grasses and 
noxious weeds, are swept along by the flood and left here and there on the lands 
below. Later in the season we see miniature groves, patches of grain, grass or 
weeds, as the result of this sowing — a wonderful lesson of wide application on the 
distribution of plants. 

Maps and Map Reading. 

Pupils should be now given a clear idea of a map and how to read it. Begin 
with a plan or map of the school room, indicating the position of the desks, etc. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 9 

Next represent the school yard; a country road with farmhouses, groves, gardens, 
and fields on either side. Teach pupils to draw to a scale — to different scales, com- 
mencing with the school room. Locate prominent objects in the neighborhood of 
the school house, give their direction and approximate distances from the school 
and from one another. Then draw a map of the neighborhood and require pupils 
lo state direction, position, etc., from that. Finally draw a map of the count}-, 
when of convenient form. This map should be quite complete, representing 
streams, bodies of water, hills or mountains, and some of the principal common 
roads, railroads and towns. In their own language, pupils should state where 
objects are- situated (relative position), direction, approximate distances, etc.; slopes, 
as determined by hills and streams. 

The Earth as a Ball or Sphere. 

As an introduction " The Story of the Earth " may be read to pupils by the 
teacher, first as a whole and then taken up in sections from day to day and each 
point explained and made clear. After this the pupils should be required to read 
the story themselves in class and tell about it in their own language, and write 
about it. 

Give children an idea of the earth as a ball, like the moon, only very much 
larger; or like Venus, which is another earth, but so far away that it appears very 
small. Speak of the surface of the earth as composed of land and water. Using a 
globe, point out and name the great bodies of land and water; show pupils where 
they live. 

To give an idea of the great size of the earth, imagine a railroad track to be 
laid around it over the land and over the water. The earth is so large, it would 
take a train fifty days, or more than seven weeks, to run around it at the rate of 
five hundred miles a day. The earth appears flat to us because we see so small a 
part of it at once. A fly on an open umbrella would see so little of its surface that 
the umbrella might seem to it as flat as the top of a table. 

Take journeys around the globe, and have pupils tell whether they are cross- 
ing land or water. Show that one comes back to the place of starting by going 
always in the same direction. With a string have pupils measure the distance 
around the globe (circumference). Have them think of the distance from surface 
to surface through the center of the globe (diameter). Rotate the globe and give 
idea of axis, and of the poles or ends of the axis. Locate the equator midway 
between the poles. 

Keep in mind the idea that the artificial globe represents the form of the 
earth; that the map on its surface represents the real land and water of the earth 
on which we live, just as the maps they have drawn represent things all about us. 



10 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

Hold the globe in the sunlight and lead pupils to see that one-half of its sur- 
face is always touched by the sun's rays; that the opposite half is in the shade. 
Tell them that the lighted side of the globe has day, and the shaded side night. 
Then have them state whether it is day or night where they live. Slowly rotate 
the globe from west over to the east, and have them tell when North America has 
day, Avhen night, leading them to see that the succession of day and night is caused 
by the rotation of the earth about its axis. 

One pupil may represent the sun while another pupil carries the globe round 
him, rotating it all the time. The time of one rotation of the globe will represent 
the length of the day; the time of one journey around the sun (revolution) will 
represent the length of the year. 

Using the globe, show where the hot, cold, temperate regions of the earth are, 
and require pupils to find out the names of some of the animals and plants found 
in them. Talk of the different people and races of the earth, and how they live. 
Later have the pupils indicate the homes of the different races on their maps. 

Have pupils learn the names of the capital of their own state and two or three 
other important towns, as well as two or three of the leading occupations of the 
people. 

The simplest language of the text book, the plainest speech of the teacher,, 
cannot be understood unless the types of the things spoken of are already in the 
mind of the child. 

For this reason we begin with local geography. One's own neighborhood is a 
part of the earth's surface. The hill near the school is the type of the unseen 
mountain; the brook where the children play, a type of the river; the pond, a type 
of the great lakes or of the sea; the little plain or the prairie near at hand, a type 
of the vast llanos, pampas, or steppes in far-off lands, and so on through the whole 
list of natural features and of other things right about us. 

To be really successful the teacher herself must have clear mental pictures — 
must see what she desires her class to see. She must make frequent appeals to 
the imagination, always active in childhood, aiding its flight by the use of pictures 
and familiar types of things. To give pupils an idea of a mountain she must make 
the hill many times larger- — broaden its base, make its summit pierce the low 
clouds, place on it a cap of snow, clothe its rocky slopes with trees growing smaller 
and smaller and changing in kind with the elevation. 

A sand pit or a dusty road, extended farther than one can see in all directions,, 
may serve as a desert; put in the desert a spring with a few palm trees, and 3^ou 
have an oasis. 

The pond is a small lake; if spread out to the right, to the left and in front 
to the horizon, it will resemble a large lake or the ocean itself. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 11 

The brook is a miniature river; make it wide and deep and long, and pupils 
will have an idea of a river. 

A little ravine between the hills, magnified greatly, becomes a valley between 
mountain ranges. 

The warm weather, vegetation and fruit of summer suggest the tropics, and 
the snow and ice of winter with the long nights and absence of vegetable life repre- 
sent well the regions of cold. When teaching geography to beginners bring the 
huge trees of the Pacific states right before the class. Have a circle drawn to rep- 
resent their diameter. Think of a tree as lying on the ground and extending 
across the school lot and far into the neighboring field; of the prone trunk as being 
higher than two school rooms, one above the other; of a plank cut from it as being 
wider than the school room. 

Think of the Niagara river above the falls as being as broad as the distance 
from the school house to a certain object; of the mass of water as leaping over a 
precipice four times as high as the tall tree in the yard, or three times as high as 
the spire of the church. 

Thus assist the imagination of the pupil to get vivid conceptions of things 
unseen. 

Map Drawing. 

The pupil should be required from the beginning of this year to draw a map 
each day, first copying it from the cardboard form, then from the outline maps 
given in this book, and in the order given, and finally from memory. The mem- 
ory map should be corrected immediately by comparison with the original. The 
purpose is to get the fonn fixed in the mind as early as possible. South America 
is simplest to draw and is therefore taken up first, then North America. After 
fair proficiency has been acquired in drawing these they should be put in a circle 
or hemisphere, and afterwards always drawn in that wa}-. 

It is neither necessary nor desirable that special proficiency be attained in 
drawing one map before another is taken up. A single map may be drawn on any 
scale, but when maps of two or .more grand divisions are drawn at the same time, 
as of North America and South America, care should be taken to have them on 
the same scale. Europe-Asia, or Burasia, is very complicated in form, and, there- 
fore, a map of it is best drawn in the hemisphere, though it may be traced from 
the card form first with profit. 

A few of the principal mountains, rivers and cities should be represented on 
these maps as indicated. Some useful and interesting facts (given to pupils in this 
grade by the teacher) should be associated with each of these features as they are 
put on the map. 

The pupil should not put North America and South America in a circle, or 



12 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

draw a map of the Western Hemisptiere, until after lie lias taken up the globe as a 
whole and has a clear idea of what hemisphere means, the Western Hemisphere of 
the earth, and a map of the Western Hemisphere (all of which will be made plain 
by reference to illustrations and maps in this book.) 

The Eastern Hemisphere should be next taken up in the same way. The 
Equator and Central Meridian should be put in all circles before map is drawn. 



FOURTH YEAR. 

The work indicated for the third year may be profitably continued and ex- 
panded in the fourth year. ^ 

The child should be brought into contact with nature as much as possible. 
This is of great importance. 

Forms of land and water, such as hills, valleys, plains, islands, lakes, ponds, 
brooks and brook basins, springs, bays, etc., should be studied carefully from nature 
where practicable. Next to this, or in connection with it, pictures of these features 
should be freely used. The sand moulding board may be used with profit to rep- 
resent the comparative size and relation of physical features, not to give original 
concepts of them. It should not be used to represent large sections of country. 

Excursion to the Hills. 

Singly, or in groups, pupils may visit the neighboring hills for a definite pur- 
pose, accompanied by the teacher when possible. The following may prove sug- 
gestive: Things to be found out. — Do the hills form chains, or ranges, or are they 
scattered irregularl}^? Are there table lands or plateaus ? Do any of the hills 
have peaks? Are there streams flowing from opposite sides of the hills? Why 
do the streams flow in different directions? Which are the warmer slopes? Which 
are the dryer? Which slopes, if any, are wooded? Are there varieties of trees and 
shrubs growing on the hills that are not found in the valleys? Do the hills con- 
tain stone suitable for quarrying? Is there clay for brick-making, or sand for 
plastering? Are there metals of value? Is the land on slopes best suited to stock- 
raising, or grain growing ? Are there farm houses sheltered by the hills ? 

Other excursions may be planned for the purpose of studying physical features, 
plant or animal life. Visits to waterfalls, or to wild gorges, to grand forests, to 
museums, may be made profitable. 

The work of out-door observation may be carried forward in ways which will 
suggest themselves to the teacher who knows all the circumstances. The follow- 
ing plan may prove suggestive: 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 1^ 

1. Once a month (or oftener) after school, or on Saturday, the teacher may go 
with her classes for field work, alwaj^s having a definite purpose in mind. 

2. The older pupils may be sent out in small groups with chosen leaders, 
each group having work unlike that of other groups. 

3. Individuals may be selected to make special observations, each member of 
the class having something to do. 

Out-door observations should be followed by in-door conversations about things 
observed. Observations of pupils should be compared and corrected, interesting 
additional facts presented, the results of lessons given in definite form and made a 
part of geographical knowledge. The older pupils should give oral or written re- 
ports of what they have observed. 

Pictures from papers and magazines, and from other sources, will be found 
most valuable in giving true conceptions of mountains and other natural scenery, 
and should be used liberally. Things learned in the lower grades should be made 
the basis of all future work — constantly added to, but never lost sight of. Indeed, 
this is the valuable feature of this system, constantly progressive. 

Minerals. 

Soils. — Claj^, loam, sand and gravel. 
Rocks. — Limestone, sandstone, granite, quartz, flint. 
Metals. — Iron, lead, copper, tin, gold, silver. 
Coal. — What it is, uses of different varieties. 

Pupils may be asked to join in making a collection of minerals, including specimens of clays, 
sands, gravel, rocks, metals, etc. The best specimens from the large number sure to be brought 
in, should be labeled and arranged on shelves in the schoolroom. The soils may be placed in glass 
bottles or in small open boxes. The uses to which the different minerals are put should be a 
matter of observation and report. 

Call the attention of pupils to the crumbling sandstone, to the slowly wasting 
limestone, to the loosened crystals on the boulders, to the washing of banks of claj^, 
to the drifting of sand, showing the agency of frost, of water and wind in forming 
soils or wastes and in changing the aspect of the earth's surface. 

PL.A.NTS. 

Common trees and their nses. 

Common plants nsed/or/ood, clothing., medicine., etc. 

The plants ctiltivated for their food, fiber, oil; the wild plants valued for their 
fruit, their flowers or medicinal qualities; the plants which beautify our homes, 
and the chief forest trees and shrubs should be known by their common names if 
by no other. 



14 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

Talk about and make lists of plants that grow in the house, in the garden, in 
the field; of plants that are grown for their roots, their tops, their seeds, their fruit, 
their fragrance; that grow in the forest, in the open land, in the water; that creep, 
that climb, that come from other parts of the earth; talk of evergreen trees; of 
deciduous trees. 

Pupils will take pleasure in forming a cabinet of woods. Let them bring a specimen of wood 
from every kind of tree and shrub growing in the vicinity, cut in sections of uniform length; 
varnish, label and arrange on shelves. Besides the names of the wood write on each section what 
the wood is used for chiefly. 

With little labor the seeds of many varieties of plants may be gathered, put in small glass 
bottles, labeled and arranged on shelves. 

Watch the opening of buds in spring, the season of blooming; and the changing 
foliage of autumn. 

The distribution of seeds over the earth by natural means may be made the 
subject of profitable conversation, the dandelion, the soft maple, the cottonwood, 
the burdock, the famed Russian thistle and other plants in their season, furnishing 
seeds worth talking about. 

Talk about the things found in a grocery store. Where and how they were 
produced and how they came to us. Where convenient have objects brought be- 
fore the class when discussed. 

Some Wild Animals. 

The especially useful animals — beasts, birds, fish, insects should be made the 
subject of out-door study. Learn their habits, how they serve us, our duty towards 
them. 

Find out the following: animals that live on land, in the water, in the air; 
that make their homes in the earth, build their nests on the ground, in trees; that 
live in the woods, in open land, that live on seeds, on insects or flesh; that fly, that 
swim, that leap, that hop, that run; that live here all the year, that go away in 
autumn and return in spring; that live in warm lands, in cold lands. 

Study the language of the hen, the dog, the cat, the horse, the cow. Have 
pupils tell the meaning of some of the sounds made by animals. Notice the dif- 
ferent kinds of feet and teeth animals have and how they use them. Observe 
their means of defense and of escape from danger; how they are protected from the 
cold. 

The Weather — A Simple Weather Record. 

Is the weather cold ? moderate? warm? damp? dry? calm? 

Map Drawing, Etc. 
All map drawing up to the last of the fourth or first of the fifth year should 
be free hand. After that, pupil should learn to use diagrams or construction lines. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 15 

The thought is not to confine or limit the pupil to just the things indicated in 
the text-book or on the map, but that he shall make note of and locate on his map 
every place that may be brought to his attention, through reading, language work 
or conversation, and that these places become thereafter a part of his geographical 
vocabulary, to be added to his list of things known. Teachers and pupils should 
make such supplementary lists to be passed on to the upper grades with the class. 

As soon as the map of the Western Hemisphere is drawn by pupils, they 
should be required to locate especially prominent places in the United States (which 
should be marked off early). Such places should be far more numerous than those 
in other countries. Something of the products of one's own state, a few of the 
principal towns, bodies of water, etc., should be learned from a state map, and the 
position of this state should be indicated (not drawn) on the hemisphere map. No 
state map should be drawn at this stage, as it is very necessary to keep thoroughly 
in mind the comparative size of all countries. 

Some idea of the size or extent of any countr)', such as North America or the 
United States, may be given in the following manner: Take two places (one 
of which is the home of the pupil) on the hemisphere map whose distance apart is 
about one hundred miles, and which is known to many of the pupils from experi- 
ence in riding over it. Point these places out on the map. Determine by ques- 
tions how long a time is required to go from one place to the other on the cars, on 
foot; and then, how much longer it would take to go the greater distance, across 
the country in different directions, using the first distance as a basis of com- 
parison. 

In this connection, it maj' be said that lengths, widths, depths and areas are of such para- 
mount importance to the student of geography that we should have both boys and girls determine 
distances by careful measurements. Find the length, width and height of the school-room. On 
the floor draw a circle eight or ten feet in diameter. In the yard set stakes fifty feet apart; one 
hundred feet apart. Measure to some tree, post, rock or other object just one hundred feet from 
the school building; set a stake one thousand feet away. Find the height of the tree in the yard; 
the height of the school-house; the width of the road or street. Fix on two objects, houses for 
instance, that are a mile apart; ou a grove, a village or a dwelling that is four or five miles from 
the school (if in sight, all the better). Select a tract of land (one or more farms) containing one 
square mile; call attention to the fact that a Congressional township contains thirtj'-six square 
miles — is six miles square. 

These measurements are always before the pupils, and should be used at every step to aid 
the imagination. When not so used, the tall trees, the broad streams, the deep canons, the tower- 
ing peaks, the grand cataracts told of in the text-book are but little things, and geography a dull 
and meaningless study. Lay these measurements across the rivers, rear them beside the cliffs, 
let them down into the sea; take imaginary journeys up the mountain steeps on the backs of 
mules, cross deserts with the caravan, the ocean in steamships, the continent on trains, and geog- 
raphy will have a meaning, an interest it never had before. 



16 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

Maps should be drawn on black-boards as well as at seats. Careless work 
should not be accepted. 

By constant comparison and allusions lead pupils to understand that their 
flat maps represent a country diversified by hills, plains, mountains, valleys, lakes 
and rivers, such as they saw on their trip over the country. 

There should be no attempt at this stage to make relief or sand maps of any 
country or section of country. The relief of such maps must of necessity be 
grossly exaggerated and misleading. This work will come in due time and as a 
natural consequence after the great fact of contour, mountain, plateau, river, low 
plain and desert have been located and learned. There should be much oral drill 
in giving the directions of places from homes of pupils and from other places. The 
pupils should, of course, first have a mental picture of the position of all these 
places on the map. Position and direction of places must not be learned in any 
other way. The pupil needs practice, however, in oral expression of all that he 
knows and expresses in other ways. 

A variety of devices may be used to secure attention and interest. Pupils can 
make journeys to distant points, giving the direction they would take and naming 
all the lands or waters they would pass or go over on the way. Or they might 
suffer an imaginary shipwreck and be cast upon some island or cape, and be required 
to name two routes home, with directions, land and water passed over, as before. 

Questions should be brought before the school for consideration. The follow- 
ing might be written on the board to be answered on a Friday afternoon, others 
following from time to time: 

1. Have the rain clouds any connection with the springs? 

2. Why is the soil of the valleys usually richer than the soil of the hills? 

3. Where the soil of the valley is very sandy, what kind of rock may often 
be found along the borders of the valley ? 

4. Were the valleys always as wide and deep as we now see them? 

5. How were the pebbles in the knolls and along the beach rounded and so 
smoothly polished? 

Such questions awaken thought, especially when ample time is given to find 
out. The teacher herself should be able to give clear answers whenever her pupils 
fail. The interest will then be great. 

Pupils should be encouraged for well-doing in map drawing, and judiciousl}' 
corrected for faults. Only one or two corrections should be made at a time, the 
most important. But these should be insisted upon. Aim to secure greater and 
greater accuracy each day. The purpose in map drawing is to fix in the mind the 
form and size of all continents, islands, bodies of water, etc., with their relations. 
If diagrams or such devices are resorted to too early, the main thing, the form 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 17 

itself; will be lost sight of in the effort to remember how the map should be drawn. 
The devices will be remembered for a time, but at the sacrifice of form. Devices 
are used to secure greater accuracy of form, and to give the mind a definite basis 
for criticism after the form has become fairly well fixed, and should alwa3's be sub- 
ordinate to the form itself 

Map drawing is not an end^ but a means, a?td should be so used. Great accuracy 
is not essential to the end sought — general form, comparative size, relation — still 
it has value and gives satisfaction to the teacher and pupil, and is worth all the 
extra pains required to secure it. Map drawing shonld be freehand up to about 
the fifth grade, as already stated. 

The coast line is first drawn in even and continuous outline, and la.ter broken 
as represented. 

Pupils should cop3' from the model maps frequently, sometimes tracing them 
(for a change) on thin paper, and drawing them from memory as tests. An excel- 
lent exercise is to have pupils cut out paper forms of continents and the large 
islands and place them on a cardboard disk in proper position. 

XoTE. — The diagrams given in this book are the result of much study, and they have been care- 
fully tested in the school room. They are both simple and logical. Only natural relations have 
been sought. All diagram lines are derived from a common unit, the distance across South 
'Americaon the equator. As few lines as possible are given. Coast lines should be learned from 
maps. The diagrams should be used as given, without modification. Pupils who have little idea 
of form will find diagrams a great help, and all pupils will draw maps more quickly and accurately 
I'v means of them. 



FIFTH YEAR. 



During this year the plants and animals of the different zones should be 
taken up more thoroughly and in greater detail than heretofore, and especially the 
principal food and clothing plants. The pupil should be encouraged to look for 
this fuller information in his geography and other books to which he maj^ have 
access. 

Have the ptipil take frequent imaginary journeys to different parts of the 
earth, describing the climate, lands and waters, scenery, people and products along 
the route. 

Pupils shoitld now learn to draw their maps hy diagrams or construction lines 
and discuss proportions. 

Physical or relief maps should be drawn and cross sections of any cotmtry 
made; the separate countries marked off and the lines of latitude and longitude iu- 
dirated. 



18 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

SIXTH AND SEVENTH YEARS. 

In the Sixth and Seventh years the work should be enlarged. Enter into 
greater detail of elevation, slope, climate and other physical conditions, and pro- 
ducts and peoples of the different countries of the earth. 

Maps of the separate countries should be enlarged from the hemisphere maps 
and such details as desired put in and studied. Drawing the United States in de- 
tail (marking off the separate states) should be left till about the 6th year, though 
it may be studied from a text-book quite fully before this. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 

This scheme or limit of work is given simply to suggest what may be accom- 
plished in a given time. Those schools having more time to give to the study 
can readily and profitably expand and enrich the work. It should be remembered 
that the text-book contains the essentials only of the study. There is a broad field 
outside, simply hinted at, which the progressive teacher will draw from continually 
and encourage her pupils to do likewise. All should become investigators. 

All facts as to products, people, or country that may incidentally and legiti- 
mately come before the pupil, should be associated with their particular region on 
his map in addition to all that the book contains. 

After pupils have become proficient in map drawing by using diagrams, these 
should be gradually disused, carrying them in the mind only for comparison and 
criticism. The fortn should be dominant. 

Pictures, of which there is an abundant supply, should be made use of in 
illustrating diiTerent features of the work, such as scenery, cities, people, occupa- 
tions, modes of living and conveyance, etc. These and striking facts should be 
used to fix characteristic and great historical events at the same time with location. 

Books of reference, travel, exploration, biography, of information on important 
articles and of customs of people, and descriptions of countries should be used. 
Pupils can do much of this reading outside of school and make reports of it to the 
class. Copies of such books should be kept on the teacher's desk, where the pupils 
can have free access to them. 

Practice in map drawing should not be neglected. 

After the hemisphere maps are once drawn, the\^ should be drawn as often as 
twice a week, and in the fifth and sixth years as often as once in two weeks as re- 
view, indicating all features learned. By using initial letter of geographical 
features, much time and space can be saved. This work should be repeated 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 19 

occasionally during the remainder of the grammar and high school course. It will 
prove a highl}- useful adjunct to the study of history, physical geograph}- and 
literature. 

Compasses should be used in the upper grades for describing circles; in the lower 
grades disks of cardboard may be used. 

Care should be exercised to have hemisphere circles of same size when drawn 
together, whether on blackboard or on slates or paper. 

The maps used as models to copy from should be as perfect as possible and 
constructed on the same pro] rctioji. 

A map of any grand division or country should be modeled after the forms 
used in the hemisphere, though it may exaggerate some of the features. This 
exaggeration cannot be overcome entirely by any gystem of map drawing on flat 
surfaces. All countries are on the surface of a spliere, and can only be truthfully 
represented on a sphere, but this is impracticable for common purposes. The mar- 
gin of the map is especially exaggerated, but to attempt to modify or change this 
in tlie child's mind, will onl}^ lead to confusion, and the loss of the great end sought, 
namely: position, comparative size, relation, which far outweight in value all these 
defects. 

No two maps of the same country though drawn on the same scale will agree 
unless drawn on the same projection. The distance between any two places on a 
fiat map cannot be exactly found in miles though the latitude and longitude may 
be. The central portions of the hemisphere map are nearly correct but constantly 
exaggerate from center to margin, where the exaggeration amounts to more than 
one half. 

(The exact amount oi exaggeration can be determined by comparing the cen- 
tral meridian with half the circumference of the hemisphere. The central meridian, 
—half the circumference — and all intermediate meridians of the flat map, repre- 
sent corresponding meridians of the half globe or sphere, on which all these lines 
are equal. On the flat hemisphere map the central meridian becomes the diameter 
of a circle, of which the outer meridian is half the circumference. This is about 
fifty-seven-one-hundredths longer than the central meridian, and is the amount of 
exaggeration at margin.) 

The latitude and longitude of all places are correct. 

In estimating distances between places in miles, allowance can be made for 
this exaggeration near edge of map. 

Whenever a country or section of country is to be treated in detail, and a large 
view of it is desirable, the grand division containing the country (properly marked 
oft'j should be represented first and then the country itself should be drawn on large 
scale, or " magnified," from that. 



20 



NATURAL SYSTEM OF 



Later, in tiie advance work in geography, the pupil should be required to con- 
struct a map on the Mercator projection, and to give other views of the earth on the 
projection he has used in his hemisphere maps. This latter can be accomplished 
by first drawing hemisphere maps in customary way, indicating the latitude and 
longitude of all points. Then, with any other meridian desired as a central mer- 
idian of the new hemisphere to be drawn, construct the parallels and meridians, 
carefully marking the latitude and longitude of each point the same as in the other 
map. Connect these points by proper coast lines. This work must of necessity 
be slow. It tends to confuse the picture already in the pupil's mind and for this 
reason should not be employed except as an exercise and towards the last work in 
geography, when forms have been firmly fixed. 

The following lists of books for teachers and pupils contain a few of the many 
good books which should be read in connection with the study of geography. 



BOOKS FOR TEACHERS. 



Essay on Humboldt Aggassiz. 

Eife of Ritter Gage. 

Comparative Geography Ritter. 

Geographical Studies Ritter. 

Earth and Man Guyot. 

The Earth Reclus. 

The Oceans ; Reclus. 

The History of a Mountain .... Reclus. 
Lessons in the New Geography ■ Trotter. 

Teaching of Geography Geikie. 

Methods and Aids in Geography . King. 
Physiography Huxley. 



Physical Geography of the Sea . Maury. 

First Book of Geology Shaler. 

The Story of our Country Shaler. 

Geography of the Oceans Williams. 

The Earth as Modified by Human 

Action Marsh. 

The Ocean World Figuier. 

Elementary Lessons in Physical 

Geography. Geikie. 

Mathematical Geography Jackson. 

Astronomical Geography Jackson. 

Formation of Vegetable Mould. Darwin. 



BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 



All of the Cyclopaedias. 

Stanford's Compendium of Geography and 
Travel. (6 vols.) 

Brown's Countries of the World. (6 vols.) 

Brown's Peoples of the World. (6 vols.) 

Physical, Historical and Descrip- 
tive Geography Johnson. 

Cosmos. Humboldt. 

The Earth and its Inhabitants. . Reclus. 

The Natural History of Man. . .Pritchard. 



The Dawn of History KearJ^ 

Physical Geographies of Guyot, Maury, Apple- 
ton, Warren, Houston, Hinman. 

Forms of Water Tyndall. 

Depths of the Sea Thompson. 

The Ice Age in North America. Wright. 

Sketches of Creation Winchell. 

Le Conte's Geology 

Geography of River Systems. . .Lawson. 

Popular Astronomy Newcomb. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



21 



BOOKS FOR PUPILS. 
Third and Fourth Grades. 



Seven Little Sisters Andrews. 

Each and All Andrews. 

Little Lucy's Wonderful Globe. Yonge. 
Little Folks of Other Lands. 
Children of all Nations. 
Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard . Kirby. 

Sea and Sky Blackinton. 

Children's Fairy Geography. . . .Winslow. 

The Rollo Books Abbott. 

Madam How and Lady Why. . . . Kingsley. 



World at the Fireside Kirby. 

Little Folks in Feather and Fur. Miller. 

Life and Her Children Buckley. 

Ten Boys of Long Ago Andrews. 

Natural History Readers Wood. 

Georgie's Menagerie. 

My Feathered Friends Wood. 

Hans Brinker Dodge. 

Home Geography Long. 



Fifth and Sixth Grades. 



Our American Neighbors Coe. 

Modern Europe Coe. 

Zigzag Journeys Butterworth. 

Our Boys in India French. 

Our Boys in China French. 

Boy Traveller Series Knox. 

Little People of Asia Miller. 

Young Folks Abroad McCabe. 

Young Folks in Africa McCabe. 

Life in the North Schwatka. 

Orient Boys Keene. 

Up the Tapajos Ellis. 



Lost in the Wilds Ellis. 

Two Years Before the Mast Dana. 

Scribner's Geographical Reader. 
Knockabout Club in the Tropics . Stephens. 

At Last Kingsley. 

Alaska's Great River Schwatka. 

The Bodleys Abroad Scudder. 

Homes Without Hands Wood. 

Stories of Australia, India, China, Northern 

Europe and England. 
Stories of Industry — Vols. 1, 2. 
Articles in Readers and Magazines. 



Sixth ai^d Seventh Grades. 
The preceding list with the following additions: 



Humboldt's Travels. 

What Darwin Saw. 

The Pampas and the Andes .... Bishop. 

The Wanderers in Trinidad and 

up the Orinoco. Kingston. 

Florence Stories Abbott. 

Holland and its Peoples De Amicis. 

Sunny Spain Patch. 

The Land of the Midnight Sun.Du Chaillu. 

The Abode of Snow .Wilson. 

The Roof of the World Gordon. 

Land of the White Elephant .... Vincent. 

Tent Life in Siberia Kennan. 

Sailing on the Nile Laporte. 



Among the Huts in Egypt Whately. 

In the Wilds of Africa Livingston. 

Lost in the Jungle Du Chaillu. 

Central and South Africa Taylor. 

How I Found Livingston Stanley. 

Journey Across Australia Mortimer. 

Ocean Wonders Damon. 

Open Polar Sea Hayes. 

The World of Ice Ballantyne. 

The Last Days of Pompeii. Bulwer. 

Across Asia on a Bicycle. 
General History. 
Literature. 
Magazine Articles. 



THE STORY OF THE EARTH. 
I. 

In olden times people believed that the earth was flat, and, if one traveled far 
enough in any direction, he would finally come to its end or edge; but, as time 
went on and men made longer and longer journeys from home without seeming to 
come any nearer to the end, some began to think that the earth could not be flat 
after all, but round like a globe or ball. 

Among those who held this view was a sailor named Columbus. He felt 
so sure about it that he was quite willing to sail out on the great ocean far away 
from land, and by going wcsi^ try to reach the Indies — a country so rich in precious 
stones, spices and fine fabrics that the chief nations of Europe at that time sought 
its trade. 

The journey to that country was a very long one, requiring many months. It 
was made partly by water and partly by land. The land part of the journey was 
by caravans, and, as all goods had to be carried on the backs of animals, it was 
very slow, tedious and costly; besides, the people along the way finally became very 
hostile and gave much trouble. 

All believed it would be much better if the whole journey could be made by 
water, and articles of trade carried in ships, even if the distance were much greater. 
So, many efforts were made to find a water route to the Indies. 

The Indies lay far to the east^ and no one thought of reaching that country by 
going in the opposite direction, or laest^ as Columbus proposed to do. 

Columbus reasoned that, if the earth was round, any place on its surface which 
could be reached in one direction could also be reached by going in the opposite 
direction. Take an apple, or ball or a globe and see if this is true. 

In those days many people believed the ocean was full of frightful monsters 
that would devour men and ships if they ventured too far, and no one dared sail 
much out sight of land. 

It seemed to them that Columbus was foolish to attempt such things, and they 
called him crazy. They said if the earth was really round, as he claimed, he could 
not get back up the great hill of water when he had once sailed over it, and so he 
would never be seen again. 

Columbus persisted in his undertaking, however, as you all know, and made a 
famous voyage. He sailed farther from home than any one had ever done before, 
and came to a country which he thought was the Indies, and, as he had gone west 
to find it, called it the West Indies. 

(22) 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 23 

It was afterward found that he had not reached the Indies, but had discovered 
an entirely new country, and it was called the NEW or WESTERN WORLD. 

