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This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


'  J. 


MAY  1  3   1929 


AR  ^  7    1930 


2, '23 


LESSONS^ 


IN   THE 


New  Geography 


FOR  STUDENT  AND  TEACHER 


BY 


SPENCER   TROTTER,    M.D. 

Professor  of  Biology  in  Swarthmore  College,  Pennsylvania 


BOSTON.    U.S.A. 
D.   C.    HEATH   &   CO.,    PUBLISHERS 

1895  . 
NOV  1906 


Copyright,  1894, 
By  spencer  TROTTER. 


Typography  by  J.  S.  Cushing  &  Co. 
Presswork  by  S.  J.  Parkhill  &  Co. 


GfF33 


PREFACE. 


We  live  in  a  world  of  ideas.  The  real  things  of  life  impress 
themselves  upon  our  brains,  through  our  senses,  and  are  grouped 
as  so  many  mental  pictures  in  the  various  complex  relations  which 
they  hold  to  one  another.  In  studying  Geography  the  child  very 
early  gains  ideas  or  mental  pictures  of  different  scenes  and  places, 
and  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  these  pictures  be  not  only 
true,  but  /iving-  ideas  of  the  things  themselves.  It  should  be 
impressed  upon  every  child  thal[Geography  is  a  part  of  his  every- 
day life,  not  a  mere  learning  of  the  names  of  places,  but  a  living 
reality  .J  The  imagination  —  that  quality  of  the  brain  which  enters 
so  largely  into  child  life,  peopling  its  wonderland  with  fairies  and 
creations  of  fancy  —  is  the  one  element  needful  in  gaining  the 
ideas  of  real  things.  In  proportion  as  a  study  stimulates  the 
imaginative  faculty  does  it  near  the  end  in  view  of  all  study  — 
that  of  creating  a  fulness  of  interest  in  life  and  in  the  lives  of 
every  man  and  woman. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to-  bring  this  conception  of  Geog- 
raphy to  the  teacher's  mind.  LThe  map  is  a  means  of  gaining 
clear  ideas  of  the  positions  of  places  on  the  earth's  surface  in 
relation  to  one  another.  \  We  all  carry  mental  maps  in  our  brains. 
Our  sense  of  right  direction  is  often  determined  by  the  early  use 
or  misuse  of  maps.     Use  the  map  to  call  out  the  perception  of 

iii 


iv  '  PREFACE. 

the  relations  of  a  place  to  other  places.  Try  to  make  every  part 
of  the  map  a  picture  alive  with  the  men,  the  animals,  the  vegeta- 
tion, rivers,  mountains,  cities,  and  all  that  goes  to  make  up  the 
real  scenes,  on  any  part  of  the  earth's  surface.  Good  illustrations 
are  as  useful  as  maps,  and  lantern  slides  are  very  helpful  in  the 
study  of  Geography,  Modeling  surface  features  in  sand  and  clay, 
as  outlined  by  Redway  in  his  litde  book  on  "  Geographical 
Forms,"  is  both  interesting  and  instructive,  but  outdoor  lessons 
are  more  important  than  schoolroom  exercises. 

Geography  is  a  universal  study,  a  band  that  binds  many  other 
studies  into  a  living  whole.'  It  is  the  central  study  to  which  the 
other  studies  must  necessarily  gravitate,  because  it  is  the  study  of 
the  earth,  and  the  earth  is  the  theater  of  all  human  thought  and 
action.  For  example,  the  expression  of  the  mind  of  a  people  as 
embodied  in  its  literature  is  largely  the  result  of  geographical 
influences.  Who  can  doubt  that  the  poetry  and  the  art  of  Greece 
were  the  expression  of  that  inspiration  which  is  peculiarly  the 
effect  of  bright  blue  skies  and  sparkling  seas;  of  genial,  buoyant 
air,  and  softly  blended  landscapes,  or  that  the  brave  Sagas  of  the 
Norse  were  born  out  of  the  gray  mists  and  tempestuous  waves  of 
the  northern  ocean  ?  On  every  literature  Geography  has  left  its 
stamp.  So  with  all  study,  the  purely  scientific  and  economical, 
as  well  as  the  more  essentially  human  studies  of  history  and  art, 
all  find  a  basis,  a  common  groundwork  in  Geography. 

In  writing  this  book  I  have  been  reminded  of  those  early  voy- 
agers who  made  the  study  of  Geography  possible  only  by  sailing 
around  the  earth.  We  all  sail  around  the  earth  in  the  sea  of  our 
imagination.  There  are  many  who  can  never  do  it  in  reality, 
and  if  this  little  book  will  help  them  to  sail  and  to  see  in  fancy 

1  See  article  by  Dr.  Charles  De  Garnio  in  "  Educational  Review  "  for  May,  1893. 


PREFACE.  V 

the  real  scenes,  the   moving  and  feeling  life    of  the    earth,  the 
object  for  which  it  was  written  will  be  accomplished. 

In  connection  with  the  chapters  and  lessons  I  have  given  Usts 
of  books  that  both  the  student  and  teacher  will  take  pleasure  in 
reading,  and  lind  useful  in  helping  them  to  gain  clear  conceptions 
of  the  various  scenes  in  different  parts  of  the  world.  I  have 
freely  drawn  material  from  several  valuable  works.  I  am  espe- 
cially indebted  to  Dr.  D.  G.  Brinton's  "Races  and  Peoples," 
Alphonse  De  Candolle's  "  Origin  of  Cultivated  Plants,"  and  articles 

on  various  subjects  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 

S.  T. 

SWARTHMORE  COLLEGE, 

1894. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER. 

Geography  in  its  Relations  to  Life 


PAGE 
I 


CHAPTER   I. 

Some  Past  and  Present  Aspects  of  the  Earth  : 

Lesson  L     Land  and  Water  ..... 

IL     Life  and  the  Earth       ..... 
IIL     Conditions  affecting  the  Development  of  Man 


lO 

21 
29 


CHAPTER   H. 
Climate  : 

Lesson  I.  The  Elements  of  Climate 

IL  Climatic  Zones     ..... 

in.  Winds,  Ocean  Currents,  and  Rainfall  . 

IV.  Influence  of  Climate  on  Man 


33 

40 

43 

54 


CHAPTER   III. 

Plants  which  have  Affected  Man  : 
Lesson  I.     Tea  and  Coffee     . 
II.     Sugar  and  Spice  . 

III.  The  Grains,  or  Cereals 

IV.  Some  Vegetables  and  Fruits 
V.     Cotton  and  Flax  .  . 

vii 


60 
64 
66 
69 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Animals  which  have  Affected  Man  : 
Lesson  I.     Animals  of  the  Chase  . 

II.     The  Domestication  of  Animals 
III.     Some  Special  Animal  Products 


75 
78 

85 


Man 


CHAPTER   V. 

Lesson  I.  Types  or  Races  of  Man        .... 

II.  Geographical  Distribution  of  the  White  Race 

III.  Geographical  Distribution  of  the  Black  Race 

IV.  Geographical  Distribution  of  the  Yellow  Race 
V.  Man  in  America  ..... 

VI.  Islanders  and  Coast  Peoples 


89 

92 

100 

106 

"5 

125 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Commerce  : 

Lesson  I.     The  Beginnings  of  Commerce 

II.     The  Era  of  Discovery 

III.     Present  Features  of  Commerce  and  Civilization 


129 
134 
137 


APPENDIX. 

I.  The  Principal  States  and  Cities  of  the  World 

II.  Population  of  the  Earth 

III.  Forms  of  Government    ....■••■ 

IV.  E.xtract  from  the  First  Report  of  the  United  States  Board  on  Geo- 

graphic Names      .         .         .         .         •         • 
V.     Geographical  Distribution  of  Animals  ;  a  Synopsis  of  Study  . 
VI.     How  to  read  a  Weather  Map  ....... 


147 
157 
158 

158 
160 
169 


LESSONS   IN   THE   NEW   GEOGRAPHY 


INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER. 

GEOGRAPHY  IN  ITS  RELATIONS  TO  LIFE.^ 

The  varied  features  of  the  earth's  surface  in  any  piece  of  land- 
scape is  a  thing  that  rarely  fails  to  strike  the  eye  even  of  the  most 
casual  observer.     He  may  take  no  mental  note  of  this  element  of 
variety  in  itself,  seeing  only  the  stretches  of  field,  the  masses  of 
woodland,  the  broken  lines  of  hills,  the  winding  course  of  streams 
that   lie   within    his   horizon.     These  are  the   broad   features    of 
almost  every  familiar   landscape.       From   any   given   standpoint 
commanding  such  a  view  of  the  surrounding  country  the  ground 
is  seen  to  slope  gently  down  to  the  lowlands,  or  fall  more  or  less 
abruptly  into  a  valley.     Water  from  the  rills  of  hillside  springs 
gathers  in  the  hollows,  and  wet,  marshy  land  often  forms  a  con- 
spicuous feature    in    the  near  view.     This    diversified  surface  — 
river,  marsh,   field,   forest,   hill,  and  valley  —  is  the  home  of  an 
infinite  variety  of  living  beings. 

Little  observation  is  needed  to  note  that  this  diversity  of  life 
corresponds,  in  a  broad  way,  with  the  diversity  of  surroundings. 
Aquatic  animals,  like  fishes,  crayfish,  and  many  insects,  inhabit 
the  waters  of  ponds,  lakes,  and  streams.  Frogs  and  other  am- 
phibious creatures  are  denizens  of  bogs  and  shallow  pools.  Some 
snakes  and  turtles  are  aquatic,  while  others  are  wholly  lovers  of 
the  dry  land.  Birds  are  found  in  every  situation,  —  ducks  and 
divers  on  the  lakes  and  rivers  ;  herons  and  bitterns  in  marshy 
fens ;  gulls  and  petrels  on  the  open  sea ;  sandpipers  along 
the   shores ;    eagles   on   lofty  mountain   peaks ;    while   a   host   of 

1  An  address  read  before  The  College  Association  of  the  Middle  States  and 
Maryland  at  the  meeting  held  at  Swarthmore  College,  Pa.,  November,  1892. 
B  I 


2  INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER. 

species  enliven  the  woods  and  fields.  The  haunts  of  mammals 
are  no  less  diversified.  The  tree-loving  squirrels,  the  burrowing 
ground  hog,  the  mole  digging  out  its  long,  subterranean  galleries, 
the  water-loving  beaver  and  otter,  are  each  and  all  associated  in 
the  mind  with  their  favorite  surroundings. 

This  idea  of  the  animal  and  its  particular  home  is  by  no  means 
new.  In  that  wonderful  poem,  the  one  hundred  and  fourth 
Psalm,  the  story  is  told  in  a  language  peculiarly  its  own  :  "  The 
cedars  of  Lebanon,  which  he  hath  planted  ;  where  the  birds  make 
their  nests  :  as  for  the  stork,  the  fir  trees  are  her  house.  The 
high  hills  are  a  refuge  for  the  wild  goats  ;  and  the  rocks  for  the 
conies." 

If  this  diversity  of  life  is  so  apparent  in  a  limited  area,  it  is  far 
more  so  when  we  come  to  journey  over  an  extended  portion  of 
the  earth's  surface.  As  the  horizon  widens,  newer  and  more  sig- 
nificant features  rise  into  view.  Lofty  mountain  ranges,  broad 
seas,  trackless  deserts,  treeless  plains,  and  vast  forests  successively 
present  themselves  as  the  traveler  girdles  the  earth,  north  and 
south,  east  and  west.  Climate  and  vegetation  change  from  one 
region  to  another,  and  it  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise  to  find  corre- 
sponding changes  in  animal  life. 

Many  kinds  of  animals  are  limited  to  particular  regions,  while 
others  range  through  wide  areas  of  country  under  a  variety  of 
physical  changes.  A  traveler  starting  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  of 
the  United  States  and  journeying  westward  along  the  fortieth 
parallel  will  pass  successively  through  a  number  of  distinct 
regions,  each  characterized  by  certain  conditions  of  climate,  vege- 
tation, and  peculiar  animals.  Quite  a  number  of  familiar  forms 
will,  however,  be  found  throughout  the  entire  extent  of  his 
journey  across  the  continent. 

In  bird  life  alone,  the  absence  of  some  species,  the  appearance 
of  others  in  new  regions,  and  the  presence  of  some  throughout 
a  wide  area  of  country,  is  a  marked  feature  in  such  a  journey. 
Many  familiar  eastern  species,  wrens,  thrushes,  titmice,  wood- 
warblers,  larks,  jays,  finches,  and    the    like,  give   place    to    new, 


GEOGRAPllV  IN  ITS  RELATIONS   TO  LIFE.  3 

though,  in  some  instances,  closely  related,  forms  on  the  prairies 
and  Great  Plains.  In  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  the  change 
becomes  still  more  marked.  So  in  the  Great  Basin  and  on  the 
Pacific  slope  new  and  strange  forms  appear,  characterizing  the 
several  regions  over  which  the  traveler  passes. 

He  will  find,  however,  that  some  old  friends  have  accompanied 
him  all  the  way  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  The  robin  greets 
him  in  California  with  the  same  loud,  cheerful  call  that  he  heard 
in  the  woods  of  Pennsylvania.  The  familiar  twitter  of  the  barn 
swallow  is  heard  about  the  habitations  of  men  from  shore  to  shore 
of  the  continent.  Other  well-known  birds  appear  in  every  region 
throughout  the  land. 

If  our  traveler  cross  the  Pacific  .to  Japan,  he  will  find  larks, 
wrens,  finches,  wagtails,  titmice,  thrushes,  and  a  host  of  familiar 
forms,  which  he  recognizes  broadly  as  belonging  to  such  types, 
though  the  species  are  all  entirely  different  from  those  he  knew  in 
America.  Should  he  sail  westward  by  the  shortest  route  to  Eng- 
land, he  would  pass  the  shores  of  countries  widely  different  from 
those  he  left  and  from  one  another.  The  bare  hills  of  China,  the 
wooded  mountains  of  Formosa,  the  volcanic  peaks  of  the  Phil- 
ippines, the  hot,  tropical  jungles  of  the  Malay  Islands,  the  spice 
groves  of  Ceylon,  the  burning,  barren  deserts  of  the  Red  Sea,  pass 
successively  before  him.  Each  is  tenanted  by  strange  forms  of 
life  —  beasts,  birds,  reptiles,  insects,  and  vegetation  totally  differ- 
ent from  any  he  has  ever  beheld  in  his  journey  over  half  the  earth. 
On  reaching  England  he  will  again  find  himself  surrounded  by 
many  familiar  features.  He  will  be  surprised  to  see  many  species 
of  birds  almost,  if  not  quite,  identical  with  those  he  saw  in  Japan, 
separated  as  they  are  by  the  immense  land  mass  of  Eurasia,  with 
its  vast  plains,  deserts,  and  'mountain-rimmed  plateaus.  None  of 
the  familiar,  species  of  North  American  birds,  however,  will  greet 
him  in  his  rambles  about  Britain. 

We  have  seen  that  in  an  area  covered  by  almost  any  farm  of  a 
few  acres  there  exists  a  variety  of  physical  conditions  each  of 
which  is  the  home  of  living  beings  peculiar  to  it  and  different  from 


4  ■    INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

those  in  other  stations.  We  have  followed  in  imagination  the 
traveler  journeying  westward  over  the  earth,  and  have  seen  with 
him  the  varied  features  of  the  lands  he  visited.  In  the  one  case 
the  conditions  are  local,  in  the  other  geographical,  yet  no  line  of 
distinction  can  be  drawn  between  them,  for  geographical  condi- 
tions are  only  the  more  exaggerated  and  broader  features  of  what 
we  see  in  any  local  area. 

We  learn  from  a  survey  of  these  conditions  how  intimately 
related  an  animal  is  to  the  earth,  and  how  each  species  is  fitted 
to  the  special  conditions  of  the  region  it  inhabits.  Physical 
Geography,  therefore,  forms  the  basis  of  a  study  of  distribution. 
The  position  of  mountain  ranges  and  valleys  in  relation  to  each 
other  and  to  the  surrounding  country  ;  the  presence  of  rivers, 
lakes,  prairies,  steppes,  deserts,  and  forests  ;  the  relative  height  of 
land  above  the  sea  level ;  the  position  of  an  ocean  and  the  direc- 
tion of  its  currents  ;  climate  in  its  broadest  sense,  including  rain- 
fall, humidity,  the  prevalence  and  direction  of  winds,  —  all  these 
must  be  considered  in  relation  to  the  distribution  of  life. 

Humboldt  laid  the  present  basis  of  Physical  Geography.  Carl 
Ritter  enlarged  the  thought  of  Geography  as  the  all-important 
factor  in  life  and  human  affairs.  The  multitude  of  facts  collected 
by  Darwin  on  the  cruise  of  the  Beagle,  and  Wallace  in  the  Malay 
Archipelago,  opened  out  a  broad  and  suggestive  field  of  thought. 
Obscure  problems  became  clear  in  the  new  light  shed  upon  them. 
The  work  of  Lyell  and  other  geologists  bridged  the  gulf  between 
the  great  Present  and  the  infinitely  greater  Past,  showing  that  the 
life  of  to-day  in  all  its  varied  and  obscure  forms  is  the  effect  of 
physiographic  causes  working  throughout  the  earth's  history.  Time 
and  Place  became  the  fulcra  on  which  thought  was  levered  in  turn- 
ing the  great  questions  of  life.  Evolution  was  the  word  and  the 
light  of  science.  Distribution  was  the  key  that  unlocked  many 
of  the  mysteries. 

A  new  conception  of  the  importance  of  Geography  was  at  hand. 
Geography  acted  upon  Biology  and  History,  and  they  in  turn 
reacted  upon  Geography.     The  Geography  of  our  childhood   is 


GEOGRAPHY   IN  ITS   RELATIONS    TO   LIFE.  5 

remembered  by  most  of  us  for  its  dry-as-dust  detail  and  its  enter- 
taining pictures.  Among  these  pictures  none  were  more  attrac- 
tive than  the  zones  of  animal  life.  Seals,  polar  bears,  and  Eskimo 
struggled  with  one  another  in  the  frigid  zone,  with  a  precarious 
footing  on  cakes  of  ice  under  the  conventional  arch  of  an  aurora 
borealis.  Horses,  cattle,  herds  of  bison,  wolves,  deer,  and  bears 
were  seen  in  all  conditions  of  activity  in  the  landscape  of  the 
temperate  zone.  The  real  menagerie  feeling  came  out  in  the 
picture  of  the  torrid  zone.  In  one  corner  a  dense  jungle  screens 
a  tiger  ever  ready  to  spring  upon  the  approaching  antelope.  Near 
by  a  herd  of  elephants  are  browsing.  Hippopotami,  rhinoceroses, 
and  other  creatures  appear  in  the  scene,  while  a  herd  of  zebra 
or  giraffe  are  invariably  scampering  off  toward  the  other  corner, 
where  a  secretary  bird  is  finishing  its  serpent. 

We  learned,  too,  that  the  land  was  divided  into  continents  — 
Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  Australia,  North  and  South  America  — 
islands,  peninsulas,  seaports,  capes,  and  so  forth ;  that  Canton 
was  noted  for  tea  and  china,  Yokohama  for  Japanese,  Philadelphia 
for  Independence  Hall,  Rome  and  Greece  for  antiquity,  and  Buenos 
Ayres  for  hides  and  tallow.  But  we  never  knew  why  they  were 
noted  for  these  things,  or  what  part  their  geographical  position 
played  in  their  history  and  exports. 

In  1857  P.  L.  Sclater  of  the  London  Zoological  Society  first  gave 
a  definite  outline  of  Zoological  Geography.  There  are  powers 
of  dispersal  and  barriers  to  dispersal.  Animals  increase  rapidly 
in  any  given  area  unless  checked  by  the  presence  of  enemies  or 
the  scarcity  of  food.  In  a  restricted  area  the  food  supply  is  sure 
to  diminish  from  the  increasing  number  of  individuals.  The 
animal  must  needs  wander  in  search  of  new  pastures  and  wider 
hunting  grounds,  and  in  so  doing  meets  with  barriers  of  a  various 
nature  which  tend  to  check  its  advance.  Of  these  barriers  high 
mountain  ranges,  seas  and  wide  rivers,  deserts,  deep  forests, 
climate,  the  ocean,  the  presence  of  certain  enemies  and  competi- 
tors for  the  same  kind  of  food,  are  conspicuous.  Certain  species 
have  greater  facilities  for  overcoming  barriers  than  others,  some 


6  INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER. 

by  their  ready  adaptation  to  changed  conditions,  their  more  varied 
diet  and  powers  of  resistance,  others  by  superior  means  of  loco- 
motion, as  with  birds  and  many  mammals.  In  the  lapse  of  time 
these  two  factors,  dispersive  power  and  barrier,  tend  to  map  out 
a  definite  territory  or  habitat  for  the  animal  to  the  physical  con- 
ditions of  which  it  is  more  or  less  adapted. 

Changes  of  a  geological  nature  now  enter  into  our  consideration 
as  factors  of  the  greatest  importance  in  determining  the  ranges  of 
various  animals.  Slight  changes  of  level  have,  at  no  very  remote 
geological  period,  caused  sea  and  land  to  change  places  with  each 
other,  thus  raising  a  barrier  in  a  once  continuous  area.  Climate 
and  vegetation  undergo  change.  The  animal,  cut  off  from  the  old  , 
land  mass,  diverges  more  and  more  from  the  parent  stock,  and  in 
time  appears  as  a  distinct  species. 

The  camels  of  the  Old  World  and  the  llamas  of  South  America 
illustrate  this  fact.  Naturalists  find  abundant  fossil  remains  of  a 
cameloid  animal  in  the  Tertiary  strata  of  Western  North  America. 
It  was  long  a  standing  puzzle  how  two  such  closely  aUied  forms  as 
the  camels  and  llamas  should  exist  in  so  widely  separated  areas. 
Here  was  the  solution  :  The  common  ancestor  of  the  two  species 
arose  in  the  area  of  country  now  forming  the  western  portion 
of  our  continent.  In  the  ages  that  followed,  the  descendants  of 
this  animal  wandered  in  search  of  food,  reaching  the  south  and 
northwest.  What  is  now  the  shallow  Aleutian  bank  of  the  North 
Pacific  was  in  the  middle  and  later  Tertiary  a  land  area  continuous 
with  the  northwestern  and  northeastern  shores  of  America  and 
Asia.  The  climate,  too,  was  decidedly  mild  and  supported  a 
luxuriant  vegetation  as  compared  with  these  latitudes  to-day. 
Sinking  of  the  sea  floor  is  still  going  on  over  a  wide  area  in  the 
Pacific,  and  it  was  this  same  subsidence  which  carried  a  contin- 
uous shore  line  beneath  the  sea,  leaving  only  the  highest  points 
of  land,  as  the  Aleutian,  Fox,  and  Kurile  chain  of  islands.  Extraor- 
dinary changes  of  climate  followed,  and  extinction  of  animal  life 
occurred  over  wide  areas.  The  descendants  of  the  camel-like 
beast  that  penetrated  farthest  into  the  Asiatic  continent  became, 


GEOGKAPIIY  IN  ITS   RELATIONS    TO   LIFE.  7 

in  the  long  course  of  time,  adapted  to  a  desert  life,  appearing  in 
the  present  age  as  the  camels  of  Bactria,  Arabia,  and  North  Africa. 
Those  that  wandered  south  became  isolated  on  the  high  Andes 
and,  conforming  to  a  mountain  life,  are  to-day  the  llamas  of  South 
America.  This  is  only  one  of  many  such  suggestive  problems  that 
Geography  has  solved. 

