Of this amount 51 millions are covered by land; and 145 by water. There is, therefore, only one square mile of land to three of water; or three acres of water to one acre of land. . . If, again, we look at the two hemispheres the northern and the southern we shall find that the Northern Hemisphere contains 38 millions of square miles of land to 60 of water; while the Southern Hemisphere has only 13 millions of square miles of land to 85 of water. We see from this that the large masses of land lie almost entirely in the Northern Hemisphere. If we take Antipodes Island as a centre, and draw a circle round half the globe, we shall find that we have marked out a Water Hemisphere; if we take Falmouth as a centre, and draw a circle round half the globe, we shall find that we have described a Land Hemisphere. Hence we may say, speaking broadly, that Great Britain stands at the centre of all the land in the world, and New Zealand at the centre of all the water.

3. The Continents. The land on the surface of the globe is generally divided into six continents-three in the Old World, or Eastern Hemisphere, and two in the New World, or Western Hemisphere. Lying outside and away from these masses of land is "the island continent " of Australia. The continents in the Old World are Asia, Africa, and Europe; in the New World, North America. and South America. Of all the continents on the globe, Asia is the largest, and Australia the smallest. Asia is nearly five times larger than Europe; and North America. is more than twice as large. Africa is nearly three times as large as Europe, and about four times as large as Australia. South America is not quite double the size of Europe.

4. The Shapes of the Continents.-Africa is the most

simple in form of all the continents. Europe, on the contrary, is the most varied in its outline. While Africa is a compact mass, Europe is broken up on the north, the south, and the west, and sends out long peninsular limbs into the sea, receiving at the same time long arms of the sea into the land. South America comes next to Africa in simplicity of shape and shortness of coast-line. Of all the continents, Europe has by far the longest coastline in proportion to its size. North America comes next to Europe. Europe has one mile of coast for every 170 square miles of surface; North America, one mile of coast for every 260 square miles. Australia has the shortest coast-line of all; and Africa comes next to Australia in poverty of outline.

If

5. The Line of Fracture. The land-masses of the world are crowded together around the North Pole. But the separation between each mass of land is worthy of special note. Let us begin at the separation between North America and Asia, which is called Behring Strait. we take Behring Strait as a centre, and the distance between it and the Strait of Gibraltar as a radius, we shall discover some very remarkable facts. Our circle will not only cut the Strait of Gibraltar, but the Isthmus of Panama; and it will include the whole masses of three continents-Europe, Asia, and North America-while it excludes the whole of South America, Africa, and Australia.

6. Great Rivers at Right Angles.—It is another remarkable fact that, if we look at the two largest rivers of each continent, we shall find that they flow at right angles to each other. the Rhine and Danube forming a right angle; in Africa, the Nile and the Congo; in North America, the St

Thus, in Europe, we find

Lawrence and the Mississippi; and, in South America, the Amazon and the great system of the La Plata. This is also the case in Asia, though the rectangular flow is not so apparent; for we have the three great rivers of the Siberian Plain flowing to the north, while the two great rivers of China flow to the east.

com-pact', with its parts very close together.

frac'-ture, break. (From L. frangere,

to break. Hence also refract, fraction, etc.)

1. Planets. (From Gr. planētes, a wanderer.) The planets were called wandering stars, to distinguish them from the fixed stars.

2. Antipodes, feet to feet. (Gr. anti, opposite; pous, podos, a foot.)

2. THE WORLD.-II.

1. The Heights of the Continents.—How high do the continents stand out above the level of the sea? Some are very high, and some low. The highest of all is Asia, because it possesses the highest and largest table-lands, and the highest mountains. If the whole of the mountains and table - lands of Asia were levelled down and spread over the surface of the whole continent, the mean height of that continent would be 2264 feet. Next to Asia comes South America, which, with the enormous heights of the Andes, gives to the continent a very high mean elevation. Europe is the lowest of all, and its mean height is only 1342 feet. This is due to the fact that Europe has no very high ranges of mountains, and no very extensive table-lands: most of it is plain, and, indeed, low plain.

2. The Old World and the New.-There are several striking contrasts between the build and formation of the Old World and the New, which it may be well for us to know. (i) In the first place, the greatest length of the Old World runs from east to west; the greatest length

(ii) Where the

of the New World from north to south. one world bulges out, the other bends in. Thus Brazil would fit into the Gulf of Guinea, Western Africa into the Gulf of Mexico, and Nova Scotia into the Bay of Biscay. (iii) The line of highest mountains-of greatest elevation-runs in the Old World in the south of the mass, and from south-west to north-east. In the New World this line of greatest elevation runs in the west of the mass, and from north to south. (iv) In the fourth place, the long slopes of the Old World run to the north; in the New World, they run to the east.

3. The Oceans.-While the continents are broadest in the north, and taper off to the south, the oceans are broadest in the south, and become narrower and narrower as they go to the north. The largest ocean is the Pacific; and its basin could hold all the land in the world. The next largest is the Atlantic; and it is remarkable as receiving more fresh water from the rivers of the two worlds than any other ocean on the face of the globe. The Atlantic is also the greatest ship-highway in the world. The Indian Ocean is the most stormy ocean in the world, and the circular storms on its waters are terribly dangerous to sailing vessels. The Arctic Ocean lies round the North Pole. It is so full of ice-fields and icebergs that it is useless for commerce. But it has been sailed through; and the North-West Passage, as it is called, was first made by Captain M'Clure in the year 1850. The Antarctic Ocean lies round the South Pole.

Very little is known of it; but it is believed that a large continent lies within it, and round the South Pole itself.

4. Plants. Just as there is a regular gradation of climates from the equator to the poles, so there is a gradation of vegetation. We find in the tropics the largest amount of vegetation-the largest trees, the largest number of trees, the largest number of different species, the largest leaves, and the most intense power of growth. As we leave the tropics all this decreases, until at length, in the arctic zone, we find the smallest leaves and the smallest plants-such as mosses, lichens, and low bushes. And, just as there is a gradation of plant-life from the equator to the poles, so there is a gradation from the sealevel up to the snow-line on the highest mountains. Thus, in vegetation as in climate, we find a pretty exact correspondence between altitude and latitude. Increase our latitude, and we find pretty much the same series of climates and plant-life as when we increase our altitude.

el-e-va'-tion, raised height. (From L. e, out of; and leváre, to raise.) cir'-cu-lar, round. It here means travelling round a centre. (From L. circus, a ring; circulus, a small

ring.)

grad-a'-tion, arrangement by steps. (From L. gradus, a step. Hence also grade, degrade, etc.

3. THE WORLD.-III.

1. Animals. Plants are dependent on climate, on heat and moisture; they cannot move from the spot; and they mark with considerable plainness the climate of the spot they live in. But animals move to and fro; and we do not see in them the same gradation from the equator to the poles that we see in plants. But the animal life of