After this, most people believed that the earth was round, and one brave navi- 
gator, Magellan, thought he would sail around it, and started out to do so. He died 
on the way, but his crew and ships made the great journey after sailing in the same 
general direction for three long years. 

II. 

Since the time of Columbus people have visited nearly all parts of the earth 
for purposes of trade or discovery, and have told of the many interesting things 
they have seen and found on sea and land. Some people have written books telling 
of their journeys and discoveries. From them we learn that a vast ocean covers 
most of the earth and surrounds all the land. 

Were we standing on the wharf of a great seaport like New York, we could see 
coming in and going out ships from all parts of the world, with different flags, and 
with crews speaking different languages. 

Some of the sailors on these ships have visited countries where it is always 

summer, and they could tell us of the beautiful birds and flowers and of many 

'fine fruits, such as oranges, bananas, and dates, which grow there, as well as of 

some very strange plants, such as the bread-fruit tree and the cow tree, from which 

people get bread and milk. 

Others have visited regions where it is always winter, with the ground covered 
with snow and ice, so that no tree or any green thing, save moss and a few other 
small plants, can grow; where the people dress in furs and live in houses made of 
ice, and where the nights are sometimes many months long. 

Others still could tell of places where rain falls most of the time, and all vege- 
tation grows in the greatest luxuriance; of forests covering vast regions, and so 
dense that one could not walk through them; and then again of other places where 
rain never falls, barren wastes of sand and dust which one may journey over' for 
days without finding water, or seeing a blade of grass or anything green. 

Others could tell of tracts of land without mountains or hills, great plains ex- 
tending in all directions, some just barren wastes, others covered with grass, and 
still others with dense forests; of mountains so lofty they appear to reach the skies, 
with tops snow-covered all the year round and often wrapped in clouds; and of other 
mountains which throw' out fire and vapor in such quantities as in some cases to 
destroy and bury whole villages; of islands in the ocean which have been made by 
these fire mountains, or volcanoes; and of other islands, beautiful with trees and 
flowers, built by little animals of the sea, called coral-polyp. 



24 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

They could tell of many strange and interesting animals of sea and land; of 
people of the cold north, and of the warm and sunny south; of men who live in 
caves and huts and fight with bows and arrov/s; and of men who build beautiful 
cities and send ships to trade with all the world. 

They could show us that most of our choicest fruits, nuts, spices, and fine 
fabrics for clothing come from lands far away over the sea. Indeed, the sailors un- 
load these very products from their ships as we wait and they take on the products 
of our own country in exchange. 

We shall be interested to know more of all these things, — of this wonderful 
earth, our home; of its surface of land and water; of its animals and plants; and of 
its people, — where and how they live, and all about them. 

The study that tells us about these things is called Geography. 

Some Things to Learn and Remember. 

Many people now go around the earth every year. There are other reasons 
besides this for believing the earth is round. Among them is one that can readily 
be understood by all. 

If you should stand on the shore looking at a ship as it goes out to sea, you 
wotild notice that its lower part or hull disappears first, and the top-sails last. If 
the ship were coming in, the sails would appear first and the hull last. Now this 
could not be unless the earth is round. ^ 

We know that the sun does not rise or set at all as it appears to do, and as 
people used to think. The earth turns, or rotates., on a line running through its 
center called its axis., something as a top does, so the sun shines on different por- 
tions of it each day, thus giving us day and night. This axis always points to- 
wards the North Star. Its ends are called the poles. The end next the North Star 
is called the North Pole., and the opposite end, the South Pole. A line supposed to 
be drawn around the earth midway between the poles is called the Equator. 

We stay on the surface of the earth somewhat as iron clings to a magnet. 

Down is ahvays toivards the center of the earth., or towards our feet as we stand 
erect .^ and up is in the opposite directiojt. 

Men have measured the earth and found that its distance around, or circum- 
ference, is nearly 25,000 miles. From this they know that the distance through it, 
or its diameter, must be about 8,000 miles. It is so large the small portion seen at 
one time looks flat, and we can well understand how it was that the ancients 
thought the earth was a great plain. 

Names have been given to the five parts of the great ocean or Sea, as it is often 
called. They are the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic and Arctic. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 25 

The lesser bodies of water are called, in order of size, seas, lakes, ponds. 

The waters of the Sea and of some lakes are salt and unpleasant to the taste. 
Most other waters are fresh. 

The larger bodies of land are called Continents. They are North America and 
South America in the western half of the world, or Western Hemisphere, and 
Eurasia (Europe-Asia), Africa and Australia in the Eastern Hemisphere. North 
America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa are sometimes called Grand 
Divisions ; and Australia, an island. 

All the smaller bodies of land surrounded by water are called islands. 

Oceania is the name given to a portion of the Pacific Ocean containing many 
islands. 

A Coast Line is the border of all land where it meets the water. It usually 
means the land which borders the ocean and its arms. 

It is found that the bottom of the sea is very much like the surface of the land. 
It is composed of plains, plateaus (high plains), hills, valleys and mountains. 
Islands are just the tops of ocean mountains or plateaus. 

Many plants grow in the sea, and are called ma^'ine plants. The most common 
is seaweed. It sometimes covers large areas and is so thick vessels pass through 
it with difficulty. The Spaniards called these places Sargasso (grassjO Seas. 

A /'i??//'«5«/« is a body of land almost surrounded by water. The narrow neck- 
of land which connects a peninsula to another body of land is called an IstJimiis. 

A narrow passage of water connecting two larger bodies of water is called a 
Strait; if wide, a Chauticl. 

A point of land extending into the water is called a Cape; if high, a Promontory. 

Parts of bodies of water extending into the land ("Arms of the Sea"j are 
called Seas, Bays or Gulfs. 

A Mo2intain is the highest elevation of land. 

A River is a large stream of water flowing through the land. 

See if you can find these forms of land and water on a small scale near your 
home. Find them on a globe and the Hemisphere maps. 

The Hot Regions are about the Equator all around the earth, the Cold Regions, 
around the Poles, and the Moderate or Temperate Regions are between the Hot 
and Cold Regions — one on the north of the Hot Region and one on the south of it. 

A large town is called a City. 

The Capital of a country or state is the place where the laws are made and the 
chief officers live. Washington is the capital of our country. A Seaport is a town 
or city on or near the sea, having a harbor that can accommodate vessels. 

The largest city of a countrj' is called the Metropolis. 

The common road which goes by the school house connects with every other 
road and leads to ever}^ town and home on the main land of America. The rail- 



26 



NATURAL SYSTEM OF 



road track, wherever we see it, connects with all others in the country, and on it 
we may ride to Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans and to every other important 
town in the land. 

These two kinds of roads are the great highways of travel and traffic on land. 

Rivers, canals, lakes, seas and oceans are the great waterways of commerce. 

Maps. 

In order to study the earth as a whole, or to learn of the form, size and posi- 
tion of the different parts, we must have it represented on a much smaller scale, 
j ust as it is necessary for a builder to have the plan of a house drawn on a sheet of 
paper. The best representations of the earth are artificial Globes, on which are 
drawn the outlines of land and water. ' 

Generally, it is most convenient to represent the earth, or portions of it, on a 
flat surface, something as the plans of buildings and grounds are shown. Such 
representations are called Maps. 

Only half of a sphere or globe can be seen at a time. A half sphere is called a 
Hemisphere. The earth is usually represented as a whole by two hemisphere 
maps — Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere; also sometimes by Northern 
and Southern Hemisphere maps. 

On most globes of the earth, and hemisphere maps, are drawn lines extending 
from pole to pole, called Meridians. There are also other lines drawn parallel to 
the Equator which are called Parallels, or Parallels of Latitude. Places 
are located by means of these lines, as we shall learn later, and the direction of one 
place from another on the maps is shown by them. 



NOfiTH POLE 





£0U7H pQi.£ 



^007/f Pot-£ 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 




We have here: — " 

1. A picture of the world as a whole. 

2. A picture of the halves of the world, or hemispheres. 

3. Flat maps of these halves of the world, or heinisphcre maps. 



28 



NATURAL SYSTEM OF 




Sufi/riaGO 




SOUTH AMERICA. 

To the Teacher: — The outline of South America here given should be copied 
each day by pupils at beginning of third year. When fair proficiency has been 
obtained the features indicated on the next map may gradually be put in ; and in 
the following order: mountains --Andes, Brazilian; rivers — Amazon, La Plata, 
Orinoco, San Francisco; cities — Rio Janerio, Buenos Ayers, Santiago, Cape Horn. 
Next the map of North America should be taken up in the same way. Features 
should be represented in the following order: mountains ^Rocky, Appalachian ; 
rivers — Mississippi, Missouri, St. Lawrence, Columbia, Yukon, Mackenzie, Rio 
Grande, Ohio, Colorado; cities — New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Washington, 
St. Louis, San Francisco, Montreal, Sitka; Hudson Bay, Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of 
St. Lawrence, Cape San Lucas. As the features are represented on the map by 
the pupils the teacher should state what they are noted for, or briefly describe them. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



29 








NORTH AMERICA. 
To Teacher: — See instructions to teacher on page 28. 





y^roney 



AUSTRALIA. 
To Teacher: — See instructions on page 32. This map is to be copied after one on page 32. 



30 



NATURAI, SYSTEM OF 




WESTERN HEMISPHERE. 

To Teacher: — Pupils should copy this map, using it as a model, 
The Equator and Central Meridian should always be put in the circle before 
attempting to draw hemisphere maps. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



31 




WESTERN HEMISPHERE. 

To the Teacher:— Vw^Ws should copy this map, graduallj' putting in all the 
features as indicated, with their names. They should be required to give oral ex- 
pression to the mental pictures they have of places, by telling where they are 
located, the direction of any place from home and from any other place; also the 



32 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

route by water from one place to another, where possible. In no case should any- 
thing connected with the map be required in recitation that has not first been 
located on the map. 





CAPEfOWH 



sooo 



MOPS 



AFRICA. 



To the Teacher: — After the pupils have gained fair proficiency in drawing the 
preceeding maps they should draw the maps indicated here, following the general 
directions given on page 28. For Africa the order should be; mountains — Atlas, 
Snow; rivers— Nile, Niger, Congo, Zambesi, Orange; cities — Cairo, Capetown, 
Timbuctoo ; Desert of Sahara, Cape of Good Hope. 

For Australia the order should be: mountains — :Australian Alps, Blue Moun- 
tains, Victorian Mountains ; rivers — Darling, Murray ; cities — Melbourne, Sidney ; 
Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York. See page 29 for model map. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



33 




Eastern Hemisphere. 

To the Teacher: This map should be used as a model for pupils to copy. Slates or small sheets of paper 
■will serve for this practice at first. In all grades above the third, where more details are required, a larger size 
map is necessary. Practice paper for these grades should be a foot square ■where a single hemisphere is to be 
drawn, and 1x2 feet where both hemispheres are to be drawn side by side. Circles should be drawn full size of 
paper. Heavy newspaper stock, properly cut, will answer quite well. 



34 



NATURAIy SYSTEM OF 




EASTERN HEMISPHERE. 
To the Teacher: The directions given on page 31 for mastering the map of the Western Hemisphere will 
apply here, and should be carefully observed. Pupils should take up the features not already learned in about 
the following order: After the continents and islands have been drawn, the larger bodies of water should be 
located and named, then .the mountains, rivers, cities, capes, bays and gulfs, straits and channels. All features 
named on the map should be located by the pupil on his map before proceeding to advance work. By the end of 
the third year the zones should be definitely marked off by proper circles. The zones should be explained, their 
climate and products. The names of the typical plants and animals of each zone should be learned by the pupil. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



35 



How TO Draw the Tropics and Polar Circles. 

Divide each of the parts of the circumference and Central Meridian between 
the Equator and the Poles, north and south, into four equal parts. Connect with 
the circle called the Tropic of Cancer, the first points in circumference and Central 
Meridian on the north of the Equator, and similarly those on the south with the 
Tropic of Capricorn. 

In the same way connect the points nearest the North Pole for the Arctic 
Circle, and the points nearest the South Pole for the Antarctic Circle. For instance, 
in the accompanying figure divide E A, A B, A D, D C, C B, and C E, each into 
four equal parts. Then connect F, N and R with curved line — Tropic of Cancer, 
also H, ]M and K in same way — Arctic Circle, etc. 




These Circles should really be drawn a little beyond the points named, as 23i 
degrees is a little over one-fourth of ninety degrees (the distance from the Equator 
to the Poles). 

(71? tlie Teacher: Pupils should have some practice in drawing these Circles, 
and hereafter should use them in all Hemisphere map drawing. They will be of 
assistance in getting more perfect maps, and what is of more importance, fix the 
zones. Later, pupils should be able to name orally the different lands and waters 
in each of the zones. This can be learned quickly by requiring pupils to draw the 
hemisphere maps on slate or blackboard, and then erase all but the zone or zones 
to be considered.) 



36 



NATURAL SYSTEM OF 




To the Teacher: The hemispheres are brought together here for comparison. These maps of the two hemis- 
pheres, the world, should be kept before the pupil's mind until they become fixed as a whole, and all of their 
parts — their relation, comparative size, form, etc. In order to accomplish this, the pupil should be encouraged to 
copy these maps as soon as possible, and on the same sheet of paper, side by side. It is desirable that he use these 
maps for outlines and the following two maps for details, instead of the single maps which come before. The de- 
tails of one map need not be worked out before taking up those of the second. Indeed, it is better to carry the 
details of both maps along together, some in one and some in the other at the same time. 

The nature and eifect on climate of latitude, large bodies of water, ocean currents (especially the Gulf Stream 
and the Japan Current), winds (Trade and Return Trade) and altitude (mountains) should be explained in a sim- 
ple way, and these features indicated on the maps. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



37 




Pupils should learn here what is said in their primary geographies about their own countrj', the United States. 

Pupils may be readily taught to estimate distances in miles between places on their hemisphere maps. The 
distance around the earth is about 25,000 miles. One-half this, or the distance across their hemisphere maps in 
any direction through the centre would be about 12,400 miles; and one half this distance, or from the centre to 
circumference of the hemisphere would be a little over b,000 miles. One third of this last distance, or the distance 
across South America on the Equator, would be about 2,000 miles, etc. These distances may be used as bases of 
comparison, or units of measure. 



38 



NATURAL, SYSTEM OF 




To the Teacher: See that the pupil draws his map and represents on it all of the features named in following 
lists, so that he can give their location orally from the mental picture he has of them. By questions and other 
tests satisfy yourself that the pupil is depending on this mental picture, and is getting the picture more and more 
accurate each day. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



39 




The work should be taken up as indicated. All of one part should be thoroughly mastered before proceeding 
to the next, and when once leatned in this way, the impression should be kept fresh and intensified by constant 
review. At any point in the work all that has been taken should be at ready command. To secure accuracy of 
form pupils may practice drawing Grand Divisions outside of circle and on enlarged scale. 

All features from the beginning are given in the following list for convenience of review and reference. 
I'upil should search lor them in his own geography and locate them on his map as he forms it. 



40 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

The Continents. 

Eurasia, Africa, Australia in Eastern Hemisphere ; and North America and 
South America in Western Hemisphere. 

These are sometimes called Grand Divisions (in which case Europe and Asia 
form separate Grand Divisions). 

Oceans. — Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic, Arctic. 

Isthmuses. — Panama, Suez. 

Desert of Sahara^ Suez Canal. 

Seas. — Caribbean, Bering, Mediterranean, Red (famous in Sacred History), 
Arabian, Black, Caspian, Yellow (so called from its color), East China, South 
China, Japan, Okhotsk, Adriatic, Java, Celebes, Sargasso Seas. 

Straits and Channels. — Bering, Davis, Hudson, Magellan, Florida, Gibral- 
tar, Mozambique, Belle Isle, Yucatan Ch., Bab-el-Mandeb, Malacca, Ormus, Sunda. 

Capes. — Horn, St. Roque, San Lucas, Parina, Blanco, Sable (2), Hatteras, 
Pt. Barrow (most northern point of Alaska), Race, Farewell, Gallinas, Mendocino, 
Good Hope, Guardafui, Verd, York, Comorin, Rock of Gibraltar (strongest fortress 
in the world — belongs to the British), North Cape (most northern cape of Europe), 
Finisterre, Lands End, Spartel, Lisburne, St. Vincent, Brual. 

Gulfs and Bays. — Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay, Gulf of California, Bay of 
Bengal, Baffin Bay, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Gulf of Carpentaria, Persian Gulf, James 
Bay, Bay of Biscay, Gulf of Guinea, Gulf of Siam, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Bothnia, 
Gulf of Campeachy, Bay of Honduras, Tampa Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, 
Gulf of Darien, Bay of Panama. 

Most of the islands of the world are owned or controlled by the following 
nations : — Great Britian, United States, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, Port- 
ugal, Italy, Denmark. (See map of Europe.) 

Indicate ownership of islands on your maps as you learn them. 

Islands. 
Greenland (Denmark). Largest island in the world. 

r Cuba (Republic.) 
,^ -J. ,. 1 Hayti or San Domingo. (Two Republics — Hayti and San 

_ A Ml "i Domingo.) 

Greater Antilles. | Jamaica. (Br.) 

Sugar, Tobacco. |^ Porto Rico. (U. S.) 
Lesser Antilles. (To various nations.) 
' Borneo. (Br. and Neth.) 
Papau or New Guinea. (Br., Neth. and Ger.) 
East Indies. -| Celebes. (Neth.) 

r Sumatra. (Neth.) Pepper. 
^ Sunda Islands. \ Java. (Neth.) Coffee. 

Spices. [Timor. (Neth. and Port.) 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 41 

Philippine. (U. S.) Tobacco, sugar, coffee, rice. 
Madagascar. (Fr.) Cattle, India-rubber,sugar, vanilla. 

British Isles. Great Britain — ^Ireland. Most powerful and famous in the 
world. 

Japan. Hondo — Yezzo. Rice, tea, silk, curios. 

New Zealand. (Gr. Britain.) North— South— Stewart. 

Sandwich Islands. (U. S.) Has a tine climate — sugar. 

Tasmania. (Gr. Britain.) 

New Foundland. (Gr. Britain.) Near great fishing grounds. 

Iceland. (Denmark.) Eider duck, geysers. 

Ceylon. (Gr. Britain.) Coffee, cinnamon, tea, cocoanut. 

Nova Zembla. (Russia.) 

Bermuda Islands. (Gr. Britain.) Early vegetables — fine climate. 

Bahama Islands. (Br.) First land seen by Columbus in the New World. 

Aleutian Islands. (United States.) 

Pribiloff Islands. (United States.) Home of American fur seal. 

Komandorski. (Russia.) Home of Russian fur seal. 

Terra del Fuego. "Land of Fire." 

Vancouver. (Gr. Britain.) 

Baffin Land. (Gr. Britain.) 

Southampton. (Gr. Britain.) 

Falkland Island. (Gr. Britain.) 

Maraj OS or Joannes. (Brazil.) 

St. Helena. (Gr. Britain.) Place of Exile of Napoleon 

Sicily. (Italy.) Fertile soil, sulphur, wines, fruits. 

Sardinia. (Italy.) Sardines named from this. 

Corsica. (France.) 

Mountains. 

Range. Highe.st Peak. 

Rocky (1 1 ,000 ft.) Mt. Logan (19,500 ft.) 

Appalachian (3,000 ft.) .■ Mt. Mitchell or Black Dome (6,700 ft.) 

Andes (12,000 ft.) Aconcagua (23,300 ft.) 

Sierra de Espinhaco or Brazilian Mts. . . .Itacolumi (5,700 ft.) 

Himalaya (19,000 ft.) Mt. Everest (29,002 ft.). Highest range 

and peak in the world. 

Alps (8,500 ft.) ." Mt. Blanc (15,800 ft.) 

Caucasus Elburz (18,500 ft.). Highest in Europe. 

Pyrenees (8,000 ft.) Maladetta (1 1,000 ft.) 

Ural (3,000 ft.) Teplos (5,500 ft.) 



42 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

Mountains of East Coast of Africa Kilimanjaro (19,600 ft.) 

Scandinavian Mts Ymesfield (8,500 ft.) 

Apennines (4,000 ft.) Corno (9,500 ft.) 

Stanovoi. 

Elbruz (In northern Persia) .Demavend (21,000 ft.). Volcanic. 

Australian Alps (5,000 ft.) Mt. Kosciusko (7,200 ft.) 

Atlas Mts. 

Kong Mts. 

Thian-Shan (18,000 ft.) 

Altai (b,300 ft.) 

Yablonoi 

Suliman 

Mt. Vesuvius (4,200 ft.). Famous volcano which buried Pompeii and another city 

in one of its eruptions, — A. D. 79, 
Mt. ^tna. Volcano (10,700 ft.) 

Mt. Ararat (17,100 ft.). Famous in sacred history. 
Blue Mt. (4,000 ft.) 

Victoria Range. (The mountains of x'^ustralia are all low). 
Mt. Cook (Vol. 12,300 ft.) 
Mt. Fusiyama (Vol. 14,200 ft.) 
Mt. St. Elias (18,000 ft.) 

Mt. Sinai (9,300 ft.). Famous in sacred history. 
Mt. Olympus (Turkey, 9,700 ft.) 
Mt. Olympus (United States, 8,200 ft.) 
Mt. Ophir (13,800 ft.) 
Mt. Hecla (Vol. 5,100 ft.) 
Manua Loa (13,700 ft.) and 
Manua Kea (13,900 ft.). Two remarkable volcanoes on Hawaii, the largest of the 

Sandwich Islands. 

Rivers. 

Amazon. Largest river in the world. Niger. 

La Plata. Zambesi. 

Orinoco. Orange. 

San Francisco. Volga. Longest river in Europe. 

Mississippi. Longest river in North Yenisei. 

America. Ural. This with Ural Mts. forms part 

Missouri. of boundary of Europe. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 43 

St. Lawrence. In volume of water lar- Obi. 

eest in North America. Noted for Lena. 

its rapids and fine scener3\ Amoor. ■ 

Columbia. Famed for its beautiful Yang-tse-Kiang. 

scenery. . Hoang Ho. 

Yukon. Ganges. 

Mackenzie. Indus. 

Rio Grande. Euphrates. The oldest nations lived 
Colorado. Has cut a long channel a in its valley. 

mile deep through solid rock. Tigris. 

Nile. Overflows its valley at same Danube. Largest river in Europe. 

time each 3^ear making it very fertile. Murray. Chief river of Australia. 

Congo. Largest river in Africa. Darling. Chief tributary of Murray. 

Cities. 

New York. Metropolis and greatest sea-port of America. Next to London 
the largest city in the world, population over 3,000,000. 

Chicago. Greatest railroad center and largest grain, beef and pork market 
in the world. 

Washington. Capital of the United States. 

San Francisco. Metropolis of the Pacific coast. 

St. Louis. Metropolis of Mississippi valley. 

Rio Janeiro. Greatest coffee market in the world. IMetropolis of South America. 

Buenos Ayres. Second largest city in South America. 

Santiago. (S. A.) 

Valparaiso. Important seaport. 

London. Largest city in the world, population over 4,000,000. 

Paris. Called the most beautiful city in the world, is next to New York in 
size — population nearly 2,500,000. 

Berlin. Capital and metropolis of Germany — one of the great cities of the 
world. 

Rome. One of the oldest and most famous cities in the world — home of the 
Pope. 

Vienna. Beautiful city — metropolis of Austria. 

St. Petersburg. Built by Peter the Great — Capital of the Russian Empire. 

Moscow. Formerly capital of Russia. 

Lisbon. Capital of Portugal — destroyed by an earthquake (1 755). 

Madrid. Capital and metropolis of Spain. 

Constantinople. Famous city — capital of Turkey. 



44 



NATURAIv SYSTEM OF 



Pekin. Capital of Chinese Empire. 

Canton. Great seaport. 

Tokio. Capital and metropolis of Japan. 

Calcutta. Metropolis of India. 

Bombay. Next to Calcutta the most important city of India. 

Cairo. Metropolis of Africa. 

Cape Town. Most important town of southern Africa. 

Alexandria. Built by Alexander the great. 

Timbuktu. Important French trading post. 

Melbourne. Capital and metropolis of Australia. 

Sidney. Next to Melbourne in size. 

Marseilles. Great Seaport. 

Directions in Full for Drawing Maps by Diagrams. 
Western Hemisphere. 

The unit of measure used in the diagrams of the Western Hemisphere is the 
distance across South America along the Equator. This equals (very nearly) one- 
third of the distance from the center of the map to the margin, or one-third of the 
line C D (or one-twelfth of the distance around the earth). 

The diagrams are given alone and also with the continents drawn in the hemi- 
spheres (both being lettered alike); but each continent should first be drawn 
separately, and outside of the circle until some skill has been acquired. For this 
reason, the directions are given as though the continents were not in the circles. 





The diagram of South America, which should be taken first, is constructed as 
follows : 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



45 



HOf^TH POL£ 




so^rn POLE. 



Key to Diagrams. — A B (="C A =B D) equals middle third of C D, and is unit of measure for \V. Hemi- 
sphere (S. American Unit). M N (I-3 A B) is drawn at an angle of 45" with Central Meridian (diagonal of square 
prolonged). P. is middle point of M N. 

To find O describe intersecting arcs with M and N as centers, and the line M N as radius. 

To find S use M and N as centers and radii equal to 1.'+ A B and I73 A B, respectively. (M is at Cape 
San Liicas, F at Cape St. Roque, and O T is boundary of Alaska.) 



46 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

Take a horizontal line A B of any convenient length and at its middle point, I, 
erect the perpendicular J I, equal to one-half of A B. Also draw the line I H, 
twice the length of A B, and so that the point H is a little to the left of a perpen- 
dicular A X, let fall from the extremity of A B (as shown in the figure). 

Draw the perpendicular line B G, equal to one-fourth A B, and the horizontal 
line G F, equal to one-half of A B. 

F represents Cape St. Roque, the most eastern point of South America. The 
outline of the map should now be sketched without other lines or points than 
those given. Observe that the northern coast of South America does not extend 
quite as high as I J, or half of A B. 

When the map of South America is drawn in a circle observe that A B is the 
middle third of C D. The large bend in the western coast is some distance above 
the Tropic of Capricorn, while the bend in the eastern coast begins near that circle. 
Cape Horn is situated midway between the Central Meridian and the boundary 
circle. 

Diagram of North America. 

First take a line which may represent the distance across South America along 
the Equator as the unit of measure. Fromapoint, as M, which represents Cape San 
Lucas, draw both a perpendicular and horizontal line — the latter extending to the 
right; as M Z and M W. From the point M and just half way between these lines, 
or at an angle of 45 degrees, draw another line and extend it until it shall equal 
1 -/i, the unit of measure, as the line M N. (This line can be easily drawn by first 
constructing a square, using equal parts of the perpendicular and horizontal lines 
as two sides of the square, as shown in the figure by dotted lines. Then draw the 
diagonal of this square from the point M and extend it as far as desired.) 

The line M N is one side of an equilateral triangle. Using M and N as centers 
and the line M N as a radius, describe arcs cutting each other at O. Connect 
O with M and N. The point O is on the boundary between Alaska and British 
America. At the middle point of M N drawn the line P R at right angles to it and 
equal to J^ of M N. 

R is just off the coast above Florida. Connect R with M and N. R M and 
R N are equal and only a little less that the unit of measure. 

O T, the eastern boundry of Alaska, makes an angle with O N a little greater 
than a right angle. O T and O K (an extension of O N) are each equal to about 
* one third of the unit of measure. 

:, M S is equal to 1 ^ of the unit of measure. N S is equal to M N and is 

used to locate the point S which is a little way on the mainland of South America. 
To find S use AI as a center and with a radius equal to 1 ^ times the unit of 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY 47 

measure describe an arc; and with N as a center and M N as a radius describe all- 
ot lier arc cutting the first at S. The map can no^y be drawn. 

When the map is drawn in the hemishere it should be observed (1), that the 
southern point of lower California, or M, is at the junction of the cejitral Meridian 
and Tropic of Cancer^ (2) that the Tropic of Cancer passes between Cuba and 
Florida; and (3) that A B, or distance across South America at equator, becomes 
the unit of measure. 

How TO Describe Circles about South America and North America when 
Drawn Separately and without Circles. 

In South America extend A B both ways, so that the extensions, or A C and 
B D, shall each be equal to A B. With C as a center and C D as a raduis describe 
the circle required. 

In North America extend the perpendicular first drawn (which is really a 
part of the central Meridian) below M a distance equal to ^ of the unit of measure, 
ortoC. With C as a center and three times the unit of measure as a radius describe 
the circle. (The unit of measure can always be determined, if not known, by divid- 
ing the distance M N, or M O, into five equal parts and taking a line equal to three 
of these parts. This is evident from the fact that M N is equal to I73 or I times 
'' the unit of measure. Three of these five parts would then be equal to the unit of 
measure.) 

The numbers on the lines of the diagrams indicate their lengths as compared with 
that 6f the South American unit, unless otherwise noted. 

Eastern Hemisphere. 

In the diagrams for the Eastern Hemisphere the distance across Africa on the 
Equator, or X Z, is the unit of measure. This distance equals \\ times the South 
American Unit and nzay be called the African Unit. 

Diagram of Africa. — Take a horizontal line X Z of any convenient length, and from its 
middle point let fall the perpendicular line H K, equal to xy^ times X Z. K represents the Cape 
of Good Hope. From Z draw Z f at an angle of 45 degrees and equal to a little less than half 
XZ. 

The five lines X Z, Z B. B F, F A, and A X are all equal. 

B represents the south eastern point of the Mediterranean; F, Cape Spartel — just opposite 
the Rock of Gibraltar; and A, Cape Verd. 

In order to draw this figure, it is first necessary to find the point F. Divide X Z info eight 
equal parts and take the point g at a distance to the left of X equal to one of these parts. At the 
point g erect a perpendicular g F equal to eleven of these parts, or y of X Z. The sum of the 
two lines X g and g F is thus equal to V or 1 Y-z times X Z. 

To find the points A and B use F, X and Z as centers, and X Z as a radius and draw 
nrcs intersecting at A and B. 



48 



NATURAL SYSTEM OF 



ffOJiTMPOie 




Sout/iPole 



Key to Diagram.-V, X=S. American Unit=K D C. X Z=African Utiit=li S. American Unit. 
To find B and A describe intersecting arcs from F, X and Z as centers, with radius equal to X Z. 
To find N use O and W as centers and 3 times X Z and l}i times X Z as radii, respectively. 
J I is parallel to O N. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



49 




/-? 





50 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

The outline of the map may now be drawn. 

When the map of Africa is to be drawn in a circle observe that D X is ys of D C, or equal 
to the South American Unit; and that X Z is equal to li of this distance. 

The African Unit may be changed to the South American Unit by taking away ^-^ of it- 
self. The African Unit is derived from the South American unit by adding i of the South 
American Unit to itself. 

(To divide a line into eight equal parts first divide it into two equal parts, and each of these 
halves into two equal parts, and then each of the quarters into two equal parts. To get the 
seventh of a line take a trifle more than an eighth of it.) 

To describe a circle about Africa extend the line Z X to D, making X D equal to a South 
American Unit. Then draw D C, equal to three times this unit. From C as a center, with 
C D as a radius, describe the circle required. 