In  accordance  with  the  facts  of  distribution  and  the  presence  of 
certain  barriers  Sclater  mapped  out  the  earth  into  six  great  zoolog- 
ical regions.  The  great  land  mass  of  Europe  and  Asia  north  of 
the  Sahara  Desert  and  Himalaya  Mountain  range  is  regarded  as 
constituting  one  natural  primary  region,  Palaearctic  or  Eurasiatic. 
Africa  south  of  the  desert  with  Madagascar  constitutes  a  second 
well-defined  region  containing  numerous  highly  characteristic 
species  of  animals.  Tropical  Asia  south  of  the  great  mountain 
barrier  with  the  Malay  Islands  as  far  east  as  Borneo  and  Bali 
forms  a  third  great  region.  The  Australian,  a  highly  peculiar 
and  isolated  region,  includes  the  land  mass  of  that  name,  Poly- 
nesia, and  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago  to  the  narrow 
strip  of  water  separating  Lombok  from  Bali  and  to  the  Macassar 
Straits  between  Celebes  and  Borneo.  North  America  to  the 
Mexican  highlands  is  the  fifth  or  Nearctic  ;  while  Central  and 
South  America  together  comprise  the  Neotropical.  The  broad 
features  of  plant  distribution  conform  quite  closely  to  the  faunal 
regions. 

Here,  then,  is  a  natural  geography  based  on  the  distribution  of 
life.  As  the  animal  world  has  been  so  largely  influenced  by  Geog- 
raphy, so  man  has  been  shaped,  and  his  destiny  hewn  out  mainly 
through  geographical  influences. 

Biology  has  pointed  the  way  toward  a  new  conception  of  Geog- 
raphy and  its  importance  as  a  point  of  view  for  all  study — -history, 
political  science,  linguistics,  archaeology,  ethnography,  even  mathe- 
matics, and  last  but  not  least,  commerce.  What  is  more  essen- 
tially geographical  than  "reciprocity"? 

The  New  Geography  is  before  us  with  a  new  significance,  clothed 
with  a  perennial  interest,  for  by  it  we  are  to  see  things  in  their 


8  INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER. 

proper  relations.     The  Old  Geography  is  dead,  a  fossil  buried  in 
the  drift  of  a  past  educational  epoch. 

We  shall  always  speak  of  Europe  as  distinct  from  Asia,  for  it  has 
long  borne,  in  the  light  of  history,  a  different  geographical  stamp. 
In  the  light  of  present  knowledge,  however,  Flurope  can  no  longer 
remain  a  thing  apart  from  the  "  land  of  the  rising  sun,"  for  the  Ural 
system  forms  no  barrier  between  them.  Even  political  boundaries 
are  breaking  down.  Our  children  will  learn  about  Eurasia,  its 
climate  and  rainfall,  its  mountains,  tablelands,  and  deserts,  its 
great  plains  and  river  valleys,  its  widespread  animal  and  plant  life, 
and  the  influence  of  all  these  factors  on  the  destiny  of  man. 

As  we  linger  over  the  teacups,  let  us  be  reminded  that  the  plant 
which  gives  us  so  many  pleasant  hours  is  part  of  a  long  and  won- 
derful story.  When  it  grew  wild,  which  was  so  long  ago  no  one 
can  remember,  it  must  have  looked  very  different  from  what  it 
does  now.  Ages' before  this  plant  ever  left  its  native  shores  it  was 
cultivated  by  a  curious  people  in  the  fertile  valleys  of  the  Yang- 
tse-kiang  and  Hoang-Ho,  doubtless  making  them  happier  by  its 
genial  influence.  The  climate  of  these  valleys  and  their  ranges  of 
hills  must  have  been  peculiarly  favorable  to  the  growth  of  the  tea 
plant,  for  it  will  not  grow  everywhere.  The  life  of  this  curious 
race  of  people  is  full  of  interest ;  their  civilization  extends  back 
for  centuries  and  is  lost  in  the  dawn  of  history.  What  shut  them 
out  from  the  world  so  long?  Great  mountain  ranges  have  always 
barred  them  off  from  the  desert  plateau  of  Asia.  The  warm, 
vapor-laden  currents  of  the  Pacific  have  ever  borne  in  clouds  that 
dropped  their  rains  on  the  eastern  mountain  slopes,  coursing  back 
to  the  sea  through  fertile  jiver  valleys.  Populous  cities  have  stood 
for  centuries  on  these  river  banks.  Strange  fish  inhabit  the  waters  ; 
many  birds  and  be-asts  roam  through  its  forests.  The  land  was 
sufficient  in  itself — its  people  stayed  at  home.  At  last  the  outer 
world,  with  its  fleet  of  restless  navigators,  penetrated  the  shores  of 
this  strange  country,  and  China,  the  Chinese,  and  the  tea  trade 
became  factors  in  the  world  at  large. 

So  Geography  has  linked  Biology  with  History  and  Commerce, 


GEOGRAPHY  IN  ITS  RELATIONS    TO   LIEE.  9 

since  Biology  first  pointed  out  the  New  Geography,  and  Biology 
conies  to  mean  more  than  merely  what  the  microscope  has  to 
show. 

Geographies  and  text  books  on  biological  subjects  are  useful  as 
repositories  of  facts  and  for  reference,  but  not  as  a  means  of  reci- 
tation in  the  usual  acceptance  of  the  term.  Too  often  they  lack 
the  spirit  essential  to  the  development  of  broad  thinking  and  the 
clear  conception  of  things.  Nothing  can  take  the  place  of  direct 
contact  with  the  real  object  and  of  the  personality  of  teacher  and 
student.  The  true  spirit  of  culture  and  education  is  not  in  the 
amount  of  knowledge  acquired,  but  in  the  attitude  of  thought 
toward  a  subject.  Cultivate  this  attitude  of  thought.  Learn  to 
look  for  the  significance  of  facts.  Never  lose  sight  of  the  cause 
and  the  effect.  Facts  are  the  raw  material  of  thought,  to  be  trans- 
formed within  the  man  and  reappear  glowing  with  his  personality. 

When  you  read,  read  widely.  History,  travel,  poetry,  romance, 
biography,  as  well  as  Biology  and  Geography.  Each  in  some  way 
will  light  up  the  mind  and  help  to  clear  the  mists  of  ignorance. 
Lastly,  as  far  as  lies  in  your  power,  come  in  contact  with  the  liv- 
ing life  of  the  world.  Touch  it  on  every  side.  Books  and  study 
will  soon  wither  the  intellect  unless  the  man  or  woman  be  alive  to 
all  the  impressions  that  come  to  them  from  the  great  world  of 
humanity  and  nature. 

I  have  laid  down  no  hard  and  fast  methods  of  teaching.  Indi- 
vidual experience  is  the  best  indicator  of  method.  Let  me  say 
one  thing,  however.  The  value  of  Geography  as  a  study  lies  in  its 
relations  with  other  studies.  Political  Geography,  so  called,  hinges 
directly  on  Physical  Geography,  and  the  two  should  be  brought 
before  the  youthful  mind  as  essential  elements  of  one  great  study. 
This  aspect  of  the  subject  is  History  in  its  widest  sense.  It  is  also 
Natural  History.  Every  shower  of  rain,  every  breath  of  air,  every 
flower,  every  living  thing,  holds  a  lesson  for  us  —  in  Geography. 

The  education  of  every  child  is  the  history  of  the  entire  race. 
The  same  world,  stirring  with  life,  still  surrounds  us ;  we  are  to 
feel  it,  to  know  it,  to  grasp  its  meaning  if  possible  with  a  living 
sense  of  the  eternal  fitness  of  things. 


CHAPTER    I. 
SOME  PAST  AXD  PRESENT  ASPECTS  OF  THE  EARTH. 


Readinc  in  Connection  with  the  Lessons  of  this  Chapter. 

Works  »iarked  *  are  especially  icseful. 

*Physiography. —  Huxley. 

Elements  of  Geology.  —  Le  Conte. 
*Comparative  Geography.  —  Ritter. 
*Dar\vinism  (Chap.  XII.).  —  Wallace. 
*  Humboldt's  Cosmos. 


LESSON    L  — LAND    AND    WATER. 

Coast  Lines.  — The  coast  or  shore  Une  —  that  Hne  which  marks 
the  boundary  between  the  great  bodies  of  land  or  continents 
and  the  great  bodies  of  water  or  oceans  —  is,  and  ahvays  has 
been,  a  scene  of  wonderful  activity  in  the  play  of  those  forces 
which  are  so  potent  in  the  long  process  of  building  up  and  tearing 
down  the  surface  features  of  the  earth.  We  stand  u])on  sandy 
beaches  beholding  the  labor  of  ages,  the  long  and  slow  piling 
up  of  grains  of  quartz  into  beds  of  immense  thickness.  On  bold 
and  rocky  coasts  we  see  the  results  of  a  grinding  and  wearing 
action  in  cleft  and  cove  and  overhanging  cliff.  The  granite  rock 
is  mainly  a  mass  of  quartz,  and  the  obvious  conclusion  as  to 
the  relations  between  the  rocky  headland  and  the  low,  sandy 
beach  is  that  of  cause  and  effect.  Ever  since  the  first  land 
appeared  the  waves  of  the  ocean  have  ceaselessly  battered  against 

ID 


LAND  AND    WATER.  11 

its  rocky  shores,  some  portions  of  which,  more  readily  yielding 
to  the  disintegrating  effect,  have  gradually  worn  away.  The  vast 
quantity  of  sand  thus  formed  has  been  slowly  shifted  along  the 
coast  and  spread  over  the  marginal  sea  bottom.  The  further 
action  of  the  waves  heaps  up  this  sediment  into  beaches. 

Wave  action  is  not  the  only  source  of  sedimentation  along 
the  coast  line.  Rivers  draining  the  land  wash  immense  quantities 
of  mud  and  sand  out  into  the  ocean,  which  form  vast  deposits 
at  their  mouths.  In  this  way  great  deltas  are  formed  when  the 
river  empties  into  a  bay  or  gulf  but  little  affected  by  the  tides, 
such  as  the  Mississippi,  the  Nile,  and  the  Po. 

This  enormous  deposit  of  earthy  matter  —  sand  and  mud  — 
occurring  along  the  shore  line  has  largely  aided  in  producing 
the  most  important  relief  forms  of  the  continents ;  namely, 
mountain  ranges. 

Height  and  Depth  ;  Mountains  and  Sea  Bottoms.  —  From  the 
coast  line,  as  the  boundary  between  land  and  sea,  the  surface 
of  the  earth  gradually  rises  on  the  one  hand  above  the  sea  level, 
and  on  the  other  hand  passes  below  the  surface  of  the  water  to 
form  the  sea  bottom.  The  land  may  rise  more  or  less  abruptly 
into  a  succession  of  hills,  finally  culminating  in  lofty  mountain 
ranges,  or  broad  and  low  plains  may  extend  inland  for  many 
miles,  gradually  rising  into  some  '  height  of  land.'  The  sea 
bottom  may  slope  gently,  extending  many  miles  from  shore  as 
shoals  and  shallows.  Sooner  or  later,  however,  it  falls  off  more 
or  less  steeply  into  great  depths,  forming  in  this  way  a  sub- 
marine bank. 

The  bottom  of  the  ocean,  like  the  surface  of  the  land,  is 
traversed  by  mountain-like  ridges,  the  highest  tops  of  which 
appear  above  the  surface  of  the  sea  as  islands.  Many  islands 
occur  in  groups  lying  off  the  shores  of  the  continents,  like  the 
British  Isles,  Japan,  the  Philippines,  etc.,  and  have  once  formed 
a  part  of  the  mainland. 

Mountain  ranges  stand  in  a  certain  relation  to  the  oceans. 
The  great  ranges  of  the  earth,  as  the  Himalayas,  Rocky  Mountain 


12       PAST  AND  PRESENT  ASPECTS    OF   THE  EARTH. 

system,  Andes,  and  the  mountains  of  East  Africa,  rise  from  the 
lands  bordering  on  the  largest  body  of  water,  the  Pacific  and 
Indian  considered  as  one  ocean.  The  Atlantic  appears  as  a 
narrow  trough  toward  which  the  lands  on  either  side  slope  gently 
as  long  plains,  broken,  in  some  instances,  by  smaller,  secondary 
mountain  ranges.  This  is  seen  in  the  Appalachian  system  of 
North  America,  the  mountains  of  Brazil,  the  Ural  range  of  Eurasia, 
the  Kameroons  and  low  elevations  of  Western  Africa. 

The  North  Polar  Area  is  a  basin-like  depression  toward  which 
the  land  gently  slopes  as  long  plains.  The  great  plains  of  Russia 
and  Siberia  and  the  Barren  Grounds  of  British  America,  stretching 
to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  are  instances  of  this. 

The  great  rivers  of  the  world  taking  their  rise  in  the  higher 
mountain  ranges  traverse  these  plains  and  empty  into  the  Atlantic 
and  Arctic  oceans.  Note  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  in  North 
America,  the  Amazon,  La  Plata,  and  Orinoco  in  South  America, 
some  of  the  larger  rivers  of  Europe,  and  the  Nile,  Niger,  and 
Congo  in  Africa.  The  Mackenzie,  Yukon,  and  Nelson  rivers  in 
British  America,  and  the  Dwina,  Obi,  Yenisei,  and  Lena  in 
Eurasia,  are  some  of  the  great  rivers  emptying  into  the  Arctic 
Ocean.  Comparatively  few  large  streams  find  their  way  to  the 
Pacific,  because  that  ocean  is  nowhere  surrounded  by  extensive 
plains. 

Permanence  of  Main  Geographical  Features.  — The  large  features 
of  the  earth's  surface  —  the  sites  of  the  present  continents  and 
oceans  —  have  always  been  much  the  same.  Land  and  sea  on  a 
large  scale  have  nowhere  and  at  no  time  in  the  history  of  the 
earth  exchanged  places.  The  great  depressions  in  the  crust  have 
from  the  very  beginning  been  occupied  by  the  oceans  as  the  result 
of  physical  laws.  Land  first  appeared  above  the  surface  of  an 
ancient  ocean,  world  wide  in  its  extent,  by  an  uplifting  process 
which  resulted  from  the  very  nature  of  the  earth's  genesis  and 
history  as  a  part  of  the  solar  system. 

The  earth  was  at  one  time  much  hotter  than  it  is  now,  and  its 
substance  much  softer  and  more  yielding.     Indeed,  it  is  highly 


LAND   AND    WATER.  13 

probable  that  it  started  as  a  cloud  of  glowing  vapors  which  gradu- 
ally lost  their  intense  heat  and  became  liquid  or  molten  in  char- 
acter.    In  this  state  it  must  have  presented  the  appearance  of  a 
great  ball  of  fused    matter  like    the  flux  from    an    iron    furnace. 
Still  losing  heat,  its  outer  portion  slowly  hardened  until  a  solid 
crust  was    formed    of  some   thirty    miles    thickness.     This    crust 
cooled  very  unevenly,  especially  in  its  under  layers,  and  as  a  result 
it   shrank    more   in   some  places  than   in    others,  producing  an 
uneven  or  wrinkled  surface.     As  cooling  went  on,  the  dense  atmos- 
phere of  vapor  surrounding  the  earth  was  condensed  into  liquid 
or  water,  and  this  water  filled  up  the  hollows  of  the  uneven  sur- 
face.    In  this  way  the  ocean  was  formed.     It  is  altogether  prob- 
able that  this  primitive  sea  spread  around  the  entire  earth,  not 
only  filling  the  great  depressions  of  the  crust,  but  even  covering 
the  tops  of  the  highest  ridges  or  wrinkles.     The  surface  of  the 
crust  was  now  a  sea  bottom,  and  the  cooling  and  shrinking  pro- 
cess still  going  on  in  its  deep   layers,  the  great  wrinkles  were 
finally   pushed    or   lifted   above    the    surface    of  the    ocean   and 
appeared  as  the  first  laud.     In  this  way  the  present  broad  feat- 
ures of  the  earth  were,  at  a  very  early  period,  roughly  mapped 
out.     This  shrinking  process  took  place  at  a  very  slow  rate,  and 
is  still  going  on  in  many  places,  unnodced,  however,  on  account 
of  the   extreme  slowness  of  its  movement.     In    some    parts  the 
crust  is  sinking,  in  others  risitig,  the  one  often  complementary  to 
the  other.     This  change  of  level  was  without  doubt  true  of  the 
Mediterranean  region  in  a  past  period  of  the  earth's  history.     It 
was  anciently  a  land  area  which  slowly  sank,  letting  in  the  waters 
of  the  Adantic  Ocean,  at  the  same  time  leaving  scattered  rem- 
nants of  the  old   land    mass   above    the    surface  in  the  form  of 
numerous  islands  and  peninsulas.     These  islands  and  peninsulas 
were  the  highest  parts  of  ancient  mountain   ranges  which  were 
not  entirely  carried  under  by  the  sinking  process.     To  this  fact 
is  due  the  present  peculiar  features  of  this  remarkable  inland  sea 
and    their    effect    on    the    development    and     destiny  of   various 
nations.     As  this  portion  of  the  crust  sank,  the  present  area  of 


14        PAST  AND  PRESENT  ASPECTS    OF   THE  EARTH. 

the  Sahara  desert,  then  a  sea  bottom,  probably  arose,  and  its 
vast  deposits  of  salt  help  to  confirm  this  fact.  So  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean  the  entire  sea  floor  has  been  sinking  for  thousands  of  years, 
while  the  western  part  of  North  America  has  slowly  risen  to  form 
the  plateau  region.  Off-shore  islands  separated  from  the  main- 
land by  shallow  straits  and  seas  offer  evidence  of  a  submerged 
shore  hne.  The  coast  of  Norway  is  said  to  be  rising,  that  of 
Greenland  sinking,  and  this  last  fact  is  so  well  recognized  by  the 
natives  that  they  never  build  their  dwellings  near  the  shore. 
Huts  previously  built  on  the  edge  of  the  sea  now  stand  partially 
submerged. 

The  Thousand-fathom  Line  and  what  it  teaches.  —  Though  the 
continents  and  oceans  have  undoubtedly  occupied  their  present 
positions  from  the  beginning,  yet  changes  in  the  relations  of  land 
and  sea  have  frequently  occurred.  These  changes  have  been 
alons  the  shore  line.  In  his  work  on  "  Darwinism  "  Alfred  Russel 
Wallace  devotes  some  space  to  the  subject  of  the  thousand- 
fathom  line  about  the  continents  and  its  probable  significance. 
In  his  map  he  shows  by  a  contrast  of  color  the  former  much 
wider  extent  of  the  shore  lines  of  the  continents  as  marked  by 
the  depth  of  a  thousand  fathoms  off  shore.  All  within  this  line 
to  the  existing  shores  of  the  continents  represents,  in  all  proba- 
bility, iosf  land — land  that  has  sunk  beneath  the  waves.  The 
significance  of  this  becomes  apparent  when  we  study  the  Mediter- 
ranean region  in  all  its  past  and  present  relations  ;  the  northern 
regions  of  Eurasia  and  America  in  relation  to  the  North  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  areas  ;  the  groups  of  islands  lying  off  the  shores  of 
the  continents  ;  the  shores  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  Australia,  and 
the  islands  of  the  Malay  Archipelago  in  connection  with  their 
past  and  present  life  features. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  book  to  enter  at  length  into 
these  inviting  problems.  Bear  in  mind,  however,  that  it  is  along 
the  coast  lines  of  the  continents  that  the  changes  of  level  have 
occurred,  which,  in  the  course  of  time,  have  so  greatly  modified 
the  surface  features  of  the  earth. 


LAND   AXD    WATER.  15 

"I  drive  my  wedges  home, 
And  carve  the  coastwise  mountain  into  caves. 

I  with  my  hammer  pounding  evermore 

The  rocky  coast,  smite  Andes  into  dust, 

Strewing  my  bed,  and,  in  anotlier  age, 

Relsuild  a  continent  of  better  men. 

Then  I  unbar  the  doors  :   my  paths  lead  out 

The  exodus  of  nations  :   I  disperse 

Men  to  all  shores  that  front  the  hoary  main." 

Origin  of  Mountain  Ranges.  — The  situation  of  mountain  ranges 
in  relation  to  the  oceans  is  explained  in  the  following  way.  The 
shore  line,  as  already  stated,  is  the  seat  of  a  vast  accumulation  of 
sediment,  often  many  thousand  feet  in  thickness.  In  past  time 
these  enormous  beds  of  sand  and  clay  become  hardened  or  con- 
solidated throughout  their  underlying  portions  from  the  pressure 
exerted  by  the  increasing  weight  of  the  top  layers,  and  strata  of 
sandstone,  shales,  and  slates  were  thus  formed.  The  immense 
weight  and  pressure  of  these  rock  beds  induced  a  greater  degree 
of  heat  in  that  portion  of  the  crust  included  in  the  area  of  mar- 
ginal sea  bottoms,  and  this  heat  tended  to  soften  the  rock  mass. 
As  a  result  of  unequal  shrinkage  a  certain  amount  of  lateral  pres- 
sure took  place  from  time  to  time,  causing  the  crust  to  bulge  at 
its  most  pliable  point,  namely,  the  marginal  sea  bottoms,  and  this 
bulge  finally  appeared  above  the  surface  of  the  ocean  as  new 
land  added  along  the  beaches  of  the  old.  Increased  pressure 
upon  the  edges  of  these  great  beds  of  softened  rock,  from  move- 
ments in  the  surrounding  portions  of  the  crust,  would  continue 
to  push  the  new  land  higher  and  higher  until  it  appeared  as  a 
mountain  range  flanking  the  shores  of  the  ocean.  The  experi- 
ment of  taking  layers  of  clay  in  a  suitable  vessel  of  water  and 
pressing  on  the  sides  of  the  clay  with  the.  hands  gives  a  similar 
result.  Indeed, 'it  is  highly  probable  that  mountains  originated  in 
this  way,  as  is  shown  by  the  following  proofs,  i.  The  flanks  or 
sides  of  mountain  ranges  consist  of  immense  beds  of  stratified 
rocks,  and  stratified  rocks  are  the  consolidated  sediments  formed 


16        PAST  AND  PRESENT  ASPECTS   OF   THE  EARTH. 

by  water.  2.  These  stratified  rocks  contain  the  fossil  remains  of 
marine  animals  in  abundance,  showing  that  at  one  time  they  must 
have  formed  a  part  of  the  sea  bottom.  3.  The  interior  or  cen- 
tral core  of  a  mountain  range  consists  of  granite-like  rocks,  mas- 
sive and  dome-shaped,  over  which  the  stratified  rocks  lie  like  a 
saddle.  Granite,  gneiss,  and  various  other  crystalline  and  glassy 
rocks  form  the  great  bulk  of  the  crust  underlying  the  sedimentary 
or  stratified  rocks,  outcropping  here  and  there  upon  the  surface. 
They  are  igneous  or  fire  rocks,  having  cooled  and  crystallized 
from  an  original  highly  heated,  molten  mass.  Mountain  ranges 
thus  appear  as  upheaved  marginal  sea  bottoms. 

The  Heat  of  the  Earth  ;  its  Cause  and  Effects.  —  Geologists 
now  incline  to  the  theory  that  the  earth  consists  of  a  densely  solid 
nucleus  or  central  portion  between  which  and  the  outer  crust  is 
a  layer  of  semi-fluid  material  in  a  state  known  as  hydmthennal 
fusion,  or  fusion  in  the  combined  presence  of  heat  and  water. 
This  heated,  semi-fluid  layer  is  manifested  on  the  surface  in 
various  places  as  the  outpouring  of  lava  or  melted  rock  from 
volcanoes,  and  the  presence  of  geysers  and  hot  springs.  The 
cause  of  the  internal  heat  and  fusion  is  not  thoroughly  known, 
but  is  thought  to  be  due  largely  to  the  crushing  and  grinding 
action  of  immense  masses  of  rock  and  in  part  to  a  chemical 
action. 

The  effect  of  the  earth's  internal  heat  over  large  areas  is  con- 
spicuous. In  Western  North  America  vast  fields  of  lava  occur 
from  the  overflows  of  ancient  volcanoes.  The  Pacific  Ocean  is 
surrounded  by  volcanoes  both  active  and  extinct,  and  this  in  con- 
nection with  the  sinking  of  the  sea  bottom  and  the  near  presence 
of  high  mountain  ranges,  among  which  many  of  the  volcanoes 
are  situated,  throws  considerable  light  on  the  fact  that  interior 
heat  is  probably  the.  primary  cause  of  many  surface  features. 
Outside  of  this  region  the  Mediterranean  volcanoes,  in  an  area  of 
subsidence,  are  also  remarkable. 

This  earth  energy  finds  its  primary  cause  in  the  attractive 
power  of  the  sun.     The  earth  has  passed,  in  its  long  history,  from 


LAND  AND    WATER.  17 

a  sphere  of  cloudy  vapor  through  a  Ucjuid,  into  an  increasingly 
contracting  solid  state.  Through  all  this  it  has  steadily  lost  heat, 
and  its  present  activities  are  only  the  ghosts  of  its  past  giant 
forces.  Like  its  satellite  the  moon,  it  is  destined  to  pass  from 
old  age  into  a  cold,  dead  planet  destitute  alike  of  air,  water,  and 
life. 

The  Action  of  Water.  — The  elevating  force,  converting  portions 
of  the  primitive  sea  bottom  into  a  land  surface  by  lifting  it  above 
the  surface  of  the  ocean,  has  always  had  a  counteracting  agent  in 
the  destructive  force  of  water.  No  sooner  was  any  considerable 
land  surface  presented  above  the  sea  level  than  the  vapor  of  the 
ocean,  condensing  into  clouds,  poured  as  torrents  of  rain  upon  the 
face  of  the  dry  earth.  Rain  soaks  through  soil,  finding  under- 
ground channels  which  bring  the  water  to  the  surface  again  as 
springs,  or,  when  in  excess,  runs  off  the  surface  in  muddy  rills. 
All  this  water  is  ultimately  gathered  into  streams  flowing  from 
higher  to  lower  levels,  and  through  the  large  rivers  it  finally 
reaches  the  ocean  whence  it  started.  This  circulation  of  meteoric 
water  is  attended  by  a  slow  but  impressive  wearing  down  of  land 
surface.  The  action  of  the  atmosphere  in  disintegrating  rock 
into  soil  still  furthei-  prepares  the  way  for  the  destructive  action  of 
water.  Water  itself  is  not  the  eroding  agent ;  the  sediment  or 
grains  of  sand  which  it  carries  in  suspension  is  the  graving  tool 
sculpturing  the  face  of  the  earth  throughout  all  ages  of  time.  At 
a  distance  we  behold  the  mountains  in  mass  and  outline  standing 
against  the  sky,  seeing,  as  a  geologist  somewhere  expresses  it,  only 
the  evidence  of  the  uplifting  forces  of  nature.  Once  among  the 
mountains,  we  lose  -sight  of  this,  seeing  only  the  mighty  effects  of 
water,  —  gorges,  chasms  and  ravines  ;  bare,  jagged  cliffs  ;  torrents 
and  cascades  cutting  their  way  still  more  deeply  into  the  solid 
rock.  Everywhere,  dn  lowland  and  highland,  by  the  seacoast  and 
on  the  tops  of  mountains,  we  see  the  marvelous  results  of  the 
action  of  water. 

The  varied  features  of  scenery  are  largely  the  result  of  the  cut- 
ting and  carrying  power  of  water.  Narrow  valleys,  flumes,  caiions, 
c 


18        PAST  AND  PRESENT  ASPECTS    OF  THE   EARTH. 

and  cataracts  are  prominent  features  of  the  cutting  or  erosive 
action  of  water  in  all  parts  of  the  earth.  In  the  lower  reaches  of 
rivers,  broad  flood  plains  are  formed  by  the  checking  of  a  sedi- 
ment-laden current  as  it  meets  the  incoming  tide  of  the  ocean. 
The  river  spreading  out  in  times  of  flood,  drops  its  burden  of  mud 
over  a  wide  area,  leaving  broad,  marshy  flats  when  it  recedes  into 
its  main  channel.  Plains  thus  grow  by  the  accumulations  of  mud 
carried  down  by  rivers  as  a  result  of  erosion  in  their  upper  or  tor- 
rential courses.  Deltas  are  similarly  formed  by  the  velocity  of 
the  rivers'  flow,  carrying  mud  out  into  a  comparatively  tideless 
body  of  water.  These  low,  marshy  regions  are  peculiarly  liable 
to  overflow,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Nile,  the  Mississippi,  the  Ganges, 
the  Po,  the  rivers  of  China,  etc. 

In  the  form  of  ice,  as  glaciers,  water  has  sculptured  the  surface, 
making  a  characteristic  landscape  in  many  countries.  In  a  past 
age  of  the  earth,  glaciers  spread  widely  over  many  northern  lands, 
leaving  a  '  drift '  of  bowlders  and  moraines,  billowy  hills,  river 
terraces,  antl  wide  mountain  valleys  as  characteristic  features  of 
scenery.  The  effect  of  the  glacial  period  upon  climate  and  the 
distribution  of  life  and  its  probable  relations  to  early  man  are 
subjects  of  extreme  interest. 

Action  of  the  Atmosphere.  —  The  chemical  action  of  rain  water 
gradually  dissolves  the  cementing  material  of  rocks,  allowing  them 
to  fall  away  as  loose  masses  of  sand  and  earthy  matter.  In  this 
way  soil  is  formed  by  the  so-called  'weathering'  of  rock.  The 
effects  of  frost  in  breaking  up  masses  of  rock  are  conspicuous  in 
temperate  and  cool  countries.  Water  penetrating  into  rock  fis- 
sures expands  in  freezing,  and  in  this  way  plays  an  important  part 
as  a  disintegrating  agent. 

On  low,  sandy  beaches  the  wind  piles  up  the  sand  into  immense 
dunes  which  flank  the  shore  for  miles  and  gradually  work  inland, 
frequently  encroaching  upon,  and  in  some  places  entirelv  obliter- 
ating forests  and  fertile  lands.  The  same  is  true  of  tlie  desert 
sands,  the  winds  blowing  them  from  deserts  over  neighboring 
countries.     In  this  way  they  gradually  encroach  upon  fertile  lands 


LAND   AND    WATER.  19 

and  in  time  completely  overwhelm  them.  This  is  seen  in  some 
parts  of  Egypt  and  along  the  borders  of  the  Sahara,  where  the 
desert  sands  are  piled  about  the  bases  of  the  Pyramids  and  over 
the  vegetation  of  the  Nile  Valley. 

Living  Matter  and  its  Effects.  — The  soil  of  a  forest  is  the  accu- 
mulation of  the  fallen  leaves  and  rotting  tree  trunks  of  centuries. 
It  is  known  as  vegetable  mould,  and  in  most  places,  wherever  plant 
life  abounds,  forms  an  important  element  of  the  soil.  In  the 
presence  of  water,  as  on  the  shores  of  a  lake  or  in  a  marsh,  and 
where  the  climate  is  sufficiently  cool  and  moist,  this  vegetable 
matter  is  slowly  converted  into  thick  beds  of  a  black,  mud-like 
material  known  as  peat.  Still  further  compression  and  solidifica- 
tion by  overflows  of  silt  and  clay  bring  about  a  hardening,  and 
this  fact  throws  light  on  the  probable  origin  of  the  coal  measures 
in  various  parts  of  the  world.  Peat  bogs  often  form  in  a  com- 
paratively short  period,  in  some  instances  entirely  hiding  impor- 
tant landmarks.  Thus  in  Europe,  old  Roman  roads  have  been 
lost  under  peat  formations.  Bog  iron  ore,  the  workable  form  of 
the  metal,  results  from  the  presence  of  organic  matter  which  takes 
an  excess  of  oxygen,  and  thus  reduces  the  iron  from  its  higher 
state  of  oxidation.  It  is  in  this  higher,  but  unworkable  state,  that 
iron  exists  widely  diffused  through  the  crust,  imparting  a  charac- 
teristic red  color  tp  many  soils. 

Limestone  and  accumulations  of  lime  result  from  the  immense 
deposits  of  the  shells  of  various  marine  animals,  notably  the  Foram- 
inifera  and  coral  polyps.  The  chalk  of  France  and  England  is 
a  hardened  material  almost  identical  with  the  lime  ooze  of  the 
Atlantic  sea  bottom,  and  undoubtedly  represents  an  upheaval  of 
this  deposit  in  past  ages.  The  growth  of  coral  polyps  has  re- 
claimed lost  land  over  a  considerable  area  in  the  Pacific,  growth 
taking  place  at  a  slightly  faster  rate  than  the  subsidence  of  the 
sea  floor.  In  this  way  numerous  reefs  have  been  formed,  on  the 
tops  of  which  islands  are  gradually  built  up  by  wave  action.  Birds, 
winds,  and  ocean  currents  carry  the  seeds  of  plants  and  disperse 
them  over  wide  areas.     By  this  means  vegetation  has  sprung  up 


20        PAST  AND  PRESENT  ASPECTS   OF   THE  EARTH. 

and  covered  many  of  these  islands.'  Extensive  caves  often  occur 
in  limestone  districts  from  the  dissolving  action  of  underground 
waters  containing  carbonic  acid.  In  many  places  these  caves 
have  played  an  important  part  as  slielters  in  the  early  history  of 
mankind. 

Soil  and  Forests. — The  character  of  the  soil  often  influences 
the  vegetation  over  wide  areas.  This  results  largely  from  the 
nature  of  the  combined  elements  of  soil,  giving  rise  to  certain 
mechanical  conditions.  Thus  a  soil  made  up  largely  of  sand  is 
loose,  allowing  water  to  percolate  freely  through  its  beds,  while  a 
clay  soil  is  stiff  and  lumpy  and  more  or  less  completely  impervious 
to  water.  A  mixing  of  these  two  elements,  sand  and  clay,  is  un- 
doubtedly the  best  soil  for  plant  growth.  The  stiff  loam  of  our 
middle  prairie  lands  may  possibly  have  been  a  factor  operating 
against  the  growth  of  a  forest.  The  roots  of  plants  penetrate  the 
soil,  thus  forming  channels  along  which  water  finds  its  way.  Earth- 
worms Hkevvise  perform  an  important  part  in  plowing  the  soil  by 
bringing  the  deeper  layers  to  the  surface  and  thus  exposing  them 
to  the  influence  of  air  and  sunlight.  The  roots  of  plants  tend  to 
hold  soil  together  and  prevent  its  too  rapid  washing  by  rain  and 
rivers.  Marshes  are  formed  in  this  way,  the  sod  of  mud  and 
grass  roots  being  often  two  and  three  feet  in  thickness.^  The  veg- 
etable mould  or  humus  from  the  decay  of  plants  forms  an  impor- 
tant element  of  soil,  and  a  source  of  food  supply  to  the  seedlings 
and  young  undergrowth. 

1  In  tropical  seas  the  completion  of  an  island  is  often  due  to  the  growth  of  the 
mangrove  and  cocoanut.  The  mangrove  is  a  tree  of  low,  marshy  seacoasts,  and 
grows  out  of  the  water,  spreading  itself  by  the  formation  of  adventitious  roots,  or 
long  branches  that  strike  downward  from  its  limbs  and  take  root  in  the  mud  to 
form  new  tiees.  The  conditions  of  shallow  water  on  the  top  of  a  coral  reef  or 
a  submarine  bank  are  entirely  favorable  to  the  growth  of  this  tree,  and  its  form  of 
reproduction  is  curiously  fashioned  for  dispersal  over  shallow  seas.  Mud  accumu- 
lates rapidly  about  the  mangrove  roots,  and  forms  a  resting  place  for  the  cocoanuts 
that  drift  about  in  their  tough,  buoyant  husks.  Dry  land  gradually  appears  from 
the  growth  of  mud,  and  this  is  soon  covered  with  the  tall  palms  and  low  mangrove 
swamps  which  are  so  characteristic  a  feature  of  tropical  shores  and  islands. 

-  See  article  by  J.  Gifford  on  "Salt  Tide  Marshes  of  South  Jersey;"  Science, 
Vol.  xxii.  556, 


/,//'■/';   AA'D     THE   EARTH.  ,  21 

Forests  have  an  imijortant  inlluence  on  the  cHmate  and  rain- 
fall of  a  country.  Their  canopy  of  foliage  acts  as  a  shelter  from 
the  heat  of  the  sun  and  the  washing  effects  of  rain.  The  immense 
area  of  leafage  exposed  acts  as  a  vast  evaporating  surface  and  also 
radiates  heat  into  the  surrounding  air,  thus  equahzing  the  con- 
ditions of  moisture  and  temperature.  Wy  this  means  prolonged 
periods  of  drought  followed  by  heavy  downfalls  of  rain  are  averted 
and  the  perennial  flow  of  springs  is  maintained.  The  forest  has 
exerted  an  important  influence  on  mankind  throughout  history. 
It  has  formed  a  natural  hiding  place  and  shelter,  a  harbor  for  the 
wild  animals  of  the  chase,  a  source  of  timber  supply  and  of  many 
varieties  of  food.  By  no  means  the  least  has  been  its  widespread 
influence  upon  climate.  In  the  advance  of  civilization  the  cutting 
off  of  the  forests  is  a  menace  to  the  welfare  of  a  country. 

LESSON  II.  — LIFE  AND  THE  EARTH. 

Life  a  Part  of  the  Earth's  Surface. — The  greatest  feature  of 
the  earth's  surface  is  the  life  that  dwells  upon  it,  and  of  which 
man  himself  forms  a  part.  The  multitude  of  living  beings  that 
find  a  home  in  the  waters  of  ocean,  lake,  and  river,  or  on  the 
surface  of  the  land,  are,  each  and  all,  a  part  of  this  wonderful 
sphere,  in  every  way  dependent  upon  it  for  their  existence.  The 
simplest  speck  of  jelly  endowed  with  this  living  or  vital  prin- 
ciple ;  the  highest  creature,  man  ;  the  grass  and  flowers  that  make 
beautiful  the  face  of  the  land  ;  the  rock  masses  and  minerals  of 
the  crust,  were  all  breathed  into  existence  as  a  part  of  the  earth. 
The  infinite  variety  of  the  living  beings  that  people  the  earth  is 
the  result  of  life  having  slowly  unfolded  from  the  simplest  be- 
ginnings, like  a  plant  from  its  seed.  Life  is  the  earth  itself. 
Without  hfe  the  earth  would  be  a  dead  sphere  ;  a  world  without  a 
history. 

Animal  Life.  — Two  kinds  of  living  beings  inhabit  the  earth, — 
animals  and  plants.  Some  kind  of  animal  is  found  in  evefy  part 
of  the  earth,  from  pole  to  pole,  and  from  the  highest  mountain 


22        PAST  AND  PRESENT  ASPECTS   OF  THE   EARTH. 

summits  to  the  deepest  depths  of  the  ocean.  The  wonderful 
variety  of  forms  is  a  striking  feature  of  animal  life.  The  animal  is 
fitted  to  all  conditions  of  existence  —  the  fishes  and  creatures  of 
the  sea  to  a  life  in  the  water  ;  the  land-living  or  air-breathing 
forms  to  the  varied  states  which  such  a  life  offers. 

The  higher  animals,  like  the  backboned  creatures,  —  beasts, 
birds,  etc.,  —  are  distributed  over  the  earth  in  relation  to  climate 
and  other  causes  which  led  in  past  time  to  their  present  geo- 
graphical distribution.  First  among  these  causes  was  the  search 
for  food,  brought  about  by  the  cutting  down  of  the  food  supply  in 
the  places  where  they  lived,  on  account  of  the  increasing  number 
of  individuals.  Wandering  over  the  earth,  they  met  with  various 
checks  or  barriers  in  the  shape  of  mountains,  deserts,  oceans, 
cUmate,  etc.,  which  tended  to  stop  their  wanderings  .in  certain 
directions,  producing  in  time  the  present  features  of  animal  dis- 
tribution. 

Vegetation.  —  Plant  life  is  widely  spread  over  the  face  of  the 
earth,  giving  rise  to  prominent  features  of  various  regions.  Some 
regions  are  covered  with  vast  forests  ;  others  are  treeless  pasture 
lands ;  others,  again,  are  barren  deserts,  with  little,  if  any,  vegeta- 
tion. All  this  is  largely  the  result  of  climatic  conditions,  rainfall, 
etc.,  as  well  as  topographical  features,  lay  of  the  land,  mountain 
tops,  lowlands,  etc.  The  character  of  the  vegetation  differs  in 
various  regions.  The  virgin  forests  of  the  tropical  zone  abound 
with  the  most  wonderful  forms  and  varieties  of  plant  life.  The 
vegetation  of  the  temperate  zone  is  a  strong  contrast  to  this, 
forests  of  entirely  different  trees  characterizing  the  landscape. 
The  Arctic  regions  are,  for  the  most  part,  barren  wastes,  covered 
here  and  there  with  a  few  stunted  alpine  shrubs  and  wild  flowers. 

The  Air  or  Atmosphere.  —  The  atmosphere  is  the  gaseous 
envelope  surrounding  the  solid  earth,  and  extending  to  the  height 
of  many  miles.  It  is  literally  an  ocean  of  air  in  which  we  and 
all  other  land  animals  live,  containing  a  principle  without  which 
life  could  not  exist.  This  principle  is  a  gaseous  element  called 
oxygen. 


LIFE  AND    THE  EARTH.  23 

Its  Relation  to  the  Surface.  —  The  air  is  the  great  reservoir 
into  which  a  large  portion  of  the  surface  water  of  the  earth  passes 
as  vapor  to  be  circulated  over  the  land  in  the  form  of  clouds. 
These  clouds  are  carried  by  currents  of  air  or  winds,  their  vapor 
falling  as  rain,  to  be  again  returned  to  the  ocean  through  the 
rivers.  It  is  also  the  great  distributer  and  equalizer  of  the  sun's 
heat,  receiving  the  heat  radiated  from  the  earth's  surface  and 
modifying  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  passing  through  its  cloudy 
vapors.  The  water  of  the  ocean  is  salt,  from  the  various  min- 
eral matters  that  are  leached  out  of  the  rocks  by  rain  water,  and 
carried  into  it  through  the  rivers ;  but  by  evaporation  into  the  air 
it  becomes  fresh,  the  salt  being  left  behind.  Hence  rain  water 
and  the  water  of  springs,  rivers,  and  many  lakes  is  fresh. 

Its  Relations  to  Life.  —  Without  this  atmosphere  or  air  life  were 
not  possible.  It  is  the  great  medium  from  which  animals  and 
plants  draw  the  materials  for  their  existence,  and  through  which 
the  interchange  of  material  between  the  plant  and  the  animal 
takes  place.  The  animal  breathes  in  the  oxygen  of  the  air  to 
carry  on  its  vital  activities.  This  act  of  living  in  the  animal  pro- 
duces a  waste  material  called  carbonic  acid,  which  the  animal 
throws  out  in  its  breath  as  a  gas.  This  goes  into  the  atmosphere, 
and  is  the  substance  upon  which  the  plant  feeds.  Its  leaves 
absorb  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  this  is  converted  into  starch,  which 
forms  a  large  part  of  the  plant's  substance.  The  animal,  in  turn, 
feeds  on  the  plant,  thus  getting  back  material  to  make  good  the 
loss  to  its  body  caused  by  the  wasting  action  of  oxygen.  The 
plant  also  at  times  gives  out  oxygen  from  its  leaves  into  the  air. 
Both  plants  and  animals  absorb  a  great  deal  of  moisture  from  the 
atmosphere  and  throw  it  off  again  from  their  bodies.  Animals 
living  in  the  water  get  their  oxygen  from  the  air,  though  indirectly, 
as  water  always  absorbs  a  certain  amount  of  air,  especially  when 
it  foams  and  breaks  on  the  surface. 

We  thus  see  how  animals  and  plants  are  dependent  for  their 
very  existence,  upon  one  another  and  upon  the  atmosphere. 

Distribution  ;    Primary  Life  Areas  of  the  Earth.  — The  ques- 


24        PAST  AND  PRESENT  ASPECTS   OF   THE   EARTH. 

tion  of  the  distribution  of  animals  and  plants  over  the  earth's 
surface  under  the  conditions  of  climate,  topography,  etc.,  resolves 
itself  into  the  consideration  of  seven  primary  areas  characterized 
by  the  number  of  peculiar  forms,  of  both  animals  and  plants,  in 
each. 