Diagram of Azistralia. — From any ppint, P as a center and with a radius equal to the 
Africaji Unit, describe the arc Q V. The line P U should fall below the horizontal as indicated 
in the figure. The distance Q U is equal to J^ the African Unit, and the distance Q V is equal 
to H K, or the distance that Africa extends below the Equator — e K is a little less than half of 
the African Unit. Draw P O. The outline of the map may now be drawn. 

To draw ^ r:iap of Australia in a circle it will be necessary to remember that the line P U lies 
along the Tropic of Capricorn, and that P marks the half way point between the Central Meridian 
and boundary circle. 

Diagram of Eurasia. — Draw a horizontal line of indefinite length, and from the extremity 
O (representing a place just south of Cape St. Vincent) measure off a distance equal to 3^ times 
the African Unif, or the line O W. 

R is a point on the north west coast of the Black Sea, as indicated; and \V represents Cape 
Brual. 

To find the point N use O as a center with a radius equal to three times the the African 
Unit, and W as a center with a radius equal to 1^8 this unit and describe arcs. N will be the 
point where these arcs intersect. Draw O N and N W, and also the line I J parallel to O N and 
at a distance from it equal to ^ of the African Unit. 

From the points R, G, M and W let fall perpendiculars to the distance of one African Unit, 
and draw the line b L. Also at the middle point of R G draw the perpendicular d c, and note 
that this line extended determines the position of the Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea and north eastern 
extremity of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Corsica and Sardinia come at the middle of O R. 
G a determines the position of India. The outline of the map may now be drawn. The numbers 
on the lines of the diagrams indicate their lengths as compared with the African Ujiit. 

To draw Eurasia m a circle, first obtain the point F, and then place the point O a little to 
left and above it when the line O W and rest of diagram may be drawn as before. Or, take C t 
equal to the South American Unit and at the point t erect a perpendicular t R equal to a little less 
than 1 J^ times the African Unit. The point R being found, the diagram can be readily drawn. 

How to describe a circle about the map of Eurasia: From T, the second division of O N, 
let fall a line perpendicular to the horizontal line O W, and extend it to C, or until the whole 
line T C equals lyi times the African Unit. As the point T is on the Central Meridian, the line 
T C coincides with it and the point C is the center of the circle desired. The radius of this 
circle is the line C N, or a line equal to three times the South American Unit. 

The larger islands may be drawn more accurately by comparing their lengths with the South 
American and African Units. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



51 



To the Teacher: Pupils should have much practice in drawing these bodies of land, putting 
them in circles and drawing them on any scale, deriving one scale of measure from another. 
After a time the diagrams should be gradually left off and the maps drawn free haiid — the diagrams 
being retained in Ike memory as a basis for criticism and test of accuracy. Only excellent work should 
be accepted. 

Locate the following on yotir maps: 



Mountains. 



Sierra Nevada (U. S.). 
Sierra Nevada (Spain). 
Coast Range. 
Cascade Range. 
Alleghany. 



Highest 



Mt. Whitney (14,900 ft.). 

peak in U. S. 
Acary. 
Parime. 
Cotapaxi (16,300 ft.). Most active and 

violent volcano in the world. 



Rivers. 



Cambodia or Mekong. 

Brahmaputra. 

Irrawaddy. 

White Nile. 

Blue Nile. 

Parana. 

Uruguay. 

Maderia. 

Tapajos. 

Negro, (2). 

Tocantins. 

Xingu. 

Nelson. 

Sacramento. 

Ohio. 

Fraser. 

Saskatchewan. 

Rhine (Famous for its beautiful scenery). 



Cassiquiare (Forms jttnction between 
Orinoco and Amazon so a boat can 
pass from one to the other in the 
rainy season.) 

Jordan and Dead Sea (Famous in sacred 
history. The Jordan flows into the 
Dead Sea which is more than 1300 
feet below the sea level — the grreatest 
depression of land in the world. The 
water of this sea is very salt and 
bitter. Why? The lake can have no 
otitlet. Why ?) 

Thames (London). 

Seine (Paris). 

Neva (St. Petersburg). 

Tiber (Rome.) 

Loire. 

Tagus. 

Ebro. 



Cities. 

Boston (Great seaport, also leather and Hammerfest (Most northern town of 
wool market). Europe) 



52 



NATURAL SYSTEM OF 



Cincinnati (Metropolis of Ohio valley). 

Kansas City (Railroad center and stock 
market). 

Portland (2). Important seaports. 

Pittsburg (Iron, coal and glass). 

Omaha (Railroad and trade center). 

Galveston (Next to New Orleans most 
important Gulf port). 

Denver (Metropolis of Rocky Mountain 
region). 

Buffalo (Important lake port). 

Sitka (Principal town of Alaska). 

Minneapolis (Has greatest flour mills 
in the world) . 

St. Paul (Important railroad center). 

Los Angeles (Metropolis of Southern 
California). 

Montreal (Built on an island in the St. 
Lawrence River — metropolis of Can- 
ada. The great Victoria Railroad 
Bridge, one and a half miles long and 
sixty feet high, crosses the river). 

Para (Greatest rubber market iu the 
world). 

Nizhni Novgorod (Famous for its annual 
fairs for sale and exchange of mer- 
chandise amounting to millions of 
dollars). 

Jerusalem (Famous in sacred history as 
the great city of the Jews). 

Shanghai (Important seaport). 

Yokohama (Important seaport). 

Genoa (Home of Columbus). 

Naples (Metropolis of Italy — has a 
beautiful bay). 

Bangkok (Called the" Floating City " 
on account of the large number of 
houses built on boats and piles). 

Smyrna (Ancient seaport). 



Mecca (Sacred city of Mohammed and 
to which all his followers are ex- 
pected to make a pilgrimage some- 
time during their lifetime.) 

Hangchow. 

Winnipeg. 

Milwaukee. 

Vera Cruz. 

Ottawa (Capital of Canada). 

Quebec. 

Halifax. 

St. Johns. 

Havana (Metropolis of Cuba — great 
tobacco and sugar market). 

Victoria. 

Bahia (Beautifully situated on bay of 
emerald water). 

Havre (Important seaport). 

Oporto (Port wine). 

Malaga (Grapes and wine). 

Muscat. , 

Zanzibar. 

Venice (A beautiful city whose streets 
are canals). 

Odessa (Great grain market). 

Florence (Famous for its art galleries). 

Vladivostock (Proposed terminus of the 
great railway across Siberia). 

Tobolsk. 

Irkutsk (Largest city in Siberia — great 
center of fur trade). 

Glasgow (Ship building). 

Mexico (Capital and metropolis of 
Mexico). 

Dublin (Largest city in Ireland). 

Edinburg (Has a great university and 
libraries). 

Palermo. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



53 



Honolulu (Situated on Oahu island. It 
is tlie capital of the Sandwich Islands). 

Hamburg (Next to London and Liver- 
pool — the most important seaport in 
Europe). 

Athens (The ancient center of Art, 
Poetry and Eloquence). 



Aukland (Important seaport). 

Damascus (Largest city of Turkey-in- 
Asia — over 4000 years old — Damask 
silk made there — famous Damascus 
blades of ancient times made in this 
city). 



Lakes. 



Winnipeg. 

]\Ianitoba. 

Winnepegosis. 

Great Slave Lake. 

Lesser Slave Lake. 

The Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, 

Huron, Erie, Ontario.) 
Itasca (Source of Mississippi). 
Maracaibo. 



Titicaca (Highest large lake in America, 

12,600 feet above sea). 
Victoria and Albert (Source of the 

White Nile). 
Tanganyika (Head of a branch of 

Congo). 
Nyassa (Head of a branch of Zambezi). 
Baikal. 
Balkash. 
Aral Sea. 





Peninsulas. 




South America. 




Alaska. 




Africa. 




Alaskan Peninsula. 


Europe. 




Labrador. 




Iberian (Spain and : 


Portugal). 


Florida. 




Scandinavian (Norw 


'ay and Sweden). 


Jutland. 




Indo-China (Or Farther India). 


Nova Scotia. 




Hindustan. 




Lower California. 


Arabia. 




Yucatan. 




Greece. 




Kamchatka. 




Balkan (All country south of line con- 


Malay. 




necting northern 


part of Black Sea 


Corea. 




with Adriatic). 




Crimea. 




Italy. 










Straits and 


Channels. 




Macassar. 


La Perouse. 




Yucatan Channel 


Torres. 


Corea. 




Sangar. 


Fox Channel. 


Molucca Passage. 


Cook. 


Formosa Channel. 


Windward Passage. 


Bass. 


Tartary Channel or 


Gulf Mona Passage. 


Palk. 



54 



NATURAL SYSTEM OF 



Capes. 



East Cape. 

Prince of Wales. 

Cod. 

Matapan. 

Romania. 

Cambodia. 

Bon. 

Palmas. 

Blanco. 

Race. 

Sable. 

North. 



North West Cape. 

York. 

Howe. 

Corrientes. 

Orange. 

Frio. 

Clear. 

Spartivento. 

Ortegal. 

Lapatka. ■ 

Agulhas. 



Indicate on your maps boundaries of 

' Australasia. 

^ . Malaysia. 
Oceania i tv/t i • 
! Melanesia. 

1^ Polynesia. 
Distinguish volcanic islands from coral islands by proper marks. 



Islands. 



Orkney (Br.) 

South Shetland. 

South Orkney. 

Faroe (Denmark). 

Balearic (Sp.) 

Elba (Italy). Residence of Napoleon 
for part of a year after his abdica- 
tion. 

Ionian (Greece). 

Queen Charlotte (Br.) 

Andaman (Br.) 

Laccadive (Br.) 

Maldive (Br.) 

Banca and Billiton (Neth.) Contain 
richest tin mines in the world. 
Banca supplies the purest tin. 



Juan Fernandes (Chile). On which 
Alexander Selkirk was wrecked and 
lTve3Tor~y^ars^ suggesting the story 
of Robinson Crusoe. 

Liu Kiu (Japan). 

Kurile (Japan). 

Saghalen (Rus.) 

Samoa or Navigator. 

Fiji (Br.) 

New Caledonia (Fr.) 

Moluccas or Spice (Neth.) 

Loyalty (Fr.) 

New Hebrides (Fr.) 

Solomon (Ger.) 

Cook (Br.) 

Admiralty (Ger.) 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 55 

Formosa (Ceded to Japan by China in Fanning (Br.) 

1895. Produces finest tea). Society or Tahiti (Fr.) 

Candia or Crete (Turkey). Austral or Tubuai (Fr.) 

Cyprus (Br.) Marshall (Ger.) 

Canar}' (Sp.) Touched by Columbus Marquesas (Fr.) 

on his voyage to America. Gambler (Fr.) 

Ferro of Canary group (Most western Bismark Arch. (Ger.) 

land known to the ancients). Socotra (Br.) 

Cape Verd (Port.) Fernando Po (Sp.) 

Malta (English stronghold). Great Barrier Reef. 

Maderia (Port.) Kangaroo (Br.) 

Hebrides (Br.) Caroline (Sp.) 

Isle of Man (Br.) Ladrone (Sp.) 

Shetland (Br.) Source of Shetland Barbadoes (Br.) 

ponies. Victoria Land. 

Spitzbergen (Neth.) Wilkes Land. 

Azores (Port.) Franz Josef Laud. 

Mark off on your maps the countries of North America and South America, 
and, later, those of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. 

Refer to the maps in your geographies for things not found in this book. 

Some Things To Remember. 

Observe and remember that the large mountain ranges are generally near the 
edge of the continents, with their most abrupt slope on the side nearest the ocean ; 
2 — that most of the land is in the northern hemisphere ; 3 — that most of the con- 
tinents are triangles in form, with the small end or apex pointing south; 4 — that 
the most civilized and progressive nations live in the North Temperate Zone. 

{To the Teacher: — Pupils should be required to take imaginary journeys fre- 
quently to different parts of the earth — around any continent or the earth itself 
(in anj^ direction) and tell about the waters and lands on or near the route, 'the 
climate^ products and people. They, should be required to stop at any point on 
the journey and tell the direction they are going and the direction of an}^ other 
point from them, the land or water to the north, south, east or west. They should 
be able to coast along any shore and name the principal bays and gulfs and rivers 
they would come to in order. 

. They may take up their abode in faraway lands and write letters home telling 
of their journey and describing the country, products and people. The reasoning 
powers, imagination and expression (oral and written) should be constantly culti- 
vated. No study offers a better field for this work than geograph}-. 



56 NATURAIv SYSTEM OF 

Pupils should use their regular text-book in geography constantly for refer- 
ence, and should recite from it, taking it in regular order, except where it conflicts 
with the plan here indicated. In such case, the text-book must be subordinate to 
this system, if both are used, or confusion and failure will follow.) 

Indicate on your maps the Trade Winds, Return Trade Winds, Calm Belts 
and Monsoons. 

Indicate on your maps the boundaries of the following: 

Highlands and Plateaus. 

Plateau of Tibet (10,000 to 18,000 ft.). Has small rainfall and but little vegetation 

— inhabited by scattering tribes of rude people. 
Pamir Plateau (over 12,000 ft.). Called the "Roof of the World." Mountain 

ranges diverge from it in all directions. 
Andes Plateau (8,000 to 13,000 ft.). In contrast to that of Tibet, it has frequent 
rains; grain and other vegetation grow well; and it is settled by an active and 
progressive people. 

'Rocky Mt Plateau (6,000 ft.) 
Great Basin (5,000 ft.). A vast basin-like valley 
crossed by many mountain ranges. Has little 
rainfall and its streams have no outlet to the sea. 
It is generally arid and parts of it are very barren. 
"^^^ j^'r'^J! "i Within this basin is "Death's Valley." Many 
people have perished from thirst in attempting to 
cross it. 
Mexican Plateau (over 7,000 ft.). Northwest portion 
receives but little rainfall. Some other portions are 
dry and barren part of the year. 

Plateau of Labrador (2,000 ft.). This plateau is bleak and barren for the most part, 
due to the cold winds from the interior of the continent and nearness to the Arc- 
tic current. 

Atlantic Highlands (2,000 ft.). The Appalachian Mountains are much older than 
the Rocky Mountains and were originally higher, but have been worn down to 
present altitude by action of water and other causes in ages past. They are 
mostly covered with forests. The foot hills and lower levels are very productive. 
Rainfall is abundant. 

Hight of Land (2,000 ft.). This is believed to be the oldest land in the world, or 
first to rise above the water. It is the divide between the Mississippi system and 
Arctic system of rivers. The incline of land is very gentle each way. 



Pacific Highlands. Receives 
very little rainfall except 
on mountains 
hills. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 57 

Brazilian Plateau (2,500 ft.). Receives sufficient rainfall for growth, of vegetation. 

Highlands of Guiana (1,500 ft.). Receives abundant rainfall. 

Plateau of Ab3-ssinia (6,000 ft.). Rainfall is light in the northern or highest part 
of plateau, but more abundant in the southern part, where large crops are raised. 
Canons 3,000 to 4,000 feet deep have been cut in this plateau by rivers. 

Central Table-Land of Africa (1,500 to 2,500 ft.). Across the central portion or 
along the Equator the rainfall is very copious and all vegetation is luxuriant. 
The rainfall diminishes toward the north to the Sahara Desert, and also on the 
south to the Desert of Kalahari. 

Mongolian Plateau (2,000 to 4,000 ft.). This region has very little rainfall and 
vegetation. The Desert of Gobi, included in this plateau, has sufficient rainfall, 
especially in the eastern part, to support scanty grass and shrubs, which serve 
as forage to the caravans of camels which pass over it. The high mountains on 
all sides of this plateau deprive the atmosphere of its moisture before passing 
over it. 

Plateau of Deccan (2,000 ft.). The southern part of this plateau is well supplied 
with rain. There is little rain in the northern part, however, and droughts are 
common. Irrigation is necessary to the raising of crops here as well as in many 
other parts. 

Plateau of Asia Minor and Iran (5,000 ft.). The rainfall is light and part of this 
section is a desert. 

Arabian Plateau (5,000 ft.). Nearly all of the central portion is barren. The pro- 
ductive portions are along the coast and in the valley of the Euphrates and 
Tigris, where irrigated. 

Scandinavian Plateau (2,000 to 5,000 ft.) and 

Highlands of Central and Southern Europe (800 to 2,000 ft.). Rainfall is abun- 
dant on these two plateaus. , 

Spanish Plateau (2,500 ft.). The rainfall is so slight on large portions of this 
plateau few trees and little vegetation grow. 

Lowlands. 
As a rule all plains on the coast receive abundant rainfall, but there are some 
notable exceptions. Name two. 
Low Plains of Europe. Most of the northern portion of Europe, except Norway and 

Sweden, is a low plain, well watered and very productive. The valley of the Po 

is made up of alluvial soil and is very fertile, but requires irrigation to produce 

crops. 
Siberia, Steppes. The Steppes where rainfall is sufficient produce abundant crops 

of wheat and other grain. The central plain of Siberia is dry and produces but 

little vegetation. It is settled chiefly by nomadic people. 



58. NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

India. The plains of the Indus and Ganges are extensive and very fertile. The 
upper portion receives an immense rainfall from the summer Monsoons, but the 
lower valleys require irrigation. The costal plains are fertile and well watered, 
but unhealthy. 

Turkistan. The plains of Turkistan and those about the Caspian and Aral Seas 
are almost barren on account of the little rainfall. This region is inhabited by 
nomadic people. 

China. The great plain of China is made up of the alluvial soil brought down by 
the Yellow and Yang-tse rivers, principally by the former and is exceedingly 
fertile and well watered. This plain supports more than a hundred million 
people. The Yellow River gets its name from the yellow soil which it brings 
down from the upper regions. It colors the sea for some distance. The Yellow 
River is shallow and is hardly navigable, while the Yang-tse is navigable for over 
a thousand miles. 

Babylonia or Valley of the Euphrates and Tigris. The soil of this valley is very 
fertile but crops can be raised only by irrigation. 

Africa. Africa is almost wholly a plateau. It has a narrow costal plain and low 
plains near Tchad and in the lower Nile valley. The Niger has the largest delta 
and the Congo the largest volume of water. 

Australia. Central Australia is a dry arid plain for most of the year. Rains are 
uncertain. 

North America. The principal plains of North America are the Gulf plain, At- 
lantic coast, valleys of the Mississippi, St. Lawrence and Mackenzie. The Gulf 
Plain, Atlantic Coast and Mississippi valley are well watered and very productive. 
The Pacific coast is bold and hilly for the most part. It is well watered from 
northern California to Bering Sea. Lower California has little rainfall and re- 
quires irrigation to grow crops. 

South America. The Llanos of the Orinoco, Selvas of the Amazon, Pampas of La 
Plata and Coastal Plain. The Llanos and Pampas are very similar, in that 
they are both deserts a portion of the year and at another part of the year have 
abundance of rain and are covered with nutritious grasses on which large herds 
of cattle fatten. The grass of the Pampas is very tall and called Pampas Grass. 
Large herds of wild cattle and horses graze on the Pampas and are caught by the 
lasso. The Selvas, the vast forest plains of the Amazon, have large rainfall. 

Swamps. Everglades of Florida. Dismal Swamp. 

Marshes of Pinsk. Mississippi Delta. 

Tundras of Siberia, Europe and North America. The Tundras are low level plains 
on the northern border of these countries. They are frozen many feet deep most 
of the year, but during the short summer the surface thaws to a shallow depth 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 59 

when lichens and moss, the food of the reindeer, flourish. In the spring the 
Mackenzie, Obi, Lena, Yenisei and other Arctic rivers, being blocked at the north 
with ice, overflow and cover vast tracts with water. The Tundras which are 
almost impassable in summer are readily traversed in winter. Large herds of 
American reindeer, called Caribou, feed on the plains west and north of Hudson 
Bay. The Tundras are the home of the reindeer. They are sparsely inhabited. 
South of the Tundras are the forest plains. 

Draw on your maps lines representing limits of Wheat, Snow, Trees and Icebergs. 
The Climatic Zones of the northern hemisphere differ somewhat from those of the 

southern hemisphere. Why ? 

Draw the Isotherms for every 20 degrees Fahrenheit upon your maps. Account 

for the abrupt changes in direction of the Isotherms as far as you can. 

Relief Maps. 

From your knowledge of the continents — their rivers, mountains, highlands 
and lowlands — you will be able to make relief maps of them. 

We know that the Amazon river flows east. What does this tell us of the 
slope of the country through which it flows ? We know first that the whole of the 
basin of the Amazon must slope east. This is the principal slope. Tributaries 
come to the Amazon from the north and south. This tells us that the land on the 
north slopes south, and that on the south slopes north; or as the great slope is 
east, these slopes are southeast and northeast. Then each of these rivers have other 
rivers running into them from each side, so we have other slopes. Learn and 
remember the comparative hights of the principal mountains and plateaus. 

Represent the relief forms in light and shade, or in colors, as follows: — 

Indicate the lowlands by green; the tops of high mountains by white to repre- 
sent snow; deserts by yellow; and high plateaus and* plains by some dull color. 
Remember to analyze the slopes of each river basin, as we have that of the Amazon 
and indicate these slopes on the map. Show the abrupt mountain slope on the side 
next the ocean and the gentler slopes on the side next to the main body of land. 
Show the divides on your maps. 
D 



The above figure represents a cross section of South America on the Equator. Its length, A E, 
therefore, represents a distance of about 2,000 miles. The distance C D (equal to A C), representing 
the altitude of cross section, is about j4 of A B, or 250 miles. As the Andes Mountains at this 
point are only about 4 miles high the section is exaggerated about 60 times (250^-4). 



60 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

Make cross sections of the different countries in all directions. Estimate 
amount of exaggeration in these cross sections, by comparing indicated heights 
with length of sections. Amount of exaggeration should be estimated and marked 
on each cross section. (See figure on previous page.) 

Indicate on your maps the amount of rainfall of the different parts of the earth. 

How TO Draw the Parallels for Every Ten Degrees. 

From each end of the Equator as a center, and with one-half of the Equator as 
a radius, describe arcs cutting the boundary circles of the Hemispere in four places, 
two north of the Equator and two south of it. These points will be just thirty de- 
grees from the Poles, or one-third of the distance from the Poles to the Equator. 

Now divide one of these parts (of thirty degrees) into three equal parts of ten 
degrees each and use one of them as the unit of measure with which to divide up 
the boundary circle. 

Divide half the central Meridian into three equal parts, and one of these parts 
into three equal parts again. Use one of these smaller divisions as the unit of 
measure with which to divide up the whole of the central Meridian. 

Pass curved lines through the points in the central Meridian and the corres- 
ponding points of the boundary circle. Mark these parallels with the proper num- 
ber of degrees from the Equator. 

Remember that all places on the Equator have no latitude, or their latitude is 
zero, and all other places are either in north latitude or south latitude. 

All places except the poles have a latitude of less than ninety degrees. 

Practice in drawing and reading these circles. 

How TO Draw Meridians of Longitude for Every Ten Degrees. 

Divide the Equator into the same number of parts and in the same manner as 
the central Meridian was divided for parallels, and connect the poles and each of 
these divisions with lines of uniform curvature. Mark these meridians with the 
degrees belonging to them. 

Remember that the margins of the maps of the Eastern and Western Hemis- 
pheres are identical (the Eastern margin of the Western Hemisphere and the 
Western margin of the Eastern Hemisphere, being each 20 degrees, and the other 
margins being each 160 degrees). Why? Remember the number of degrees of 
the central meridians of both Hemispheres. 

After some practice in drawing and reading meridians of longitude, draw a 
circle using both parallels and meridians at the same time. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 61 

Next draw the parallels and meridians on a hemisphere map which has already 
been completed, and test the accuracy of your drawing by comparing latitude and 
longitude of places on your map with those in the book. 

Under no circumstances should the parallels and meridians be drawn before 
the map is fully completed. No changes or corrections should be made after these 
lines have been put in. These lines must not be used as guides in map drawing. 
They are to be used as tests of accuracy of work and for drill in finding latitude 
and longitude of places. 

If required to find the latitude and longitude of places, a hemisphere map 
should first be carefully drawn, showing these places and then the meridians and 
parallels drawn on this map. 

( To tJie Teacher: The pupil should now mark off the different countries of 
the world, as far as possible, on the heinisphere maps, in order to fix their compara- 
tive size in the mind. To make this work of still greater value, a few of the states, 
such as Florida, Texas, California, New York, should be marked off at same time. 

It will be necessary at first for the pupil to practice marking off the countries 
on enlarged maps of the separate Grand Divisions, especially Eurasia, outside 
of the hemisphere. 

The Grand Divisions and Countries may now be taken up separately and 
studied in detail. 

For this work, the country or Grand Division to be studied should be enlarged or 
"magnified" from the hemisphere map, and all details, as rivers, mountains, bays, 
cities, etc., added as desired. The pupil can find these details represented on the 
maps in his geography, and should take them from these. The work may thus be 
carried on as far as the teacher desires. 

The pupil should be able to sketch off any Grand Division quickly and accu- 
rately, and on any scale. 

The countries and all larger divisions of land should be considered by the 
pupil (in study and recitation) in reference to, first, location; second, size (compara- 
tive); \h\rdi, form; fourth, coast line (amount and value); fifth, surface; sixth, drain- 
age; seventh, latitude; eighth, climate {temperature, rainfall, etc.); ninth, forests 
and other natural resources; tenth, products (animal, vegetable and mineral); 
eleventh, /£'^?/»/£' (occupations, government, religion, customs, etc.). 

Diagram for Drawing Map of the United States. 

For closer study and detail work the map of the United States may be enlarged from that of 
North America, as is done with other countries. However, on account of the greater importance 
of our own country to us and the desirability of having as accurate a map of it as possible, it may 
be found of advantage to construct the map first from a diagram. 



62 



NATURAL SYSTEM OF 




Take for the unit of measure a Hue about one-third the length desired for the map east and 
west, usually some multiple of the scale used when it forms a part of North America. This line 
should be equal to about f of the South American Unit, of same scale. 

Draw the perpendicular line A B equal to this unit of measure. (B is a point near Chicago and 
A, a point on the coast of the Mississippi delta below New Orleans.) Extend A B to C, making 
B C equal to J^ of A B. (C represents a point on the northern bend of Lake Superior.) Draw 
horizontal lines through C, B and A. On the horizontal line through C take C D, C M and 
M N, each equal to A B. (D represents a point in Maine north of Schoodic Lake, the source of 
the St. Croix River — a portion of the boundary of Maine.) 

On the horizontal line through A take the line A H (equal to >^ of A B), and A J and J K, 
each equal to A B. (The point H is on the western coast of Florida, and J is a point on the Rio 
Grande — the boundary river between Texas and Mexico.) 

Connect D and H. From the point F, where the horizontal line through B meets D H, 
measure off F E, E G and G I, each equal to A B. (F represents New York, and E the bend in 
the Mississippi west of Chicago.). 

Draw the perpendicular line S L through I. At the middle point of A J let fall the perpen- 
dicular line O P, equal to >4 of A B. Also draw H R, in the direction of a line passing through 
E and H, and equal to yi of A B. (P represents, approximately, the southern point of Texas; and 
R, of Florida.) 

The outline of the map may now be drawn. 

Considerable practice should be given in drawing the Atlantic coast before marking off the 
states. The Atlantic States should be drawn first, and then the states bordering on them, etc. 
Each £tate should be marked off, and may be drawn separately on enlarged scale. Practice in 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 63 

giving distances from one point to another, also in estimating the size of maps of South America 
and North America drawn on this scale. Relief maps of whole, and sections of United States 
should be drawn. 

The fractious connected with the lines in the diagram represent the length of these lines as 
compared with the South American Unit of the same scale. 

( To llie Teacher: Mucli attention should be given to drawing cross-sections of 
countries, and especially of the United States, using the sea level as the base line. 
Of course, the altitudes of mountains, plateaus, plains and lakes. must be learned in 
order to do this. Cross-sections of the United States running east and west at 
abotit 40^ and 30° north latitude would be profitable exercises. Pupils should be 
reqtiired to represent the cross-sections well and also to discuss them. 

There should also be considerable time given to map-reading from north to 
south and from east to west. For instance, begin with Wisconsin and tell about 
climate, products, etc., and then of Illinois and Kentucky, and so on. Begin with 
Washington and read down the Pacific coast. Begin with New York and read 
westward. This brings the cross-sections into intelligible comprehension and puts 
into effects or results the facts of elevation and latitude upon climate, rainfall, pro- 
ductions, etc.) 

How TO Find Distances in Miles Between Places on the Hemisphere Map. 

The hemisphere map, representing one-half of the earth's surface, is about 
12,400 miles across (one-half of the circumference, or one-half of 25,000 miles), 
either along the Equator from Pole to Pole or in any other direction through the 
center of the map. Half of the distance across is something over 6,000 miles (about 
6,200 miles). Estimating in this way, we find the distance across South America 
on the Equator to be about 2,000 miles (one-sixth of the Equator of the hemi- 
sphere map, or one-third of half of it). 

Using this distance across America (as well as 2My portion of the Equator) as 
a unit of measure, practice in finding distances between other places until j'ou 
can estimate (not measure) distances quite readily and accurately. Distances may 
also be estimated quite accurately by comparing construction lines. Practice both 
methods. 

Another Method for Finding Distances Between Places on Hemisphere 

Maps in Miles. 

As the distance around the earth is about 25,000 miles, one degree of latitude 
would equal 25,000 miles divided by 360, or a little over 69 miles; and a minute of 
latitude, about I7 miles. 

As all the parallels are nearl}- the same distance apart, a degree of latitude 
is of about the same length everywhere. 



64 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

A degree of longitude at the Equator is of the same length as a degree of lati- 
tude, but it constantly diminishes as the meridians approach each other, until, at 
the poles, it is nothing. 

From this we se? that the distance between places can easily be determined 
in miles. If they are situated on the same meridian, and the difference in latitude 
is known, we simply multiply the number of degrees by 69. The result will give 
the distance in miles between the places. From this data, and considering the 
length of a degree of longitude as compared with that of a degree of latitude at the 
same point, we can also estimate what the difference in longitude between places 
would equal in miles. 

Practice much in finding approximate distances between places by all 
methods. The first method is best for rapid work and is of great value in giving 
comparative size, relative distance, etc. 

All distances measured on direct lines towards center of hemisphere map are 
correct, but only approximate when measured in other directions, and especially as 
the margin of the map is approached. The amount of exaggeration at the margin 
is over one-half in the direction of the boundary circle. 

This can be readily understood from the following illustration. Cut the rind 
of half an orange into equal parts radiating from (and attached to) the common 
center. Spread the rind thus cut on some plane surface and observe that the 
boundary is a circle whose diameter, in any direction, is just equal to one-half of 
the circumference of the orange; that the central portion represents well the orig- 
inal surface, and that the radiating pieces spread farther and farther apart until, at 
the end, the space between any two is more than half the distance across one of the 
parts. 

The exact relation is determined by comparing the diameter with half of the 
outer boundary circle. (These were equal before the orange was cut.) 