Dr.  J.  A.  Allen  has  recently  summed  up  his  views  upon  this 
subject  in  an  exceedingly  interesting  and  valuable  paper.^  In  our 
Introductory  Chapter  the  divisions  as  outlined  by  Sclater  in  1857 
were  briefly  alluded  to.  In  the  lapse  of  more  than  thirty  years 
many  facts  have  been  ascertained  in  both  Biology  and  Geography 
which  shed  new  hght  upon  the  subject.  These  are  embodied  in 
Dr.  Allen's  classification  of  the  Ufe  areas  as  follows  :  — 

"  (i)  An  Arctic  Realm,  occupying  the  region  northward  from 
about  the  limit  of  forest  vegetation,  or  from  about  the  isotherm  of 
32°  F.  It  is  characterized  by  its  paucity  of  life  and  its  homo- 
geneousness,  nearly  all  its  forms  of  both  animal  and  vegetable  life 
ranging  throughout  its  whole  extent. 

"  (2)  A  North  Temperate  Realm,  extending  from  the  northern 
limit  of  forest  vegetation  to  the  northern  border  of  the  palm  belt, 
or  between  the  annual  isotherms  of  32°  and  70°  F. 

"  (3)  An  American  Tropical  Realm,  consisting,  as  the  name 
implies,  of  tropical  America. 

"  (4)  An  Judo- Africa  11  Realm,  consisting  of  Africa  (except 
the  northern  border),  and  tropical  Asia  and  its  outlying  islands. 

"(5)  A  South  American  Temperate  Realm,  embracing  extra- 
tropical  South  America. 

"  (6)  An  Australian  Realm,  including  not  only  Australia,  but 
New  Guinea,  New  Zealand,  and  the  various  groups  of  islands  to 
the  northward  and  eastward. 

"  (7)   A  Lemurian  Realm,  consisting  of  Madagascar." 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  how  closely  the  life  areas  conform  to 
climate  as  well  as  to  the  general  distribution  of  the  land  masses. 

1  "Tlie  Geograpliical  Origin  and  Distribution  of  North  American  Birds,  consid- 
ered in  Relation  to  Faunal  Areas  of  North  America,"  The  Auk,  April,  1893. 


LIFE  AND    THE  EARTH.  25 

The  North  Temperate  Reahii  embraces  two  regions:  (i)  the 
North  American  Region,  consisting  of  temperate  North  America; 
and  (2)  tlie  Eurasia  tic  Region,  consisting  of  temperate  Eurasia. 
The  Hfe  forms  of  these  two  regions  are  very  similar  in  many 
instances.  Thus  a  species  of  bear,  lynx,  and  wolf  are  essentially 
the  same  in  both.  The  red  deer  of  Europe  has  its  counterpart 
in  the  so-called  '  elk,'  or  wapiti,  of  North  America.  So  with  the 
bison  and  auroch  and  several  other  closely  allied  forms  of  animal 
life.  A  general  similaritv  characterizes  the  broad  features  of 
vegetation  in  the  two  regions.  A  zone  of  deciduous  trees,  oaks, 
willows,  beeches,  birches,  etc.,  with  a  belt  of  pines,  larches,  and 
other  conifers  to  the  north,  and  a  vast  assemblage  of  herbaceous 
forms,  give  character  to  both  the  North  American  and  Europaeo- 
Siberian  forests. 

The  American  tropical  and  Indo-African  realms,  though  under 
very  similar  conditions  of  climate,  are  strongly  contrasted  in  their 
life  forms  on  account  of  their  wide  separation  by  the  ocean.  The 
South  American  tropical  forest,  with  its  gigantic  cinchonas,  green 
hearts,  cow  trees,  and  other  remarkable  forms  \  its  curious  sloths 
and  anteaters  ;  its  hosts  of  peculiar  birds  (among  them  the  hum- 
ming birds),  and  its  general  scarcity  of  large  mammals,  is  strik- 
ingly opposed  to  the  tropical  life  of  the  Old  World  with  its 
peculiar  baobabs,  banyans,  giant  grasses  like  the  bamboo,  and 
other  no  less  remarkable  forms  of  vegetation,  and  the  wonderful 
development  of  large  mammalia,  —  elephants,  rhinoceroses,  buffa- 
loes, antelopes,  zebras,  the  giraffe,  hippopotamus,  the  man-like 
apes,  leopards,  lions,  tigers,  hyenas,  etc. 

Australia  and  its  adjacent  islands  are  especially  remarkable  for 
the  development  of  marsupials  or  pouch-bearing  mammals,  like 
the  kangaroo,  wombat,  etc.,  numerous  peculiar  birds,  and  charac- 
teristic forms  of  vegetation.  Madagascar  is  the  home  of  most 
of  the  existing  species  of  lemur,  a  group  of  monkey-like  mammals 
which  was  once  widely  spread  over  the  earth.  The  South  Ameri- 
can Temperate  Realm  has  a  life  largely  derived  from  the  tropical 
region  to  the  north  modified  by  temperate  conditions.     These 


26        PAST  AND  PRESENT  ASPECTS    OF   THE  EARTH. 

last  three  realms,  the  Australian,  Lemurian,  and  Temperate  South 
American,  have  derived  their  special  life  features  from  their  pecu- 
liarly isolated  position  in  relation  to  the  rest  of  the  great  land 
mass  reaching  back  to  a  very  remote  period  of  time.  Madagascar, 
Australia,  and  the  adjacent  islands  are  the  result  of  subsidence 
which  surrounded  them  by  an  ocean  barrier,  while  temperate 
South  America  is  isolated  by  climate,  being  cut  off  from  the  North 
Temperate  Realm  (save  along  the  higher  ranges  of  the  Andes)  by 
the  tropical  zone. 

In  a  general  view  of  the  distribution  of  vegetation  over  the 
earth,  we  see  the  effect  of  climate  as  a  primary  cause,  giving  rise 
to  a  series  of  vegetable  zones  or  belts  characterized  by  the  pre- 
dominance of  certain  forms.  These  correspond  to  the  annual 
isotherms,  the  great  forest  regions  being  the  result  of  the  special 
conditions  producing  an  abundant  rainfall.  Mountain  ranges 
trending  north  and  south  carry  temperate  conditions  far  into  the 
tropics,  thus  aiding  the  wide  dispersal  of  temperate  forms  of  both 
animals  and  plants.  We  thus  recognize  an  Arctic  belt  of  stunted 
vegetation  extending  to  32°  F.,  a  temperate  forest  belt  from  32° 
to  70°  F.,  and  beyond  this  a  palm  belt  of  tropical  vegetation  in 
general.     (See  Climate,  Isotherms.) 

The  North  American  Region  is  divided  into  two  Subregions : 
(i)  a  Cold  Temperate  Sub  region,  and  (2)  a  Warm  Temperate 
Subregion.  The  Cold  Temperate  Subregion  extends  across  the 
continent,  reaching  from  the  northern  limit  of  forests  southward 
to  about  the  mean  latitude  of  43°  N.  Its  southern  border  is 
extremely  irregular,  owing  to  topographical  conditions.  The 
Appalachian  Mountain  range  carries  cold  temperate  features 
southward  along  its  crest,  appearing  as  a  narrow  belt  penetrating 
the  Warm  Temperate  Subregion.  The  influence  of  the  great 
plains  of  the  Saskatchewan,  on  the  other  hand,  pushes  its  south- 
ern boundary  line  far  to  the  north.  The  Warm  Temperate  Sub- 
region  extends  southward  from  this  line  to  the  palm  belt  or  the 
northern  limit  of  the  American  tropical  realm.  It  is  subdivided 
east  and  west  as  a  result  of  physical  conditions  into  two  provinces  : 


LIFE   AND    THE   EAR  77/.  -27 

(i)  an  eastern  or  Humid  Province,  and  (2)  a  western  or  Arid 
Province.  These  subregions  and  provinces  are  remarkably  well 
defined  by  their  life  forms,  both  animal  and  vegetable.  Their 
boundaries  are  nowhere  abrupt,  but  overlap  or  pass  gradually  into 
one  another. 

Certain  broad  features  of  flora  characterize  the  subregions  of 
North  America.  The  Arctic  Realm  to  the  north  is  a  region  of 
saxifrages.  The  Cold  Temperate  Subregion  is  especially  charac- 
terized by  the  abundance  and  variety  of  asters  and  goldenrods 
besides  numerous  heath-like  forms,  as  the  various  species  of 
huckleberries.  Among  forest  trees  the  great  variety  of  oaks  and 
spruces  is  characteristic.  A  striking  feature  of  the  Warm  Temper- 
ate Subregion  is  the  abundance  of  magnolias,  while  tulip  pop- 
lars, horsechestnuts,  and  locusts  are  conspicuous  trees  in  the 
woodland  landscape.  These  forms  are  all  noted  for  their  magnifi- 
cent blossoms.  This  subregion  is  also  the  center  of  rice,  cotton, 
and  sugar  cane  growth  in  the  United  States.  Wheat  and  maize 
are  grown  over  both  subregions,  though  the  latter  attains  its  best 
development  and  highest  degree  of  cultivation  in  the  Warm  Tem- 
perate. The  Humid  Province  is  throughout  a  fertile  region,  the 
greater  part  of  its  area  being  under  cultivation.  West  of  the  looth 
meridian  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Great  Plains  forming  the  North 
American  Plateau,  marks  the  beginning  of  the  Arid  Province, 
characterized  by  the  agave,  yucca,  and  cactus  forms  of  vegetation. 

Sequence  of  Life.  —  Living  beings  present  a  gradually  unfolding 
series  in  the  history  of  the  earth,  from  simple  beginnings  to  later 
complex  forms.  The  oldest  stratified  rocks  contain  the  remains 
of  single-celled  organisms  in  all  respects  like  the  lower  forms 
existing  to-day,  and  throughout  the  immense  lapse  of  time,  since 
life  first  began,  the  strata  of  the  crust  bear  testimony  to  this  unfold- 
ing plan  of  development.  The  older  forms  of  life  were  aquatic, 
like  the  lower  forms  of  to-day,  water  being  the  primitive  element 
of  existence.  It  was  not  until  the  atmosphere  had  parted  with  its 
excess  of  carbonic  acid,  through  the  action  of  the  wide-spread 
vegetation  of  tlie  Carboniferous  period,  that  air-breathing  animals 
appeared. 


28        PAST  AND   PRESENT  ASPECTS    OF   THE   EARTH. 

In  a  universal  '  struggle  for  existence,'  which  is  a  law  of  life, 
living  beings  strive  to  fill  unoccupied  places  in  the  economy  of 
nature,  and  in  time  become  adapted  to  new  conditions  through 
a  change  in  function  and  structure.  This  gives  rise  to  diversity 
and  subsequent  '  origin  of  species.' 

Conditions  of  Life;  Environment. —The  earth's  surface  is  the 
home  of  life  —  hence,  the  conditions  of  the  surface  are  the  con- 
ditions of  life  —  or  its  environment.  Land,  air,  water,  heat,  and 
sunlight  are  essential  conditions  of  life.  The  distinctive  feature 
of  living  matter  is  energy  in  the  form  of  motion,  growth,  and 
reproduction.  This  results  from  the  activity  of  oxygen,  or  com- 
bustion—  the  never-ceasing  attack  of  that  element  upon  living 
matter  in  an  effort  to  form  combinations  with  its  elements.  Waste 
of  the  living  organism  ensues,  necessitating  a  constant  renewal  by 
food.  This  food  is  obtained  from  the  surrounding  elements,  and 
is  an  important  condition  of  life.  , 

The  Unity  of  Life.  —  Life,  then,  is  a  part  of  the  earth's  surface 
dependent  upon  its  conditions  for  existence.  From  the  lowest  and 
simplest  organism  —  a  mere  speck  of  jelly  —  up  to  the  highest 
and  most  complex,  as  in  man  and  the  higher  animals  and  plants, 
this  unity  of  life,  this  dependence  upon  the  same  primary  condi- 
tions, forms  an  essential  and  conspicuous  feature.  Furthermore, 
the  most  complex  animal  exhibits  in  its  individual  development 
the  same  steps  as  are  seen  in  the  long  history  of  life  as  a  whole. 
Whether  we  view  the  individual  or  the  race,  each  alike  begins  as 
a  simple  germ  potent  with  unseen  but  marvelous  possibilities. 

Intelligence.  —  Man,  as  the  crowning  work  of  this  wonderful 
thing  called  '  life,'  reflects  that  intelligence  which  seems  to  per- 
vade all  nature.  He  only,  of  the  countless  living  beings,  has 
recognized  that  '  something,'  higher  and  greater  than  all  life  and 
nature,  that  — 

"  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends, 
Rough-hew  them  how  we  will." 

The  forces  of  nature  have  slowly  wrought  out  through  the  long 
centuries   of  time   the  present  aspects    of  the    earth.     Not    for 


CONDITIONS  AFFECTING   THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MAN.    29 

themselves  alone  have  these  forces  operated.  The  intelligence 
that  manifested  itself  with  the  development  of  man  as  a  part 
of  nature  grasps  the  inheritance  of  time,  the  opportunities  of 
environment,  rising  above  the  mere  blind  instincts  of  tlie  animal. 
Climate  and  physical  forces  no  longer  coerce  man  into  complete 
subjection.  A  noted  geographer  once  wrote  a  work  entitled, 
"  The  Earth  and  Man."  ^  In  view  of  the  intelligence  that  has  so 
far  fitted  its  home  to  suit  its  own  purpose,  might  we  not  as  truly 
say,  Man  and  the  Earth  ? 

LESSON    III.  — CONDITIONS    AFFECTING    THE   DEVELOP- 
MENT  OF   MAN. 

Mountain  Walls.  —  The  relative  position  of  mountain  ranges, 
table-lands,  plains,  and  valleys,  and  the  resulting  determination  of 
water  courses  have  exerted  an  important  influence  in  the  history 
and  development  of  man.  The  preservation  of  early  civilizations, 
as  those  of  China  and  India,  and  in  later  times  that  of  Rome, 
though  subject  to  barbarian  invasion,  was  largely  due  to  their 
position  in  lowlands  flanked  by  lofty  mountain  barriers.  The 
Swiss  owe  their  long  independence  among  the  nations  of  Europe 
mainly  to  their  impregnable  position  among  the  ranges  of  the 
Alps.  So  with  Greece  on  her  islands  and  mountainous  peninsula. 
France  and  Spain  have  been  greatly  protected  by  a  mountainous 
border ;  while  Austria,  lying  open  to  the  Black  Sea  and  the  plains 
of  Central  Europe,  has  been  from  time  to  time  the  scene  of 
inroads  by  Asian  peoples,  as  attested  by  her  present  relations 
with  Hungary  and  the  Danube  countries.  The  early  settlements 
of  North  America,  as  Professor  Shaler  has  shown,  owe  their  pres- 
ervation in  great  part  to  the  nearness  of  the  Appalachian  ranges, 
which  shielded  them  from  the  greater  body  of  savages  occupying 
the  region  west  of  these  mountains.  The  Peruvian  civilization 
was  developed  on  the  western  slopes  of  tlie  Andes  under  almost 
temperate   conditions   of  climate,  and   protected   by  the   snowy 

1  Guyot. 


30        PAST  AND  PRESENT  ASPECTS   OF  THE  EARTH. 

crests  of  the  range  from  the  savages  of  the  tropical  forests  to  the 
east.  Hardly  anywhere  do  we  find  a  better  example  than  this  of 
a  mountain's  influence  in  developing  man  ;  for  even  the  extreme 
dryness  of  the  region  was  overcome  under  the  stimulating  effects 
of  altitude. 

Mountain  walls  have  had  other  influences  than  merely  pro- 
tecting man  from  man.  They  are  one  of  the  most  important 
regulators  of  rainfall,  and  hence  determine  the  fertility  of  a  region. 
China  and  India,  the  northern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  the 
Pacific  slope  of  Western  North  America,  are  examples  of  this 
influence. 

The  character  of  mountain  ranges  themselves  has  played  an 
important  part  in  more  or  less  completely  separating  neighboring 
countries.  The  Alpine  passes  have  been  important  factors  in  his- 
tory, permitting  intercourse  among  various  European  peoples. 
The  Himalayas,  on  the  other  hand,  affected  by  only  a  few  passes, 
and  those  at  a  great  height,  have  effectually  isolated  the  surround- 
ing countries  from  any  extended  intercourse  with  one  another. 

"  Mountains  interposed 
Make  enemies  of  nations,  who  had  else 
Like  kindred  drops  been  mingled  into  one." 

Continental  Irregularity. — The  outline  or  contour  features  of 
a  continent  have  played  a  very  important  part  in  the  development 
of  nations.  The  deeply  dissected  coast  line  of  Europe  has  greatly 
affected  the  history  of  the  various  peoples  inhabiting  the  con- 
tinent. A  glance  at  the  map  of  Europe  is  sufficient  to  show  how 
vast  an  extent  of  seacoast  is  presented  by  its  irregular  shore  line 
in  relation  to  the  entire  territory.  With  the  exception  of  Switzer- 
land there  is  not  an  important  country  in  Europe  that  does  not 
possess  a  more  or  less  extended  seacoast,  and  that  within  tem- 
perate latitudes.  Nearly  all  the  important  points  of  Western 
Europe  are  thus  within  easy  reach  of  the  sea.  This  has  had  an 
important  influence  in  the  destiny  of  European  nations.  The 
fostering  influence  of  a  sheltered  body  of  water  like  the  Mediter- 


CONDITIONS  AFFECTING  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MAN.    31 

ranean  was  an  important  factor  in  the  development  of  the  early 
seagoing  nations.  Phoenicia,  Greece,  Rome,  Carthage,  Venice, 
were  all  nurtured  under  the  protecting  headlands  and  sheltered 
bays  of  an  irregular  shore  line.  Holland  has  been  reclaimed 
from  the  sea.  Spain  has  sent  fleets  from  both  Mediterranean  and 
Atlantic  shores.  The  Baltic  nations  have  been  seafarers  from  the 
days  of  the  Vikings  to  the  present  time.  The  British  Isles  owe 
their  great  human  interest  in  history  to  the  sinking  process  that 
gave  to  the  shores  of  Western  Europe  their  present  jagged  out- 
line. 

In  like  manner  Eastern  North  America  was  open  to  the  early 
discoverers  through  its  far- inland-reaching  estuaries  and  navigable 
rivers.  We  may  thus,  for  example,  trace  the  history  of  coloniza- 
tion along  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

South  America  and  Africa  have  a  comparatively  even  coast  line, 
no  great  bays  reaching  far  inland.  Many  of  the  rivers  of  Africa 
present  a  series  of  dangerous  rapids  for  many  miles  before  enter- 
ing the  low  coast  regions.  This  is  especially  the  case  with  the 
Congo  and  the  Nile.  The  effect  of  this  upon  the  inhabitants  and 
the  difficulty  which  civilized  man  finds  in  penetrating  to  the  inte- 
rior is  in  a  large  measure  the  reason  why  Africa  is  still  a  "  Dark 
Continent." 

River  Valleys  and  Garden  Spots.  —  All  the  great  civilizations  of 
history  began  in  fertile  river  valleys,  —  Egypt  in  the  fertile  valley 
of  the  Nile,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  desert ;  Babylon  and 
the  Assyrian  civilization  in  the  valleys  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates. 
The  Hindus  on  the  Ganges  and  the  Indus,  the  Chinese  on  the 
Yang-tse-kiang  and  Hoang-Ho,  are  examples  of  the  river's  influ- 
ence in  the  development  of  civilizations.  In  later  times  the  Tiber 
and  the  Po  nurtured  the  germs  of  great  civilizing  centers.  In  our 
own  country  the  river  valleys  were  the  garden  spots  which  invited 
the  first  settlers.  Even  in  savage  countries  the  densest  popula- 
tion is  along  the  great  rivers.  The  navigability  of  rivers,  as 
already  alluded  to,  has  been  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the 
peoples  of  history. 


32        PAST  AND  PRESENT  ASPECTS   OF   THE   EARTH. 

The  distribution  of  minerals,  plants,  and  animals,  and  the  con- 
ditions of  climate  have  been  throughout  all  time  among  the  most 
important  factors  in  the  development  of  man.  These  will  be 
further  alluded  to  in  later  chapters.  The  great  end  in  view 
through  the  operation  of  these  various  physical  conditions  is  the 
evolution  of  the  social  state  of  man.  Man  and  Man  as  well  as 
Man  and  the  Earth. 


CHAPTER   II. 

CLIMATE. 


Reading  in  Connection  with   the  Lessons  of  this  Chapter. 

Works  iiiarked  *  are  especially  useful. 

♦Humboldt's  Cosmos. 

♦IsLind  Life  (especially  chapters  on  Climate).  —  Wallace. 

Tropical  Nature. — Wallace. 

Climate  and  Time.  —  Croll. 
♦Articles  on  "Meteorology"  and  "  Climate."  —  Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 
♦Eclectic  Physical  Geography. —  Hinman. 

The  Ocean,  Atmosphere,  and  Life.  —  Elisee  Reclus. 


LESSON    L  — THE    ELEMENTS    OF    CLLMATE. 

Definition.  —  Climate  is  the  character  of  the  atmosphere 
dependent  upon  the  condition  of  two  primary  factors,  tempera- 
ture and  moisture.  The  condition  of  these  two  main  elements  is 
influenced  by  :  i,  latitude  or  distance  from  the  equator;  2,  alti- 
tude or  height  above  the  sea  level ;  3,  distance  from  the  sea ; 
and  4,  prevailing  winds  and  ocean  currents.  From  all  of  these 
causes  arises  that  diversity  of  climate  which  is  so  marked  a  feature 
of  the  earth's  surface.  We  speak  accordingly  of  a  hot  or  a  cold, 
or  of  a  dry  or  a  moist  climate.  The  word  '  climate '  is  of  ancient 
origin.  It  comes  from  a  Greek  verb  meaning  to  incline,  and  was 
used  by  the  ancients  to  signify  the  difference  in  the  length  of  day 
and  night,  resulting  from  the  slanting  or  inclination  of  the  earth's 
axis  in  relation  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit.     This  fact  was  recognized 


34 


CUM  A  TE. 


by  the  ancient  geographer  Ptolemy  (127-15 1  a.d.),  who  divided 
the  earth's  surface,  from  the  equator  to  the  arctic  circle,  "  into 
chmates  or  parallel  zones,  corresponding  to  the  successive  increase 
of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  the  length  of  midsummer  day." 