This relation is as one to one and fifty-seven-hundredths- 

From this we learn that distances between all places in direct line to the center 
of our hemisphere map are correctly represented; that the greatest exaggeration is 
near the margin and in the direction of the outer boundary circle, where it is over 
one-half; that in a direction j ust half way between these two the exaggeration is 
one-half of one-half, or one-fourth; that all exaggeration constantly diminishes 
from margin towards the center, where it is nothing. 

Note. — In order to restore a thing which has been increased one-half of itself (as hemisphere 
map at margin) to its original or proper size, one-third oi it (in line of exaggeration if a map) 
should be deducted; and where exaggerated one-fourth of itself, one-fifth should be deducted. A 
simple way to illustrate the principle is this: Divide a line into two equal parts. Now, increase 
this by one of these parts (one-half of original line). There will now be three parts. One-third 
of this line (or one part) must be deducted to obtain the original line. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 65 

A little study and drill in this work will enable one to make all necessary allowances for ex- 
aggeration at margin of map, and to give distances between all places with promptness and reason- 
able accurac}'. 

How TO Find the Scale of any Map. 

1. Multiply the number of degrees tliat an inch of the map covers in latitude 
(or equivalent) by 69. 2. Find the distance in inches between two places on the 
given map and compare this distance with the known distance between the same 
places on the hcuiispkcre map. 

Longitude and Time. 

As the earth rotates on its axis, the sun appears to pass around the earth in a 
day, or to pass through 360 degrees in twenty-four hours. Therefore, 360 divided 
by 24 equals the number of degrees passed over by the sun each hour, or 15 de- 
grees. We see from this that we can change longitude into time by dividing by 
15; and time into longitude by multipl^ang by 15. 

The longitude between two places is 45 degrees; what is the difference in 
time? The difference in time between two places is 2i hours; what is the differ- 
ence in longitude ? 

A certain place is 20 degrees west longitude and another place is 40 degrees 
east longitude; what is the difference in time? 

When it is 9:00 o'clock A. m. in New York, what is the time 30 degrees farther 
east? 22 i degrees farther west? 



-to' 



How to Find the Latitude and Longitude of a Place on the Earth. 

Latitude. — The North Star alwa3rs appears to remain stationary, neither rising 
nor setting as most other stars do. The stars near the North Star appear to circle 
about it, while those farther away rise and set every night. 

The reason for this is that the axis of the earth points to the North vStar and 
makes all things appear as they would if the axis really rested upon it while the 
earth rotated. 

Notice the position of "The Dipper" in relation to this star at different hours 
of the night. 

Were we at the Equator, the North Star would appear as just on the horizon. 
As we proceeded north, it would appear to rise until we had reached the North 
Pole, n-hen it would be directly overhead. That is, while we have been going 
ninety degrees on the earth, the star appeared to rise ninety degrees, or to rise a 
degree for every degree we went north from the Equator. From this we see that 
the altitude of the North Star, or number of degrees it is above the horizon at any 
place, represents the latitude of that place. 



66 NATURAI, SYSTEM OF 

The Noith Star is not visible in the Southern Hemisphere. Why ? 

Another star visible in that hemisphere is, therefore, selected as a guide. 

Latitude is also determined by noting the position of the sun and other heav- 
enly bodies at certain hours. 

Longitude. — -If one carried a watch that kept accurate time, he could find the 
longitude of any place exactly. He need only set his watch at Greenwich time 
and carry it to the place whose longitude is wanted. The difference of the time of 
the place and his watch is the difference of time between that place and Greenwich. 
He has simply to multiply this time by 15 to get the longitude of the place. If the 
watch was faster than the time of the place, the longitude would be west of Green- 
wich; if slower., it would be east of it. 

Sailors carry very accurate clocks called chronometers., which keep Greenwich 
time usually. This time is compared with the local time of the place where the 
ship is each day. The local time of a place may be determined by the rising and 
setting of the sun or other heavenly bodies. 

Standard Time. 

The fact that all places not on the same meridian have different times formerly 
led to much difficulty and danger in running railway trains, as well as to the an- 
noyance and confusion of passengers. Frequently the different trains of the rail- 
roads entering a city would be run on different times. To obviate these difficulties, 
the great railway lines of the United States and Canada, in 1883, established time 
divisions of the country, each division extending over 15 degrees of longitude, and 
known as Eastern Time, Central Time, Mountain Time and Pacific Time. 

The meridians of j^ degrees^ go degrees., lo^ degrees and 120 degrees., respec- 
tively, were determined upon as the central lines of these time divisions. It was also 
determined that the local time of each of these meridians should be the standard 
time of all railroad clocks and watches in this time division. In this way, the dif- 
ference in time between any two adjacent divisions would be just one hour, and no 
clock or watch keeping standard time would vary more than half an hour from 
correct local time. 

Passengers traveling from one time division to another set their watches one 
hour back or forward, according as they go West or East. 

Though standard time was originally devised for the convenience of the rail- 
roads, it is now in very general use by all classes. 

See a Standard Time chart of United States. 

The Mercator Maps or Charts. 

Most of our maps thus far have been drawn on a globular projection. That 
is, as though they formed a part of the surface of a globe. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 



67 



Many maps are drawn on what is called Mercator's Projection. These maps 
are drawn as though the earth was a cylinder. The meridians and parallels are 
straight lines. The meridians are everywhere the same distance apart and the 
parallels get farther and farther apart as they recede from the Equator. This 
tends to greatly exaggerate the polar region. Indeed, the poles are not points to- 
ward which the meridians converge as in the hemisphere maps, but are circles just 
as large as the Equator. 

The special value of this form of map is for use of sailors, and to show the 
whole earth at one view. As the direction of one place from that of another is al- 
ways correctly shown, sailors prefer to use these maps as guides. 

Kaufifman is the name of the man who first employed this method of map 
making. Kauifman is also the German word for merchant. The Latin word for 
merchant, or iMercaior, is the name now generally used for this kind of map. 

Maps of this character are usually called charts. 



H 




jeOl/ATORT 



68 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

How To Draw a Map on the Mercatoe Projection. 

(see figure on previous page.) 

Draw a circle such that its diameter, as A B iu the figure, is equal to about one third of the 
width of the proposed map. Extend A B to D, making A D equal to 3i times A B. This line, 
A B, is the Equator. At one extremity. A, of the diameter, draw a line F E, tangent to the cir- 
cle, or perpendicular to this diameter. At D, draw the line H G perpendicular to A D. Divide 
the half circumference next to the line F E into parts of 10 degrees each, or as small as desired — 
90 degrees on each side of the Equator, same as on hemisphere map. Through centre of circle 
and these divisions, up to 70 degrees, draw lines to this tangent line. Through the points in the 
tangent line, thus made, draw lines parallel to the diameter, and extend them to H G. These 
are the parallels of latitude and should be numbered in degrees the same as on the circle from 
which they are derived. Divide up the line A D, or the Equator, into 36 equal parts of 10 de- 
grees each, or into any other desired number of equal parts. Through these points draw lines 
perpendicular to the parallels — meridians~of longitude — and number them both ways from any 
line or meridian taken as the Prime Meridian. The sum of the degrees should be equal to 360. 
H G and F E being identical meridians, should be numbered alike. 

Indicate on this map the exact latitude and longitude of the principal points of the con- 
tinents and islands as shown on the hemisphere maps. The map is then drawn by connecting 
these points with the proper outline. 

The view may be changed by taking any other line as the Prime Meridian. 

Latitude of over 70 degrees cannot be represented on this map without greatly lengthening 
the map. In most maps on this projection, the distances between the parallels of higher latitude 
are arbitrarily shortened to accommodate the page on which the map is drawn, or size of map re- 
quired. 

Note. — The principle of the Mercator Projection may be shown as follows: Enclose a globe 
representing the earth in a paper cylinder. Now, if lines be drawn from the center of the globe 
through the different parallels to this enclosing cylinder, the ends of these lines will form circles 
around the cylinder. The meridians are projected on to the cylinder in straight lines, and the 
same distance apart as at the Equator. The distance around the cylinder would equal the cir- 
cumference of the globe, or about 3^ times its diameter. Now, if this cylinder was unrolled, the 
meridians and parallels would be straight lines perpendicular to each other and would be a dupli- 
cate of the drawing already made — providing the diameters of the globe and circle were equal. 



LIFE AND PRODUCTS OF THE EARTH. 

Man cannot live upon atmosphere and water, or on rocks and soils. "Life 
evermore is fed b}? life," and the earth was not fitted for man's happy dwelling- 
place till clothed with plants, and the waters and land were filled with animal life. 

Those living objects about us that grow from the soil, remain fixed by their 
roots in one place and send forth their stems and branches, their leaves, flowers 
and fruits, are plants^ and all of them comprise the vegetable kingdotn. 

Those other living objects that breathe the air or live in water, move about by 
their own effort and take the food of their choice, are animals, and all of them com- 
prise the animal kingdom. 

Man uses many of these for food, or builds homes, mills, factories, railways 
and ships from them. Whatever he gets from minerals, plants or animals for his 
use and trade he emails producls, whether it be gold or iron, lumber, food or clothing. 

To know geography as we should we must learn where and how many of these 
products are obtained and of their value to man. 

Every part of the earth furnishes some of these and is connected by highways 
of land and sea with every other part. Every one of us depends greatly on what 
some other land and people furnish to us and what we can trade to them. 

If you were asked what plant is of most use to man, many of you in the north 
would say wheat or corn; while boys and girls in the south would name cotton. 
Those in Brazil would surely mention coffee, and those in Germany and France 
might properly say the sugar beet. The Arab children would all at once name 
the date palm, the Chinese and Japanese and many others, rice or tea, and in the 
South Sea Islands, bread fruit would claim their votes. 

If all the people of the world were asked at once, the most would answer that 
rice and cotton were above all others in value. To the largest number rice is 'the 
chief food and cotton clothes more people than any other thing. So by study we 
might learn which animal is the most valuable to man, and which mineral. But 
man is enabled to enjoy the blessings of all these products by trade and exchange. 

The plants you daily see are not alike, but have different sizes, forms, flowers 
and fruits. You can find many that are similar in their nature and qualities. 
The science that treats of plants, how they grow, how they are related to one an- 
other in natural qualities, which tells where they are distributed in the earth, and 
that describes and classifies them is called botany. The science, or study, which 
similarly describes and classifies animals is called zoology. 

(69) 



70 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

We can study but little of these now, but we can learn much that is useful. 
They may be studied easily at home where there is a will to do it. It makes life 
far more enjoyable to learn the secrets of nature; and it is profitable to all to do so. 

Plants and Animals Necessary to Bach Other. 

Without plants animals could not exist. The ground contains all the ele- 
ments which compose the bodies of animals, but these cannot be obtained directly. 
Plants must first take them out of the soil and fit them for food. Not all animals, 
however, get their sustenance entirely from plants. Some animals seem necessary 
to change plant life into food suited to other animals. The cow, for instance, eats 
grass (a substance on which man and many animals would starve) and converts it 
into milk, butter, and flesh— most valuable foods. 

In another way plants are very useful to animals. In the sunlight their 
leaves, which serve as lungs, absorb the poisonous carbonic acid which animals 
breathe out, and give back the life-sustaining oxygen. 

Even marine plants absorb carbonic acid from the water and give off oxygen, 
which helps the fish to live and also purifies the water by destroying the decaying 
animal and vegetable matter. 

Indeed, in this respect, plants and animals are very useful to each other. 
Plants need for life the carbonic acid which animals exhale, and animals need the 
oxygen given off by the plants. 

The Seasons. 

The Earth makes a great journey around the Sun, called 2.revolution^ in 36554^ 
days, or oxl^ year. 

While this journey is being made, the rays of the sun fall at times more di- 
rectly upon some portions of the earth than upon others, and thus bring about the 
change from spring to summer, autumn and winter, or the Change of Seasons. 

You can readily understand this if you will observe the position the sun occu- 
pies at different times of the day and year, and the effects on the temperature. 

When the sun is low in the sky of a morning or evening of a summer day, the 
air feels much cooler than at noon when the sun is high. That is, the sun will 
give more heat when its rays fall vertically or nearly so, than when they fall slant- 
ingly. This is because a number of vertical rays covers less space on the surface 
of the earth than the same number of slanting rays. 

(The instrument which measures the heat or tells how hot or cold it is at any 
place is called a Thermometer. It consists of a sealed glass tube with a bulb at one 
end, which is filled with mercury. The air has first been taken out of the tube. 
When the weather is warm, the mercury expands aud, rises in the tube. The 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 71 

warmer it is, the more the mercury expands and rises. A scale at the back of the 
tube, marked off in degrees, tells how much it rises, and therefore, how warm it is.) 

Now, if you will notice in winter time, the sun seems to pass across the sky 
very low down in the south, and the rays are very slanting; then, as there is but 
little of the sky to pass over, the sun does it quickly and so we get but little heat, 
with a short day and long night. 

In summer the sun passes across the heavens higher up, nearly over-head, so 
we get much more heat and light, and the days become longer and the nights 
shorter. 

As fall and winter come on, the sun passes across the sky lower and lower 
down each day, until finally its lowest point is reached, and it is Winter. Then it 
gradually makes the journej'- back again. On the journey down, the days get 
shorter and shorter and the nights longer, until, when the sun is half way down, 
the days and nights are of the same length everywhere on the earth, and it is our 
Fall. From this point the days are shorter than the nights and keep growing 
shorter, until the sun reaches its lowest point. On the return the days grow 
longer and the nights shorter, until, at the half way point, they are again of equal 
length and it is our Spring. The days continue to grow longer until the sun has 
reached its highest point north, and it is our Summer once more. 

The Solstices and Equinoxes. 

The sun seems to stand still for a time at its highest point and lowest point, 
before going back on its journey, and for this reason these places are called 
Solstices (sun standing.) 

The highest point is called the Siiiiiiner Solstice; and the lowest, the Winter 
Solstice. The point just half-way between these, on the upward or downward 
journey, is called the .£'^«z«(9,r (equal nights), as the nights and days are then 
of equal length everywhere. The half-way point on the downward journey is 
called the Autumnal Equinox, and the half-way point on the upward journey is 
called the Vernal Equinox, for these occur in the early part of the Fall and Spring. 

We must remember that the sun does not really move at all as it appears to do. 
Its apparent motion north and south is due to the earth's axis being inclined and 
always pointing in the same direction, so that on its great journey around the sun, 
more of the northern side is presented to the sun and then more of the southern 
side at different seasons of the year. 

The Zones. 

Now on this apparent journey north and south, back and forth, the sun is di- 
rectly over a belt around the earth, on which it shines full and strong all the year, 
making it always summer. This belt extends on each side of the Equator, and is 



72 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

called the Torrid (burning) Zone. Here plants are ever green and flowers in 
bloom, and many kinds of delicious fruits and rare spices grow. Here live the 
largest and fiercest of wild animals. Man gets his food withotit much effort. It is 
so warm he needs little clothing or shelter and he becomes languid and indolent. 

On each side of the Torrid Zone is a belt where the sun's rays strike slant- 
ingly all the time, and at some portions of the year much more so than at others, 
thus producing the change of seasons, as we have learned. 

These belts are called the Temperate Zones. The one on the North is called 
the North Temperate Zone^ and the one on the South, the South Temperate Zone. 

In these Zones grow most of the corn, wheat and common fruits, and here are 
found the sheep, horse and cow. 

Here live the most civilized people in the world, and here are seen the grand- 
est works of man — the great cities, churches and schools, libraries, factories and 
railways. 

The Frozen Regions are around the Poles. The one around the North Pole 
is called the North Frigid Zone^ and the one around the South Pole, the South 
Frigid Zone. In the Frigid Zones the sun is entirely out of sight a portion of every 
year, and when it does shine its rays are more slanting than they are in the Temper- 
ate Zones, so that there is little light and heat compared with what we receive. 

The people of these regions receive much light during their long nights from 
the Aurora — brilliant lights which shoot high in the heavens and often cover the 
whole sky. The name given to these lights in the northern regions is Aurora 
Borealis^ or Northern Lights\ and in the southern regions, Atirora Australis, or 
Southern Lights. 

The vegetation of these regions is very scanty, and consists mostly of lichens 
and mosses, and a few other hardy plants. 

The sea is full of life, but there are few land animals, except birds, which are 
numerous in summer. 

Animals which furnish the most valuable furs, such as the Seal, Ermine, 
Sable, and Polar Fox, are found here; also the Eider Duck, which is covered with 
the soft, warm down so highly prized. 

The inhabitants are stunted in growth and look like dwarfs. They dress in 
thick furs and live in houses made of rocks, and often of snow and ice. Their food 
consists offish, the flesh of the White Bear, the Reindeer, and the Seal. They are 
drawn from place to place over the ice by means of Dogs or Reindeer hitched to 
sledges. 

Some of the Principal Plants and Animals of the Zones. 
The principal animals of the Frigid Zones are the Whale, Walrus, Seal 
White Bear, Reindeer, Wolf, Ermine, Sable, Polar Fox, Eider Duck and Penguin. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 73 

OF THE TORRID ZONE. 

Plants — Palms (date, cocoanut, sago,) Pineapple, Banana, Bread-fruit, Fig, 
Orange, Tree-fern, Banyan Tree, Mahogany, Rosewood, India Rubber Tree, Bam- 
boo, Ebonj', Coffee, Spices, Sugar-cane, Cotton, Rice. The Banana, Cocoanut, 
Bread-fruit and Rice are the great foods of the tropics and grow almost everywhere 
in those regions. 

Animals — Elephant, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Hyena, Giraffe, Camel, 
Monkey, Crocodile, Ostrich, Condor, Flamingo, and many birds of beautiful plum- 
age. The animals are mostl}^ wild and ferociousj 



OF THE TEMPERATE/ ZONES. 

Plants — Walnut, Oak, Pine, Hemlock, Spruce and other trees; Wheat, Oats, 
Corn, Rye, and other grains; Cotton, Sugar-cane, Tea, Rice, Tobacco, Grapes, 
Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Berries, etc. 

Animals — Bear, Panther, Wolf, Buffalo, Bison, Deer, Fox, Kangaroo, Duck- 
Bill, Zebra, Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Swine, Mules, Dogs, Eagles, Turkeys, Hens, 
Ducks, Swans, Geese. The domestic animals are the most common. 

Learn all you can about these plants and animals, how they live and what 
they are good for. 

Climate. 

The kind of weather that prevails in a country, whether hot or cold, wet or 
dry, is called its Climate. 

The Torrid Zone has a hot climate, the Temperate Zones a temperate climate, 
and the Frigid Zones a cold climate. 

From what we have learned about zones, we know the greater the latitude 
(distance from the Equator) of a place, the colder must be its climate. 

Latitude, however, is not the only thing that affects temperature, for there are 
places in the Torrid Zone which are covered with snow all the year around. 

If you should climb a high mountain you would see how this is. 

Though it might be very warm at the foot, you would notice that the air grew 
cooler and cooler as you ascended, until, if you mounted high enough — about three 
miles in the Torrid Zone — you would find the climate very cold, even freezing, and 
the ground covered with snow and ice. 

In that short journey you would pass through all climates from the Torrid 
Zone to that of the Frigid Zone, and you would notice the different kinds of vege. 
tation growing on the mountain side of about the same character and in the same 
order as though you passed from the Equator to the Poles. Near the top of the 
mountain, or at the Snow Line, you would see the dwarf shrubs and trees, and 



74 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

finally mosses and licliens somewhat similar to those you would find in the Frigid 
Zone. 

From this we learn that Altitude^ or height above the sea, also affects climate. 

When a great deal of rain falls in a country, it has a Wet or Moist Climate; and 
when little, if any, rain falls, as in a desert region, the country has a Dry Climate. 

A Temperate Climate is best for man. A hot climate makes people indolent,, 
and a very cold climate makes them stupid. 

The Races of Men. 

There are many different kinds of people in the world. 

You have all seen White People and Black People, and perhaps many of you 
have seen Red People, or Indians. In countries over the sea are Brown People and 
Yellow People. 

These five different kinds of People are called Races of Men, and include all 
the people in the world. 

The other names for these races are Caucasian (White People), Negroes (Black 
People), Indians (Red People), Malays (Brown People), Mongolians (Yellow People). 

The White People inhabit most of the Western Continent and Europe, and 
are scattered here and there over the whole world. They are the most enlightened 
of all the Races of Men and have made the greatest progress in learning. 

Africa is the native country of the Black Race. From there Black People were 
brought to this country. At home they live in rude huts and gain their living by 
hunting, fishing or cultivating the soil. 

The Indians, or Red Race, inhabit America. They live in huts or tents, and 
obtain their food very much as the Black Race does. 

The Brown Race live in the South Eastern part of Asia, near the Coast and 
on neighboring islands, and are great boatmen. 

The Yellow Race is composed mostly of the Chinese and Japanese. These 
people, next to the White Race, are the most highly civilized. 

Locate on your maps the different races of men. 

Tropics and Polar Circles. 

We have learned about the different Zones, the Torrid, the Temperate and the 
Frigid, and yet, were we to pass from the Equator to the Poles, we should notice 
nothing on the earth or in the temperature to tell us just where one Zone ends and 
the other commences. The temperature would continually grow cooler, but the 
change is so gradual it would be impossible to tell in this way alone, just when we 
had passed out of the Torrid into the Temperate Zone, or from the Temperate 
into the Frigid Zone. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 75 

There is a way, however, by which we can tell this very accurately. Observe 
the sun at mid-day or noon, and you will notice that it is not quite overhead or in 
the zenith, at any time of the year, and that the shadow which you cast always falls 
towards the north. In summer this shadow is very short, but it grows longer each 
day until winter has come and the sun has reached its lowest point in its south- 
ward journey. 

Now, if the sun should go a little higher in the sky in summer, until it reached 
the zenith, 3'ou would cast no shadow at all. If it passed beyond the zenith, toward 
the north, your shadow at noon-day would fall toward the south. Or, if, instead of 
the sun's going north, you should go south, the same result would follow. 

You might travel south far enough, so that when the sun had reached its 
farthest point north, you would be directly under it, or so that the sun would be in 
the zenith, and you would cast no shadow. You would then stand on the dividing 
line between the Torrid Zone and the North Temperate Zone. Now could you go 
west as fast as the sun, so as to pass around the earth in one day, keeping the sun 
constantly overhead, you would go all the way round on this dividing line. 

Or,if you can imagine a very long straight rod as passing through the sun and 
extending to the earth at your feet, its point would make a mark clear round the 
earth in a day, as the earth rotates on its axis, which would represent this dividing line. 

Remember then, whenever you are so situated that the sun is directlj^ over 
your head on the day that it has reached its farthest point north you will be on the 
Tropic of Cancer-. 

The Tropic of Cancer is the boundary between the Torrid Zone and the North 
Temperate Zone; or, the imaginary circle around the earth on which the rays of 
the sun fall vertically when it has reached its farthest point north — Summer Sol- 
stice. This circle is found to be about 233/2 degrees north of the Equator, or a 
little over one-fourth of the distance from the Equator to the North Pole. 

Again, if you should go south far enough so that the sun would appear directly 
overhead when it had reached its farthest point south (Winter Solstice) you would 
stand on the boundary between the Torrid and South Temperate Zones, called the 
Tropic of Capricorn. This is situated 2?>l4 degrees south of the Equator. 

We have already learned that the sun lights up one-half of the earth's surface 
at a time; so, if the sun were directly over the Equator, its farthest raj's would just 
reach the poles, and the days and nights would be of equal length everywhere. 

Let us imagine two very long, straight rods fixed to the sun, so as to move 
just as it does, and extending, one north and the other south, along these farthest 
rays of light until they reach the poles. 

Now if the sun should begin to move north the ends of these rods would also 
move, the north one going beyond the North Pule and the south one coming this 



76 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

way from the Soutli Pole. When the sun reached 23% degrees north of the 
Equator, so as to stand over the Tropic of Cancer, the end of the north rod would 
extend just as far, or 23^ degrees beyond the North Pole, and the end of the south 
rod, 233^ degrees this side of the South Pole. Now while they are in this position, 
and the earth rotates once on its axis, the ends of the rods will describe circles 23^ 
desfrees from the Poles. 

The sun is at the Summer Solstice, or highest point north, and therefore, as 
the rods represent the farthest rays of the sun, we know that at this time, the light 
of the sun extends just 23^^ degrees beyond the North Pole, and within 23^ 
degrees of the South Pole. These circles represent the boundaries between the 
Temperate and Frigid Zones. The one on the north is called the Arctic Circle; 
and the one on the south is called the Antarctic Circle. 

Now if the sun should move south again, until it stood over the Equator, or at 
the Equinox, the ends of the rods would again be at the poles, and the days and 
nights everywhere of equal length. 

Then, if the sun should move 23^^ degrees south of the Equator or to the 
Winter Solstice, the end of the north rod would move 23)^ degrees this side of the 
North Pole, and the end of the other rod 23^^ degrees beyond the South Pole — the 
limits of the sun's rays at the Winter Solstice. By the rotation of the earth, the 
same circles would be described as before. 

We can learn from this something of the length of the day and night at the 
Poles. When the sun was on the Equator, the rods extended just to the Poles. 
Now it requires just three months to pass from the Equinox to the Summer Sol- 
stice and three months to go back to the Equator, or Equinox again, or six months 
in all. Thus, the sun would shine on the North Pole all the time for six months, 
and there would be six months night, while the sun goes to the Winter Solstice. 

The seasons in the Northern Hemisphere are just the opposite of those in the 
Southern Hemisphere at the same time. When it is Avinter with us it will be 
summer with the people in South America. 

Remember that the Equator, Tropic of Cancer, and the Tropic of Capricorn 
are imaginary lines on the earthy and the Equinox, Summer Solstice and Winter 
Solstice are the positions in the heavetis which the sun appears to occupy when it is 
directly over each of these circles, respectively. 

The days get longer and longer in summer time as we go towards the Poles 
where they are six months long. When, if we should go south at the same time, 
the nights would keep getting longer, until at the South Pole we should find the 
night six months long. 

The days of the summer are often hotter in St. Paul and other northern towns 
than at places much farther south. Let us see how this is. We know that the 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 77 

farther we go north in the summer the longer the days get. When the day is 
fifteen hours long at one place, it will be eighteen hours long at another, farther 
north; twenty hours at a place still farther north; two days long at another; a week 
long at another, and so on, until finally, at the Pole it is six months long. Now 
the slanting rays of the sun at the north do not give as much heat in the same 
length of time as the more direct rays at the south, but the sun shines many more 
hours a day and in this way more than makes up the difference, except in high 
latitudes, where the very slanting rays can give but little heat, though they con- 
tinue for months. 

How TO Learn About the Sun's Journey. 

There is a simple way to learn about the sun's journeys each year. Drive a 
straight stick two or three feet long perpendicularly into the ground, in some 
place where it will not be disturbed, and in full view of the southern sky, so that 
the sun can always shine on it at mid-day. Determine a line running north from 
the foot of this stick to serve as a "noon-mark." When the shadow of the stick 
falls exactly north, or upon this line, it will be mid-day, or noon. Now note at 
noon, daily or weekly, the length of the shadow v/hich the sun casts and carefully 
mark it by a peg, or in some other way. If you should commence this in the sum- 
mer, you would notice that the shadow would grow longer each day, until about 
December 21st (the Winter Solstice), when it would seem to stand still for awhile, 
and then begin to grow shorter until about the 21st of June (the vSummer Solstice). 
These are the limits which should be marked as the Solstices. At the half-way 
point mark Equinox{vera"r^' ^^^ ^t this point the si:n crosses the Equator first on 
its journey south, about September 22ud, and then on its return journey north. 
March 21st, when the days and nights are of equal length. 

This experiment might be performed on the floor of the school room, if the 
room faces south, so that the rays of the sun can come in at the windows at noon 
all the year round. 

As you see the shadows lengthening from day to da}', remember that the rays 
of the sun are gradually leaving the Arctic regions and their long night is at hand, 
while the day is just breaking in the Antarctic regions. 

In all we have said, we have spoken of the sun as moving, as it appears to do. 
It would really make no difference in the results whether the sun moved north or 
south, whether the earth's axis inclined towards the north part of the year, and 
towards the south the other part, or whether the earth made a yearly journey 
around the sun, its axis inclining in the same direction all the time, as it really 
does. In any of these cases, the sun would appear to move. 



78 



NATURAL SYSTEM OF 



From the diagram given below you can learn about this yearly journey of the 
earth, and see just how its axis is inclined so as to make the sun appear to move 
north and south. 

Observe that the rays of the sun strike the earth vertically at the Equator 
twice during the year, in the spring and fall; once at the Tropic of Cancer, in our 
summer, when the rays reach beyond the North Pole; and once at the Tropic of 
Capricorn , in our winter, when the rays reach beyond the South Pole. The axis of the 
earth is inclined about 23 j4 degrees to the plane of its orbzi, or path around the sun. 



Jur.E .21. 





MflRCM . 2.1 



--^•^-^^ 



ym^ 




DEC. 2.2 






'"■^^^ 



''=>.. 




SEJi.ZZ'' 



Put a stick through an apple or orange for an axis to represent the earth. Re- 
volve this about some other object representing the sun, and, remembering to keep the 
axis always pointing in the same direction, showhow the change of seasons takes place. 

The Atmosphere. 
There is a part of the earth which we think little about, and yet it is just as 
important as the land or water, indeed, without it we could not live, nor could any 
animal or plant long survive. This part is called the Ai'r or Atmosphere . 

In going up high mountains, or in balloons, people find that the air grows thin- 
ner and thinner as they ascend, and, when three or four miles up, it becomes so 
rare, or thin, that breathing it is difi&cult. From this it is believed that the air 
■ cannot extend very many miles above the earth and that it does not fill all space, 
» so that the earth floats in it, as people used to think. It is rather a gaseous body 
which envelopes all the land and water of the earth, and goes everywhere with it. 
The earth then, is made up of land, a great ocean of water, and a greater 
ocean of air.- 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 79 

At the bottom of this ocean man lives and moves about, while above and around 
hiui flit and sport the varioi:s winged forms of insects and birds, the fish of this 
vast aerial sea. 

At about three and one-half miles above the earth, the air is one-half as dense 
as at the surface. That is, the lower half of the air, in weight, is three and one-half 
miles thick; while the other half extends upward many miles more — perhaps hun- 
dreds — nobody knows, 
f Although it is cold on top of high mountains, the rays of the sun beat down 

so strong and hot that the hands and face, where exposed, are blistered. Then^ 
almost as soon as the sun is set, whatever heat there is, all seems to escape at once, 
and the air becomes very much colder than before. This shows that the air at the 
surface of the earth where it is denser, serves as a shield to protect us from the 
fierce rays of the sun; and also as a blanket, to keep the warmth which has come to 
us from the sun from escaping again. Indeed, if it were not for this, every nighty 
even in mid-summer, would be as cold as in winter. Were it not for the air, our 
lakes would boil under the noon-day sun in summer and freeze at night. 

Air has weight and is much heavier than some gases, such as hydrogen or 
common gas, which is used in cities to light the streets and homes and with which 
balloons are sometimes filled. Still, it is very light when compared with other 
substances. A column one inch square extending to the very top of the atmos- 
phere would weigh fifteen pounds. This means that the air presses fifteen pounds 
on every square inch of the earth's surface at sea level; fifteen pounds on every 
square inch of our bodies. As the air presses on all parts of us equally, and we 
have always been used to it, we do not notice the pressure. We should remember 
that the air presses in all directions equally, upward and downward. The great 
pressure on the open palm of our hand downward would be more than we could 
support if it were not for the equal upward pressure under the hand. The air 
buoys us up and actually makes us lighter, something as the water does when we 
go in bathing. 