Latitude  or  Distance  from  the  Equator.  —  On  those  parts  of 
the  earth  where  the  sun's  rays  fall  more  or  less  directly  downward, 


Fui.  I. —  Diagram  illustrating  the  result  of  vertical  and  slanting  rays  of  sunlight 
on  th'e  earth's  surface.  Parallel  rays  (i)  falling  vertically  are  concentrated  on  a 
smaller  space  of  surface,  A,  B,  and  consequently  exert  greater  power  than  the  same 
number  of  rays  falling  obliquely  (2,  3),  which  being  spread  over  a  larger  space, 
C,  B,  are  diffused  and  exert  less  power. 

the  temperature  of  the  air  is  raised.     This  is  the  case,  as  we  know, 
in  tropical  countries  and  lands  under  the  equator  where  the  sun's 


ELEMENTS   OE  CUM  ATE.  35 

rays  are  always  more  or  less  vertical.  Hence  the  term  torrid  or 
hot  zone.  As  we  go  north  or  south  from  the  equator,  we  pass 
through  regions  having  a  temperate  climate,  because  the  sun's 
rays  fall  slantingly,  and  consequently  with  less  power.  Here  the 
"  change  of  seasons  "  occurs  as  a  result  of  the  successive  changes 
of  position  of  the  earth  in  its  path  around  the  sun.  As  the  earth 
in  its  revolution  thus  brings  the  places  on  its  surface  under  differ- 
ent degrees  of  slanting  rays,  it  follows  that  a  certain  cycle  of  heat 
and  moisture  must  result  from  this  changing  of  the  relative  posi- 
tions of  the  sun  and  earth.  In  the  tropics,  as  the  sun  appears  to 
move  northward  or  southward  from  the  equator,  the  cloud  belt 
follows,  and  the  "rainy  season"  is  ushered  in.  This  occurs  in 
lands  just  north  of  the  equator  in  F'ebruary,  and  reaches  the 
tropic  of  Cancer  about  September.  As  the  sun  and  its  cloud  belt 
pass  south  again,  a  second  "rainy  season"  will  occur  at  certain 
places  north  of  the  equator  later  in  the  autumn.  The  rainy  season 
of  tropical  lands  north  of  the  equator  corresponds,  therefore,  with 
spring  and  summer  in  the  north  temperate  regions  and  the  mid- 
night sun  of  the  long  arctic  day.  The  rainy  season  lasts,  in  a 
general  sense,  from  April  until  October.  In  countries  south  of 
the  equator,  it  is  then  the  "  dry  season  "  of  the  tropics  and  winter 
in  the  southern  realm.  The  rainy  and  the  summer  season  south 
of  the  equator  corresponds  to  the  dry  season  and  the  winter  of 
the  north,  from  October  to  April. 

On  account  of  the  inclination  of  the  axis,  the  curvature  of  the 
earth  cuts  off  the  rays  of  light  from  the  polar  regions  for  many 
weeks  at  one  time  of  the  year,  while  at  another,  the  same  cause 
gives  these  lands  continuous  daylight,  as  the  sun  is  vertical  north 
or  south  of  the  equator.  The  failure  of  light  and  heat  in  the  polar 
regions  throughout  a  greater  part  of  the  year  makes  them  ice- 
locked  lands  of  desolation.^ 

1  The  seasonal  changes  of  temperature  in  the  temperate  zones  are  in  great  part 
due  to  the  different  relative  lengths  between  the  day  and  night,  as  a  result  of  the 
relative  change  of  the  sun's  position.  Thus,  the  more  continuous  sunlight  in  the 
long  day  of  the  Northern  summer  is  a  factor  quite  as  important  as  the  highly- 
inclined  rays.  The  cold  of  winter  is  likewise  the  result  of  a  lessened  amount  of 
sunlight,  due  to  the  short  day  and  long  night. 


36  CUM  A  TE. 

Altitude,  or  Height  above  the  Sea  Level. — The  air  of  high 
mountain  regions  is  much  colder  ihan  that  of  lower  levels  and  sea- 
board countries.  Even  at  the  equator  eternal  snow  lies  upon  the 
crests  of  the  higher  ranges.  A  traveler  climbing  one  of  the  lofty 
mountains  in  the  tropics  passes  through  the  same  zones  of  vegeta- 
tion that  he  would  meet  in  going  north  from  the  equator  to  the 
pole.  In  the  hot,  moist  lowlands,  at  the  mountain's  base,  he  is 
surrounded  by  a  dense  forest  of  luxuriant,  tropical  growth,  palms, 
creepers,  and  great  climbing  vines,  orchids,  rubber  plants,  gigantic 
fern-like  forms,  brilliant-colored  flowers,  and  all  the  wonderful  pro- 
fusion of  plant  life  that  is  so  characteristic  of  tropical  scenery. 

Ascending  the  mountain  slope  the  traveler  gradually  passes  out 
of  the  tropical  forest  into  the  belt  of  hard-wood  trees,  first  the 
evergreen  hard  woods,  as  the  live  oaks  and  magnolias,  and  finally 
the  upper  deciduous  trees  of  the  temperate  zone.  Still  climbing, 
he  reaches  the  pine  belt,  —  the  birches,  larches,  and  pines  of  the 
north  temperate  zone.  The  cold  increases  as  he  goes  upward, 
the  trees  become  stunted,  and  finally  disappear  (timber  line).  He 
finds  himself,  at  last,  in  an  open,  alpine  region,  like  that  above  the 
northern  limit  of  trees,  the  ground  covered  with  mosses,  lichens, 
and  short  grasses.  Above  him  towers  the  snowy  range,  a  region 
of  perpetual  winter,  with  only  a  few  arctic  wild  flowers  blossoming 
along  the  snow  line,  15,000  feet  or  more  above  the  sea.  Altitude, 
therefore,  corresponds  with  latitude,  climate  and  vegetation  pass- 
ing through  the  same  changes. 

Though  the  sun's  rays  pour  straight  down  upon  these  high  moun- 
tain redons,  the  climate  is  cold  because  there  is  so  little  surface 
off"ered  to  retain  the  heat.  In  the  lower  regions,  near  the  sea 
level,  the  broad  surface  of  land  and  sea  absorbs  an  immense  quan- 
tity of  the  sun's  heat,  which  warms  the  surrounding  air  by  radia- 
tion, just  as  a  stove  warms  the  air  of  a  room  by  radiating  the  heat 
from  its  whole  surface.  The  steep  and  comparatively  narrow 
mountain  ranges  reaching  far  up  into  the  sky  allow  what  litde  heat 
is  absorbed  by  their  surface  to  pass  rapidly  into  the  surrounding 
air,  which  soon  dissipates  it  in  space,  and  becomes  increasingly 


ELEMENTS   OE  C/JMA7E.. 


37 


colder  as  the  mountain  mass  narrows  upward.  For  this  reason, 
the  moisture  of  the  air  falls  upon  the  mountain  summit  as  snow, 
which  never  melts  above  a  certain  limit  (the  snow  line),  because 
the  conditions  of  temperature  never  change.     These  snow  fields 


Fig.  2. —  Diagram  of  vegetation  zones  of  latitude  and  altitude.  W,  E,  equator 
(also  sea  level),  i,  Zone  of  Palms  (tropical)  ;  2,  Zone  of  Hardwood  Trees,  ever- 
green and  deciduous  (sub-tropical)  ;  3,  Zone  of  Deciduous  Trees  and  Pines  (tem- 
perate) ;  4,  Alpine  Zone  (arctic  and  antarctic). 

feed  a  multitude  of  torrents  that  spring  from  the  mountain  sides, 
and  go  roaring  and  foaming  down  to  make  the  great  tropical 
rivers  of  Asia,  Africa,  and  South  America.    ' 

Slope  Exposure.  —  The  effects  of  increased  temperature  con- 
ditions on  the  southern  slopes  of  hills  and  mountain  ranges  in  the 
northern  hemisphere  is  conspicuous  on  the  development  and  dis- 
tribution of  vegetation.  This  is  often  marked  by  an  early  appear- 
ance of  certain  species  of  plants  in  the  spring,  and  by  the  higher 


38 


CUM  A  TE. 


elevation  reached  by  certain  trees  on  the  southern  exposures. 
Thus  on  the  San  Francisco  Mountain,  Arizona,  a  peak  nearly 
13,000  feet  high,  a  series  of  timber  zones  succeed  one  another, 
extending  much  higher  on  the  southwestern  than  on  the  north- 
eastern slope.  Rising  from  the  desert  of  the  Little  Colorado, 
there  is  first  the  piiion  or  nut-pine  belt  followed  by  the  pine,  fir, 


Cv\^\ 


s.  w. 


Tt. 


If.B. 


Fig.  3.  —  Diagram  of  a  mountain,  illustrating  Slope  Exposure  (after  Merriam). 
I,  Desert;  2,  Piiion  Zone;  3,  Pine  Zone;  4,  Fir  Zone;  5,  Spruce  Zone;  6,  Timber- 
line  Zone;  7,  Alpine  Zone.    R,  relative  position  of  sun's  rays. 

spruce,  and  timber-line  belts,  and  culminating  in  an  alpine  zone 
at  the  summit.^ 

In  the  southern  hemisphere,  from  the  different  relative  position 
of  the  sun,  the  northern  slopes  are  exposed  to  greater  warmth. 

Distance  from  the  Sea.  —  In  the  temperate  zone  the  climate 
of  lands  bordering  on  the  sea  is  less  severe  and  more  uniform  in 
character  than  in  the  interior  of  the  continents.  This  results  from 
the  f:ict  that  a  great  body  of  water  like  the  ocean  retains  the  sun's 

1  On  "  Slope  Exposure  "  Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam,  in  Bulletin  No.  3,  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  (North  American  Fauna). 


ELEMENTS   OF  CLIMATE.  39 

heat  much  longer  than  does  the  land.  The  surrounding  air  slowly 
receives  this  heat  and  is  more  continuously  warm  than  the  air 
over  inland  regions,  so  that  in  winter  the  climate  of  a  seacoast  is 
comparatively  mild.  In  summer,  for  the  same  reason,  the  air 
over  the  ocean  is  not  heated  so  fest  as  over  the  land,  remaining 
cooler  for  a  longer  period,  so  that  the  climatic  contrast  between 
summer  and  winter  is  not  nearly  so  marked  in  lands  bordering 
on  the  sea  as  in  those  farther  inland. 

The  interior  regions  of  North  America,  Europe,  and  Asia  suffer 
extreme  changes  of  climate,  the  mean  summer  and  winter  differ- 
ences of  temperature  amounting  often  to  ninety  degrees  or  more. 

Prevailing  Winds  and  Ocean  Currents. — The  direction  of 
winds  blowing  over  regions  is  an  important  element  in  determin- 
ing climate.  A  wind  blowing  off  the  sea  usually  brings  with  it 
large  quantities  of  vapor,  which  falls  upon  the  land  as  rain,  and 
also  modifies  the  temperature.  Winds  blowing  over  the  land  are 
mostly  dry,  having  been  deprived  of  their  moisture  in  crossing 
highlands  and  mountain  ranges.  This  is  the  case  with  the  west- 
erly winds  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  states,  blowing,  as  they  do, 
over  an  immense  area  of  land  and  high  mountain  ranges. 

Ocean  currents  are  even  more  powerful  influencers  of  climate. 
The  Japan  current  reaches  far  into  the  North  Pacific,  tempering 
the  climate  of  the  coast  of  Alaska  and  British  America.  Back 
of  the  mountain  ranges  of  Alaska,  a  rigorous  northern  climate 
prevails,  while  its  seaward  slopes  are  evergreen,  and  its  harbors 
always  open. 

The  Gulf  Stream  of  the  Atlandc  produces  similar  effects. 
Sweeping  along  the  shores  of  the  United  States,  it  spreads  north- 
eastwardly, warming  the  air  over  the  British  Isles,  and  far  up  the 
coast  of  Norway,  quite  to  the  arctic  circle.  On  the  western  side 
of  the  Adantic,  the  icy  arctic  current  flowing  out  of  Baffin's  Bay 
and  the  Polar  Sea  makes  Labrador,  in  the  same  latitude  with 
Ireland,  a  land  of  desolation.  Two  types  of  cHmate  are  found, 
therefore,  according  to  the  situation  of  a  place  in  reference  to  the 
above  relations  of  land  and  sea,  —  Oceanic  and  Continental. 


40  CLIMATE. 

From  these  general  considerations  of  climate  we  may  proceed 
to  examine  into  the  nature  of  the  elements  themselves,  and,  by 
so  doing,  gain  a  clearer  view  of  the  question  of  climate  in  its 
relations  to  man. 


LESSON    II.  — CLIMATIC    ZONES. 

Cause  of  Climatic  Zones. — The  unequal  distribution  of  heat 
and  light  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth,  as  a  result  of  the  earth's 
form,  motion,  and  the  inclination  of  its  axis,  determines  the 
so-called  astronomical  zones.  The  tropical,  or  torrid  zone,  232° 
north  and  south  from  the  equator,  is  the  region  over  some  part  of 
which  the  sun  is  always  shining  vertically.  The  temperate  zones 
lie  north  and  south  of  this  central  torrid  girdle,  while  23!^°  from 
either  pole  mark  the  arctic  and  antarctic  circles,  enclosing  the 
north  and  south  frigid  zones. 

Isothermal  Lines. — The  astronomical  zones,  though  of  theo- 
retical value  to  the  geographer,  are  of  little  practical  use  to 
mankind  in  general,  when  compared  with  the  isothermal  zones. 
The  isotherm  is  a  line  drawn  through  all  places  having  the  same 
mean  annual  temperature,  north  or  south  of  the  equator.  The 
irregularity  of  the  isothermal  line  results  from  the  configuration 
of  the  land,  its  altitude,  relations  to  the  sea  and  to  ocean  currents, 
to  prevailing  winds,  moisture,  rainfall,  etc.,  in  fact,  to  all  the 
conditions  that  go  to  make  up  climate.  Follow,  for  example, 
the  isotherm  of  50°  F.,  north,  around  the  earth.  Starting  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  west  of  North  America,  it  touches  the  shores  of 
the  continent  at  Puget  Sound,  about  50°  north  latitude,  but  soon 
deflects  sharply  to  the  south,  bending  around  the  high  ranges 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  thence  across  the  United  States, 
passing  out  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean  in  the  neighborhood  of  New 
York.  Here  it  meets  with  the  Gulf  Stream,  and  bends  north- 
ward to  the  British  Isles,  slowly  dropping  southward  through  the 
continent  of  Eurasia,  cutting  the  northern  shores  of  the  Black, 
Caspian,    and    Aral   seas.      Bending   still    further    south,    on   the 


CLIMATIC  ZONES.  41 

Mongolian  Plateau,  it  passes  through  Korea  and  into  the  Pacific, 
between  the  northern  and  southern  islands  of  Japan.  It  is  not 
to  be  imagined  that  these  places,  traversed  by  the  isotherm,  have 
identically  the  same  character  of  climate.  Their  extremes  may  be 
widely  different,  and  yet  the  mean  annual  temperature  be  the  same. 
The  Isothermal  Zones  and  their  Oscillation.  —  Temperature 
zones  bounded  by  isotherms,  though  approximating  to  the  astro- 
nomical zones,  have  a  far  greater  influence  upon  the  destiny  of 
races.  The  tropical  zone  lies  between  the  isotherms  of  70°  F., 
north,  and  70°  F.,  south  latitude.  The  isotherm  of  70°  north  fol- 
lows an  irregular  line  parallel  to  and  somewhat  north  of  the  tropic 
of  Cancer.  It  bends  sharply  north  around  the  head  of  the  (iulf 
of  California ;  skirts  the  Gulf  Coast  of  the  United  States  ;  bends 
northward  with  the  Gulf  Stream  in  the  Atlantic  ;  passes  through 
the  Canary  Islands  ;  crosses  Africa  along  the  northern  edge  of  the 
Sahara ;  continues  through  Persia,  and  sweeping  southward  along 
the  Himalayas  touches  the  tropic  of  Cancer  at  the  island  of 
Formosa.  The  isotherm  of  70°  south  crosses  the  tropic  of  Capricorn 
under  the  influences  of  the  cold  Humboldt  current  off  the  western 
coast  of  South  America  ;  slopes  southward  across  that  continent 
into  the  Atlantic,  where  it  cuts  the  tropic  twice  by  a  northward 
curve ;  crosses  Africa  north  of  the  Cape  Colony,  and  bending 
northward  again  touches  Capricorn  in  Central  Australia.  The 
thermal  equator,  in  the  Pacific,  lies  south  of  the  true  or  astronom- 
ical equator,  but  sweeps  northward  along  the  northern  shore  of 
South  America ;  dips  southward  in  the  Atlantic,  touching  the 
equator,  and  bending  north  enters  Africa  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Niger,  and  passes  into  the  Indian  Ocean  at  Cape  Guardafui. 
Sweeping  south,  it  cuts  the  southern  end  of  Hindustan  and  crosses 
the  Malay  Peninsula  and  Borneo.  On  either  side  of  the  tropical 
zone  are  the  temperate  zones,  bounded  north  and  south  by  the 
isotherms  of  30°  F.  The  northern  isotherm  of  30°  F.  bends 
northward  in  the  Atlantic  considerably  beyond  the  arctic  circle, 
owing  to  the  influence  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  but  is  otherwise  far  to 
the  south  in  the  great  continental  areas. 


42  CUM  A  TE. 

By  far  the  most  interesting  and  important  factor  in  these  isother- 
mal lines  and  zones  is  their  annual  oscillation  with  the  sun.  Thus 
in  July,  when  the  sun  has  moved  over  Cancer,  the  isotherm  of  70° 
north  moves  northward  into  British  America,  the  North  Atlantic, 
Central  Europe,  and  Siberia,  pushing  the  conditions  of  the  temper- 
ate zone  into  the  polar  realm,  and  causing  the  brief  arctic  summer 
with  its  burst  of  alpine  blossoms,  its  swarms  of  insect  life,  and 
flights  of  breeding  birds.  Tropical  conditions  are,  at  the  same 
time,  carried  north  into  the  temperate  lands.  The  warm  sunshine 
of  spring  quickens  the  life  in  seed  and  bud,  calls  "  the  squirrel 
and  the  bee  from  out  their  winter  home,"  and  urges  the  migrating 
bird  to  seek  its  nesting  place  in  the  northern  wildwood.  The  heat 
of  summer  whitens  the  harvest  fields  and  ripens  the  kindly  fruits 
of  autumn.  With  the  waning  sunlight  of  November  the  leaves 
loosen  and  fall  from  the  trees,  the  birds  move  south,  and  the  Frost 
Giant  steals  noiselessly  into  the  woods  and  fields  of  the  temperate 
zone. 

As  the  isotherms  thus  oscillate  north  and  south  with  the  sun, 
we  see  the  cause  of  the  increase  and  decrease  of  temperature  over 
the  earth,  bringing  with  it  the  varying  seasonal  changes.  Though 
the  greater  or  less  obliquity  of  the  sun's  rays  is  the  essential  fac- 
tor, the  irregular  curves  of  the  isothermal  lines  show  how  vastly 
important  are  the  physical  features  of  land  and  sea  in  deter- 
mining climate.^ 

1  An  isothermal  line  is  to  be  regarded,  not  as  ■&.  fixed  line  of  mean  annual  tem- 
perature, but  as  one  that  moves  north  and  south  in  relation  to  the  increase  and 
decrease  of  heat  over  the  earth's  surface  from  the  greater  or  less  slant  of  the  sun's 
rays.  Thus  the  coast  of  Alaska,  the  Central  United  States,  and  Lower  Lake  Region, 
Newfoundland,  the  Scandinavian  Peninsula,  Central  Russia,  Mongolia,  Korea,  and 
Northern  Japan  have  the  mean  January  temperature  of  20-'  F.,  while  in  July  the 
temperature  of  these  places  does  not  correspond  in  any  way.  For  instance,  in 
July,  the  coast  of  Alaska  has  the  same  mean  temperature  as  Northern  Siberia,  and 
the  July  isotherm  of  the  Central  United  States  passes  through  Northern  Africa. 
The  annual  isotherm  is  a  line  drawn  to  represent  the  average  sum  of  the  mean 
monthly  temperatures  taken  from  observations  covering  a  period  of  several  years. 


WINDS,    OCEAN   CURRENTS,    AND   RAEXEALL. 


43 


LESSON     III.  — WINDS, 


OCEAN    CURRENTS,    AND    RAIN- 
FALL. 


Primary  Cause  of  Winds. — The  atmosphere  is  in  a  state  of 
unstable  equiHbrium,  heat  and  moisture  being  unequally' distrib- 
uted. It  is  losing  or  gaining  heat  in  different  regions,  since  the 
surface  of  the  earth  is  heated  unequally  by  the  rays  of  the  sun. 
A  portion  of  land  or  sea  heated  above  the  temperature  of  the 
surrounding  territory  warms,  by  radiation,  the  overlying  air,  caus- 
ing it  to  expand.  This  warm,  expanded  air  has  a  greater  capacity 
for  holding  vapor  than  when  cooler  and  more  dense.  In  conse- 
quence, it  eagerly  takes  up  vapor  by  the  process  of  evaporation 
from  the  surface  of  the  ocean  or  from  the  waters  of  the  land.  It 
thus  becomes  lighter  than  the  surrounding  cooler  air,  since  water 
vapor  is  lighter  than  air  itself,  and  takes  the  place  of  a  certain 
proportion  of  air  in  any  given  volume. 

In  the  process  of  expansion,  this  warm,  vapor-laden  air  pushes 
the  cooler  air  immediately  above  it  against  the  whole  mass  of  the 


E' 


TS 


^  ^;^55j5j:j5 


55^^^5^^5v^^^??S^^^^^^^^^^5S^p5^5^;;^ 


Fig.  4. —  Diagram  of  Winds.  A,  B,  surface  of  tlie  earth  ;  C,  heated  portion  of 
air,  expanding  upward  along  line  a,  b  ;  D,  /?i,  level  of  cooler  air,  compressed  by 
being  squeezed  between  a,  b,  and  E,  E^,  the  upper  atmosphere ;  C,  Ci,  C^,  calm 
areas.     Arrows  indicate  direction  of  winds. 


overlying  atmosphere,  causing  an  increase  of  pressure  in  the  air 
thus  squeezed  which  becomes  denser  and  heavier  in  consequence. 
If  we  can  imagine  this  expanded  volume  of  air  pushing  up  in  the 
shape  of  a  mound,  then  we  can  see  how  the  dense  and  heavy  air 


44  CLIMA  TE. 

above  will  slide  down  the  slopes  of  the  mound  on  all  sides  toward 
surrounding  areas  of  less  pressure,  simply  because  it  is  heavier  air 
and  is  under  the  influence  of  gravity.  This  movement  of  the  air 
is  a  wind  blowing  some  distance  above  the  surface  of  the  earth. 
Immediately  over  the  surface,  however,  where  the  heated  and 
expanded  air  is  much  lighter  than  the  cooler  and  denser  surface 
air  surrounding  it,  a  movement  of  air  takes  place  on  all  sides  from 
these  surrounding  denser  areas  toward  the  central  heated  portion. 
This  movement  is  felt  as  a  sensible  7i'ind  or  breeze  blowing  over 
the  surface  of  the  land  or  sea.  Its  direction  is  opposite  to  that 
of  the  upper  currents  of  air.  There  is  no  appreciable  movement 
in  the  warm,  expanded  area,  as  the  wind,  rushing  in  on  all  sides, 
rises  as  an  up-draught  just  as  in  the  case  of  a  fireplace  and  its 
chimney.  It  is  therefore  an  area  of  calm.  In  the  surrounding 
areas  of  high  pressure  there  is,  likewise,  no  horizontal  movement, 
as  the  upper,  heavier  air  is  always  sinking  down  and  taking  the 
place  of  the  surface  wind  that  flows  out  toward  the  center. 

As  the  barometer  indicates  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere 
under  its  various  conditions,  we  know  that  the  warm,  moist,  and 
expanding  air  is  an  a?'ea  of  low  pressure-  or  low  barometer,  while 
the  surrounding  heavier,  drier,  and  cooler  air  constitutes  an  area 
of  high  pressure  or  high  baro/ncfer.  A  law  governing  the  move- 
ment of  the  atmosphere  can  thus  be  formulated  :  Wi?ids  always 
blow  from  high-pressure  areas  into  lozv-pressure  areas. 

Effect  of  the  Earth's  Rotation  on  the  Direction  of  "Winds.  —  In 
the  northern  hemisphere  a  wind,  blowing  from  latitudes  near  the 
equator  toward  the  polar  regions,  is  successively  deflected  from  its 
original  due  north  direction  by  the  inertia  of  the  earth's  rotation, 
carrying  the  wind,  as  it  blows,  more  and  more  to  the  east.  This 
imparts  a  whirling  motion  to  the  wind  as  it  sweeps  around  to 
enter  the  polar  area.  A  wind  blowing  due  south  on  a  meridian 
in  high  latitudes  appears  to  turn  westward  as  it  approaches  the 
equator  by  being  carried  eastward  on  the  same  meridian.  So  a 
wind  blowing  due  west  or  due  east  on  a  given  parallel  appears  to 
turn  toward  the  north  or  south,  respectively,  under  the  influence 


WINDS,    OCEAN  CURRENTS,   AND  RAINFALL. 


45 


of  rotation.  (See  Diagram.)  Winds  in  the  northern  hemisphere 
are  thus  deflected  from  their  true  course  by  being  carried  continu- 
ally eastward  on  the  meridian  at  which  they  started.  Thus,  from 
the  polar  area,  as  a  point  of  observation,  winds  are  turned  or 
deflected  toward  the  right.  An  originally  south  wind  thus  becomes 
southwest;  a  north  wind,  northeast;  a  west  wind,  northwest;  and 


^^.__ 


SOUTH 


^^••ection  Of  Tioia\'^on 

Fig.  5. —  Diagram  of  a  section  of  Northern  Hemisphere,  ilhistrating  the  effect 
of  the  earth's  rotation  in  deflecting  winds.  (Observer  at  north  pole.)  P^  wind 
from  the  south  blowing  due  north  on  meridian  3,  is  carried  successively  eastward 
by  the  earth's  rotation,  and  is  apparently  deflected  or  turned  to  the  right,  as  it 
advances,  appearing  as  a  southwest  wind  on  reaching  the  position  of  meridian  4 
(above  parallel  C).  So  a  wind  blowing  due  south  on  meridian  2  is  carried  east- 
ward and  apparently  turned  toward  the  right,  thus  becoming  a  northeast  wind.  A 
west  wind  on  parallel  B,  at  meridian  i,  is  apparently  turned  to  the  right,  as  the 
meridian  advances  eastward  along  the  parallel,  owing  to  the  curvature  of  the  earth, 
and  becomes  a  northwest  wind  on  reaching  the  position  of  meridian  2.  In  like 
manner  an  east  wind  on  parallel  B,  between  meridians  3  and  4,  is  apparently  turned 
to  the  right,  and  becomes  a  southeast  wind. 


an  east  wind,  southeast,  in  the  direction  from  which  each  blows. 
In  their  effort  to  reach  the  low-pressure  area,  they  struggle,  as  it 
were,  against  this  deflective  movement,  and  keep  curving  around 
in  an  opposite  direction,  or  toward  the   left.     This   produces  a 


46  CLIMA  TR. 

whirl  about  the  center  of  low  pressure.  Any  loAv-pressure  area 
in  the  northern  hemisphere  will  thus  have  the  winds  describing 
arcs  about  it  from  right  to  left,  or  against  the  hand  movement  of 
a  watch.  The  reverse  of  this  is  true  in  the  southern  hemisphere, 
taking  the  south  pole  as  the  center  of  observation.  Thus,  the 
winds  will  be  deflected  to  the  left,  and  will  describe  arcs  from 
left  to  right,  or  with  the  hands  of  a  watch,  as  they  advance  into 
the  area  of  low  pressure.  As  a  result  of  this  law,  first  pointed 
out  by  Professor  Buys  Ballot  of  Utrecht,  if  an  observer  in  the 
northern  hemisphere  stands  with  his  back  to  the  wind,  the  center 
of  low  pressure  will  always  be  to  his  left,  while  in  the  southern 
hemisphere  it  will  be  to  his  right. 

Constant  and  Periodic  Winds. — The  same  movement  of  air 
that  takes  place  in  any  local  area  occurs  on  a  grand  scale  between 
the  heated  equatorial  region  as  an  area  of  low  pressure  and  regions 
of  high  pressure  on  either  side.  A  constant  movement  of  cold 
and  heavy  air  blows  as  surface  winds  from  about  latitude  30°  north 
and  south  toward  the  equatorial  belt  of  low  pressure.  These  are 
known  as  the  trade  winds}  Being  deflected  from  their  due  north 
and  south  course  by  the  rotation  of  the  earth,  they  appear  as 
northeast  and  southeast  winds.  The  warm,  vapor-laden  air  of  the 
equatorial  region,  rising  as  an  upward-flowing  current,  constitutes 
a  belt  of  calms?  In  the  higher,  denser  levels,  this  air  becomes 
cooled,  and  flows  out  on  each  side  toward  the  northeast  and 
southeast  as  upper,  countercurrents  of  wind,  known  as  the  counter- 
trades. In  the  tropical  belts  of  high  pressure  on  either  side 
(about   30°   north   and   south)    these    cooled   "  counter-trades " 

1  It  was  the  steady  blowing  of  these  winds  that  so  alarmed  the  shipmates  of 
Columbus  on  his  first  voyage,  they  believing  that  the  wind  would  carry  them 
farther  and  farther  away  from  the  shores  of  Spain,  and  never  allow  them  to  return. 

2  The  region  of  the  equatorial  calms  is  known  to  seamen  as  the  doldrums, 
characterized  by  cloudy  skies,  and  light,  baffling  winds.  The  calms  of  Cancer, 
in  the  North  Atlantic,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Sargasso  Sea,  are  known  as  the 
horse-latitudes,  from  the  fact  that  vessels  carrying  deck-loads  of  horses  between 
New  England  and  the  West  Indies  were  sometimes  becalmed  in  this  region,  and 
forced  to  throw  some  of  the  horses  overboard,  as  the  water  supply  gave  out.  (See 
Maury,  "  The  Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea  "  (8th  cd,) ,  p.  276.) 


WINDS,    OCEAN   CURRENTS,   AXP    RAINFALL.  47 

descend  to  the  surface,  and  take  the  place  of  the  outflowing 
"trades"  moving  toward  the  equator.  Cahn  belts  are  thus  formed 
near  the  northern  and  southern  limits  of  the  tropics.  From  these 
high-pressure  calm  belts  the  air  likewise  flows  out  in  the  opposite 
direction  as  a  surflice  wind  blowing  toward  the  low-pressure  polar 
area  in  each  hemisphere.  The  low  pressure  of  the  air  in  the 
polar  regions  results  from  the  depressing  effects  of  the  whirling 
motion  of  the  winds,  for  winds  approaching  the  poles  move  in 
ever-narrowing  circles,  from  being  turned  aside  by  the  rotation  of 
the  earth.  A  countercurrent  blows  as  an  upper  wind  from  each 
pole  toward  the  tropical  belts  of  high  pressure. 

In  the  northern  hemisphere,  from  the  preponderance  of  the 
land  masses,  these  winds  become  much  more  variable  in  character, 
and  further  disturbances  are  induced  by  the  unequal  heating 
of  land  and  water.  This  gives  rise  to  storms,  sudden  changes  of 
weather,  and  to  periodic  winds  blowing  on  or  off  shore.  Of  these 
periodic  winds  are  the  sea  and  land  breezes  of  coasts,  as  a  result 
of  the  difference  in  the  day  and  night  temperature  of  the  air  over 
the  land  and  the  water.  On  a  larger  scale  are  the  monsoons  of  the 
Indian  Ocean  and  coasts  of  South  America,  which  blow  steadily 
for  half  the  year  in  one  direction,  and  then  blow  in  an  opposite 
direction  for  the  other  half.  The  monsoons  are  caused  by  the 
change  of  the  sun's  position  in  the  heavens,  bringing  vertical  rays 
over  part  of  the  great  land  mass,  thus  raising  the  temperature 
of  the  air,  and  causing  a  strong  wind  to  set  in  from  the  ocean. 
Between  April  an;l  October,  when  the  sun  is  almost  directly  over 
Southern  Asia,  that  region  becomes  an  area  of  low  pressure,  and 
the  moisture-laden  monsoon  blows  steadily  and  with  great  force 
from  the  southwest. 

Storms. — The  rush  of  the  winds  around  the  center  of  low 
pressure  produces  a  whirling  column  of  air,  somewhat  funnel- 
shaped,  its  center  of  lowest  pressure  being  surrounded  by  belts  of 
increasingly  higher  pressure  toward  the  circumference  from  the 
development  of  centrifugal  force  incident  to  the  whirl.  These 
belts  of  pressure  are  termed  isobars,  and  the  difference  between 


48 


CLIMA  TE. 


them  is  iht  gradient,  or  slope,  from  higher  to  lower  pressure  levels. 
On  reaching  the  center  the  wind  rises  as  an  up-going  current, 
which  flows  out  above  on  all  sides.  These  circling  storms  of  wind 
are  called  cyclones,  and  are  usually  accompanied  by  clouds  and 


Fig.  6. —  Diagram  of  Cyclonic  Movement  in  Northern  Hemisphere,  c,  area  of 
low  pressure,  or  storm  center.  The  large  arrow,  pointing  northeast,  indicates  the 
track  of  the  cyclone  under  the  impulse  of  the  strongest  winds.  The  small  arrows 
fly  with  the  in-blowing  winds  from  right  to  left,  or  against  the  hands  of  a  watch. 

rain.  The  storm  center  is  an  area  of  calm,  of  low  barometer,  and 
small  precipitation,  surrounded  by  an  area  of  heavy  cloud  sheets 
and  copious  rainfall.     The  nimbus,  or  rain  cloud,  extends  about 


WINDS,    OCEAN  CURRENTS,   AND  RAINFALL.  49 

it  on  all  sides,  fringed  by  the  lofty  streamers  of  cirrus  clouds, 
"mare's  tails"  and  "mackerel  sky,"  the  threatening  sky  of. 
approaching  foul  weather.  The  storm  center  has  a  forward  move- 
ment under  the  influence  of  the  strongest  wind,  and  travels  with 
varying  velocity.  The  cyclonic  storms  of  the  northern  hemisphere 
are  frequently  generated  in  the  ocean  area  of  the  tropical  zone, 
and  move  at  first  northwestward  within  the  tropics,  but  on  reach- 
ing the  temperate  zone  turn  to  the  northeast,  thus  describing 
a  parabolic  curve.  The  typhoons  and  hurricanes  of  the  East  and 
West  Indies  belong  to  this  class  of  storms.  A  cyclonic  storm  may 
embrace  an  area  of  several  hundred  to  a  thousand  or  more  miles 
in  diameter.  As  it  advances,  it  grows  in  dimensions  from  the  in- 
crease of  low  pressure  produced  by  the  centrifugal  force  of  the  whirl- 
ing winds.  The  storm  dies  away  as  the  result  of  friction  ;  more  air 
entering  the  center  than  can  escape  at  the  top  causes  the  whirl  to 
finally  lesseji  in  velocity,  and  a  higher  pressure  is  thus  established. 

The  high-pressure  areas  on  all  sides  of  a  cyclone  have  the  air 
flowing  out  from  them  as  a  whirl  of  winds  in  the  opposite  direction  ; 
i.e.  from  left  to  right.  These  outward-whirling  areas  are  known 
as  a7iti-cyclones.  Their  winds,  at  first  cold,  grow  increasingly 
warmer  as  they  approach  the  low-pressure  area,  and  are  conse- 
quently dry,  and  accompanied  by  clear  or  fair  weather. 

It  has  been  observed  that  the  most  constant  areas  of  low  pressure 
in  the  northern  hemisphere  are  distributed  as  follows  :  To  the 
west-southwest  of  the  Great  Lakes  in  the  United  States  ;  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence ;  the  Mid-Atlantic  area ;  an  area  southwest  of 
Greenland  ;  one  southwest  of  Iceland,  which  is  the  most  important 
of  all ;  and  one  over  a  portion  of  Northwestern  Europe.  In  these 
areas  nearly  all  of  the  great  northern  storms  are  bred,  and  the 
direction  of  their  path  is  governed  by  the  surrounding  conditions 
of  pressure.  For  instance,  the  high  winter  pressure  over  North- 
western America  drives  a  storm,  developing  in  the  Rocky  Mountain 
region,  eastward  across  the  United  States  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 
Easterly  winds,  bringing  increased  cloudiness  and  rain  from  the 
ocean,  blow  at  first  toward  the  advancing  center  of  depression,  which 

E 


50  CUM  A  TE. 

has  no  sooner  passed  over  a  given  locality  than  the  wind  veers  to 
the  west,  and  clearing  weather  with  a  "  cold  wave  "  from  the  area  of 
high-pressure  marks  the  westerly  half  of  the  cyclone.  The  pecul- 
iar characteristics  of  the  winter  and  summer  climates  in  Europe 
and  the  United  States  are  largely  the  result  of  the  tracks  taken  by 
cyclones  under  the  surrounding  conditions  of  atmospheric  pressure. 

The  term  tvcaihcr  relates  to  the  local  conditions  of  temperature 
and  moisture  at  any  given  time  and  place.  We  speak  of  hot  or 
cold,  wet  or  dry,  fair  or  foul  weather  in  any  locality  at  any  time. 
It  is  the  condition  of  the  atmosphere  of  a  place  from  day  to  day. 
Places  in  the  path  of  an  advancing  storm  have  increased  temper- 
ature and  humidity  as  characteristics  of  weather  resulting  from  the 
southerly  and  easterly  winds  blowing  from  warmer  into  colder  areas, 
which  causes  increased  condensation  of  their  moisture,  and  the 
consequent  liberation  of  a  large  amount  of  latent  heat.  The 
westerly  half  or  "  wake  "  of  the  storm  is  characterized  by  clear  and 
cold,  or  cool  weather,  with  dryness  or  decrease  of  liuniidity,  because 
the  north  and  northwest  winds  blowing  from  colder  into  warmer 
areas  evaporate,  or  take  up  moisture,  in  increasing  quantity. 

Thunderstorms,  tornadoes  and  waterspouts  are  the  result  of 
local  disturbances  of  the  atmosphere.  Tornadoes  are  supposed  to 
be  due  to  the  formation  of  a  narrow  and  violent  whirl  of  air  gen- 
erated within  the  larger  whirl  of  a  gentle  cyclonic  movement. 
Somewhere  in  this  area  the  air,  becoming  highly  heated,  forms  a 
focus  of  low  pressure,  which  causes  the  gentle  whirling  winds 
about  it  to  rush  in  with  terrific  and  destructive  force.  The  im- 
mense amount  of  vapor  formed  is  condensed  into  a  heavy,  black 
cloud,  which  is  twisted  by  the  wind  into  its  characteristic  funnel- 
shaped  form.  The  waterspout  is  a  similar  phenomenon,  occurring 
at  sea.  In  the  same  way  the  air  over  sandy  deserts  and  dusty 
roads  becomes  superheated  in  places,  and  rises,  while  the  sur- 
rounding air  rushes  in  sweeping  the  sand  and  dust  along  in  a 
whirling  column.  These  dust  whirls  sometimes  attain  enormous 
proportions,  as  in  the  simooms  of  the  Sahara  and  Arabian  deserts. 

Ocean  Currents.  —  From   the  unecjual  distribution  of  heat   in 


WINDS,    OCEAN   CURRENTS,   AND    RAINFALL.  51 

different  parts  of  the  earth,  a  difference  in  the  specific  gravity  of 
the  water  of  the  ocean  takes  place,  as  a  result  of  which  it  is  thrown 
into  a  series  of  currents  in  an  effort  to  establish  the  proper  equi- 
librium. At  the  e(iuat()r,  the  heated  water  of  the  ocean  rises  to 
the  surface  and  flows  away  north  and  south,  being  displaced  by 
colder,  deeper,  and  heavier  currents  of  water  flowing  in  from  each 
side.  The  position  of  the  land  masses  in  relation  to  the  oceans, 
and  the  force  and  direction  of  the  prevailing  winds,  modifies  the 
direction  of  these  currents  and  gives  to  each  great  body  of  water 
its  characteristic  circulation. 

A  striking  feature  in  oceanic  circulation  is  the  northern  and 
southern  whirls.  In  the  Atlantic  the  equatorial  current  flowing 
west  divides  off  Cape  St.  Roque,  sending  the  so-called  Gulf  Stream 
northeastward  along  the  American  coast,  while  the  Brazil  current 
flows  south  along  the  eastern  coast  of  South  America.  Part  of  the 
Gulf  Stream  flows  into  the  Arctic  Ocean,  while  the  other  portion 
flows  south  along  the  shores  of  Europe  and  Africa  to  join  its  par- 
ent equatorial  current.  This  constitutes  a  ivJiirl  in  the  North 
Atlantic,  the  center  of  which  is  comparatively  quiet  and  character- 
ized by  a  vast  area  of  seaweed,  which  has  settled  there  from  drift- 
ing, as  a  natural  result.  This  is  the  so-called  Sargasso  Sea.^  In 
the  South  Atlantic  there  is  likewise  a  whirl  with  its  central  Sar- 
gasso Sea,  and  so  in  the  North  and  South  Pacific  and  in  the  Indian 
Ocean  the  same  essential  features  prevail. 

Rainfall. — The  primary  cause  of  a  fall  of  rain  is  the  lowering 
of  the  temperature  of  the  air  below  the  dew  point.  This  is 
effecte<l  chiefly  through  the  influence  of  winds.  A  wind  blowing 
over  any  considerable  extent  of  ocean  gathers  up  a  large  quantity 
of  moisture,  and  whether  this  falls  as  rain  or  not  depends  largely 
on  the  condition  of  the  air  of  the  region  into  which  it  flows.  If 
it  move  into  a  warmer  and  drier  region,  it  will  take  up  more  mois- 
ture rather  than  precipitate  it.  When  a  moisture-laden  wind 
blows  into  a  cold  region,  a  f;ill  of  rain  is  the  result,  because  the 

1  It  was  the  floating  seaweed  of  this  Sargasso  Sea  that  led  Columbus  to  believe 
that  land  was  not  far  distant. 


52  CUM  A  TE. 

temperatme  of  the  air  falls  beluw  the  point  of  saturation.  A  bank 
of  air  hangs  over  the  land  which  is  stiller  than  that  over  the  sea, 
because  its  velocity  has  been  diminished  by  contact  with  the  land 
surface.  A  wind  off  the  sea  blgwing  against  this  bank  of  air  is 
forced  to  rise,  in  doing  which  it  expands,  thereby  losing  heat,  and 
precipitating  its  moisture  in  showers  of  rain.  For  the  same  reason 
a  moisture-laden  wind  blowing  over  a  range  of  mountains  pre- 
cipitates its  moisture  not  only  by  being  cooled,  but,  more  copi- 
ously still,  by  expanding  in  rising  to  higher  levels.  This  same 
wind  after  passing  the  crest  of  the  range  will  blow  down  its  lee- 
ward slopes  as  a  dry  wind ;  dry,  not  only  by  loss  of  vapor,  but 
because  it  enters  lower,  warmer  levels  of  air  under  increasing 
pressure. 

A  volume  of  air  in  rising  to  higher  levels  expands  because 
it  enters  regions  of  less  atmospheric  pressure.  This  expansion  is 
marked  by  a  distinct  loss  of  sensible  heat  which  is  said  to  become 
latent.  The  reason  for  this  is,  that  in  expanding  a  certain  amount 
of  work  is  done  in  pushing  aside  the  surrounding  heavier  atmos- 
phere, and  the  heat  originally  present  is  transformed  into  expansive 
energy,  and  so  is  apparently  lost  for  the  time.  But  the  lowering 
of  temperature  by  this  change  of  energy  finally  chills  the  mass  of 
air  to  its  point  of  saturation,  and  brings  about  condensation  and 
the  formation  of  cloud,  which  is  accompanied  by  a  distinct  gain  of 
sensible  heat.  For  the  same  reason  a  volume  of  air  descending 
into  regions  of  greater  pressure  becomes  sensibly  warmer  from  the 
transmutation  of  its  energy  into  heat.^ 

The  formation  of  cloud,  fog,  and  rain  is  due  in  great  part  to  the 
presence  of  minute  di/sf  riiofes,"  an  inconceivable  number  of  which 
are  always  floating  in  the  air.  Each  vapor  particle,  in  forming, 
collects  about  a  dust  mote  as  a  nucleus.  If.  these  dust  motes  be 
crowded  and  in  excess  of  the  amount  of  vapor,  the  entire  body 
of  vapor  is  divided  up  into  very  small  particles  about  each  mote, 

1  This  liberation  of  heat  in  the  process  of  condensation  is  manifested  in  the  famil- 
iar fact  that  the  air  always  grows  distinctly  warmer  just  before  a  fall  of  rain  or  snow. 

2  Mr.  J.  Aitken.  See  "  Dust "  by  J.  G.  McPherson,  Popular  Scie77ce  Monthly, 
Vol.  xl.  251. 


IV/XDS,    OCEAN   CURRENTS,   AND   RAINEAIJ..  53 

and,  being  comparatively  light,  the  whole  mass  hangs  together  as 
fog  or  clflitd.  When,  however,  the  dust  motes  are  fewer  and  more 
scattered,  a  larger  amount  of  vapor  collects  about  each  mote,  and 
the  particles  thus  becoming  heavier  will  fall  to  the  earth  as  df-ops 
of  rain.  Under  the  same  condition,  but  if  the  temperature  of  the 
cloud  and  the  air  beneath  it  be  below  the  freezing  point,  the  watery 
globules  become  frozen  into  ice  crystals,  and  drift  down  to  the 
earth  as  siunvflakcs.  Were  it  not  for  this  floating  dust,  the  moist- 
ure of  the  air  would  be  precipitated  only  in  the  form  of  dew,  and 
objects  on  the  surface  would  be  in  a  continual  state  of  dampness. 