The air presses down harder at some times than at others. When the air is 
moist, or just before a rain, the pressure is less than when dry. Watery vapor is 
lighter than dry air. The instrument which measures this air pressure is called a 
barometer. It consists of a glass tube, with one end closed, and from which all air 
has been taken. This is inverted over a cup of mercury, so that its open end rests 
in the mercur}'. The pressure of air on the mercury in the cup makes it rise in 
the tube. The mercury rises or falls in the tube according to the pressure of the 
air. By means of a little" scale at the back of the tube, one can read how much it 
falls or rises at any time. By this instrument people can tell when storms are 
coming. A "low barometer" indicates stormy weather. People also use this in- 
strument to tell the height of mountains. Explain. 



80 



NATURAL SYSTEM OF 



When air is heated even slightly it expands and becomes lighter than the air 
all around it; so the warmer air is displaced, forced up, by the pressure of the 
cooler and heavier air. For this reason the warm air of the room rises, the cooler 
air from without forcing it to do so, and rushing in to take its place at the floor. 

Thus, when large areas of land or water become heated, the air over it be- 
comes heated and rises, being displaced by the cooler and heavier air around it. 
So great currents of air, called IViiid, are started. The wind is simply air in 
motion. Cyclones are violent winds having a whirling motion. They are some- 
times called Hurricanes, Tornadoes and Typhoons. 

Note — A cubic foot of cool air might be so expanded by heat that it would fill a large room. 
When so expanded it would be very rare and very light compared with the same bulk of cool air. 
The room full would weigh no more than the^single cubic foot of air before it was heated. The 
rare, light air rises, is displaced by cooler, heavier air, for the same reason that oil is displaced 
when water is poured into a vessel containhig oil. The air is forced through the register — a hot 
wind on a small scale — through the stove and up the chimney by the pressure of cooler and 
heavier air all about it. 

When smoke from the chimney falls to the ground it is because the air is light, and not as 
we often hear people say, "because the air is heavy." When the smoke rises above the chimney, 
forming a tall column, the air is still and heavy. 

fi. Pole 




'S./^ole 

Trade Winds. 



In Equatorial regions, the air is always warmer, hence lighter, than it is 
towards the poles, so that it is constantly displaced or forced up by the air from the 
cooler zones, forming ascending currents where the heat is greatest, and upper 
over-flow currents of warm air moving towards the poles. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 81 

Were the earth at rest there would always be two lower currents or winds 
moving from the poles towards the regions of greatest heat, an ascending current 
under the sun and two upper currents from the Equatorial regions towards the 
poles, thus completing the great circuit. 

But the motion of a place at the Equator is much greater than of one near the 
poles. During one rotation of the earth, or in 24 hours, a place at the Equator 
moves 25,000 miles, or at a velocity of about 1,000 miles an hour; but this velocity 
constantly diminishes as the poles are approached, where it is nothing. 

Now, the wind, starting from the poles where the velocity is slow, gradually 
falls behind the meridian on which it starts and, as it nears the Equator where the 
velocity is so much greater, blows from the north-east in the northern hemisphere 
and from the south-east in the southern hemisphere, causing what are called Trade 
Winds. They blow steadily in the same direction and are confined mostlj' to the 
Torrid Zone. These winds are very useful in driving trading vessels from place 
to place. Columbus made use of them in his voyage to America. (The prevailing 
wind at the Equator is from the east.) 

The Anti-Trade Winds. ~~J 

Part of these warm upper currents, or winds, from the Tropics fall to the earth 
in the Temperate regions and go on toward the poles as lower, or surface currents. 
As they started out with the velocity of the Tropics, they travel faster than the 
parts of the earth they pass over nearer the poles, and, therefore, blow from the 
south west in the northern hemisphere and from the north west in the southern 
hemisphere. These are called the Aitti-Trade IVinds, or Return Trade IVitids. 
They are the prevailing winds of the Temperate regions, especially where not 
affected by mountains or other physical agencies. 

Calm Belts. 

There is little movement of the wind in places in the Equatorial regions where 
the air rises, and in the Temperate regions, where the upper currents fall. So 
these are called The Calm Belts or Zones. The Calm Belts are 'not always in the 
same place. The}^ move north and south with the sun so that there are Equator- 
ial calms, calms of Capricorn and calms of Cancer, according to the place of the 
sun in the heavens. Thus periodical rains are produced in tropical and sub tropi- 
cal countries. 

Monsoons. 

There are portions of the earth that become hot from the direct rays of the 
sun at one season of the year, while other portions are very cold at the same time. 
This causes the air to go from the cold to the warm portions. Then, at another 



82 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

season of the year this hot region becomes cold, and the cold region becomes hot 
and so causes the wind to blow in the opposite direction. Winds that blow in one 
direction a portion of the year and in the opposite direction another portion of the 
year are called Monsoons. 

Indicate the Trade and Return Trade Winds and Monsoons on your maps. 

Vapor, Dew, Rain and Snow. 

Water spilled on the floor soon disappears, or "dries up." It is not destroyed, 
but simply changed in form. It has become vapor, is mingled with the air and is 
invisible. Should it come in contact with some cold body, as a window pane, it 
would be condensed into visible moisture again, and might, perhaps, run down the 
pane in drops of water. The moisture which you notice on the window pane in 
cool weather, the frost in freezing weather, and the drops that gather on the out- 
side of a pitcher of ice water in summer, are nothing but this vapor condensed. 

Salt compels ice to melt and reduces the temperature below the freezing point. 
Fill a tin pail with ice broken in small pieces and mixed with salt. Notice in a 
short time the frost gathering on the outside of the pail, though it be in a very 
warm room and on a summer day. Why? 

Althougli water itself is heavier than air, the vapor of water is lighter than air 
and rises in it. The warmer the air, the more vapor it will take up. When the 
air has taken up all the moisture it will hold, it is said to be saturated. As it be- 
comes cooler it gives up this moisture again in the form of dew, rain, frost, hail or 
snow. This vapor of water floating in the air, partially condensed so as to become 
visible, is called Fog^ if near the earth; and Clouds, if high up in the air. 

At night some of the heat escapes from the air and so it becomes cooler and 
gives up part of its moisture in the form of Dew. (On cloudy nights dew does 
not fall, as the clouds serve as a blanket to keep in the heat.) 

When this moisture falls in quantities in the form of drops, it is called Rain. 
Rain is produced by the air becoming suddenly cooled. Rain drops are formed by 
the uniting of many small particles of vapor. 

Frost is frozen dew. 

Hail is frozen rain drops. 

Snow is frozen vapor crystallized. 

The air may be cooled by winds coming from mountains and other cold parts 
of the earth, and thus be compelled to give up its moisture. Mountains are of 
great value, as without them we should have but little rain fall, and our country 
u^ould become almost a desert. 

Oftentimes air loaded with moisture blows against or over mountains. In 
such cases it gives tip its moisture in the form of rain or snow. If the mountains 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 83 

are very high most of the moisture is taken out of the air, so that the country just 
bej^oud, over which this air passes, is a desert. Rain falls more abundantly and 
regularly in the regions about the Equator. This is because the air is so warm, 
evaporation goes on rapidly, keeping the air so near the point of saturation that 
the slightest reduction in temperature causes a downpour of rain. 

Glaciers and Icebergs. 

In the Arctic regions, and on the tops of high mountains this moisture falls in 
the form of snow, and, as it cannot melt on account of the continued cold, the snow 
gets deeper and deeper. Finally, by its weight from above, the lower portions 
are pressed into solid ice and the great weight of the mass gradually forces it 
down the side of the mountain, or incline of land, and through valleys — a huge 
river of ice. This ice stream is called a Glacier. It moves very slowly, sometimes 
only a few feet a year. A Glacier is constantly wearing down the mountain sides 
and scouring the valleys, carrying fragments of earth and rock along with it to the 
lower levels. Most of the soil about us containing boulders, has been brought 
down from regions farther north and left by glaciers, which, in ages past, covered 
much of the northern part of our country. 

In the warm latitudes the lower part of the glacier melts almost as fast as it 
moves and forms a great stream of water, often the beginning of a river; but in the 
Arctic regions these glaciers push out into the sea where great pieces are broken 
off and float away as Icebergs. 

Ice is just a little lighter than water, so it floats. It is fortunate for us that 
this is so, otherwise ice, as it formed in winter, would sink to the bottom and be- 
come so thick that it would not thaw out in the longest summer. 

As the icebergs float about they are often surrounded with fog. Why? 
About seven parts of the iceberg are under water and one part out. 

The Ocean, the Great Storehouse of Water. 

You have noticed perhaps, how, soon after a heavy shower or rain storm, the 
roads get dry again, and all the pools and ponds of water disappear in the warm 
sun. Some of the water soaks into the earth, but much of it is taken back into the 
air, as we have already learned. 

Now, the great store-house of the water is the Ocean. The air heated by the 
sun, receives vast quantities of water in the form of vapor from all over its broad 
surface, and, wafting it over the land, gives it up in grateful showers. 

The water enables the plants and animals to live and grow. Some of it soaks 
into the soil and bubbles out again in Springs, which gather into ponds and lakes, 
or into brooks and rivers, and is carried back into the sea again. Of course, this 
vapor rises from all water, whether of sea or land. 



84 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

All that vast quantity of water which flows into the sea from the Amazon, the 
Mississippi, and all the other rivers of the earth and indeed, much beside, is what 
has first been taken up from the ocean as vapor by the heat of the sun. 

This great round— from ocean to land in vapor, from land to ocean in river — 
goes on without end. 

The air and the water are all the while at work wearing away the rocks and 
mountains and higher portions of the earth and carrying them down to fill up the 
lower places. Thus the soil of the river valley is made, and even the coast of the 
sea extended. 

(Water, getting into crevices of rocks, freezes and by its expansion breaks off 
great pieces. In this way, rocks in regions where there is frost are slowly broken 
up.) 

The Effect of' the Ocean on Climate. 

The climate of a place is affected not only by latitude and altitude but also by 
its nearness to large bodies of water. 

In summer, the ocean and other large bodies of water receive a great deal of 
heat from the sun, which is given out slowly when the cold weather comes on. The 
air then passing over its surface is warmed, and so greatly modifies the temperature 
of all places touched by it. Large and deep bodies of water are warmed or cooled 
more slowly than the land, so water in winter is warmer and in summer cooler than 
the land. In the warm season the air from the ocean or other large bodies of water 
lowers the land temperature. In winter, when the land is covered with ice and 
snow, the breezes from the ocean make the temperature warmer than it would be 
otherwise. 

Thus we see that the ocean, which never gets cold enough to freeze, except 
around the Poles, tends to keep the temperature of places near the shore more mod- 
erate all the year. The same is true of all large bodies of water, up to the time of 
freezing over. 

Land and Sea Breezes. 

From what we have just learned we can understand how land and sea breezes- 
are caused. In the day time the land soon becomes warmed by the sun and heats 
the air over it making it lighter, so that the cooler and heavier air from the ocean 
displaces it, causing a sea breeze. At night, the land soon looses its hea,t and 
becomes cooler than the sea, so the wind blows from the land towards the sea, caus- 
ing a land breeze. 

The Gulf Stream and Japan Current. 

But there is something else that affects climate, more wonderful perhaps, than 
anything that we have learned yet. We all know about streams of water running 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 85 

through the land, but who would think that streams of water like great rivers — yes, 
far deeper and wider than any rivers on land — could flow through the ocean ? Yet 
it is so. 

In the Torrid Zone where the rays of the sun always beat down with full force, 
the surface of the ocean becomes very warm. Heat makes water expand and become 
lighter than cool water, bulk for bulk. So that the great body of heated water 
within the tropics is displaced by the cooler water on either side in the Temperate 
Zones, and is forced to rise, to overflow, as it were, and it goes constantly toward the 
Polar region, while the cooler water presses in to take its place, causing both warm 
and cool currents. The winds and motion of the earth on its axis also help to 
cause these currents. 

There are various streams or currents in the ocean, the most important of 
which is the Gulf Stream. This stream begins near the Gulf of Mexico and travels 
north-east, spreading out as it goes, until it washes the western shores of Europe 
and reaches the northern limits of Norway and even Iceland. The cold stream 
which goes south to take its place, is called the Arctic Current and flows along the 
coast of Labrador and the United States. 

The warm breeze from the Gulf Stream makes the climate of Iceland and all 
that portion of Europe which it touches, much warmer than it would be otherwise; 
while the cold Arctic Current chills the air above it and unites with the westerly 
continental winds to make Labrador a bleak and frozen waste. What would be the 
condition of Western Europe if the prevailing winds blew in the opposite direction ? 

The cold stream usually flows below the surface, for the reason that warm 
water, as we have learned, is lighter than cold. 

At some distance off the shore of Newfoundland the waters of the Gulf Stream 
and Arctic Current meet, and, as the icebergs carried along in the cold current are 
numerous, all that section is covered with fog a large portion of the time. Why ? 
A branch of this current goes round by Africa and back to the tropics of America 
again. 

There is another very warm current in the Pacific Ocean named the Japan 
Current, or Kuro Slow (Black Current), as the Japanese call it. This rises in the 
Pacific, south of the Japan islands, and flows north-east to Alaska, and then south 
along the coast of North America, making the climate of all the coast mild, and the 
lower portion of California almost tropical. The Arctic Current flows south 
through Bering Strait. Indicate these currents on j^our maps. 

The Climatic Zones. 

The slope of the land and prevailing winds also aff"ect climate. 

In the northern hemisphere, where the land slopes toward the south it receives 



86 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

more of fhe sun's lieat than where it slopes toward the north, as the rays of the sun 
fall on it more directly. 

What is the case in the southern hemisphere ? 

Where the prevailing winds are from the mountains or cold regions the climate 
is cooler than when they come from warm regions. 

So we see there are many things which affect climate beside latitude. For this 
reason CLIMATIC ZONES differ somewhat from the zones which are marked off 
by the Tropics and Polar Circles, their boundaries being more irregular. 

Isotherms. 

Isotherms (equal heat) are lines drawn on a map connecting all places having 
the same average annual temperature. 

The Climatic Zones are marked off by isotherms. 

Altitude and Latitude Compared. 

From the Equator to the Poles is 90 degrees. One degree therefore equals 
six thousand miles divided by ninety, or nearly seventy miles. 

Now it is found that in climbing mountains, every 300 feet of height makes 
about as much difference in climate, or temperature, as a degree in latitude. In 
other words, a person would experience the same difference of temperature in going 
to a height of 300 feet as in traveling one degree, or seventy miles, in latitude. 

For our purposes we may consider 1,000 feet in altitude equal to three degrees 
in latitude, or about two hundred miles. 

To how many degrees and miles, in latitude, as regards climate, is a mountain 
top 15,000 feet high equal? 

Remember that the same products would grow on the mountain sides as in the 
lower levels where the temperature is the same. 

Whenever you come to mountains hereafter, determine what crops could be 
raised on them at different elevations. 

Which Grand Division has the most coast line in proportion to area and what 
effect has it on its settlement, climate and commerce ? 

Mariner's Compass and the Magnetic Poles. 

Almost all countries border on the sea, in part at least, and have seaports from 
which ships go in trade. Some nations, like Great Britain, have a great number 
of vessels, plying between all seaports of the earth. 

It is easy to find our way on land by means of land-marks, and especially to go 
over again a path or road once traveled, but on the ocean there is no road or path — 
nothing but the ever changing water everywhere. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 87 

So seamen make use of tlie sun, moon and stars to guide them. But some- 
times the clouds or fogs hang thick and heavy for days together and no part of the 
heavens is visible. Ships would soon drift far out of their way and be lost if it 
were not for a wonderful little instrument called the Mariner's Compass, which 
tells the direction the ship is going. This instrument was known at the time of 
Columbus and was used by him. Indeed, had it not been for this, he would not 
have undertaken his great voj^age of discover}-. 

We shall be interested to know more about it. 

If you suspend a bar magnet at the center by a string, so it will swing hori- 
zontally, you will notice, when it has come to rest, that it points nearly north and 
south. 

Now mark on a disk of cardboard, all the points of the compass, and fasten it 
to this magnet so the north point of the disk lies on the north end of the magnet. 
When the magnet again comes to rest you will be able to read on the disk the di- 
rection of all places from you. This is a simple form of the Mariner's Compass. 

The Magnetic Poles. 

Iron attracts either end of a bar-magnet equally well, but bring near the north 
end of it the north end of another magnet and the first will swing away, while if 
you present the south end, it will be attracted to it. That is, the like ends or 
poles of magnets repel each other and the unlike poles attract. 

People noticing this thought that the earth must be a great magnet also, as it 
seemed to act in the same way as a magnet does. So they sought to find its Poles. 

The north end, or Pole of the Earth-magnet, was found to be just north-west of 
Hudson Bay, and the south Pole, in the Antarctic Ocean. 

The Earth-magnet is what affects the Mariner's Compass. Indicate the mag- 
netic Poles on your maps. 

The International Date Line. 

The International Date Line is the line separating the discoveries of the Port- 
ugese going eastward around the Cape of Good Hope and those of the Spanish and 
others going westward. (This line runs south through Bering Sea, having the 
Philippine Islands to the east of it, and Japan, Formosa, Borneo, Celebes, Papua, 
Australia, New Zealan.d, etc., just to the west of it.) 

There is a difference of one day in the time of places on each side of this line. 

If a person should go around the earth in an easterly direction, or in the same direction as 
the earth rotates, he would lose a day; and if he should go around in the opposite direction, he 
would gain a day. 



88 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

If he should start at noon and go westward as fast as the sun appears to go, it would always 
be noon with him, however long he traveled. Yet his watch (not the sun) would mark off the 
time, one hour for every 15° traveled. At the end of 24 hours he would arrive at the starting 
point, where a whole day, with its evening, night and morning, has passed; while, with him, the 
same day yet remains. And so it would be, however slowly he traveled round the earth in a 
westerly direction. He would lose one day. 

Should he travel round the earth in the opposite direction he would gain a day. If he 
should go round in 24 hours he would meet the noon-day sun just half way round and so he 
would have two days (with two evenings, nights and mornings) in this time, or the days would 
be 12 hours long. He would thus gain a day. 

The common or civil day lasts from midnight to midnight — 24 hours — and travels around 
the earth with the sun, or from east to west. The new day begins at the International Date Line, 
and, in its circuit of the earth, reaches places jater and later until it comes to the Date Line again 
— 24 hours, or one day, after leaving it. 

A new day now begins at the Line, while the old day will yet continue 24 hours just east of 
it. If the new day was Monday on the west side of the Line, the day on the east side of it would 
be Sunday. 

Thus, sailors in crossing the Line add a day in going west, and drop a day in going east. 
The 180th meridian from Greenwich is quite generally regarded by sailors as the International 
Date Line. 

Forests. 

Forests are of great value to man, not only for fuel and lumber, but for pro- 
tection against violent winds and storms and for equalizing tbe temperature of tbe 
air, and the distribution of moisture. 

Forest trees store up rainfall in the spongy soil of their roots, and by their 
shade, keep it from evaporating, and so are able to return it to the air or distribute 
it gradually and evenl}^ in the natural river channels. In regions where the for- 
ests have been cut down less rain falls, streams dry up and drought often occurs. 
When the rain does fall it runs quickly into the valleys and swells the streams in- 
to dangerous torrents. 

Forests on mountain sides keep the soil from being washed away and, when 
the mountains are very steep, as in the Alpine regions, form barriers against ava- 
lanches. 

The falling leaves of trees decay and enrich the soil. 

In many regions of the earth where there is sufficient rainfall and favorable 
climate, extensive forests grow. 

Most civilized nations appreciate the value of forests and take great pains to 
preserve them. Many of the states of our own country set apart a day each year, 
called "Arbor Day,'' for the planting of trees. 

Indicate on your maps the principal forest regions of the world, and the pre- 
vailing kinds of trees in each. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 89 

A TRIP TO GREENLAND. 

(By Prof. G. F. Wright, author of "The Ice Age in North America," etc.) 

If one is in America, the natural place from which to set out for Greenland is 
St. John's, Newfoundland. This is a quaint city of about twenty thousand people, 
mostly engaged in fisheries of one kind or another. The harbor is completely sur- 
rounded by rocky hills four or five hundred feet high, except at the narrow en- 
trance through which vessels pass from the stormy ocean to the placid waters 
within. Here one finds ships from all parts of the world, and of all kinds. Owing 
to the interest of France in some of the islands near the coast, a French man-of-war 
is a frequent visitor to the harbor, and there is iisually an English man-of-war not 
far behind to see that no mischief is done. 

Close to the water's edge, a fine system of docks furnishes every facility for 
unloading and loading the products of the fisheries. Small ships are constantly 
coming in with freshly caught fish, to be reloaded upon larger ships, which are to 
carry them to the markets of the world. 

Icebergs. 

Great care is exercised in constructing vessels to sail in these waters on 
account of the numerous icebergs. These icebergs are most beautiful and impos- 
ing objects and as mysterious as they are beautiful. Their size is often enormous. 
One which we measured was estimated to be 750 feet high, or nearly 300 feet 
higher than the highest pyramid of Egypt, while it probably covered several acres 
of space. It rose from the waters in two vast towers, which, as they glistened in 
the sunshine, seemed like the remnants of a fairy castle. The color of the ice was 
for the most part an intense blue, but in the upper portions where the sun had 
partially hone3--combcd it, the color was that of newly fallen snow, while near the 
water's edge, where the waves dashed up against it and rolled over the submerged 
portion between the two towers, the blue color was changed into a delicate green. 
Large flocks of birds lighted upon it and gave it the appearane of a permanent 
island of ice. 

As the larger part of an iceberg is beneath the water, this iceberg probably ex- 
tended two or three thousand feet below the water. The great depth to which the 
ice extends below the water, gives remarkable stability to icebergs so that they are 
not affected by the winds and surface waves. In the lee of an iceberg, a ship is as 
well protected from the \vind as it would be in the lee of an island. 

The motion of an iceberg is determined by the deep under currents of water, 
and is therefore slow, being, in favorable circumstances, at the rate of about ten 
miles a day. The icebergs which we see off" the coast of Newfoundland and Labra- 



90 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

dor have been a long time on their journey; for they were formed from the glaciers 
of Northern Greenland, two or three thousand miles away, and hence, many of 
them have doubtless been a year or more on their way to warmer climes. 

Collision with an Iceberg. 

There is no danger that an iceberg will run down a ship, but there is danger 
that a ship will run into an iceberg and be wrecked in the process. On the morn- 
ing of July 17th, 1894, the steamer on which our party was going to Greenland 
had this unfortunate experience. We were in the Strait of Belle Isle, having just 
passed the most northern lighthouse on the Atlantic coast. Before the fog settled 
down upon us more than fifty icebergs were visible from the deck of the steamer. 
Yet they seemed so far apart that the captain thought it safe to keep the vessel 
moving at half speed. But suddenly the ice-pilot noticed a light spot in the mist 
ahead of us which he too well knew to be "ice blink,'' or reflection from the ice- 
berg. The wheel was reversed and the rudder turned one side, just as the vast 
mass of the berg loomed into view ahead of us. Out of the mist like a huge mon- 
ster it seemed to come, reaching above us hundreds of feet, and streching out on 
either side into the mist beyond the extent of our vision. It was too late to avoid a 
collision. The safest plan was to take it straight ahead; and so we did. The ship 
trembled and reeled, and the massive plates of iron crumpled under the blow like 
cardboard, while numerous small pieces of ice fell down upon the deck below. 

Fortunately, the force of the collision was felt above the v/ater's edge; other- 
wise we would have gone to the bottom in a few moments. As it was, we were 
able to make a neighboring harbor in Labrador, where we patched up the breach 
sufficiently to render it safe to venture back to St. John's and make permanent re- 
pairs. These having been completed, we set ot:t for Greenland again, going al- 
most directly north for a thousand miles, and keeping farther east than before so 
as to be clear of the ice, that at almost all seasons of the year, cumbers the coast 
of Labrador. 

Floe-ice and Seals. 

The icebergs which are brought Southward by the Labrador current are ac- 
companied during the larger part of their course with a vast stream of floe-ice, 
i. e., of broad, flat cakes of ice which rise from fifteen to twenty feet above the 
water, and are often so closely packed in together as to form one compact mass. 
The floe-ice usually melts and disappears before getting so far south as Newfound- 
land; but it furnishes a most important hunting ground for the inhabitants of St. 
John's. Hundreds of thousand of seal get upon the ice in the far north and float 
down with it. Indeed, it is the favorite breeding place of the seal. Early in the 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 91 

Spring, tlie ships from St. John's and other ports, with sixty or seventy men on 
board of each, venture up into this ice during the breeding season of the seal. On 
reaching it, the men go out upon the ice and slaughter the animals in great num- 
bers, saving only the skins and the fat or ''blubber," from which a valuable oil is 
made. 

It should be said, however, that these are not the fur seal of which we hear so 
much in portions of Alaska; but the skin of these seals is covered with a coarse 
hair and is valuable chiefly for making some kinds of leather. In Greenland the 
skins are used for water tight clothing and for covering the boats of the natives. 
The indiscriminate slaughter of these seals, in which the young are killed with the 
old, is already diminishing the supply, and rendering it more and more difficult for 
the people of Newfoundland to gain a livelihood. It was painful to see in the 
shops of St. Johns the innumerable stuffed specimens of "baby seals" that w^ere on 
sale as curiosities. 

A Thrilling Experience on Floe-ice. 

Several years ago a party of Greenland explorers had a thrilling experience 
upon one of these ice-floes, which came along the coast of Labrador. The United 
States government had sent an expedition under the command of Mr. C. F. Hall 
to explore the northern part of Greenland and the coast of North America beyond 
Smith's Sound. After reaching a point considerably beyond the 80th parallel of 
latitude, Mr. Hall died and the expedition endeavored to return. In October, 1871, 
when they were encompassed with ice-floes, in about latitude 78, a storm arose and, 
thinking that the ship was likely to be crushed, the crew began to unload the pro- 
visions and stores upon the ice. When this w^as about half accomplished, and 
about tw^enty of the crew (including two families of Eskimo, one of them having a 
babe about two wrecks old) were on the ice, a change in the wind separated them 
from the ship and in the darkness and confusion which followed, they were left to 
drift awa}^. 

Captain Tyson, who was with them, assumed charge of the party. Fortunate- 
ly, they had some provision and fuel, a tent and one or two boats. Through the 
ingenuity of the Eskimo the}'- constructed snow houses and added to their stock of 
provision by capturing an occasional polar bear and numerous seal, and by catch- 
ing a few fish, so that they were able to prolong their existence for 196 days, during 
which they floated southward fifteen hundred miles. About the first of May they 
were rescued by one of the sealing ships which had come up from Newfoundland. 
None of the party had died, and the Eskimo baby has now grown to be a man and 
is living in Greenland. 



92 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

Spitzbergen Ice. 

Four days of steam from St. John's brought us on the third of August within 
sight of the mountains along the coast near Frederickshaab, but, though only 
thirty miles away, we were unable to reach land by reason of a belt of floe-ice and 
icebergs that stretched along near the southwest shore for three or four hundred 
miles. This is called the Spitzbergen ice because it comes from the vicinity of that 
island, and is borne by a slow oceanic current southward between Iceland and 
Greenland to Cape Farewell, where it is turned northward by a branch of the Gulf 
Stream, to encumber the western coast as far as the Arctic Circle. 

With this ice come large numbers of seal to supply the people upon the coast 
with necessary food and raiment. A considerable amount of driftwood also accom- 
panies the Spitzbergen ice. This consists of trees which have grown on the banks 
of the Siberian rivers and have been washed away and borne into the Arctic Ocean 
to join the slow procession of Spitzbergen ice-floes of which we have spoken. As 
there are no trees in Greenland, the Eskimo are wholly dependent on this means of 
supply for the wood with which to make rafters for their houses, frames for their 
boats and handles for their spears and harpoons. 

SUKKERTOPPEN. 

After beating about for some days amid the calms and fog banks which habit- 
ually accompany the ice-floes, we at last succeeded in reaching the coast of Green- 
land at Sukkertoppen, where a new world dawned upon us. This is the largest 
settlement upon that coast, and is situated a little south of the Arctic Circle. On 
the 21st day of June, the sun would barely touch the northern horizon at midnight. 
In the early part of August when we were there, the twilight of evening merged 
into that of morning, making the midnight glow upon the mountains most bril- 
liant and beautiful. There are about 400 people in Sukkertoppen, of whom all but 
seven are Bskimo. These seven consist of the two Danish officials and their fam- 
ilies, all of whom are very upright, intelligent and cultivated persons. Though 
hearing from their home in Denmark only during the summer season, they seem 
to enjoy their life very much. In their well stocked, comfortable houses, with 
their library and piano, they pass the winter in perfect comfort, while the attention 
to the various wants of the natives gives them sufficient occupation to prevent the 
time from hanging heavily upon their hands, even when, in winter, midnight 
darkness and deep snows envelope them in two-fold gloom. 

Though the Eskimos have long been converted to Christianity, and can all 
read and write, they continue, for the most part, to live in their primitive condition. 
As there is no land to be cultivated, the people live wholly on flesh and fish. The 
word "Eskimo" means "flesh-eater." It was given to them by outsiders, and is not 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY 93 

the name which they like. They call themselves "Innuit" which means "the 
people." In their views, they are the people, and we the barbarians. 

As we steamed into the harbor at Sukkertoppen, the whole settlement was out 
upon a promontory to welcome us. The women with their young children slung 
over their shoulders were the most interesting portion of the group. They seemed 
to us to be dressed just like the men, but we soon saw that this was a mistake — 
though it is a fact that they do all wear trousers. 

Dress of the Eskimo. 

The dress of the women consists of a long pair of ornamented, watertight, seal 
skin boots, reaching above the knees. Above these is a short pair of trousers 
reaching from the boots to the waist. These, also, are of seal skin and more or less 
ornamented. Above the trousers there is a loosely fitting sacque with a pouch, 
back of the neck, large enough to hold a three year old child, whose bright eyes 
are very sure to shine out with great contentment from close beside those of its 
mother or older sister. Underneath this sacque there is, in cold weather, a gar- 
ment made of birdskins to secure warmth. On dress occasions a brilliant necklace 
of beads adorn the breast of the wearer, and all together really make an attractive 
attire. 

The dress of the men differs from that of the women chiefly in the length of 
the trousers, which come down to the feet, and in the substitution for the baby's 
pouch in the woman's sacque of an extension which can be brought up over the 
head to make a close fitting cap, which, when tied under the chin and fastened se- 
curely about the wrist to seal skin mittens, makes the upper part of their clothing 
perfectly water tight. 

Apparently the men never cut or comb their hair. The women, however, take 
great pains with theirs, though it is doubtful if they often comb it. Their mode of 
doing up the hair resembles closely a fashion which has recently been appearing in 
civilized countries. They pull it up to the top of the head and twist it into a roll, 
which they keep in shape by binding it closely with ribbons of various colors, leav- 
ing the hair to project a little above the ribbon and to stand up as straight as pos- 
sible upon the top of the head. The unmarried women use red ribbon, the mar- 
ried women blue, and the widows black; but when the widows are willing to be 
married again some red is mingled with the black and a narrow band of white is 
put around their foreheads. 

Eskimo Houses. 

The houses of the Eskimos of southern Greenland, called "igloos," are made 
of a wall three or four feet high, built on flat stones and turf, and covered with a 
dome shaped roof with a covering of turf. One small window ordinarily faces the 



94 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

south, admitting tlie only light which comes in from the outside. The entrance is 
by a low, long, narrow, crooked doorway through which one has to crawl on his 
hands and knees to get in. In the interior, there is a narrow passageway along 
one side of the room in front of the windows, and along side of it, a broad shelf 
iibout a foot from the ground, wide enough for a man to stretch himself out with 
his feet to the wall. Here, closely packed, the inmates sleep by night and lounge 
by day, several families usually occupying one room, being separated only by low 
partitions across the shelf which serves for their feet. 

Of furniture there is scarcely any. The most important article is the stone 
lamp stationed at the head of each family partition. This is the special care of the 
women. The lamp is a piece of soapstone with a shallow depression in the top 
which they fill with seal blubber. The wick used is made from a species of moss 
which is dried and placed around the edge of the lamp and after being saturated 
with oil is lighted, when the heat melts the blubber and continues the supply, as 
the burning wick does in the tallow candle. Much skill is shown by these women 
in taking care of their lamps, which are kept continually burning and usually fur- 
nish the only artificial heat provided for their houses. 

Still, the people do not suffer from the cold in these igloos even during the 
most inclement winter weather, for not only are the walls at the outset impervious 
to Avinds, but during the winter, deep snows completely bury the houses and give 
them double protection from the cold; while warm clothing, quilt and sleeping bags 
made from the skins of reindeers, bears, and birds are sufficient to give comfort 
even when out of doors. Additional warmth is furnished by the blubber which 
they all eat in great quantities, it being cheaper to obtain the heat by digesting it 
in the stomach than by burning it in a stove. The demands upon their system 
give the Eskimos a hankering for all kinds of fat, so that the Eskimo children eat 
candles as civilized children eat candy. 

Means of Travel, and Food of Natives. 

In southern Greenland the only means of travel is by water. The interior of 
the country is deeply covered with ice, upon which only an occasional traveler 
dares to venture. For ages more snow has fallen on the land than could melt, 
hence it has piled up to a depth of many thousand feet and formed a mighty 
mer de glace ^ (sea of ice) from which numerous glaciers pour down to the water's 
edge through the depressions called fiords. Thus, there is only a narrow strip of 
land along the coast which is free from snow and ice even in the summer. The 
people all live on the coast near the mouths of the fiords. 

The boats used by the men are called kayaks. These consist of a light frame 
work of wood or bone, about twenty feet long and sharply pointed at both ends. 
Over this is tightly drawn a covering made of seal skins sewed together. The 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 95 

only opening in this cover is a round hole in the top just large enough for a man 
to insert his body. Buttoning his sealskin coat to the rim surrounding this hole, 
the kayaker is safe in his water tight compartment. With a single paddle flaring 
at both ends he sits bolt upright and propels himself with great ease and safety 
through the water, no matter how rough it may be. 

Skillful kayakers can paddle eighty miles a day without great effort. If 
occasion demands, they can turn a summersault in their kayak. This they often 
do for the amusement of visitors, but still more often, when during storms, great 
waves with threatening white caps roll over them. When other boats would be 
filled with water and sink, the kayaker simply turns over and comes out right side 
up upon the other side of the wave. This however can only be done by skillful 
men. So easily is the kayak capsized that a European who ventures into one, even 
in smooth water, is pretty sure to turn over the first thing he does, and unless help 
is near, to be drowned; for it is not easy to pull oneself out of the kayak, even if he 
is not buttoned in. 

The natives depend almost entirely upon their kayaks to reach the places 
where fish and seal and birds are to be caught. With their bone pointed spears and 
harpoons they noiselessly approach the game and succeed without firearms in cap- 
turing as many as they can carry home, and as they need. The danger is, how- 
ever, so great, that about one-tenth of the deaths in Greenland are from accidents to 
kayakers. A great deal of heroism is required to get a living' amid those inhos- 
pitable conditions. As is proper, when the men come in from their exhausting 
excursions to catch the game on which all depend for their food and clothing, the 
women take charge of it and prepare it for use. They dress the fish and skin the 
seal, and prepare the skins for being made into coats, and boots and boat covers. 
It is a merry time for the whole settlement when a good fat seal is towed into har- 
bor. Slices of the blubber are freely given to the children, and every one goes 
away with his mouth crammed full of it, and a small piece in his hand. 

The skins are freed from their oil and made pliable by chewing. This is done 
by the women, who bend the skin up in a fold inside out and munch it with their 
teeth until it is soft. When their boots become stiff and hard the women also chew 
them until they are pliable and then" mend any holes that may have been worn 
in them. This work is so exhausting to the jaws that it is done only every other 
day. Naturally also it satisfies any craving they may have for gum, so that there 
is no demand for that article among the Eskimos. 

Population and Government. 

There are about ten thousand Eskimos in Greenland, five hundred of whom, 
on the east coast, are still living in entire separation from contact with Europeans. 



96 NATURAI. SYSTEM OF 

The rest, scattered in small settlements along the west coast from Cape Farewell 
to Upernivik, a distance of about a thousand miles, are under the control of the 
Danish government, and all have been converted to Christianity. Though, for the 
most part, living in the primitive conditions we have described, they are a con- 
tended and lighthearted people, and strictly honest and kind in their dealings with 
one another and with strangers. They can all read and write, and under the care 
of native chatechists they maintain Christian services upon the sabbath in their 
own languages, singing native hyms to good old German tunes. A few Danish 
missionaries make regular tours among them to perform marriages and to oversee 
the work of the teachers and the catechists. The doctor goes with the missionary, 
and if any are so fortunate as to be sick at the time of his visitation, they can have 
medical attendance free. 

In the northern part of Greenland, during the winter, ice forms in the fiords 
and along the shore, so that the natives can travel freely over it. This they do 
with sledges drawn bydogs. There, for three or four months in the summer, the sun 
shines all the time, and during an equally long period in winter does not shine at 
all. But, in the absence of the sun, the moon makes her monthly visit and the 
aurora borealis lights up the sky so brilliantly that the season is by no means as 
cheerless as one would suppose. Here the houses are made of snow. 

Explorers of Greenland. 

Only a few persons have ventured far upon the inland ice of Greenland. In 
1860 Dr. Hayes went in about sevent}?- miles from Smith's Sound, seeing nothing 
but snow and ice the entire distance. In 1883, Nordenskiold went in about two 
hundred miles from Disco Bay and brought back the same report of boundless 
wastes of snow and ice, unrelieved by a single mountain peak. In 1888, Nansen 
crossed the southern part, and in 1892 Lieutenant Peary crossed the northern part, 
for a distance of five hundred miles, finding upon the north-eastern side a fringe of 
coast free from ice, on which was an abundance of grass and flowers. 

Here he killed musk-oxen to supply himself with food for the return trip, and 
his eyes were delighted with beautiful flowers and butterflies flitting about among 
them, while his ears were greeted with the ominous hum of the mosquito. But all 
these travelers agree in saying that the interior of Greenland, over an area extend- 
ing fifteen hundred miles in length and from three hundred to five hundred miles 
in breadth, is completely covered with glacial ice, rising to a height of over eight 
thousand feet. 

Thus, Greenland is the best object lesson now accessible to illustrate the con- 
ditions which prevailed over British America and the northern part of the United 
States during the glacial period. A few thousand years ago, the traveler would 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 97 

have fouud the border of this vast ice sheet as far south as New York City on the 
Atlantic coast, and as Cincinnati and St. Louis in the Mississippi valley. After 
seeing the glaciers of Greenland and the EskiiUos who delight in its ice-bound 
coast, it is easy to believe what is told us about the glacial period, and about the 
hardy people whose flint implements assure us that man was in the world in those 
early and forbidding times. 



A VIEW OF EUROPE. 

By Fannie 1\. Coe. 

Let us take a glimpse of Europe as it is to-day. 

First we will look at Switzerland from its highest mountain peak, Mt. Blanc. 

Though in mid-summer, the air on this mountain top is cold and biting. The 
day is clear and the sky almost cloudless. A wonderful view is before us. To the 
east and west extend ranges of mountains which look like great furrows thrown 
up by some mighty plow. We see rising from these ranges many peaks, often of 
curious shape. Some are broad and irregular; others are wedge-shaped ; and still 
others are slender as horns. The snow lies white upon the mountain heights, and 
the daily changes of the light are exceedingly lovely. Whether glittering in the 
noontide sun, crossed by blue shadows in the afternoon, flushing in the sunset 
glow, paling in the twilight, gleaming in the moonlight, at all hours, the Alps are 
glorious. 

The mountain tops and sides appear smooth from a distance. A nearer view, 
however, would show them to be rough and broken by deep crevasses and danger- 
ous gorges. Slowly down from their sides creep glaciers, melting and freezing 
a'ternately, and apparently trying in vain to hide themselves beneath a strange 
medley of rocks and earth scattered over their icy surfaces. 

Below the snow line, on the lower slopes of the range, are green pastures. 
Dotted here and there on these breezy uplands, are sheep grazing near tiny chalets 
where the dairy farming is carried on during the summer. 

Below the pastures come the forests, which appear like two belts. The blue- 
green belt of the evergreens riins above the yellow-green belt of the birches and 
chestnuts. At the base of the mountains lie the farms and vineyards. 

Far to the north extends another principal range of the Alps, known as the 
Bernese Oberland, whose peaks we can faintly discern, while between these two 
Alpine ranges is the moiintain valley of the Rhone River. Lake Geneva, like a 
blue turquoise, ornaments the western end of the valley. 

In this valley and along the lake are quaint old towns. Here we find large 
hotels and the many small shops and trades that arise when swarms of tourists 



98 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

invade a region. Outside the towns are upland farms where people in rough home- 
spun, with hats of coarse straw shading their brown faces, are harvesting and tend- 
ing sheep. In their scanty leisure they carve toys and canes for the shops in the 
nearest town. 

It seems a wide prospect that we have viewed today, though it hardly equals 
in extent the small country of Switzerland. The sky comes down on all sides and 
appears to cut off further view. Though we were on top of Mt. Everest we could 
see but little of the surface of this great sphere on which we live. The land all the 
while falls away from a perfect plain, and below the line of vision. In order to 
look upon such a stretch of country as Europe at one time, we would have to be 
many times higher than Mt. Blanc — rnore than a hundred times as high. 

Let us in imagination suppose that we are raised to such a hight, and that our 
eyes are endowed with a power of vision more keen and far reaching even, than 
that of the greatest telescope on earth. As we rise, our circle of vision widens. 
From all sides come into view farms and dwellings, vineyards, fields, forests, vil- 
lages and great cities. Here and there the rivers winding their way to the sea, 
and the net work of canals look like threads of silver. All are alive with boats. 
Railroad trains fly across the country in every direction. Life and activity are 
everywhere. 

And so our field of vision grows until it reaches the limits of Europe. To the 
north is the pale blue Arctic Ocean, bordered and spangled with snow and ice. On 
the east are the pine covered Ural Mountains with their rich stores of yellow gold 
and green malachite. On the south rolls the peaceful Mediterranean, while on the 
Vv^est our view is stopped by the rising mists of the wide Atlantic. 

From the Alps the land slopes away on every side. A vast plain stretches 
northward and eastward with a very gradual decline toward the ocean. The 
southern slope toward the Mediterranean is more abrupt. 

Now for a closer and more careful view. 

Looking toward the north west, we behold the glorious River Rhine rushing, 
sauntering, creeping to the sea. Germany, Holland and Belgium are the countries 
our eyes rest upon. 

The shores of the central course of the river are bordered by the nearly 
perpendicular vineyards. The purple and white grapes are hanging in luscious 
clusters from the poles. Peasants in coarse homespun, with faces changed by the 
sunshine to a rich brown, are toiling up the almost vertical paths. Sometimes they 
are obliged to creep on their hands and knees, the paths are so steep. They carry 
straw baskets and are gathering the grapes and taking them to the village at the 
foot of the hill. There all the people are out doors, pouring the grapes into huge 
tubs and treading upon them in order to press out the rich juices. They seem 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 99 

happy ill their toil, with the afternoon light flooding the land and the lapping of 
their home river in their ears. 

The heiofhts along the Rhine are crowned with ruined castles and towers. 

o o 

Here and there a fortress frowns down upon the river or upon the peaceful fishing- 
town nestled at its base. 

The course of the Rhine is broken occasionally by waterfalls or whirlpools. 
Fishing boats of very quaint pattern with picturesque dark sails plod slowly up 
and down the river. They move faster than the log rafts, but not so swiftly as the 
brightly painted steamers. Frequently the river passes a large town above which 
tower the lofty spires of some world-renowned cathedral. These towns are graced 
by statues of the famous poets, musicians and statesmen of Germany. 

In this country lived the great writers Goethe, Richter and Schiller, and many 
of the most noted musicians, philosphers, mathematicians and scientists of the 
world. Germany was the home of Humboldt and Ritter, the founders of the science 
of physical geograph}^ 

That gay patch of land west of Germany is the small country of Holland. 
Its coast is bordered by huge grass-grown dykes against which the restless ocean 
beats, eager to reclaim the lowland within. The land is velvety green, laced with 
silver canals. The houses are bright red, blue and yellow, and have curious 
peaked roofs, set with flashing weathervanes. On the doorsteps every morning 
may be seen women scrubbing the flag stones with energy. 

Cleanliness and liberty awaken the Dutch to enthusiastic action. The men 
of broad backs and broad faces, whether working in their rich warehouses, or on 
their fine docks, or discussing matters of trade in their ancient guild halls, are 
always smoking. 

The neighboring country of Belgium is much like Holland. It also has 
canals bordered by willows and poplars, sand-dunes overgrown with coarse grass, 
and red and yellow windmills thatched with straw. 

Occasionally the shore is strengthened by sea-walls and break-waters. Here 
there is apt to be a watering place. People recline in beach chairs beneath great 
straw hoods that protect them from the sun, or bathe in curious bathing machines 
which are dragged by attendants out into the sea. 

We now look due north and our eyes first rest upon the sombre pines of the 
Black Forest, trees that sigh and moan with every passing breeze. Beyond, rise 
the ancient towers of Nuremburg, and still farther north are the Hartz Mountains. 

These low German Mountains are pierced with many a deep mine; and smoke 
from the fires of the charcoal burners rises from their slopes. The dwellers here 
are rude peasants, but like those in the Black Forest they believe and tell legends 
concerning their hills and woods that are both fantastic and beautiful. 



100 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

In the lowlands nortli of the Hartz Mountains are several commercial cities. 
The chief of these is Hamburg, which is washed by the river Elbe. In this river 
ships and steamers that have weathered the storms of the five oceans lie at anchor, 
under the protecting shadow of the tall, tall spire of St. Nicholas. 

Beyond Hamburg the land, always growing lower and flatter, runs out into 
the peninsula of Jutland. Next to Holland, Denmark has the lowest land iu 
Europe. Dreary bogs and sand wastes cover much of the surface of Jutland. Still 
there is a fair amount of fields of grass and heather, where remarkably fine cattle 
and horses find pasturage. 

East of Jutland is a confused jumble of large and small islands and of blue 
straits and channels. The greener grass and the luxuriant forests of birches and 
beeches show us that this is the more fertile part of Denmark. The clouds of 
smoke rising in several places prove the islands to be the more thickly settled 
region. Copenhagen, the capital, was the home of Hans Andersen, the gifted 
writer of fairy stories, and of Thorwaldsen, the great sculptor. It is made up of so 
many bits of islands and seas that it has been called the Venice of the North. In 
its many canals, curious tall houses, and masts rising in the midst of chimneys, 
Copenhagen resembles the cities of Holland. It is distinguished from other cities 
by its fine Thorwaldsen Museum and Rosenborg Castle. 

In the far north is Scandinavia, the peninsula of fiord and forest. The west 
coast is broken by numerous baj^s, or fiords, running far inland. The Avater in 
these fiords is perfectly smooth, so that they reflect, as in a mirror, the lofty clifis, 
clothed with evergreen trees that border their shores. Down the hillsides dash 
cascades and mountain brooks. The shores of the fiords are quite lonely. On 
some of them the birds are the only signs of life. On the shores of others, how- 
ever, there are small villages, or perhaps an inn, where travellers may stop for the 
night. Rains are very frequent along this coast. 

The fiords and the channels among the Lofoden Islands abound with fish. 
Many of the towns send out their fleet to the cod and herring fisheries. When 
the short, wide boats return heavily laden, the village fish markets are the scenes 
of brisk trade. 

North Cape is a great rock a thousand feet high, rising out of the cold Arctic 
Ocean. Sea gulls soar and scream around and above it; and for the greater part of 
the year they are the only signs of life. In the short summer, however, steamers 
bring tourists to the North Cape to witness the wonderful midnight sun. It is a 
memorable day when one sees, for the first time, the bright sun trace out the circle of 
a day of twenty-fqur hours on the sky, never once disappearing below the horizon. 

The scenery of Scandinavia is so picturesque and wild, and the air on the 
breezy uplands so invigorating, that tourists are now seeking Norway and Sweden 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 101 

as they would Switzerland. So as we look we see vessels steaming toward North 
Cape or rocking in its shadow, and rows of little carriages drawn by donkeys, 
hurrying along the good country roads from one quaint Norwegian village to an- 
other. 

Looking at Sweden, we see that the northern half of that country is thickly 
clothed with forests. The cities are massed in the southern part. That silver 
gleam extending from Stockholm to Gothemburg is the Gotha Canal. This is 
quite a triumph of engineering skill. A sail through it gives one an idea of the 
quiet, peaceful scenery of Sv/eden, as contrasted v.dth the wilder and more rugged 
aspect of Norway. 

If now we turn our attention to the north-east and east, we behold the enor- 
mous country of Russia. The larger half of Russia we do not see, for it is in the 
neighboring grand division of Asia, but European Russia is larger than all the 
other countries of Europe combined. 

Much of the interior of Russia is covered with forests. For miles and miles 
the pines and furs stretch away their close ranks. Not a road, a farm, a rude clear- 
ing breaks their compact lines. The trees are so tall and straight that the woods 
seem to have been growing for centuries. 

When the forests give way, their place is taken by the wheat fields. The 
wind, leaving the Black Sea, ripples wheat fields in its progress until it reaches the 
slopes of the Ural Mountains. The wheat heads appear largest and fullest in the 
rolling plains of southeastern Russia. These plains are known as the steppes, and 
their rich soil is most favorable for the growth of grain. 

Southeast of the grain region, along the shoi'es of the Caspian Sea, are dreary 
deserts of salt and sand. Over the Caspian Sea are plying steamers that are en- 
gaged in the oil trade. 

The people living on these vast plains nearly all belong to two classes. They 
are either poor peasants or the owners of wheat or sheep farms. In the latter case 
we see their large, rambling establishments consisting of houses, barns, stables, 
greenhouses and mills, standing in the midst of a farm of thirty thousand acres. 
The farms, like the whole country, .are built on a generous plan. 

The plot of land owned by the average peasant is but an acre. It is rarely 
well cultivated, and the cottage has a slovenly appearance. The peasant is a dull, 
helpless, hopeless person, because he sees almost no opportunity for bettering his 
condition. 

In the west is St. Petersburg, the citv of the Czar. The churches with golden 
domes and spires and fine blocks of stately palaces border the Neva River. That 
great oblong building of brown and yellow stucco-work is the Winter Palace, oue 
of the residences of the Czar. 



102 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

The life of the Russian capital seems to center at the Neva River. In the 
winter there is much skating, coasting, and a great deal of sleighing upon the icy 
surface of the Neva. The queer Russian sleighs, or droskies, have oddly dressed 
drivers seated on high boxes, and are drawn by one, two or three horses. These 
horses have a very light harness. The only heavy-looking article of harness is a 
wooden bow arching over the neck, to which the traces are fastened. You can 
hardly imagine how fast these horses go. 

It would be delightful, some starry winter night, to wrap one's self in the piles 
of fur rugs in a drosky and go flying down one of the fine boulevards that run 
parallel to the river. The horses dart ahead like arrows. The driver keeps cheer- 
ing them on, although they need no urging. The frosty air is so sharp that now 
and then one is forced to hide his facfe in the furs. On the shore of the river the 
brilliantly lighted palaces show that many balls and dinner parties are taking 
place. All seems to be happiness, within and without. The Russians never tire 
of these winter amusements. 

The severe Russian winter presents its gayest side to St. Petersburg. It is to 
the peasant on the lonely inland plain that it turns its grim and most savage 
aspect. For months the deep snow cuts off the family from intercourse with their 
neighbors. They husband their small stock of provisions with care, and spend 
many hours by the huge, flat Russian stove. Perhaps they are dreaming of the 
distant summer. It almost seems to them to be at hand, when the howl of the 
wolf recalls them to realities again. 

South-east of St. Petersburg we see green and gold Moscow. With its oddly 
colored Kremlin towers, with its walls and its gateways, it appears more like an 
Asiatic than a European city. 

Farther east is Nijni Novgorod, the place of the annual Russian fair. The 
River Volga and its tributaries form the water highways on which buyers and 
sellers from all countries of Europe and Asia flock to the fair. The strip of land 
outside the town which serves as the fair grounds, is very carefully laid out into 
straight streets and crossways, along which are ranged the white-walled shops. 
Everything imaginable may be bought here, from diamonds and brass samovars, 
to leather, and salt fish. The costumes, complexions and tongues that are seen 
and heard here suggest the possibility that the builders of the original tower of 
Babel have been collected again. 

Now let us turn our faces due east, toward Austria and the Danube provinces. 
Nearest us is the Tyrol, with its peaks of dolmite rock and its lower alps, where 
cattle wander, and where the delicate alpenroses and edelweiss bloom. On the 
Alps may be seen the dairy chalets where overhanging roofs are held in place by 
large rocks. Much of central Austria consists of level plains where herds of cattle 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 103 

pasture. To the south are fine wheat regions. The "beautiful blue Danube" 
River intersects Austria and Hungary. It can only be called blue in its upper 
course, for below Buda Pesth its water is yellow, owing to the quantit}- of mud it 
carries along. 

Vienna gleams in the sunshine on the shore of the Danube. It is a city of 
great beauty, and the scene of much joyous life. The drives, the parks, the beer- 
gardens, the opera houses and theaters, the gay throngs of people, the bursts of 
music from the band, make Vienna seem only less gay than Paris itself. This 
stately city, with its broad streets and handsome buildings, is a great medical 
and musical center. It is also extensively engaged in the grain trade. 

Buda Pesth, the capital of Hungary, is a beautiful city with fine wharves and 
arching bridges. But many of the towns and villages of Hungary are not attrac- 
tive because they are not clean. 

If now we turn and face southern Europe, we behold three peninsulas extend- 
ing into the crisp blue waves of the Mediterranean Sea. The most eastern of these 
peninsulas contains the countries of Turkey and Greece. 

There are very few railroads in this peninsula, and the roads are exceedingly 
rough and poor. The whole territory' seems inacessible and remote from the rest 
of Europe. It seems strange that the Turks, people who reall}? belong to Asia, 
should have and hold the city of Constantinople, a city that occupies a situation 
finer than that of any other large town in Europe. Half in Europe, and half in 
Asia, separated into three sections by the narrow Bosphorns and the lovely Golden 
Horn, built on seven hills, crowned by the domes and minai'ets of Mohammedan 
mosques, Constantinople from a distance is enchanting. 

A nearer view of the city destroys the illusion. Narrow, badly paved streets, 
thronged with beggars in tattered garments, and ravenous, wolfish looking dogs, 
wind up the hillside. The mosques are imposing, but far from clean. They cast 
a grateful shade across the squares, thronged by Turks in turban or fez, kilted 
Greeks and Persians in tall astrachan caps. 

Greece is a country of beautiful mountains, loveh' plains, groves of cypress 
and olive trees, ancient forests, sunny corn-fields and ruins shrouded in roses. Not 
all the ruins, however, are so kindly treated. 

The brown marble columns of the Temple of the Wingless Victory, the 
Erectheum, aud the Parthenon on the breezy platform of the Acropolis at Athens 
are free from the mantling roses and ivy. The sea breeze lifts the dust from the 
plain and whirls it against the carved shafts aud bas reliefs, perfect even in decay. 

Italy, the central of the three southern peninsulas, is well-nigh the most inter- 
esting country of Europe. The natural attractions are great. The climate is mild, 
the skies are bright, and the whole land is steeped in almost constant sunshine. 



104 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

The Italian cities are very old and famous. The streets are usually narrow and 
paved with blocks of lava. They are also dark, because they are shaded with stone 
buildings seven or eight stories high. These buildings are so packed with people 
that much of the life overflows upon the streets, v/here grown folks and children 
eat, cook, gossip, doze, spin and knit. 

We can merely glance at a few of the cities of Italy, as we tell their glorious 
names. Here is Milan with its exquisite cathedral of dazzling white marble, with 
windows of stained glass in which seem to be stored all the sunbeams of past ages. 

On the west coast stands Venice, the city of islands and lagoons. Here grace- 
ful, dark gondolas glide through narrow waterways bordered by crumbling marble 
palaces, or shoot into the bright waters of the grand Canal with beautiful St. 
Mark's in full sight. 

Further south is Florence on the Arno River. It has pictures and statues of 
priceless value that are stored in the Pitti and Uffizi palaces. These palaces stand 
in the midst of lovely gardens where lilies and roses border the velvet lawns on 
which, here and there, fountains are playing. 

Rome, the most celebrated city of Europe, is situated on the Campagna. This 
is a wide desolate plain, crossed by the old Roman roads and an occasional aque- 
duct. The Campagna is quite unhealthy, owing to the malarious gases which rise 
from it, and strangers avoid it, particularly at night. 

The yellow Tiber divides the city into two parts. We see St. Peter's and the 
Vatican, the residence of the Pope of Rome, on one shore, and the Coliseum and 
other ruins of ancient Rome on the opposite shore. St. Peter's, with its vast spaces, 
mammoth pillars, and tremendous dome, might be called the eighth wonder of the 
world. It is the largest cathedral in Europe. 

The Coliseum is a huge building where the gladiator and wild beast contests 
once took place before the emperor of Rome. It is now a vast gray ruin, the 
greatest ruin in Europe. 

Naples is a paradise upon earth so far as climate and scenery are concerned. 
It is built on the crescent shaped shore of the beautiful Bay of Naples. The dark 
cone of Mt. Vesuvius frowns down upon the white roads overhung with grape 
vines and bordered by richly laden orange, lemon and fig trees. The light hearted 
Neapolitans bask in the sunshine, play on their mandolins, or stroll along the 
shore with dreamy faces fixed upon their exquisite bay. 

If Turkey is Asia in Europe, Spain is Africa in Europe. The dry and barren 
plains, the cacti and prickly pears growing on the slopes of the hills, the clouds of 
dust that whirl through the air, all remind one of the desert plains of North Africa. 
The lofty mountains are covered with snow, and from them, by means of aqueducts, 
the city fountains are supplied with water. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 105 

The houses in Spain are square and solid. They have flat roofs and are built 
around a courtyard. This courtyard is shaded by an awning, and has a fountain 
or deep well of cold, pure water in the center. A few orange aud lemon trees grow 
in the garden and help to form a delightfully cool and shady retreat, where one 
may while away the noontide. The heat then is so great that everyone takes a 
nap, and walks and drives in the cool of the da}-. On nearly every summer even- 
ing one sees the fashionable men and women promenading in the park or along 
the river shore. The men wear broadcloth cloaks lined with velvet, and tall silk 
hats. The women have rich dresses of black with elegant lace scarfs thrown over 
their heads. They carry fans and wear dark red roses in their hair. 

Bull fights are the chief recreation of the Spaniards. Men, women and child- 
ren of all ranks of society gather in the amphitheater to see bulls tortured by men, 
either on foot or on horseback, armed with spears, darts and swords. 

The Alhambra, near the city of Grenada, once the palace of a Moorish king, 
is one'of the most exquisite buildings in Europe. Its stately corridors and halls, 
its shady courtyards, and its sunny gardens are a source of constant interest and 
delight to the travellers. The palace walls are covered with stucco-work, so fine 
that it resembles carved marble. Portions of this stucco-work are colored and gilded 
so brightly that they present an oriental appearance. The windows and balconies 
of the palace command the Vega, or plain of Grenada. The view is wide and un- 
usually beautiful. 

Portugal, the sister country of Spain, resembles it in climate, productions, and 
customs of its people. 

North of the P3'renees mountains is France, the gayest country in Europe. 
It is not that the people are better than any other people of Europe, or that they 
enjoy more advantages. It is that they are of a more radiant and demonstrative 
temperament. 

They have a beautiful, mild climate and much of their life is spent out of 
doors. This is true, not only in the country, but also in the city. 

In Paris, everything encourages this out-door life. There are wide boulevards 
circling through the city, bordered by shaded sidewalks and decorated with occa- 
sional statues, fountains and flower-beds. Here people drive and walk, here they 
examine goods in the richly stu£[ed shops along the way, or sip coffee outside the 
little cafes and gaze at the passers-by. 

There are public parks both inside and outside the city. The Tuileries Gar- 
dens with their straight walks and set flowerbeds and clusters of trees are the resort 
of children and their nurses at certain hours of the day. The Bois de Boulogne, 
outside the city, is the destination of much of the fashionable riding and driving 
from Paris. 



106 NATURAI. SYSTEM OF 

The landmarks of Paris from a distance are the tall, elegantly carved towers 
of Notre Dame and the gilded dome of the Hotel des Invalids. Below that gilded 
dome is the tomb of the great Napolean Bonaparte, whose remains were brought 
from St. Helena in 1840 and deposited there amid great display. 

The French coasts are interesting and picturesque because they are dotted by 
many fishing villages. The low, sandy shores are thronged by women and girls 
in short skirts and bare feet. They carry nets and baskets which they fill with 
mussels or shrimps. 

Central France has many vineyards, and is crossed by white roads bordered 
with poplars and leading to gray old stone cities. In these cities splendid palaces 
may be seen rising beside grimy cottages. 

The marshy and sand}/- tract just south of the Gironde River is known as the 
Landes. The people of this region are shepherds and usually go about on long 
stilts. 

France is also noted for its many eminent writers and scholars. 

Across the narrow seas to the north of France are the British Isles. Ireland 
is the land of peat-bog and lonely lake, of mouldering tower and thatched 
hovel. The mists of the Atlantic keep the vegetation a rich green. The tree 
trunks are covered with ivy, ferns crown the walls, and fox-gloves, bog-myrtles and 
shamrocks border the roadside. The women in their picturesque cloaks or shawls 
stand outside their white washed stone houses and bare footed children patter 
through the narrow flagged streets. Dublin is a fine city. 

In this country was born the poet Moore, and the famous orator, Edmund Burke. 