Distribution  of  Rainfall.  —  From  what  we  have  observed  it  fol- 
lows that  rain  is  very  unequally  distributed  over  the  earth's  surface. 
The  distribution  of  the  land,  the  position  of  mountain  ranges  and 
deserts,  the  prevalence  of  certain  winds,  —  each  exerts  an  impor- 
tant influence  on  the  distribution  of  rain.  The  equatorial  calm 
belt  is  a  belt  of  constant  rains  owing  to  the  enormous  evaporation 
and  subsequent  precipitation  of  vapor  taking  place  under  the 
direct  rays  of  the  sun.  Hence  the  cloud  ring,  or  belt,  which  fol- 
lows the  oscillations  of  the  isotherms,  and  brings  the  periodical 
rains  of  the  tropics.  North  of  the  tropics  is  the  region  of  variable 
rains  as  it  is  of  variable  winds,  and  the  same  is  true  of  southern 
latitudes.  The  great  number  of  storms  and  characteristic  "  changes 
of  weather"  in  the  North  Temperate  Zone  are  largely  due  to  the 
chilling  of  the  moisture-laden  anti-trades  in  their  journey  toward 
the  polar  area. 

The  heaviest  rainfall  in  the  world  is  in  the  region  of  .the  Bay  of 
Bengal,  when  the  southwest  monsoon,  loaded  with  warm  vapors 
from  the  Indian  Ocean,  strikes  the  Khasia  hills.  An  annual  fall 
of  600  inches,  or  about  50  feet,  is  not  uncommon.  The  great 
tropical  forest  regions  of  Africa  and  South  America  are  largely  the 
result  of  the  heavy  rainfall  produced  by  winds  from  the  Atlantic, 
precipitating  their  moisture  under  the  influence  of  the  high  moun- 
tain slopes  of  East  Africa  and  the  Andes. 

The  great  desert  belts  of  the  world  are  rainless  regions,  and 
result   from   the    dry  winds  which   blow  over  them,  deprived   of 


54  CLIMA  TE. 

moisture  by  the  surrounding  highlands.  The  northeasterly  stretch 
of  desert  across  Africa  and  Asia  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
the  desert  plains  of  the  Great  Basin  in  North  America  east  of 
the  Sierra  Nevada,  the  Argentine,  and  Peru  and  Chile  among 
the  Andes,  are  examples  of  rainless  regions. 


LESSON    IV.  — INFLUENCE    OF    CLIMATE    ON    MAN. 

General  Considerations.  —  In  the  following  chapters  of  this 
book,  especially  in  the  chapter  on  "  ]\Lan,"  we  shall  see  the  form- 
ative influence  which  climate  has  exerted  and  still  exerts  in  the 
destiny  of  races.  We  cannot  fail  to  note  in  the  broad  features  of 
human  distribution  and  development  how  the  extremes  of  tropical 
and  polar  conditions  incident  to  climate  have  had  a  retarding 
effect,  stunting  the  intellectual  and  physical  vigor  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  these  regions,  holding  man  down  to  the  primitive  state 
of  savagery.  Contrast  the  life  of  the  indolent  native  of  tropical 
forests,  steeped  in  a  hot,  humid  atmosphere  and  surrounded  by 
an  abundance  of  food,  with  the  Eskimo,  wrapped  in  furs,  with 
intellect  blunted  by  Arctic  cold  and  darkness  and  long  weeks  of 
gnawing  hunger.  And  yet  each  is  the  result  of  climate.  Even  in 
the  Temperate  Realm,  climate  has  had  a  varied  influence  in  the 
development  of  nations.  Though  the  great  civilizations  of  the 
Mediterranean  arose  under  one  of  the  most  favorable  climates  in 
the  world,  the  man  of  the  north,  cradled  in  the  land  of  wind  and 
frost,  —  the  Teuton,  —  built  up  the  most  enduring  civilization, 
because  the  climate  compelled  him  to  exertion  and  sharpened 
his  intelligence.  Egypt,  Assyria,  Persia,  India,  China,  and  Japan 
all  became  great  civilizations  largely  through  the  influence  of 
climate,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  future  chapter.  The  superiority  of 
the  white  man  throughout  history  is  undoubtedly  due,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  climatic  conditions  of  his  home  in  the  Temperate 
Realm.  To-day,  by  virtue  of  this  vigor  and  intelligence  bred 
under  the  influences  of  climate,  he  is  enabled  to  spread  over  the 


INFLUENCE    OF  CUALITE    ON  MAN.  55 

earth,  accustoming  himself  ahke  to  the  deadly  atmosphere  of  the 
tropics  and  the  rigors  of  an  Arctic  winter. 

Physiological  Effect  of  Climate  and  Food.  —  Color  is  a  normal 
product  of  the  animal  organism,  its  probable  source  being  the 
coloring  matter  of  the  blood.  A  surplus  of  this  may  be  thrown 
off  as  so  much  waste  material  in  the  intricate  processes  of  nutri- 
tion which  take  place  throughout  the  various  tissues  of  the  living 
body.  A  large  portion  of  this  surplus  pigment  finds  lodgment  in 
the  layers  of  the  skin,  imparting  to  it  a  characteristic  color.  The 
liver  is  undoubtedly  largely  concerned  in  the  elaboration  of  this 
coloring  matter  from  the  blood,  and  we  are  not  surprised  to  find 
important  modifications  of  color  as  a  result  of  special  climatic 
conditions. 

Two  broad  classes  of  mankind  may  be  recognized  as  to  their 
shade  of  coloring,  —  the  li^^ht  and  the  dark.  These  vary  from  the 
deep  chocolate  brown  or  black  of  the  natives  of  Western  Africa 
to  the  fair-haired,  white-skinned  peoples  of  Northern  Europe. 
Between  these  extremes  are  all  shades  of  color,  the  medium 
shade  being  seen  best  in  the  yellow,  olive,  or  copper  color  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Central  Asia  and  North  America. 

This  brings  us  to  the  question  of  the  geographical  distribution 
of  human  color,  and  an  approach  to  its  solution,  if  such  a  thing 
be  possible  in  the  present  state  of  knowledge.  Under  a  hot, 
moist  climate,  the  liver  is  more  normally  congested,  if  we  can 
use  such  an  expression,  from  the  dilation  of  the  blood  vessels 
and  general  relaxation  induced,  through  the  nervous  system,  by 
the  action  of  the  external  conditions  of  heat  and  moisture.  This 
increased  blood  supply  to  the  organ  means  an  increased  amount 
of  coloring  matter,  and  the  question  of  its  ultimate  disposal.^ 
This  possible  cause  of  the  dark  coloring  of  the  skin  is  borne  out 
by  the  fact  that  not  only  is  man  darkly  colored  in  the  hot,  humid 
forests  of  tropical  Western  Africa  and  South  America,  but  animal 

1  In  confirmation  of  this  statement  is  the  fact  that  abscess  of  the  liver  is  an 
extremely  rare  disease  outside  of  the  tropics.  The  discoloration  of  the  skin,  or 
jaundice,  from  an  excess  of  bile  pigment  in  the  blood,  also  bears  out  this  idea. 


56  CUM  A  TE. 

life  in  general  presents  a  wonderful  development  of  color.  Cold, 
dry  air  has  a  tendency  to  contract  the  blood  vessels,  and  thus 
diminish  the  production  of  color.  Exposure  to  sunlight  has  also 
its  pecuUar  effect  upon  the  skin,  producing  what  we  know  as 
'  sunburn,'  or  '  tan.' 

Taking  a  broad  survey  of  the  distribution  of  color,  we  see  that 
the  darkest  peoples  are  those  inhabiting  tropical  forest  regions 
where  heat  and  moisture  are  most  pronounced.  The  white  race 
is  disposed  in  two  strongly  contrasted  groups,  —  the  light  and  the 
dark  whites.  The  former  are  of  northern  distribution,  as  the 
old  Saxons,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Scandinavian  Peninsula,  etc. 
The  dark  whites  are  essentially  southern,  natives  of  the  great 
Mediterranean  region,  where  moisture  and  temperature  are  more 
equally  distributed,  cloudy  skies  alternating  with  bright  sunlight 
and  a  semi-tropical  warmth  tempered  down  by  cool  mountain 
winds  and  sea  breezes.^  The  inland  or  continental  climate,  domi- 
nating the  great  land  masses  of  Central  Asia  and  North  America, 
has  a  peculiar  drying  effect  upon  the  skin  with  a  medium  pro- 
duction of  color  through  the  action  of  the  liver.  The  inhabitants 
of  these  great  areas  are  uniformally  of  an  olive  or  coppery  hue. 
A  radical  change  of  color  is  not  effected,  as  we  very  well  know, 
by  a  change  of  residence,  even  through  many  generations.  The 
African  negro  in  the  United  States  illustrates  this  fact.  Man's  color 
to-day  is  the  result  of  climatic  and  other  effects  extending  over 
vast  ages.  This,  like  all  other  animal  characteristics,  only  became 
a  fixed  trait  through  the  lapse  of  time.  The  color  and  character 
of  the  eyes  and  hair,  and  the  modifications  of  the  bones  of  the 
skull,  have  likewise  resulted  from  operations  which  began  thousands 
of  generations  back,  even  in  the  dawn  of  the  prehistoric.  The 
varying  shades  of  color  throughout  the  peoples  of  the  white  race 
to-day  have  resulted  from  ages  of  widespread  intermarriage. 

With  such  a  physical  basis  to  operate  on,  sexual  selection  very 

1  The  blackest  peoples  in  the  world  are  found  among  the  Hindus,  members  of 
the  white  race  who  for  ages  have  been  subjected  to  the  influence  of  tropical  condi- 
tions of  a  most  intense  character. 


INFLUENCE    OF  CUM  ATE    ON  MAN.  57 

probably  stepped  in  at  a  remote  period,  and  became  a  potent 
cause  in  fixing  color  in  the  various  racial  types.  In  the  same  way 
the  other  race  characteristics  must  have  become  fixed,  partly 
through  the  intervention  of  sexual  selection,  but  also  largely  from 
the  physical  nature  of  the  environment  acting  directly  upon  the 
organism. 

The  effect  of  climatic  and  geographical  conditions  upon,  tem- 
perament and  mental  characteristics  has  undoubtedly  played  no 
small  part  in  the  development  of  races  and  peoples.  This  fact 
must  underlie  the  literature  and  religion  of  a  nation  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent,  imparting  to  each  a  certain  tone  and  cast  of 
expression.  The  Hindu,  impressed  by  the  mighty  forms  and 
forces  of  surrounding  nature,  —  the  awful  gloom  of  the  Himalayas, 
the  vast  solitudes  of  tropical  forests,  the  unmastered  floods  of  the 
great  rivers,  death  everywhere  and  in  every  shape,  —  developed 
a  profound  philosophy,  a  nature  worship  tinged  with  the  melan- 
choly of  future  oblivion.  Out  of  the  harsh,  inhuman  desert, 
where  nature  seemed  to  starve  man,  came  the  Mohammedan 
idea  of  eternal  bliss,  an  unending  dream  of  sensuous  delight 
attained  by  the  faithful  after  the  privations  of  a  desert  life.  The 
varied  relations  of  man  with  man  have  in  like  manner  wrought 
their  effects  on  human  thought.  Thus,  the  Hebrew  conception 
of  a  God  of  justice,  meting  out  good  and  evil,  may  have  arisen 
from  years  of  oppression  and  bondage  at  a  remote  period.  The 
North  American  Indian,  starving  with  cold  and  hunger,  or  reveling 
in  abundance,  is  gathered  to  his  '  Great  Spirit,'  the  munificent 
bestower  of  maize,  and  meat,  and  the  warm  sunshine.  So,  man 
in  all  times  and  places  has  worshiped  that  which  made  the 
strongest  impression  on  his  physical  and  mental  life. 

Food  has  operated  along  the  same  lines  as  climate.  Vegetable 
food  stuffs,  as  starch-filled  roots  and  fruits  of  various  kinds,  form 
the  natural  diet  of  the  tropics,  requiring  less  concentrated  work 
by  the  liver,  and  producing  less  bodily  heat  than  a  diet  of  animal 
matter.  The  British  in  India,  and  the  white  man  anywhere  in 
the  tropics,  knows  by  sad  experience  the  dangerous  effects  of  a 


58  CLIMA  TE. 

long-continued  meat  diet.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Eskimo  hunter 
and  the  native  of  Northern  Siberia  gorges  himself  to  the  full  with 
fish  oil  and  walrus  blubber,  to  make  his  body  glow  like  a  furnace 
with  the  burning  up  of  the  fat.  Starchy  or  vegetable  food  and 
fatty  or  animal  food  stand  at  the  two  extremes  of  climate. 

In  hot  climates  the  bodily  activities  are  lessened  because  less 
internal  heat  is  required  to  maintain  the  blood  at  its  normal 
standard.  Tissue  changes,  including  the  processes  of  nutrition 
and  oxygenation,  go  on  at  a  much  slower  pace  than  in  cold 
climates,  where  a  great  demand  is  made  upon  the  heat-producing 
powers  of  the  body.  Heated  air  draws  the  blood  to  the  surface, 
and  the  increased  amount  of  blood  in  the  skin  stimulates  the 
sweat  glands  to  greater  activity.  The  rapid  evaporation  of  the 
sweat  cools  the  surface  and  consequently  the  blood  flowing  im- 
mediately beneath  its  outer  layers.  With  the  slower  activities 
of  the  body  there  is  a  diminished  excretion  or  riddance  of  waste 
matter  from  the  tissues,  which  tends  to  clog  the  system  and  thus 
produces  that  lassitude  and  torpor  which  is  so  characteristic  of 
a  tropical  life.  The  reverse  of  this  is  true  in  cold  cUmates,  where 
increased  bodily  activity  means  increased  waste  and  its  rapid 
removal  through  the  lungs  and  kidneys.  Cold  air  drives  the 
blood  from  the  surface  and  the  skin  is  therefore  less  active,  with 
its.  pores  more  tightly  closed  and  the  production  of  sweat  greatly 
diminished. 

Increased  moisture  of  the  air  lessens  the  rate  of  evaporation 
from  the  surface  of  the  body,  and  thus  tends  to  elevate  the  tem- 
perature of  the  blood.  We  are  all  familiar  with  the  disagreeable 
feeling  resulting  from  this  in  warm,  damp  weather,  especially 
before  a  coming  storm. 

Mountain  Climates.  — The  climate  of  high  altitudes  has  a  pecul- 
iarly bracing  effect  upon  the  bodily  and  mental  conditions,  for  the 
following  reasons:  (i)  There  is  less  moisture  and  less  pressure; 
consequently    the    air    of    mountain    regions    is    dry^    and    rare. 

1  This,  of  course,  does  not  apply  to  the  windward  slopes  of  mountain  ranges 
situated  near  the  sea,  where  the  moisture  and  rainfall  are  often  excessive. 


INFLUENCE    OF  CLIMATE    ON  MAN.  59 

(2)  Constant  and  rapid  movement  of  the  particles  of  air  in  the 
blowing  of  strong  luinds  increases  evaporation.  (3)  The  charac- 
ter of  the  ground,  elevated  above  the  general  surfvce  and  often 
steeply  inclined,  produces  a  cold  air  from  rapid  radiation  of  the 
sun's  heat,  while  at  the  same  time  there  is  a  broader  expanse  of 
sunlight.  There  is  also  less  dust  and  germs  floating  in  the  air 
of  higher  altitudes.  (4)  The  presence  of  ozone  in  large  amount 
is  an  important  element  in  the  effect  of  mountain  climates.  Ozone 
is  a  more  active  state  of  oxygen  resulting  from  certain  peculiar 
electrical  conditions  of  the  atmosphere.  Its  effect  on  the  system 
is  to  increase  the  activities  of  the  body  by  producing  more  rapid 
tissue  changes. 

On  the  threshold  of  inquiry,  we  are  thus  brought  face  to  face  with 
some  of  the  profound  problems  of  human  life  and  development. 
We  have  a  glimpse,  as  it  were,  through  dark  doors  of  some  of  the 
possible  causes  which  have  been  at  work  moulding  and  making 
the  different  types  of  men.  The  increased  vigor  of  a  mountain 
life  or  a  life  in  the  North  Temperate  Realm  is  in  contrast  with 
the  life  of  the  lowlands,  the  inhabitants  of  tropical  seacoasts,  or 
of  the  forests  of  the  torrid  zone.  All  this  hints  at  vastly  more 
than  merely  the  broad  features  of  race  distribution  and  develop- 
ment. The  origin  of  temperament,  diversity,  personahty,  genius, 
lies  hidden  in  the  deeper  significance  of  Geography.^ 

1  See  "  The  Man  of  Genius,"  by  C.  Lombroso,  Part  II.,  Contemporary  Science 
Series.  In  this  interesting  work  the  author  traces  the  relations  of  men  of  genius  to 
meteorological,  climatic,  and  orographic  influences,  as  well  as  to  the  effects  of  race, 
heredity,  and  the  opportunities  of  civilization. 


CHAPTER    III. 

PLANTS   WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 


Reading  in  Connection  with  this  Chapter. 

The  Tropical  World.  —  Hartwig. 
*Origin  of  Cultivated  Plants.  —  De  Candolle  (International  Science. Series). 


LESSON   I.  — TEA   AND   COPTEE. 

The  Tea  Plant.  —  At  least  one-half  of  the  population  of  the 
earth  to-day  are  tea  drinkers.  This  beverage,  which  gladdens  the 
hearts  of  so  many  different  peoples  throughout  the  world,  is  made 
from  the  leaves  of  a  low,  bushy  evergreen  shrub,  not  more  than 
five  feet  in  height,  growing  in  warm,  moist  climates.  The  flower- 
buds,  which  appear  in  the  crotch  of  a  leaf,  open  later  into  a  cluster 
of  two  or  three  white,  mildly  fragrant  blossoms.  A  hght,  easily 
broken,  but  deep  soil,  a  warm  temperature,  and  an  abundance  of 
moisture  are  essential  to  the  healthy,  luxuriant  growth  of  the  tea 
plant. 

The  cultivation  of  the  plant  is  limited  to  regions  presenting  an 
abundant  rainfall  and  a  more  or  less  uniform,  tropical  climate. 
These  conditions  are  found  united  in  the  countries  of  Eastern  and 
Southeastern  Asia,  —  China,  Japan,  and  the  lands  bordering  on  the 
Indian  Ocean. 

The  Japan  Current.  —  The  Pacific  Ocean  washes  the  eastern 
shores  of  Asia  with  a  warm  stream,  the  Japan  current^  flowing 
north  from  the  equatorial  regions.     The  sun's  rays,  falling  more 

60 


TEA   AND    COFFEE.  61 

"or  less  straight  down  on  so  vast  a  body  of  water  as  the  Pacific 
presents  under  the  equator,  rapidly  heat  the  surface  water,  which, 
becoming  lighter,  flows  away  on  each  side,  north  and  south,  while 
deeper  currents  of  colder,  heavier  water  flow  in  from  the  Arctic 
and  Antarctic  regions  to  fill  its  place.  This  Japan  current,  called 
Kuro  Siwo  or  Black  Stream  by  the  Japanese  from  the  dark  blue 
color  of  its  water,  warms  the  air  of  the  regions  into  which  it  flows, 
and  produces  an  abundance  of  moisture. 

Physical  Features  of  the  Land  and  their  Effect.  —  From  the 
southeastern  shores  of  Asia,  the  warm,  vapor-laden  air  blows  over 
the  land.  This  sooner  or  later  strikes  the  eastern  mountain  spurs 
of  the  Himalaya,  Kuen  Luen,  and  other  ranges  that  everywhere 
bar  off  the  low-lying  coast  countries  from  the  high  central  plateau 
of  the  continent.  Driven  up  these  eastern  slopes,  the  warm  air 
expands,  and,  becoming  chilled,  precipitates  its  clouds  of  vapor  in 
showers  of  rain.  The  rain  soaks  through  the  loose  soil,  but  comes 
to  the  surface  again  in  various  places  as  springs.  Little  rills 
trickle  from  these  springs  down  the  mountain  slopes,  joining  one 
another  to  form  the  larger  brooks  that  feed  the  great  rivers  of 
China,  —  the  Yang-tse-kiang  and  Hoang-Ho,  which  flow  through 
fertile  and  densely  populated  valleys,  carrying  the  water  back  to 
the  ocean. 

Geographical  Range  of  Tea  Cultivation.  —  Tea  is  cultivated  in 
Japan  as  far  north  as  latitude  39°,  on  the  same  parallel  as  Wash- 
ington, D.C.  Japan  is  a  group  of  islands  lying  off  the  eastern 
shores  of  Asia,  washed  on  all  sides  by  the  warm  waters  of  the 
great  Kuro  Siwo.  Tropical  conditions  of  climate  are  carried  be- 
yond the  mere  geographical  limits  of  the  tropics  by  this  bearer  of 
heat  and  moisture.  At  the  present  day  tea  is  cultivated  in  Java, 
Ceylon,  India,  Australia,  Natal  on  the  east  coast  of  South  Africa, 
and  in  Brazil ;  but  China,  Assam,  and  Japan  are  the  great  tea  pro- 
ducing countries  of  the  world. 

History  and  Commerce.  —  Tea  has  been  cultivated  in  China 
from  the  remotest  antiquity.  So  long  has  it  been  under  cultiva- 
tion that  it  has  never  been  known  to  occur  in  a  wild  state  within 


62  PLANTS    WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

the  period  of  history.  A  wild  form  reaching  the  size  of  a  tree  in 
the  jungles  of  Assam  is  believed  to  be  the  original  stock  from 
which  the  tea  plant  sprang.  Some  curious  legends  give  the  plant 
as  coming  from  the  West  into  China. 

Tea  was  carried  into  Japan  by  a  priest  about  the  beginning  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  sown  in  the  southern  island,  the  culti- 
vation spreading  north  to  its  present  limit.  Marco  Polo,  the  great 
traveler  in  eastern  lands,  makes  no  mention  of  tea,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  year  15 17,  when  the  Portuguese  navigators  first  opened 
trade  with  China,  that  tea  was  brought  into  Europe.  Little  was 
known  about  it,  however,  until  the  Dutch  traders  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  learned  the  habit  of  tea  drinking  from  the  Chinese, 
a  habit  which  has  since  spread  among  all  the  civilized  peoples  of 
the  earth. 

The  tea  gardens  of  China  are  generally  situated  on  hill 
slopes,  where  the  soil  is  loose,  deep,  and  not  easily  washed  by  the 
rains.  The  leaves  are  picked  four  times  during  the  year :  early 
in  April,  early  in  May,  in  July,  and  again  in  August  or  September. 
The  leaves  are  dried  and  roasted,  a  different  process  of  handling 
giving  rise  to  the  two  varieties  known  as  '  black '  tea  and  '  green ' 
tea.  Tea  leaves  compressed  into  blocks  form  '  brick  tea,'  much 
used  by  the  inhabitants  of  Central  Asia,  who  eat  it  as  a  vege- 
table. Russia  imports  vast  quantities  of  this  '  brick  tea '  through 
the  Kalgan  Gate  of  the  Great  Wall  of  China. 