Scotland is a wilder country than Ireland. The soil is poorer and the vegeta- 
tion is far from being as luxuriant. Scotland has moors of yellow broom and hill- 
sides where the purple and brown heather and silvery green bracken wave in the 
breeze. These rocky hills, under the varying lights and shadows of the passing 
clouds, are unspeakably lovely. Remote mountain lakes, lovely glens, dashing 
torrents, wooded or rocky islands, quaint villages and historical cities checker 
Scotland. 

The masts of ships that are being built in the ship yards on the Clyde River 
rise amongst the tall chimneys of Glasgow. To the east are the crags of Edin- 
burgh, one of them crowned with the famous historic castle, which overlooks 
Princes St. Gardens and fair Holyrood Palace. 

Scotland was the home of Robert Burns and Walter Scott. Who were they? 

England, though less wild and picturesque than Scotland, is very beautiful in 
its quiet way. ' The hedge rows where sweet wild flowers grow, the curling streams, 
fair country residences, peaceful towns and stately cathedrals with bells chiming 
the hour, are very attractive. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 107 

The black belt or region of north-ceutral England where furnaces glow and 
tall chimneys cast clouds of smoke into the air, proves her to be a great manufactur- 
ing country. As for the commercial cities, behold Liverpool and London! London 
with its art galleries, museums, libraries, statues, St. Paul's and Westminster 
Abbey, is of supreme interest to an American. 

England has produced a long list of great mathematicians, philosophers and 
scientists. No other modem nation can present such a galaxy of writers — Chaucer, 
Spencer, IMilton, Byron, Dr3-den, Pope, Addison, Johnson, Wordsworth and 
Shakespeare ("the greatest creative genius that ever lived"), would reflect glory on 
any age. 

It is on England, our old home, that our eyes last rest before taking leave of 
this wide and interesting prospect. 

Our Own Country. 

As we contemplate what Europe was and is, it will be pleasant to consider that 
our own country has been its direct and most favored heir in all things that have 
proved useful and uplifting in its civilization, and valuable in its arts, while many 
of the old customs and usages which only hamper and retard are discarded; that no 
nation of the earth is more prosperous, progressive, or powerful than our own; and 
that in no other country is there such comfort and independence among the masses, 
such perfect political and social equality, and such an opportunity for all to rise 
from the humblest station to the very highest in every calling. 



COMMERCE. 

In the savage state men desire little more than food, drink and ease. But as 
they grow in civilization, their tastes become refined and tlieir wants increase. They 
think more about the comforts and pleasures of life and the means necessary to 
secure them. The savage needs but few things, — the bow and arrow, the spear, a 
few rude implements, — all of which he can make himself; while the civilized 'man 
wants many things, — good tools, clothing, furniture, pictures, books, etc., — things 
which he has neither the time nor ability to produce alone. So, instead of making 
every article one needs in a civilized community, it has been found necessary for 
some to make tools, others clothing, others furniture, etc., and then for each to 
exchange the things he makes for the things he needs. In this way only can all 
be well provided for. Thus variety of industry^ and commerce itself began. 

Money. — As men cannot always exchange their products for what they want 
in their own community, or directly, it has been found convenient to zcse sojne sub- 
stance as a medium of exchange, measure of value. Such a substance is called Money. 



108 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

Articles Used as Money. — Various articles have served as money at differ- 
ent times. 

Opium is so used now in many parts of China. Furs were used as money by 
the Hudson Bay Company, and "wampum" (ornamental beadwork) by the early 
Indian tribes. 

Gold and silver are used as money among all civilized nations, and they are 
found to be more suitable and convenient for such purpose than any other sub- 
stances known. 

Bank notes and drafts, or checks, represent money ^ but are 7iot money. People 
take them in exchange for articles on account of their convenience, and because 
they have coniidence that the makers of these notes and checks will pay coin for 
them whenever asked to do so. 

In large exchanges of goods between cities of the same country, or of different 
countries, money is seldom used except to pay balances. 

Export-Import. — People export only such things as they produce most 
easily and in excess of their needs, and import the things they can buy cheaper 
than they can produce, or such things as they cannot produce at all. 

Formerly goods were transported in sailing vessels and on backs of animals, 
as is done at the present time in deserts and in some mountain regions. Now, 
steamboats and railways are the chief means of transportation. Persons or corpor- 
ations engaged in the transporation of goods for the public are said to be ^''common 
carriers.^'' 

To Aid Commerce. — Men have built common roads and railways everywhere 
on land, constructing great bridges and viaducts, even passing over lofty mountains 
or running through them; they have filled the sea with ships of wood and of steel, 
enlarged rivers and harbors, built massive piers, marked out safe channels by 
beacons and buoys, stationed light houses at dangerous points along every coast, 
planted scores of life saving stations, published charts of navigation, indicating the 
routes of travel and points of. danger, and established weather bureaus which give 
warning of approaching storms; they have dug canals, built large factories and 
warehouses, produced many and valuable labor saving inventions, held great inter- 
national fairs in various parts of the world, located consuls at every important com- 
mercial city in other lands, established post-offices and newspapers everywhere, cov- 
ered the land with telephone and telegraph wires, and bound continents and islands 
together by ocean cables. 

To protect commerce, as well as to preserve peace and enforce the laws, nations 
maintain large navies and standing armies. 

The Atlantic, The Great Thoroughfare of Commerce. — The principal 
commercial countries border on the Atlantic Ocean and its arms, thus making it 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 109 

the greatest thorougWare of travel and traffic in the world. Its waters are con- 
stantly plowed by myriads of vessels plying between marts of trade on either shore. 

The commerce of a country depends on its Natural Resources, (its fields, for- 
ests, mines and fisheries), on the extent and activity of its industries, and on its 
means of transportation. 

Raw Material. — Raw material is the ore in the mine, the timber in tlie for- 
est, the grain in the field. Tho: finished product is this raw material changed by 
labor into articles useful to man. 

Finished Product. — The finished product of one class may be the raw 
material of another. Wool is the finished product of the farmer, but the raw 
material of the weaver. Again, cloth is the finished product of the weaver, while 
it is the raw material of the tailor. 

Some products, such as fuel, require but little labor to fit them for use, while 
others demand much labor and a long series of processes. Articles of the latter 
class are all the while going from the fields of production to the places of manufac- 
ture, and then are distributed to various parts of the country or world, for con- 
sumption. 

Much of the trade of a nation is composed of small sales of the necessary 
articles of food, such as garden vegetables, dairy products, etc., in the immediate 
neighborhood of their production, and of which no account can be taken. 

Tariff or Duty. — The commerce and industries of a country may be affected 
by its laws. ' A country maj^ impose a tax on imported goods, called a duty or 
tarijf, either to raise money with which to carry on the government, or to encourage 
the home production of these articles. The first is called a Revenue Tariff, and 
the second, a Protective Tariff. 

Sometimes, instead of imposing a tariff on the competing articles, a nation 
encourages its industries by a direct payment of money, called a bounty. Govern- 
ment aid to a steam-ship line and railroads is called a subsidy. 

Interstate Commerce Act. — The United States enacted a law in 1887 
which especially affects domestic commerce — the Interstate Commerce Act. The 
Interstate Commerce Act requires all railroads which operate lines in more than one 
state to make uniform and just rates for carrying goods — charging a higher pro- 
portional rate to one town or individual than to another being unlawful. A com- 
mission of three persons hears and tries all complaints of offenses against this law. 

(The Commercial Reciprocity Act of 1890 is a recognition of the principle 
that the United States may make treaties with other nations allowing certain 
articles, usually raw materials, to be admitted free of duty, or for a small duty, on 
condition that specified articles shall be admitted into those countries on similiar 
terms.) 



110 natural system of 

Products Most Useful to Man. 

The products most useful to man include all the great articles of commerce 
and many besides, and may be classified as Food Products^ Clothing Products^ 
Mino'al Products^ and Miscellaneous Products. 

I. Food Products — Vegetable. 

Wheat is the great food-grain of civilized nations, and the most widely diffused 
of all the cereals. Like other cereals, it is a grass plant, and originally grew wild, 
though its cultivation as a food plant antedates all history. Wheat was used by 
the Chinese and by many people of Asia and Europe long before the Christian 
era. The original home of this grain was probably in Asia — some believe in the 
valley of the Euphrates River. From there it spread to other parts of Asia, to 
Europe, and later to America. 

Wheat grows in the highlands of the tropics, but thrives best in the Temperate 
Zones. The finest quality of wheat and the most famous wheat fields in the world 
are in the valley of the Red River of the North, in Dakota, Minnesota and Mani- 
toba. The rich soil of this region furnishes the proper nourishment, and the long 
summer days the needful light and heat for its complete development, especially 
of that variety know as "No. 1 Hard." 

The grain is sown in the spring ("spring wheat") or early fall ("winter wheat") 
and ripens the following summer. In the United States the most improved 
machinery is used in preparing the ground, in "seeding" and in harvesting the 
grain. 

Seventy-five years ago all grain was sown by hand, cut with sickles, and 
threshed with flails, or trodden out by animals. 

In the United States, after the grain is harvested and threshed, it is carried in sacks to mills 
to be ground into flour and then distributed for local use; or transported by cars or steamers. 
Sometimes the grain is taken to the large trade centers and stored for a time in immense warehouses 
called grain elevators, and then shipped abroad. 

Most of the wheat exported from the Pacific States to Europe is carried around Cape Horn in 
sailing vessels. 

The United vStates, Russia, Germany, Austria, India, Argentine Republic and 
Chile are the great wheat exporting countries. 

In 1890, the United States exported wheat and wheat flour to the amount of 
over $100,000,000. 

Maize, or '■Indian Corn'''' is the grain, or seeds, of a large grass plant native to 
America. It was the only grain cultivated by the early Indians, hence the name, 
Indian corn. 

Corn yields about twice as much per acre as wheat does, but requires a warmer 
climate. The southern and central states produce corn in greatest abundance. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. Ill 

It has spread over large portions of the world and, next to rice and wheat, is the 
most important food plant grown. For fattening cattle and swine it is superior to 
all other foods. Much of the corn produced in the United States is consumed in 
this way on the ground where it is raised. 

Large quantities of starch, glucose and spirits are made from corn. 

Most of the corn of commerce comes from the United States, the exports in 
1890 amounting to $50,000,000. 

Corn is usually planted in hills from three to four feet apart and carefully 
cultivated. It ripens in the fall, when the ears are "husked and cribbed." It is 
then shelled and ground into meal or fed on the ear to horses, cattle and hogs. 

y^/'f^ is the most important grain plant of the tropices and sub-tropics. It is 
the cheaf food of the Chinese, Japanese, and natives of India, southeastern Asia 
and the adjoining islands, and grows best in the countries of these people. 

Rice grew in China and India in remote antiquity, and spread from thence to 
other parts of the world. Lowland rice needs, for successful cultivation, a warm 
climate and a low, rich soil which can be readily flooded with water; but upland 
rice grows on dry land the same as other grain. After the lowland rice is sown, 
the ground is usually flooded until the seeds sprout. The water is then drawn off, 
but the ground is again flooded when the stalk forms a joint, and is kept flooded 
until the grain ripens. The rice is then cut, threshed, winnowed and put in sacks 
for the mill or market. Special machines are necessary to get rid of the inner 
covering of the rice grain, which adheres very closely to it. Sometimes the rice 
plants are transplanted after they are sprouted, and the ground flooded an extra 
time to kill the weeds. 

The finest quality of rice is grown in the southern coast states, especially in 
North and South Carolina and Louisiana, but not enough for home consumption. 
The United States imports rice largely from China and Japan. Most of the rice 
is consumed in the countries where grown. 

Oats^ Barley and Rye are other important cereals. They are more hardy than 
wheat, but produced in about the same manner. They all probably originated in Asia. 

Oats are grown in great abundance in Russia, Canada, and the United States, 
and furnish the most valuable food for horses. 

Oat-meal is a staple article of food in the United States, Canada, and European 
countries. 

Barley, the hardiest of cereals, is raised in the United States, Canada, Russia, 
Germany and Austria, mostly for brewing purposes, though it was formerly used 
entirely for food. 

Rye is grown in Germany and other countries of northern Europe, and in the 
northern portion of the United States as a bread plant. 



112 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

Millet is a small grain, native of Asia, which is grown in large quantities in 
India, Siberia and other parts of Asia for food. A special variety of this plant is 
grown in the United States for forage. 

The Potato is a tuber, or an enlarged portion of the underground stem of the 
potato plant, and is composed mostly of starch. It is a native of South America 
and was carried to Europe by early Spanish explorers. It is now one of the prin- 
cipal food plants of most civilized countries, and especially of Ireland, where it was 
early cultivated, and whence the name "Irish potato." It thrives best in the mid- 
dle temperate zone. 

The Sweet Potato is in no way related to the Irish potato. It is a climbing 
vine of the morning glory family. The sweet potato is the enlarged root or tuber 
of the plant, and serves as a store house of starch and sugar. It is a native of the 
warmer regions of both hemispheres, and has been cultivated from the earliest 
times. 

Yams are vegetables much like the sweet potato, but larger and coarser, some 
weighing thirty pounds or more, each. There are many varieties growing in most 
of the countries of the tropics, and they furnish food for a large number of people. 

Manioc^ or Cassava^ is a plant whose large, starch-filled roots are used as a 
chief article of food by the natives of tropical America and Africa. The plant 
grows wild in Brazil, and is believed to have originated in tropical America. 

The root is pounded or grated, and then carefully washed in water to take out 
a poison in the sap. It is then heated until the grains swell up, forming the 
tapioca of commerce. 

Sugar, though found, in many plants, is obtained mostly, and in about equal 
quantities, from the sugar-cane and the sugar-beet. Five hundred years ago sugar 
was unknown in Europe, or used only as a medicine, or in place of honey to prepare 
it. Now it is almost a universal food. 

Sugar-cane, a grass plant, somewhat resembling corn, is a native of southern 
Asia. From thence it was carried to America, the West Indies and the Sandwich 
Islands. 

In tropical regions a sugar-cane plantation sometimes lasts ten years, but in 
the United States, and like cool countries, the cane must be planted as often as 
once every two or three years. It is not grown from the seed, but from pieces of 
the cane which are planted. 

When ripe the stalks are crushed between rollers to extract the juice, or they 
are sliced or shreded and treated with hot water. In either case the liquid is evap- 
orated in pans over a fire. The syrup thus formed is allowed to crystalize. The 
uncrystalized portion is drawn off as molasses. The crystalized part is the 
"brown" or raw sugar of commerce. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 113 

Sugar refining is a complicated process. The raw sugar is first dissolved in 
hot water, filtered through cotton and animal charcoal, and then evaporated. The 
vacuum-pan and centrifugal filter are important inventions used in refining sugar. 
The vacuum-pan enables the syrnp to boil at a low temperature, as the air is 
partially removed from over it. The centrifugal filter is a perforated cylinder from 
which the water and molasses are expelled by its rapid motion, leaving only the 
granualated sugar behind. 

The great refineries are located (for the most part) in the sea port cities 
Brooklyn, Boston and Philadelphia have large refineries. Beet sugar is made in 
about the same way as cane sugar. 

In 1890 the United States imported nearly $10U,000,000 worth of raw sugar 
one-half of which came from the West Indies. The Sandwich Islands and East 
Indies also furnish large quantities. The sugar cane thrives best in tropical and sub- 
tropical countries. It is grown with success in Louisiana and other southern states. 
The sugar-beet grows in the temperate zone and is an important production of 
central Europe. Beet sugar was discovered in Germany in 1747. Napoleon first 
gave it great prominence in France by bounties, and its culture extended into other 
European countries. Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, Russia, Holland, in 
order named, are the leading beet sugar producing countries. California and 
Nebraska have made a beginning of the industry in this country. An acre of 
beets produces about 4,000 pounds of sugar, while an acre of cane yields about 
7,000 pounds. The quality of the sugar is about the same in each. 

Maple Sugar, made by evaporating the sap of the maple tree, is produced in 
limited quantities in New England and other northern states and Canada. 
This sugar is especially prized on account of its pleasant flavor. 
Sorghum is a sugar plant resembling the sugar cane but not as valuable. Its 
product in the United States is mainly in syrup. One kind of sorghum is the 
broom corn, from which brooms are made. 

A kind of sugar called ^^/«^o.y^, is extensively made from the starch .of the 
potato in Germany and of corn in the United States. Germany leads in this 
production. The common syrups are largely composed of this material. The 
total sugar product of the world is over five million tons. 

7>« is the dried leaves of the tea plant, an evergreen shrub which grows in 
China, Japan, portions of India, southeastern Asia, and neighboring islands. 

In the wild state the plant reaches the height of 25 to 30 feet, but when culti- 
vated It IS kept pruned and is seldom over five feet high. The plant is raised from 
the seed and begins to bear when three years old. It reaches maturity in about 
nine years, after which it bears less and less, and a new plant is set out in its place. 
It produces from 100 pounds to 200 pounds per acre. 



114 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

The plant needs a warm, moist and equable climate, and a ricli soil for the 
best growth of leaves. 

There are four gatherings of leaves each year — in April, May, July and 
August. The first crop makes the best tea; the second crop is the largest; and the 
last crop the poorest, on account of the coarse quality of its leaves. 

When picked the leaves are dried and roasted, a different method of prepara- 
tion producing the two varieties known as "green" tea, and "black" tea. Green 
tea is made by drying the leaves quickly; while in making black tea the leaves are 
allowed to dry more slowly and ferment a little, thus causing them to turn black. 
In the process of preparing the tea for the market the leaves are rolled by hand 
into the shape we see them. 

"Brick tea," formed by compressing the leaves into blocks, is used as a food 
by many of the people of central Asia. Siberia imports large quantities of it from 
China. 

It is estimated that more than one-half of the human race use tea as a beverage. 
The Chinese drink the tea clear, and never with milk or sugar. 

In China the tea is generally cultivated on small farms, and the leaves are 
picked by the family. During the harvest season family groups may be seen on 
all the hillsides gathering the leaves in small bamboo baskets which are slung by 
a cord around the neck. For foreign trade, teas are packed in boxes or chests, 
lined with thin sheet lead to make them impervious to air and water, in order that 
the aroma and freshness of the tea may be preserved. As the tea is put into the 
box a man stamps it down with his feet until the box is completely filled, when the 
lead is soldered over it and the cover fastened on. 

The tea plant is a native of Asia, and has been cultivated in China farther 
back than history goes. It was first brought into Europe by the Portuguese, 
in 1517. 

The island of Formosa is said to produce the best tea. 

China consumes four-fifths of the 2,400 millions pounds it produces. Great 
Britian 165,000,000 pounds and the United States 55,000,000 pounds. 

The United States imported $12,000,000 worth of tea in 1890, mostly from 
China and Japan. Canton is the great Chinese tea port. 

The Coffee plant is a tropical evergreen tree which grows wild in Abyssinia, 
and on the Guinea and Mozambique coasts of Africa. 

Coffee is believed to have been first cultivated in Persia. The Abyssinian variety 
has been acclimated in many other countries, and most of the coffee of the world 
now comes from regions where the plant is not indigenous. 

Some of the South American countries, especially Brazil, are well adapted to 
its cultivation. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 115 

The plant needs a warm, moist climate, and careful cultivation. It sometimes 
grows to the height of 25 to 30 feet, but is usually pruned down to about five feet, 
in order to make it more convenient to pick the fruit. The tree is grown from the 
seed. It commences to bear at three years old and keeps on bearing almost con- 
tinuously for more than twenty years. The flower and the ripe fruit may be seen 
on the tree at the same time. The fruit is usually gathered two or three times a year. 

The coffee of commerce is the seed, or "beans,'' of this fruit, which is an edible 
berry, much resembling the cherry in size and general appearance. Bach berry 
contains two seeds, the "coffee beans," lying with their flat sides toward each other, 
and covered with a tough membrane, or husk. 

In preparing the coffee for market the pulp is removed and, after drying, the 
husk also. The coffee seeds are then assorted and put into bags for shipment. 

The finest coffee in the world, called Mocha from the port of shipment, is 
raised in Arabia. The Java coffee ranks next. Brazil furnishes half the coffee 
used in the world and nearly all used in the United States. In 1890, the United 
States imported nearly $80,000,000 worth. 

Coffee grows well in both West Indies and East Indies, and is an important 
production of these and other tropical countries. 

Cocoa comes from the cocoa-tree of the West Indies and tropical America. 
The tree grows about 15 or 20 feet high, and bears long pods, containing thirty or forty 
seeds each, from which the cocoa is made. These seeds are ground to powder between 
heated stones and the oil afterward pressed out. This powder made into a paste is 
called chocolate. 

The finest cocoa is produced in Venezuela. The largest crop comes from the 
island of Trinidad. 

Spices (pepper, cinnamon, nutmegs, cloves, etc.) are tropical products, and 
were the most important articles of trade of the East Indies in earl 3^ times. 

Black Pepper is the dried fruit of a climbing shrub, originally a native of 
India, but later introduced into the islands of the East and West Indies. 

("The high price of pepper during the middle ages led to the discovery of the 
Cape of Good Hope in the endeavor of the Portuguese to reach the Indies by sea.") 

Cimiainon is the bark of a small tree, native of Ceylon. It has been introduced 
into most of the tropical countries of the world, though it has been under cultiva- 
tion for only about one hundred years. 

Nutmeg is the seed of a small tree originally growing wild in the Moluccas. 
It is now cultivated in the West Indies, Madagascar and other tropical regions. 

Cloves are the dried flower buds of a beautiful evergreen tree of the myrtle 
variety, native to the Moluccas, but now naturalized in the West Indies and other 
tropical lands. 



116 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

The Banana plant is found in most tropical countries, though it is believed to 
have originated in the East Indies. It is one of the most nutritious and valuable 
foods of the Torrid Zone. 'Humbolt estimated that one acre of bananas would yield 
as much nutritive material as 44 acres of potatoes, or 133 acres of wheat. The plant 
requires little if any cultivation. 

The United States receives its bananas from Mexico, Central America and the 
West Indies. 

The Plantain belongs to the same family as the banana but is a coarser 
variety. Its fruit is used mostly for cooking, while the banana is generally eaten 
raw. The plantain and banana furnish a large part of the food of the people of 
many hot countries. 

The Date^ the fruit of the date palm, has been for ages the chief food of the 
people of North Africa, Arabia and Persia, the home of this plant. 

The stem of the tree runs up 30 to 60 feet, clear of leaves or branches, and 
is crowned with forty to eighty leaves, eight to ten feet long. The fruit grows 
among these leaves in bunches. The dates are eaten both fresh and dried. The 
dried dates are prepared for market by pounding and pressing them together in a 
solid mass. In this form they serve as the chief food of caravans in their journeys 
over the deserts. 

The date palm is one of the most useful trees in the world. From it man not 
only gets food, but material from its wood and leaves for fuel, shelter, and many 
useful articles. 

At the top of the stem is a soft pith, which, with the young, unfolded leaves 
about it, forms the "Palm Cabbage," highly prized as a food. 

The Cocoanut is the fruit of the cocoanut palm, a tree common to the islands 
of the Indian Ocean, and the tropical regions of the Pacific. The fruit is an im- 
portant article of food of the inhabitants of these regions, and the tree serves almost 
as many purposes as the date palm. It is taller than the date palm, sometimes 
growing to the height of 100 feet, but has fewer leaves in its crown. A tree in full 
bearing will ripen from 80 to 100 cocoanuts in a year. The nut will float in the 
water a long time without injury, and hence the cocoanut palm is one of the first 
trees to appear on a newly formed island. 

Sago is a food obtained from the pith of several species of palm growing in the 
East Indies, China and Japan. The tree is cut down just before it flowers, when 
about 15 years old, and the inside, which is soft, is taken out and beaten in water, 
when the starch settles to the bottom. This when dried becomes the Sago of com- 
merce. It is an important food of the natives. 

The Bread-fruit is the product of the bread-fruit tree which grows on many of 
the islands of the tropics and furnishes food to millions of people. The bread-fruit 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 117 

is large, and when baked is said to resemble wheaten bread. The tree grows to 
the height of about forty feet and bears fruit eight or nine months of the year. 

The Fig is the fruit of the fig tree, of which there are more than 100 species. 
The common fig trees are cultivated about every village in India and abound even 
to the Northern Himalayas. Its home was probably Persia. It has spread exten- 
sively, and now grows in every sub-tropical country. 

It was one of man's earliest foods, probably before wheat and barley, and has 
been an important element in supporting human life. It is frequently mentioned 
in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Levant it is still an important article 
of food and the commercial supply of the world comes from that region, Egypt and 
Spain. England takes about 20,000,000 pounds of figs annually and the United 
States about 8,000,000 pounds. The best comes from Smyrna. 

The Grape is of very ancient cultivation. It is believed to have originated in 
Asia and from thence spread over the temperate portions of both hemispheres. 

It is cultivated extensively in the countries of central and southern Europe, 
principally for wine and raisins; also in California, Missouri, New York, Ohio and 
other states of the Union. 

Oranges and Lemons^ natives of Asia, are now cultivated in the subtropical 
regions of both hemispheres. Thej^ are grown extensively in the countries of 
southern Europe — especially in Italy and Spain — and in Florida and California. 
The trees live to a great age and are very productive. The best oranges come 
from Florida. 

The Pineapple is a tropical fruit, native of South America. It is now culti- 
vated in the warm regions of many parts of the earth. 

Apples^ Pcars^ Peaches., Plums., Cherries, Strawberries and Raspberries are the 
most common fruits of the Temperate Zion^, and they surpass in amount and value 
all other fruits. These probably originated in the Eastern Hemisphere, though 
wild varieties of some of them are found in America. 

The Prune, a kind of plum, is largely cultivated in southern Europe and in 
the Pacific coast states. 

Apricots, fruit resembling the peach, are grown in southern Asia, countries 
bordering on the Mediterranean, and in California and Arizona. 

The perishable nature of most of these fruits prevents their shipment in 
commerce except when dried, canned or preserved. The apple is the favorite fruit 
of the temperate zones, aind is dried in large amounts by modern methods, and 
shipped to all parts of the world. All these fruits except the peach and apricot 
have a wide geographical distribution. The raspberry goes to 50 degrees north, 
the plum to 60 degrees north and the strawberry is abundant in Alaska and 
Kamchatka. 



118 NATURAI. SYSTEM OF 

Olives, the fruit of the olive tree, thrive in all countries bordering on the Medi- 
terranean, and in California. The fruit, and especially the olive oil derived from 
the fruit, are highly prized and form important articles of commerce. 

Food Products. 

ANIMAL. 

Cattle^ Swine and Fish supply the principal animal food used in the civilized 
countries. Of these, cattle are the most useful to man for their dairy products, 
services as draft animals, and for their flesh when fattened. 

In the thickly populated regions, cattle are raised chiefly for dairy purposes; 
while in the thinly settled districts, they are raised for beef. Some of the great 
grazing districts of the world are in North and South America — the Pasture Lands 
of the Rocky Mountain regions, the Llanos of the Orinoco, and the Pampas of the 
La Plata. 

Much of the beef of the United States comes from the Pasture Lands. 

The cattle when ready for market are transported to the great meat-packing 
cities, where the beef is dressed for market, and the hides disposed of to make 
leather. The dressed beef is sent to various parts of the country in refrigerator 
cars, and is shipped abroad in iced chambers. Most of the export beef is composed 
of live cattle. 

In 1890, the United States exported live cattle to the value of $31,000,000 and 
dressed beef to the value of $25,000,000. 

Cattle, as well as horses, originated in Europe and Asia, where they have been 
used as domestic animals from the earliest times. From these regions they have 
spread to all parts of the world. The wild cattle and horses of South America are 
from the stock of the domestic breeds brought over by the early Spanish and 
Portugese settlers. 

Pork is a more common food than beef, and is most used by the laboring 
classes, especially of Europe. Swine are easily and quickly raised, and furnish a 
greater amount of flesh in proportion to their size and the quantity of food 
consumed than any other domestic animals. They thrive well on com, and are 
raised chiefly in states noted for this product. 

Swine, like cattle, originated in Europe and Asia, where they were early 
domesticated. 

In 1890, the United States exported pork to the value of $85,000,000, mostly 
to Great Britain and Germany, Live hogs are not exported for food. 

Swine are dressed and prepared for the market in great pork-packing establish- 
ments, located at important points. Some of the great pork-packing cities of the 
Union are Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Kansas City. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 119 

Fowls. The various breeds of chicken, or barn-yard /t'w/^, are believed to have 
originated in India. Their domestication began in every early times. The Duck 
and Goose came from wild species. 

Fish are found in great abundance in both fresh and salt water. The most 
important food-fish are the cod, mackeral, salmon, herring and oyster (shell fish). 
Oysters, salmon, and the young herring, called sardines., are extensively canned. 

Halibut and Haddock, salt-water fish, and the White Fish of the Great Lakes, 
are also important. 

Some of the most noted fishing grounds of the world are the Banks of New- 
foundland, located at some distance from the coast. Here the debris brought down 
by ice-bergs and the Arctic Current is deposited, making the waters shallow, and 
favoring the growth of various marine plants, on which the cod, halibut and other 
fish feed. More than 5,000 fishing vessels from the United States and other 
countries visit these grounds every year. 

The next important fishing grounds are those of the North Sea and waters of 
Norway, famed for cod and herring. 

Along the coast of Washington and Vancouver Island are valuable fishing 
grounds for cod and halibut. 

Mackeral are caught along the Shores of New England and in other waters. 

Shad and Sahnon, though salt-water fish, are usually caught in fresh water, 
where they go to spawn. Shad fishing in the streams of the Atlantic coast, and 
salmon fishing in the streams of the Northern Pacific Coast, are industries of con- 
siderable importance. 

The most extensive natural shell-fish beds in the world are in the Chesapeake 
Bay. Artificial beds have been planted on the coast of New England, Long Island, 
New Jersey and North Carolina, which have grown into great importance and rank 
next to those of Chesapeake Bay. 

It is estimated that more than 150,000 men are employed in fishing in the 
United States; that the product of the fisheries amounts to over $50,000,000 annually. 

Fish culture is carried on systematically by the United States and other 
nations. Important food fish have been transported to various parts of the world 
and propagated in new or exhausted waters. "Shad have been successfully intro- 
duced into the Rivers of the Pacific coast, and the Great Lakes have been restocked 

with white fish." 

•2. Clothing Products. 

vegetable. 
Cotton, Flax, Wool and Silk are the great cloth-making fibers. The first two 
are of vegetable, and the last two of animal origin. All are produced in the tem- 
perate zones, though cotton is a tropical plant. 



120 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

The Cotton plant is a native of most countries of the tropics. The cotton of 
commerce is of the old world variety, having been brought to the New World by 
the early settlers, and is mostly grown in subtropical regions. 

The cotton plant bears many seed vessels, called "bolls." Each boll contains 
a number of seeds, each about the size of a pea. As the seed ripens the boll bursts 
open, and a soft,wooly substance growing from the seed puffs out. This is the 
cotton "wool," or raw cotton of commerce. 

There are two principal varieties of cotton, the upland or "short staple," with 
fibers from an inch to an inch and a half in length, and the "long staple," or sea- 
island variety, with fibers two inches or more in length. The fibers of the latter 
variety are very fine and lustrous, and especially adapted for making the finest 
laces. 

The crop of this variety is small but very valuable. It comes mostly from the 
South Atlantic States and from Egypt. Cotton clothes most people of the world, 
being supplemented by wool in colder seasons, and by furs in high northern 
climes. 

The United States furnishes about two-thirds of the market supply of cotton, 
and India ranks next. China raises a large amount of cotton for home use and 
imports much besides. 

In 1890, the United States exported cotton fiber to the value of over 
$250,000,000 , mostly to England. In the manufacture of cotton, Great Britain 
ranks first. Then follow in order the United States, Germany and France. 

There are about three pounds of seeds to one of fiber. The oil pressed out of 
the seeds is used for various purposes, such as making soap, substitute for lard, 
etc. The mass that remains after the oil is pressed out, is called oil cake^ and is an 
excellent food for cattle. It is also a very useful fertilizer, as it contains most of 
the elements that the cotton plant takes from the soil. 

Oil and oil-meal were exported to England and Germany to the value of 
$8,000,000 in 1890. 

The seed of the cotton plant (short staple) is sown about the first of April of 
each year, and the ground is cultivated until the middle or last of June. The seed 
is generally sown in rows or drills and the plants are afterwards thinned out so as 
to stand about half a yard apart. The plant grows rapidly, and attains a height of 
four to six feet, branching out like a shrub, which it resembles in its woody fiber 
and general appearance. The bolls commence to mature, as indicated by their 
opening, about the middle of September, first along the lower branches and then 
higher up. The harvesting begins at the first opening of the bolls in September, 
and continues often until January, when the shrubs are themselves pulled up and 
burnt and the ground prepared for another crop. The cotton is picked into bags 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 121 

or baskets and carried to the cotton-gin, where the fiber is separated from the seeds. 
It is then packed into large bundles, called bales, containing about 400 to 500 
pounds each. These bales are shipped to the manufacturing centers, where the 
fiber is made into cloth. 

The cotton-gin has been the means of increasing the production of cotton and 
cheapening it to a wonderful extent. Originally only a small quantity was raised 
because much time and labor were required to separate even a small amount of 
fiber from the seeds — one pound of clean fiber being a da3'''s work for a man. 
After the cotton-gin was invented a man could clean a thousand pounds in a day. 
This machine has since been improved and its capacity greatly increased. 

The Flax Plant was cultivated in the earliest times, and probably originated 
in western Asia. Mummy-cloth, found in ancient tombs, was made of flax-fiber. 

This plant thrives in most countries of the Temperate Zone. It grows to a 

. height of from two to four feet, and has a small blue flower. The small seed 

vessels contain the flax seed, or linseed^ from which is extracted the linseed oil of 

commerce, used largely in mixing paints and varnishes. The linseed cake, or part 

left after the oil has been extracted, is a very nutritious food for cattle. 

To obtain the fiber, or lint, the flax is pulled up b}' the hand or cut close to the ground by 
machines, the same as are used for cutting wheat or oats. It is then placed in shallow ponds or 
pools of soft water or spread upon the grass for retting (rotting.) When the rotting has con- 
tinued long enough so that the fibrous covering is easily separated from the woody stem, the flax 
is thoroughly dried, and then put through a machine which breaks it so fine that the "shives," or 
broken bits of stalk, may be removed by "scutching" or swingeing," an operation performed by 
simple hand appliances or by complicated machinerj\ After the scutching comes "heckeling" or 
combing, which subdivides the fibers into their finest filaments, removes the short fibers (tow), 
and leaves the long glossy fibers, the real lint, untangled and ready for spinning. This is the 
raw material from which the linen cloth is manufactured. 

Russia produces more flax than any other country. It is also largely raised 
by German3% France, Austria, Belgium, Ireland and Italy. Considerable quantities 
of flax are now raised in the United States and Canada, mostly for the oil and seed. 

In the manufacture of linen, Russia leads the world. Italy, France, Ireland, 
Scotland and Germany are also noted for the manufacture of this article. 

In 18Q0, the United States imported over $16,000,000 of linen goods from Ger- 
many, and over $5,000,000 worth of raw flax and linseed oil from other countries. 

Flax is an important crop in several states, especially in Minnesota and Iowa. 

Clothing Products. 

ANIMAL. 

Wool, next to cotton, is the most important clothing product. It is the soft, 
crispy hair which grows on the llama, alpaca, camel, goat and sheep. Most of the 
wool of commerce comes from the sheep. 



122 NATURAI. SYSTEM OF 

In the wild species the wool is long and hairlike. The fine, closely matted 
fleece has been developed by domestication and carefirl breeding. One valuable 
quality of the fibers of wool is that their sides are serrated or toothed, thus enabling 
them to unite with each other to make a strong fabric. 

The sheep originated in Europe and Asia, where it has been domesticated from 
the earliest times. The merino sheep was introduced into Spain by the Romans. 

The great wool producing countries, in order of amount of product, are Aus- 
tralia, New Zealand, Russia, United States and Argentine Republic; in order of 
manufacture are Great Britain, France, United States, Germany and Austria. 

The very fine white wool of the Angora goat of Asia Minor, sometimes called 
"mohair," is made into Persian shawl^ and other fine fabrics. The Cashmere goat 
furnishes a fine grade of wool, from which the costly Indian shawls are made. 

The alpaca and the llama have a long and glossy wool, suited for making a 
fine quality of dress goods, which is obtained mostly from Peru. 

The United States imported wool and woolen goods to the value of over $70,. 
000,000 in 1890. 

Silk is a fine glossy thread made by the silk worm in spinning its cocoon. 

The worm is hatched from the &^^ of a moth called the bombix mori^ and feeds 
upon the leaves of the mulberry tree. When about a month old it spins a cocoon 
about itself. 

If left undisturbed after spinning its cocoon the worm would first change into 
a pupa, or chrysalis, and finally into a moth, when it would eat through the cocoon 
and spoil it. To prevent this, the cocoon when made, is put into hot water or 
baked, to kill the worm. The next process is to twist the fibers of several cocoons 
together into a single thread. The threads are then made into skeins, cleaned, and 
packed into bales of about 100 pounds each. This is the raw silk of commerce. 

Silk culture was first known in China. From there it has been introduced 
into other countries. Most of the rav/ silk comes from China, Japan and Italy. In 
silk manufacture France ranks first; Germany, second; and the United States, third. 

The mulberry tree, from which the silk worm gets its food, thrives best in sub- 
tropical climates. These countries are, therefore, the home of the silk worm. 

The cultivation of silk in China is from the remotest antiquity — began, 
according to Chinese records, 2600 B. C. It was introduced into Europe 530 A. D. 

In 1890, the United States imported raw silk to the value of $23,000,000, and 
silk goods to the value of nearly $40,000,000. 

Leather^ made from the skins of various animals, is the raw material for the 
manufacture of boots and shoes, gloves, harnesses, etc. Leather is made from 
hides by tanning. That is, by treating them with tannic acid found in the bark of 
the hemlock, oak and some other trees. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 123 

Furs are worn in winter by the people of Europe and America for warmth and 
adornment. Among the most prized furs are those of the sea otter, sable, ermine, 
silver gray fox, and fur seal; all of which are found in America. Siberia is a great 
source of supply for valuable furs. The fur seal is found in Alaskan waters. In 
order to preserve the seals from extermination, the government allows only a cer- 
tain number to be taken each year. The skins of the seals require special treat- 
ment to fix them for the market. The long coarse hairs are plucked out and the 
furs dyed. 

The world's chief fur markets are London, Leipsic and Nijni Novgorod. 

The seal visit the Pribilof Islands in May and June of each year to the number 
of several millions. They leave there in October and November for milder waters 
during the winter, — some going to Japanese waters, and others to the coast of 
Washington and British Columbia. 

Mineral Products. 

Iron is the most useful as well as the most common of all metals. It is verj^ 
strong, and when heated can be hammered into almost any shape, drawn into wire, 
or welded. It is fashioned into a variety of useful things, small and large, such 
as cutlery, machinery of all kinds, bridges, railways, ships and buildings. 

Iron is never found in the pure state, but mixed with other minerals, and is 
then called Iron Ore. It is easily rusted, or oxidized, and is generally found in 
this form. It also occurs mixed with sulphur, carbon, and phosphorus. To 
separate the iron from the ore, fuel and ore are put into a blast furnace with some 
limestone. In the great heat the iron melts and collects at the bottom of the fur- 
nace, while the impure parts, called "slag," being lighter, rise to the top. This 
process is called smelting. The most common fuel used for smelting iron ore is 
coal, or coke; charcoal, petroleum and natural gas are also used. The limestone, 
usually called the "flux," is put in to take out the earthy impurities, with which it 
unites. The finest iron is produced by smelting the ore with charcoal. 

When the iron is melted it is usually drawn from the furnace and cast into 
bars of about one hundred pounds each, called "pigs," \.h.&pzg iron of commerce. 

Iron expands slightly when cooling,' and this property makes it especially 
valuable for castings as it will fill the molds evenly and smoothly. 

By a refining process, called "puddling," pig iron is freed from certain impuri- 
ties, such as carbon and phosphorus, and becomes tougher and more malleable. 
It is then called "malleable," or wrought iron. 

When iron is refined so as to contain a very small amount of carbon, it is 
called Steel. The process most commonly iised for making steel is the "Bessemer." 
Steel is lighter and more flexible than cast iron or wrought iron and can be tem- 
pered by heat to almost any degree of hardness, or elasticity. 



124 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

As the smelting and manufacture of iron requires mucli fuel the ore is usually- 
carried to the coal fields, or near them, for working up. 

The United States leads all nations in the manufacture of Steel. Most of the 
rails of railroads, ships, engines, machinery, cutlery, etc., are made of steel. The 
principal iron ore mines of the United States are located on the northern lake shore 
of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota; along the Appalachian ranges of moun- 
tains; and in Missouri. Iron is found in greater or less abundance in many of the 
states, and in most countries of the world. 

Sweden is noted for its fine quality of iron, and Germany for its heavy iron 
■ware. England manufactures more iron than any other country. 

Copper^ next to iron, is the most useful metal, and is found in all parts of the 
world. It is very malleable and ductile, and one of the best conductors of electricity 
known. 

Copper readily combines with other metals to form alloys, and is much used 
in this way. Combined with zinc it forms brass; and with tin, it forms bronze and 
bell-metal. It is also alloyed with gold and silver in making money. 

Copper is found both in the pure state and as an ore. The richest mines in 
the world are in Montana and Northern Michigan. Chile ranks next to the United 
States in the output of copper. Next in order come Spain, Germany and Australia. 

The United States exported about $8,000,000 worth of copper in 1890. 

Tin is a flexible and malleable metal, and not very ductile. It does not tar- 
nish or rust easil}^, and is much used in coating sheets of iron for manufacture of 
"/z;z ware,'''' etc. Alloyed with lead, tin forms solder, pewter, and type-metal ; 
alloyed with copper, antimony and bismuth, it forms ^''britannia zvareP 

Cornwall, England, formerly furnished most of the tin used in the world. 
Now most of the tin comes from the miues of Banca and Billiton, islands of the 
Dutch East Indies. These are the richest tin mines known. The Banca tin is 
the purest found anywhere. Tin is also found in Bolivia, Peru, Australia, and in 
the Black Hills of South Dakota. 

The United States imported from England and the East Indies about $7,000, 
000 worth of tin in 1890. The manufacture of tin in the United States is rapidly 
increasing. 

Lead is a heavy metal, but very malleable and soft, being easily cut with a 
knife. In nature it is usually found in combination with sulphur, forming the ore 
called galena. It is also mixed with silver ores. Lead is found in many parts of 
the world. The most important lead mines of the United States are in the section 
where Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois meet. 

Lead is used in making pipe, tubes and shot. Heated in the air, lead oxidizes 
and becomes an orange colored powder, called litharge, much used in the manufac- 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 125 

ture of paint, cement and flint glass. White lead, used in mixing paints, is also 
made from this metal. 

The United States produces more lead than any other country. Spain ranks 
next. 

Zinc is a much tougher and harder metal than lead. It is usually found in 
combination with lead and sulphur. It does not easily rust, and for this reason is 
much used as lining for water tanks and bath tubs. Sheet iron is sometimes 
coated with it, producing "galvanized iron." Zinc is also used in electric batteries. 

This metal is found most abundantly in Germany. Belgium ranks next, and 
the United States third. The most valuable mines in the United States are in 
Missouri and New Jersey. 

Gold and Silver are called the precious metals. They are used in making 
jewelry and plated ware, but principally as money. For the latter purpose they 
are slightly alloyed to make them more durable. 

These metals are comparatively rare, do not tarnish, and are especially adapted 
for coinage purposes. 

The United States Government has located mints for coining these metals into 
money at Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and other cities. 

Gold is found in many parts of the world, but most abundantly in the Rocky 
Mountain region and Pacific States, in Alaska, in Eastern Australia, and in the 
Ural Mountains. The United States furnishes the largest amount of gold and 
Australia the next largest. 

Gold generally occurs in the pure state as viens in quartz rocks, and in soils 
which have been made by the washing awa}^ of these rocks. In order to separate 
the metal from the quartz the rock is crushed to powder by powerful machinery and 
then agitated with water and quicksilver. The quicksilver combines with the 
particles of gold, forming an amalgam., from which it is afterward separated by dis- 
tillation. The quicksilver may thus be used over and over again. 

When gold occurs in the soil it is generally obtained by hydraulic mining. 
Water is brought in ditches, often many miles, to an elevation above the deposits 
and carried down from them in iron pipes and directed in streams of great force 
against the bank to be excavated. ' The soil is washed away and carried through 
long sluice-boxes, in which the gold, being heavier than the other material, falls to 
the bottom and is caught, while the rest passes off. 

Silver is seldom found in the pure state, but generally in combination with 
other substances, especially lead. 

The United States leads all other countries of the world in the production of 
silver — Colorado, Montana and Nevada being the most important silver states, and 
then follow in order, Mexico, Peru and Bolivia. 



126 NATURAI. SYSTEM OF 

Quicksilver., or Mercury., is usually found combined with sulphur in the ore 
called cinnabar. It is used largely in the production of gold, and in the manufac- 
ture of mirrors, thermometers and barometers. 

Quicksilver is found in Almaden, Spain; in Australia; but most abundantly in 
New Almaden, California. 

Platinum is one of the most ductile of metals and the most infusible. It can- 
not be melted by any ordinary heat. It is heavier than gold and is quite rare — 
found chiefly in the Ural Mountains. It is used principally for making crucibles 
and other articles which are subject to great heat. 

Nickel is a grayish-white glistening metal, capable of receiving a high polish, 
quite hard and not easily tarnished or oxidized. On account of these qualities it 
is largely used in plating various articles made of iron and brass. It is used as an 
alloy with copper in many small coins. German silver is an alloy of nickel with 
brass. Nickel mixed with steel greatly toughens and hardens it and is used now 
in making steel armor plate. Nickel is found in Germany, Sweden, New Caledonia, 
and United States. 

Coal is the product of a wonderful vegetable growth in ages past, which fell 
down and accumulated in great masses, was covered by water and so kept from 
utter decay. In some places floods carried down similar material, piling it up in 
huge masses. The surface sank and rose many times, and each time the process 
was repeated, forming successive beds with strata of some material between them. 
It was thus that the weight of strata above the vegetable matter pressed it into 
solid form and with heat changed it into coal. 

The coal which was most recently formed and lies nearly level is called the 
bituminous. This is the ordinary condition of coal. In the furnace it slacks or 
breaks up and burns with a flame and black smoke. When the mountains were 
formed by the wrinkling and upheaval of the earth's crust, the coal beds in them 
were exposed to greater heat and chemical change, which drove out the elements 
which caused most of the smoke and flame, and left hard or anthracite coal. 

Some coal was formed in all subsequent eras, and is slowly forming now in 
the peat bogs of Ireland; the Dismal Swamp region of Virginia and North Caro- 
lina; near the mouths of the Mississippi, and elsewhere. The process of change to 
coal is slow, and we come from the oldest and best anthracite through the bitumi- 
nous up to the later brown coal called lignite; then to peat, the last. 

In the very old folded and twisted rocks in Rhode Island and New York, the 
* coal has been so greatly changed as to h&covsi& graphite, known also as plumbago 
. and black lead., from which pencils are made. 

Other products closely associated with coal in origin are naphtha, petroleum, 
natural gas, mineral tar and asphaltum. Out of certain kinds of coal, illuminating 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 127 

gas and coal tar are made; and out of coal tar, aniline dyes, even some medicines 
and other things. 

Coal, now the principal fuel of civilized man, was scarcely known, even to our 
fathers. Wood and charcoal were the fuel used before men had learned that 
"stone coal,'' as it was called, could be burned, and vast forests were consumed in 
the furnaces, even of our own country. 

Petroleum (rock oil) is found in many parts of the world. Sometimes it rises 
to the surface of the ground but it is generally obtained by sinking wells, often 
more than a thousand feet deep. In some of these wells the oil rises and flows 
over the top, being forced out by a gas which is usually found with it; but in most 
cases the oil has to be pumped out. It is not known just how petroleum is formed 
in the earth, but it is now generally believed that the oil has been made chiefly by 
the decay of sea plants and animals under great pressure. 

The crude petroleum, as it slowly oozes from the earth, absorbs oxygen from 
the air, and in this way is changed into "mineral tar." If this operation is long 
continued, the substance takes the more solid form of aspJialt. Asphalt is used 
largely for paving purposes, and is found in California, Venezuela, Peru, and other 
parts of the world, but most abundantly on the island of Trinidad. 

Petroleum was known to exist in Europe and Asia centuries ago, and was used 
in Greece and Italy to burn in lamps, and as a medicine. Its great value as a 
luminant, however, was not dreamed of until about forty years ago, when the 
Pennsylvania' oil wells were developed. 

There are two qualities of American petroleum. The poorer quality, found in 
California and Ohio, is used as fuel; while the purer qualit}?^, found in a narrow 
strip of country extending two hundred miles along the western slope of the Alle- 
gheny Mountains, is used for illuminating purposes. Most of the crude petro- 
leum is transported in tank cars or pipe lines to Cleveland, Pittsburg, Bufialo, 
Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Chicago, where it is refined for use. 

As the petroleum comes from the earth it is a thick, oily liquid of a yellowish, 
brownish or greenish color, and unpleasant odor. 

In its crude state petroleum is used for fuel. For other purposes it is refilled^ 
or distilled. The first and largest product of this distillation is gasoline; the next, 
naptlia; the third, benzine; and the fourth, kerose7ie or ^^coal oil''\ Kerosene is the 
great luminating fluid, and is exported in large quantities to other countries. The 
next product after kerosene is paraffine oil. This also yields several burning and 
. lubricating oils, as wellas ^'paraffine ■wax,'''' and vaseline. 

The principal places where petroleum is found are the north part of Italy; on 
the shores of the Caspian Sea, near Baku; at Rangoon, Burmah; in the Caucasus 
Mountains; in Galicia, Austria; and in the United States and Canada. In the 



128 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

United States the chief places are in western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, 
Kentucky and Tennessee; but some is also found in other states. 

The richest petroleum fields in the world are found along the western shore of 
the Caspian Sea, but they are not as thoroughly worked as those of the United 
States. Petroleum is used as a fuel by steamships on the Caspian Sea, and by 
many locomotives in Russia. 

The exports of petroleum products from the United States in 1890 amounted 
to over $50,000,000. 

Natural Gas is found in and near the great oil fields, and is obtained by sink- 
ing pipes into the ground. It is chiefly used for heating purposes, making a cheap 
fuel for homes and factories. 

Glass is made from powdered quartz, (flint or sand), lime, potash, salts of soda, 
lead and bleaching material, all melted together at a high temperture. The 
"glass metal" thus produced, is made to assume various shapes by blowing, casting, 
or pressing into molds. 

Glass manufacture is carried on in many Buropean countries, and in Massa- 
chusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and other states. The best 
plate glass comes from England, France and Belgium. Bohemia is noted for its fine 
cut glass. Bottles, vials, etc., are made largely in Germany, England and France. 

Clay is one of the most common of mineral substances. The very important 
metal aluminum, is obtained from it. Brick and terra-cotta are made from common 
clay. From the finer quality of clay are made stone ware, earthen ware and crockery. 
From the finest clay, called Kaolin, or China clay, is made the Chinaware or 
porcelai?z. In the manufacture of claj^s they are first worked, or kneaded, then put 
in molds and baked. The common kinds of glazed ware are called stone ware and 
earthen ware. Chinaware was so named because it was first made in China. The 
best chinaware is now made in Germany, France and England, where kaolin is 
abundant. A large amount of crockery is made in New York, Pennsylvania, New 
Jersey, Illinois and Ohio. 

Clay, suitable for making brick, is found in abundance almost everywhere. 
The red color of brick is due to the iron which is common to most clays. Some 
brick clay has so little iron in it that the color becomes a sort of cream when the 
clay is burnt, like the Milwaukee brick. 

Building Stone of various kinds is found in most sections of the United States 
and of the world. 

Some of the most important kinds are limestone, granite, sandstone and slate. 

Marble, a dense form of limestone, is the most valuable of all building stones. 
Most of the marble quarried in the United States comes from Vermont. Tennessee, 
New York and Georgia also furnish large quantities. The finest comes from Italy. 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 129 

Common limestone is quarried in many parts of the United States, but most abun- 
dantly in Pennsylvania and Illinois. Much of it is burned to make lime for plaster. 

Granite is a very hard and durable stone quarried largely in New England. 

Sandsfone comes mostly from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado, though a fine 
quality of it is found in New England. A fine grade of sandstone suitable for 
making grindstones comes from Ohio and Nova Scotia. 

Most of the slate used in this country for roofing, flagging and black boards, 
comes from Pennsylvania and Vermont. 

Sali, a most important article of food, is obtained from salt wells and sea water 
by evaporation, in most countries. Rock salt is dug out of salt mines in Austria, 
Spain and the United States. The salt mines of Austria are the most extensive in 
the world. 

SulpJmr exists in various combinations, but the sulphur of commerce is found 
in almost a pure state near volcanoes. 

It is most important in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, or "oil of vitriol," 
gun powder, matches, for vulcanizing rubber, and for bleaching. Most of the 
sulphur of commerce comes from Sicily. 

Precious Stones are rare mineral substances possessing such beauty of color, 
brilliancy and durability, as to especially fit them for use in je\yelr37, or for orna- 
mental purposes. The diamond, ruby and emerald are the most valuable. 

The diamond is the hardest, most brilliant, and, next to the ruby, the most 
valuable of precious stones. Diamonds are found principally in Kimberly, South 
Africa, — the richest mines in the world, — and in Brazil. The true oriental ruby 
often brings a price from five to ten times that of the diamond. Rubies are found 
in Burmah, Ceylon and India. The emerald, a stone of a rich green color, and 
next to the diamond in value, is found in Columbia, Siberia and India. 

Some of the other precious stones are the ainct/ivst, topaz, opal and turquoise. 
The value of precious stones is greatly enhanced by the cutting. Most of them 
are sent to Amsterdam, Antwerp and London to be cut and set. 

The United States imported precious stones and imitation "precious stones," 
to the value of $12,000,000 in 1890. 

Miscellaneous Products. 

Trees furnish shade, give variety and beauty to the landscape, and exert an 
important influence on climate, especially on rainfall. They supply the fuel most 
widely used, as well as gums, resins, tanning bark, dyewoods, drugs and fruits. 
Their timber is used in the building of all kinds of structures and in the manufac- 
ture of furniture and a great variety of useful articles. 

Pines is the name given to numerous kinds of conebearing evergreens which 
flourish mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. The most important of these are 



130 NATURAL SYSTEM OF 

the white pine, the Oregon pine, the Norway pine, and the California red wood, as 
well as cedars, spruces, hemlocks and firs. The lumber from these trees is most 
extensively used in building, and in manufacturing. 

Hardwoods, such as the oak, walnut, chestnut, maple and cherry are found in 
the temperate zone. Oak furnishes the strongest lumber, and is largely employed 
in the manufacture of furniture and wagons, and in ship building. The oak and 
hemlock furnish bark for tanning, Cork is obtained from the bark of the cork- 
oak tree, which grows abundantly in Spain and other countries bordering on the 
Mediterranean Sea. The black zvabnii is much used for cabinet work and gun 
stocks. The wood is of a dark brown color, and admits of a high polish. Chestnut 
is much valued for railroad ties. From the dense hardwood of the a.pple tree are 
made stock for planes, shoemakers' lasts and small articles of furniture. Boxwood, 
found in India, is a very hard, close-grained wood, and principally used in making 
wood engravers' blocks and fine rules. Mahogany and rosewood, of Central and 
South America, are among the most highly prized woods for fine cabinet work. 

Ebony, a hard, durable wood, used in ornamental furniture, mostly as veneer, 
grows in Ceylon, Madagascar and Central America. Teak, a strong, tough wood, 
found in farther India, is employed in ship building. 

Lignum, Vitae is a heavy, hard, close-grained and tough wood growing in 
Central America and the West Indies. It is used for making rules, pulleys, 
pestles, balls for bowling alleys, etc. 

The Bamboo, "one of nature's most valuable gifts to uncivilized man," is a tree- 
like grass, reaching a height of 50 to 70 feet and from 5 to 15 inches in diameter. 
Its stem is divided into joints, and attains its full height in a few months, some- 
times growing over two feet in a day. Its seeds and tender shoots are used for 
food, and its stem for constructing bridges, houses, and for making a variety of 
utensils such as cloth, paper, ropes, baskets, drinking cups and bottles. In China, 
Japan and the East Indies, whole houses and their furniture have been made out of 
it. The bamboo grows in the tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres. 

Hemp a.nA. Jute are vegetable fibers used mainly in making cordage and coarse 
textile fabrics, such as sacking, etc. 

Hemp is made from the fiber of the hemp plant, which grows extensively in 
China, Japan, Southern Asia, Egypt and to a less extent in the United States and 
most countries of Europe. Manila hemp, the fiber of the wild banana, is exported 
in large quantities from the Philippine Islands. 

Jute, a plant with a longer fiber than that of the hemp, is largely cultivated 
in the delta of the Ganges. The principal manufactures of jute are carried on in 
Scotland; at Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee. 

The Ttf"/*?.^!:;:!? plant is a native of America, but has been acclimated in other 



TEACHING GEOGRAPHY. 131 

countries. It was smoked by the natives of the West Indies when Columbus first 
landed there. The best tobacco is raised in Cuba and Turkey. The United 
States raises about one-fourth of the world's supply. Tobacco was the first profit- 
able article of commerce from the Virginia colony. 

Cinchona^ or "Peruvian bark," is the bark of a tree native to South America, 
from which is obtained quinine — a valuable medicine in the treatment of fevers. 
This tree has been introduced into Java, Southern India, Ceylon and British 
Burmah with success; so part of the supply now comes from those countries. The 
Cinchona trees vary from 40 to 100 feet in height, and those raised in plantations 
yield better than those growing wild. 

C////;;/ is the dried juice of the opium poppy, raised chiefly in India, China, 
Persia and Turkey. It is of great value as a medicine. 

When the poppy heads are nearly grown and begin to ripen, shallow incisions 
are made in the evening through the skin, from which a milky juice flows and is 
gathered in the morning. This is drained of its watery parts, and slowly dried into 
a brown, sticky gum. This is then worked into a mass, dried and packed in tin 
lined cans. It is then opium gum^ one of the most important medicines in the world. 
A proverb says: "A physician without opium is like a soldier without a weapon." 

It reaches every country in the world, but the Chinese use more than any 
other people, either eating it or smoking it when mixed with hasheesh and spices. 
As China produces four-fifths of its supply and imports fourteen million pounds a 
year from India and large quanties from Persia and Asia Minor, it consumes near 
75,000,000 pounds annually at a cost of $280,000,000. 

Celebrated as India has ever been for its riches, opium has the highest value 
among its exports. The United States is supplied mainly from Asia Minor. 

India Rubber is so called because it was first obtained from India and on 
account of its first known use, — to rub out pencil marks. Caoutchouc is the native 
South American name. It is the coagulated juice of trees growing in Central 
Am,erica, and the tropical regions of South America, Africa, India and adjacent 
islands. There are several different species of rubber producing plants. Fi^om 
India rubber are manufactured a variety of useful articles, such as water-proof 
cloth, foot wear, water bags, air cushions, tubing and medical and surgical articles. 
When mixed with sulphur and heated under pressure "Vulcanized" rubber, "Vul- 
canite,"or "Ebonite" is produced. This form of rubber is very hard, durable and 
elastic, and will take a high polish. Combs, buttons, etc., are made from it. 

The juice of the rubber tree is obtained by making incisions in the bark of the 
tree and catching the sap as it runs out. This sap, which at first has a milky 
appearance, is slowly heated and smoked until it coagulates into a dark mass, the 
raw rubber of trade. The rubber tree is now cultivated in large groves of 30,000 



132 NATURAI. SYSTEM OF 

trees or more. The best rubber is the Pari rubber of South America and that from 
Mozamoique. The United States imports $15,000,000 worth each year from Brazil. 

Gz{ilaPercka is the hardened juice of trees which grow in the East Indies. 
It is somewhat similar to vulcanized rubber in appearance and uses. Both are 
employed in making electrical insulators. 

Sponges. — The sponge of commerce is the skeleton of the sponge animal, which 
grows at some depth in the sea,fixed to rock or ground. Sponges are found on the 
southern coast of Florida and Bahama Islands, but most abundantly in the Mediter- 
ranean and Red Seas. The finest are from the Aegean Sea. The best sponges grow 
in clear, quiet water from 150 to 200 feet deep. Mo'St sponges are obtained by means 
of long spears; but where the depth is over 40 feet divers are employed or dredges used. 

Liquors comprise spirits, wines and malt liquors. Spirits are distilled from 
wine, grain, corn and sugar. 

Wine, fermented grape juice, is the chief product of most grape raising coun- 
tries, such as France, Italy and Germany. 

Malt liquors, comprising beer, ale, porter, etc., are made from barley and hops. 
They are manufactured in all countries where barley and hops are raised. 

Paper for writing and printing is made from linen and cotton rags, and from 
wood pulp (of the poplar, Cottonwood and spruce.) The finest paper is made from 
linen rags. Wrapping paper is made from straw, jute and hemp. 

The United States leads all other nations in the production of paper. Great 
Britain ranks second, and Germany third. 

The principal countries producing: — 

Rice. — China, Japan, India, East Indies, United States. 

Wheat. — United States, Russia, Argentine Republic, India, Austro-Hungary,, 
France, Italy. 

Corn. — United States, Canada, Mexico. 

Tea. — China, Japan, India. 

Coffee. — Brazil, Java, Arabia, Central America, West Indies. 

Spices. — East Indies, West Indies. 

Cotton. — United States, India, Egypt. 

Wool. — Australia, New Zealand, Russia, United States, Argentine Republic, 

Silk. — China, Japan, Italy, France, Spain. 

Coal. — Great Britain, United States, Germany, France, Belgium, Australia. 

Petroleum. — United States, Russia. 

Iron. — Great Britain, United States, Belgium, Russia, Sweden. 

Copper. — United States, Chile, Spain, Germany, Australia. 

Gold. — United States, Australia, Russia. 

Silver. — United States, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Austria. 



OCT 25 I8S9