The  present  consumption  of  tea  throughout  the  world  at  large 
probably  amounts  to  some  2,500  millions  of  pounds  yearly,  2,000 
millions  of  which,  it  has  been  estimated,  are  consumed  in  China 
alone. 

Coffee.  —  The  coffee  plant  is  an  evergreen  tree  growing  wild 
in  Abyssinia,  the  Soudan,  and  the  coasts  of  Mozambique  and 
Guinea.  It  is  found  in  well  watered  mountainous  regions,  from 
1000  to  4000  feet  above  the  sea  level,  and  within  the  tropics. 
The  white,  fragrant  flowers  grow  in  clusters  from  the  crotches 
of  the  leaves.  The  fruit  is  a  berry,  round,  fleshy,  and  much 
like  a  cherry  in  appearance.  Each  berry  contains  two  hard-coated 
seeds,  the  famihar  coffee  beans  of  commerce. 


TEA   AND    COFFEE.  63 

Geographical  Conditions  of  Coffee  Growth.  — The  great  equa- 
torial stream  llt)\ving  westwardly  in  the  Pacific  sphts  into  two 
streams,  one  of  which,  the  Japan  current,  we  have  already  noticed. 
The  other  stream  flows  southward,  and  part  of  it  enters  the  Indian 
Ocean  through  Torres  Strait,  between  Australia  and  the  island  of 
New  Guinea.  Flowing  across  the  Indian  Ocean,  it  sweeps  south 
along  the  African  coast  as  the  Mozambique  current,  bringing  like 
its  twin  brother,  the  Japan  current,  volumes  of  warm  vapor  which 
fall  in  abundant  showers  of  rain  on  the  highlands  of  East  Africa.. 
This  region  is  the  original  home  of  the  coffee  tree. 

History  and  Commerce.  —  The  berries  of  the  wild  coffee  were 
probably  gathered  by  the  inhabitants  of  Abyssinia  ages  before  the 
thought  of  the  cultivation  of  the  plant  occurred  to  any  one.  It 
evidently  did  not  reach  neighboring  countries  for  a  long  time,  as 
the  Crusaders  had  no  knowledge  of  it.  Its  use,  as  a  beverage, 
appears  to  have  spread  from  Abyssinia  into  Arabia  early  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  coffee  plant  was  probably  first  cultivated 
in  Arabia,  the  coffee-drinking  habit  slowly  spreading  from  that 
country  into  Egypt,  Persia,  and  Turkey. ^ 

The  use  of  coffee  came  into  Europe  from  the  East  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  In  1690  the  Dutch  governor  of  the  East 
Indies  obtained  a  few  seeds  from  Arabian  traders  and  planted 
them  in  Java.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  great  Java  coffee 
cultivation.  One  of  the  first  Java  plants  was  sent  to  Holland  and 
planted  in  the  Botanic  Garden  at  Amsterdam.  A  few  )'oung  plants 
from  the  seeds  of  this  one  were  sent  later  to  the  Dutch  posses- 
sions of  Surinam  or  Guiana  in  South  America.  So  successful  was 
the  result  that  the  cultivation  of  coffee  rapidly  spread  into  other 
South  American  countries  and  the  islands  of  the  West  Indies. 

The  climate  of  tropical  South  America  and  the  West  Indies 
is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  lands  bordering  on  the  Indian  Ocean. 
An  equatorial  current  flows  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  precisely 

1  The  habit  of  coffee  drinking  may  have  received  an  important  impetus  by  the 
use  of  the  beverage  among  the  worshippers  of  Islam  for  its  stimulating  and  wake- 
ful effects  during  their  religious  devotions. 


64  PLANTS    WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

the  same  causes  as  in  the  Pacific,  and,  setting  westward,  divides 
into  two  large  streams  off  the  eastern  point  of  South  America  or 
Cape  St.  Roque.  The  northward  flowing  stream  corresponds  to 
the  Japan  current  of  the  Pacific,  and  passing  through  the  Carib- 
bean Sea  and  Gulf  of  Mexico  into  the  North  Atlantic  is  known 
as  the  Gulf  Stream.  The  one  flowing  south  along  the  eastern 
coast  of  South  America  is  called  the  Brazil  current,  correspond- 
ing in  position  and  in  its  effects  on  the  neighboring  lands  with  the 
Mozambique  current  of  the  Indian  Ocean. 

Brazil  has  become  the  great  coffee-producing  country  of  the 
world,  and  all  from  the  few  seedlings  of  the  plant  sent  to  Holland 
from  [ava.  Coffee  is  now  grown  wherever  civilization  has  spread 
throughout  the  tropics.  The  principal  coffee-growing  countries 
to-day  are  Java,  Ceylon,  Sumatra,  Mauritius,  Southern  Arabia,  and 
the  west  coast  of  Africa  in  the  eastern  hemisphere  ;  while  Brazil, 
Bolivia,  Peru,  Guiana,  Venezuela,  Guatemala,  Cuba,  Jamaica,  and 
the  West  Indies  in  general  are  the  principal  sources  of  supply  in 
the  western  hemisphere. 

LESSON   II.  — SUGAR   AND   SPICE. 

The  Sugar  Cane.  —  The  sugar  cane  is  one  of  the  grasses,  and, 
like  the  other  members  of  the  order,  consists  of  a  stalk  divided 
into  joints,  from  each  of  which  springs  a  long,  sheathing  leaf. 
The  stalks  are  about  twelve  feet  in  height,  and  the  mature  plant 
flowers  in  a  loose,  feathery  plume  at  the  top.  The  outer  surface 
of  the  joints,  in  the  ripening  cane,  becomes  smooth  and  hard  from 
the  sihca  or  glassy  deposit  which  they  contain,  while  the  interior  is 
filled  with  a  loose,  spongy  tissue,  saturated  with  a  watery  juice  that 
becomes  thick  and  very  sweet  as  the  plant  ripens. 

The  canes  are  cut  near  the  ground  and  crushed  in  a  mill  of  close- 
set  iron  rollers.  The  expressed  juice  is  carried  into  a  trough,  then 
into  vessels  where  it  is  purified  by  a  filtering,  heating,  and  chemical 
process.  After  this  it  is  boiled  down  until  it  becomes  thick,  reach- 
ing the  crystallizing  point,  and  a  few  days  later,  in  the  '  curing 


SUGAR  AND  SPICE.  65 

house,'  the  molasses  is  drained  off  from  the  raw  crystalUzed 
sugar. 

History,  Range,  and  Commerce.  — The  origin  of  the  sugar  cane 
is  not  certainly  known.  The  best  authorities  believe  it  to  be 
a  native  of  the  low  regions  bordering  on  the  Bay  of  Bengal  and 
of  Cochin  China.  The  name  '  sugar '  comes  from  a  root  word  com- 
mon to  the  several  languages  of  the  Aryan  peoples,  and  this  fact 
points  to  a  knowledge  of  its  use  at  a  very  early  period.  The  boil- 
ing of  sugar  was  probably  carried  as  a  crude  art  from  the  Ganges 
region  of  India  into  China  early  in  the  seventh  century,  but  it  was 
not  until  the  Arabs  had  invaded  the  far  East  that  its  refining 
became  an  art  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word.  The  Arabs  spread 
it  westward,  and  the  cane  was  cultivated  from  Persia  to  Morocco. 
Later,  the  Spaniards,  in  their  era  of  discovery,  spread  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  sugar  cane  into  the  islands  of  the  Atlantic  and  the 
tropical  regions  of  the  New  World. 

The  cane  is  essentially  a  tropical  plant,  and  to-day  is  exten- 
sively cultivated  in  all  hot  countries  near  the  sea  level.  About  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  beet  root  was  brought  for- 
ward as  a  source  of  sugar,  and  its  cultivation  has  since  grown  into 
a  large  and  important  industry. 

The  Spices.  —  The  various  spices  have  formed  an  important  ele- 
ment of  commerce  from  a  very  early  date.  The  more  important 
ones  are  natives  of  the  forests  of  tropical  Asia,  especially  along  the 
coasts,  and  of  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Ocean.  Very  early  in 
history  the  Molucca  group  became  known  as  the  '  Spice  Islands,' 
and  toward  these  the  seafaring  nations  of  Western  Europe  directed 
their  voyages,  which  led,  in  part,  to  the  remarkable  '  era  of  dis- 
covery '  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

Black  Pepper  is  the  dried  fruit  of  a  climbing  shrub  growing 
originally  in  the  forests  of  the  Malabar  coast  of  India,  but  later 
introduced  into  the  Malay  Peninsula  and  Islands,  Siam,  the  Philip- 
pines, and  the  West  Indies.  It  has  long  formed  an  important 
article  of  commerce  between  India  and  Western  Europe,  and  at 
one  time  was  largely  used  as  a  tribute,  the   term  '  pepper-corn 

F 


66  PLANTS    IVIHCH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

rents  '  lingering  to  the  present  day  as  a  survival  of  the  ancient 
practice.  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  find  a  sea  route  to  the  East  Indies,  in  order  to 
obtain  control  of  the  spice  trade. 

CiunaDiou  is  the  bark  of  a  small  tree  of  the  laurel  tribe  grow- 
ing wild  in  the  forests  of  Ceylon.  It  was  not  until  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  plantations  of  cinnamon 
were  established  in  Ceylon  with  any  success.  Since  then  its 
cultivation  has  spread  into  the  tropical  countries  of  both  hemi- 
spheres. It  easily  becomes  wild  again,  as  birds  devour  the  fruit, 
and  spread  the  seeds  in  the  forests  beyond  the  limits  of  culti- 
vation. 

The  Nutmeg  is  the  seed  of  a  httle  tree  growing  wild  in  the 
Moluccas  and  Banda  Islands,  but  also  cultivated  there,  probably 
from  a  very  early  period.  It  reached  Europe  through  the  eastern 
trade,  the  Dutch  at  one  time  monopolizing  its  cultivation.  It  has 
since  spread  into  the  colonies  of  tropical  America,  Bencoolen, 
the  Mauritius,  and  Madagascar.  The  nutmeg  proper  is  the  kernel 
of  the  seed,  the  thin  husk-like  covering  surrounding  it  forming  the 
'  mace  '  of  commerce. 

Cloves  are  the  dried,  aromatic  flower-buds  and  their  cups  of 
a  plant  originally  wild  in  the  Moluccas,  but  now  cultivated  in  other 
tropical  countries.  It  formed  one  of  the  imp'ortant  spices  sought 
by  the  early  Portuguese  voyagers  who  held  control  of  the  trade 
until  superseded  by  the  Dutch  in  their  East  Indian  possessions. 
Cloves  now  come  into  the  market  from  Zanzibar  on  the  east  coast 
of  Africa,  Amboyna,  the  Malay  Islands,  Guiana,  and  the  West 
Indies. 

LESSON    III.— THE   GRAINS,   OR   CEREALS. 

Wheat.  — The  grains,  or  cereals,  are  all  cultivated  grasses  that 
originally  grew  wild  in  various  parts  of  the  earth.  Wheat  has  been 
under  cultivation  from  the  most  remote  historic  time,  so  long, 
indeed,  that  there  is  no  record  of  its  ever  having  been  found  in 


THE    GR.irXS,    OR    CEREALS.  67 

a  wild  state.  This  makes  the  fixing  of  its  original  home  a  matter 
of  great  difficulty,  for,  like  many  other  anciently  cultivated  plants, 
its  origin  is  involved  in  myth  and  fable.  '  However,  from  its  name 
in  ancient  languages,  from  ancient  writings,  and  geographical 
observations,  the  best  authorities  now  believe  it  to  have  been 
a  native  of  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia  long  before  the  dawn  of 
history.  From  this  region  its  cultivation  spread  east  into  China, 
and  west  as  far  as  the  Canary  Islands,  at  a  very  early  date.  Evi- 
dence goes  far  to  prove  that  wheat  was  cultivated  by  the  Swiss 
Lake  Dwellers  during  the  prehistoric  bronze  period.  It  was  grown 
in  China  2700  years  before  the  Christian  Era,  and  looked  upon 
as  a  gift  from  heaven.  Ancient  Egyptian  monuments  and  the 
Scriptures  allude  to  the  cultivation  of  this  important  grain.  The 
name  '  cereal '  comes  from  the  Greek  idea  that  Ceres,  the  goddess 
of  harvests,  bestowed  wheat  upon  the  earth. 

Wheat  reached  the  New  World  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Hum- 
boldt makes  two  very  interesting  statements  in  regard  to  the 
introduction  of  wheat  into  America :  one  to  the  effect  that  it 
came  into  Mexico  with  some  rice  brought  from  Spain  by  a  negro 
slave  of  Cortez  ;  and  another,  that  while  in  Quito,  he  saw  the 
earthen  vase  in  which  a  monk  had  brought  the  first  wheat  grains 
sown  in  South  America. 

Range  and  Yield.  —  To-day  wheat  is  grown  throughout  the 
world,  except  in  equatorial  regions,  from  Norway,  Siberia,  and 
British  America  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Australia,  and  the 
Argentine  Republic.  Requiring  an  ordinarily  fertile  and  fairly 
stiff  soil  with  a  goodly  amount  of  moisture  and  sunlight,  wheat 
readily  adapts  itself,  over  this  wide  geographical  area,  to  various 
local  conditions,  and  presents  numerous  varieties  suitable  for  the 
time  of  year  and  place  of  growth.  The  yearly  yield  of  wheat 
throushout  the  world  has  been  estimated  at  not  less  than  2200 
million  bushels. 

Thus  wheat  has  come  to  be  the  staple  food  stuff  of  the  civilized 
world.  Only  a  very  few  countries  have  a  sufficient  surplus  to 
export.     In  Europe,  Russia  and  Roumania ;  in  Asia,  India ;  and 


68  PLANTS    WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

in  America,  the  United  States,  the  Argentine  RepubUc,  and  Chile 
are  the  great  exporting  countries  of  the  world. 

Rice.  —  More  than  one-fourth  of  the  human  race  depends  almost 
entirely  upon  rice  for  its  food.  The  grass  from  which  the  rice  grains 
are  gathered  is  a  swamp  lover,  needing  an  abundance  of  moisture, 
and  growing  in  the  low,  alluvial  lands  of  the  tropics,  especially 
in  districts  liable  to  be  flooded  by  great  rivers.  Its  original 
home  was  probably  in  the  river  valleys  of  China  and  the  low- 
lying  lands  about  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 

It  has  probably  been  under  cultivation  for  over  4000  years, 
as  we  read  that  in  2S00  B.C.  it  played  an  important  part  in  the 
ceremony  instituted  by  the  Chinese  Emperor  Chin-Nong. 

It  was  probably  first  cultivated  in  China,  spreading  gradually 
to  India  and  then  slowly  westward  to  the  Euphrates.  It  did  not 
reach  Syria  and  Egypt  for  many  centuries  after  its  cultivation  on 
the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  and  no  reference  is  made  to  it  on  old 
Egyptian  monuments.  The  Arabs  carried  it  still  farther  westward, 
into  Spain  and  Italy,  but  it  did  not  reach  the  New  World  until 
a  comparatively  late  date.  Rice  is  chiefly  consumed  in  the 
countries  where  it  grows,  and  its  commercial  value  is  unimportant 
compared  with  that  of  other  cereals. 

Other  Grains.  —  Rye,  oafs,  and  barley  are  largely  grown  through- 
out the  temperate  regions,  especially  to  the  north,  where  the 
climate  is  better  suited  to  them  than  to  wheat.  In  some  parts 
of  Europe,  one  or  the  other  of  them  forms  the  staple  food 
supply. 

Maize  or  Indian  corn  is  a  native  of  the  warm  parts  of  America, 
but  it  has  spread  since  the  discovery  of  the  country  into  other 
lands.  Its  cultivation  along  with  that  of  tobacco,  another  New- 
World  plant,  has  penetrated  into  the  heart  of  the  African  continent, 
where  it  forms  an  important  food  of  many  tribes.  To-day  not 
less  than  120,000  square  miles  in  the  United  States  are  under 
corn  cultivation.  The  '  corn  belt '  of  the  States  does  not  extend 
much  beyond  the  42d  parallel  of  north  latitude. 


SOME    VEGETABLES  AND  FRUITS.  69 

LESSON    IV.  — SOME   VEGETABLES    AND  FRUITS. 

The  Potato. — The  potato  is  a  tuber  or  enlarged  underground 
portion  of  the  stem  of  a  perennial  plant,  serving  as  a  storehouse 
of  starch.  The  plant  was  originally  a  native  of  temperate  South 
America,  probably  Chile,  though  cultivated  northward  along  the 
high  ranges  of  the  Peruvian  Andes,  where  the  climate  of  the 
altitude  corresponds  to  the  cooler  southern  latitude.  It  was 
undoubtedly  cultivated  long  before  the  discovery  of  the  country 
by  Europeans,  and  it  came  into  the  Old  World  first  through  the 
Spaniards,  and  later  through  the  English  in  the  time  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh. 

The  potato  is  especially  useful  as  a  food  stuff  in  cool  climates, 
like  the  British  Isles,  where  the  summer  is  too  short  to  reap  a 
large  harvest  of  grain.  It  forms  the  staple  article  of  diet  for  the 
poorer  classes  of  Ireland,  and  the  fliilure  of  the  Irish  potato  crop, 
from  a  peculiar  disease  caused  by  a  fungus,  has  several  times  pro- 
duced a  disastrous  famine  in  that  country. 

Sweet  Potato.  — This  plant  is  in  no  way  related  to  the  common 
or  white  potato,  but  belongs  to  an  entirely  different  family,  that 
of  the  morning  glories.  It  is  a  climbing  vine,  and  the  edible 
part  is  not  a  tuber  or  underground  stem,  but  a  true  root  enlarged 
as  a  storehouse  of  starch  and  sugar.  It  is  a  native  of  the  warmer 
regions  of  both  hemispheres,  but  it  has  never  been  found  wild. 
Its  original  home  is  a  matter  of  uncertainty,  as  the  plant  appears 
to  have  been  cultivated  in  both  hemispheres  from  a  very  early 
period. 

Yams. — Yams  are  the  tuberous  rootstocks  or  underground 
stems  of  several  species  of  plants  cultivated  in  tropical  countries, 
and  form  a  staple  food  supply  of  many  native  tribes.  The 
original  home  is  uncertain,  the  plant  to-day  being  found  wild  in 
Asia  and  the  adjacent  islands,  and  a  few  species  in  Africa  and 
America.  It  is  cultivated  throughout  these  regions  and  also  in 
the  Pacific  Islands. 

Manioc.  —  The  swollen,  starch-filled    roots   of  several   species 


70  PLANTS    WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

of  spurgewort  or  euphorbia  are  used  by  the  natives  as  food  in 
tropical  America  and  Africa.  Besides  the  starch,  the  root  contains 
a  poisonous  principle  which  is  separated  from  the  nutritious  part 
by  pounding  and  heating.  In  this  way  the  cassava  meal  or 
bread  of  the  native  tribes  is  produced.  The  starch,  carefully 
separated  from  the  other  matters  of  the  root  and  heated  until  its 
grains  swell  up,  forms  the  tapioca  of  commerce  which  is  shipped 
in  large  quantities  from  South  American  and  West  Indian  ports. 
The  careless  preparation  of  the  manioc  by  the  followers  of  Stanley, 
in  his  journey  up  the  Congo  in  Central  Africa  on  the  Emin  Pasha 
Relief  Expedition,  was  the  cause  of  great  loss  of  life  and  disaster 
to  the  Rear  Column.  The  manioc  is  found  wild  in  Brazil,  and  is 
undoubtedly  a  native  of  tropical  America,  having  reached  Africa 
as  a  cultivated  plant  since  the  discovery  of  the  New  World. 

The  Tomato.  —  The  tomato  is  the  fruit  of  a  plant  belonging  to 
the  same  natural  order  as  the  potato.  It  is -a  native  of  tropical 
America,  probably  Peru,  as  a  wild  form  is  found  growing  on  the 
seashore  of  that  country.  It  was  not  known  in  the  Old  World  until 
after  the  discovery  of  America.  The  name  '  tomato  '  is  of  Ameri- 
can origin,  and  its  cultivation,  at  least  in  Peru,  appears  to  be  quite 
ancient. 

The  Banana  and  Plantain.  —  Bananas  and  plantains  are  the 
fruits  of  several  closely  related  plants  cultivated  throughout  the 
tropical  regions  of  both  hemispheres.  They  form  the  principal 
food  stuff  of  an  immense  number  of  savage  peoples.  The  number 
of  varieties,  both  cultivated  and  wild,  found  in  Asia,  points  to  its 
original  cultivation  in  that  continent,  probably  in  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago. From  the  fact  that  the  names  of  the  plant  are  entirely 
different  in  the  oldest  languages,  we  are  led  to  believe  that  the 
culture  of  the  banana  reaches  back  to  a  remote  antiquity  in  these 
islands  and  also  in  India  and  China.  It  spread  at  a  very  early 
date  into  Africa  and  the  Pacific  Islands.  It  was  probably  intro- 
duced into  tropical  America  by  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  very 
soon  after  the  discovery  of  the  country. 

As  a  food  the  banana  is  second  to  no  other  plant  in  the  world. 


COTTON  AND   FLAX.  71 

as  it  requires  little,  if  any,  cultivation.  Humboldt  estimates  that 
the  yield  in  nutritive  niaterial  of  a  given  area  planted  in  bananas 
is  133  times  that  of  wheat,  and  44  times  that  of  the  potato. 

The  Date.  —  The  fruit  of  the  date  palm  has  been  used  as  a  food 
from  time  immemorial  by  the  peoples  dwelling  along  the  borders 
of  the  deserts  and  in  the  oases  of  North  Africa  and  Arabia.  The 
date  palm  is  indigenous  to  the  desert  regions  stretching  from  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Valley  of  the  Indus  in  India.  It  also  occurs 
in  the  Canary  Islands,  and  wherever  found  appears  to  be  of  very 
ancient  cultivation.  The  tree  is  found  to-day  in  much  the  same 
area  of  country  as  it  was  five  thousand  years  ago  as  indicated  by 
ancient  writings.  It  is  essentially  a  plant  of  the  warm,  dry  zone, 
and  has  not  been  successfully  cultivated  beyond  this  region. 

The  Vine.  —  The  grapevine  is  of  very  ancient  cultivation  in 
Eastern  countries.  It  is  spoken  of  in  the  oldest  writings,  and  in 
Egypt  its  culture  and  the  making  of  wine  date  back  five  or  six 
thousand  years.  It  grows  wild  in  Western  Asia  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean region  —  Southern  Europe  and  Northwestern  Africa. 
From  all  that  has  been  gathered  on  the  subject  it  seems  that  the 
vine  grew  wild  somewhere  south  of  the  Caspian  Sea  and  that  it 
was  dispersed,  probably  before  the  appearance  of  man,  over  a 
considerable  area  largely  through  the  agency  of  birds  carrying  the 
seeds.  Its  cultivation  reached  China  a  little  more  than  one  hun- 
dred years  before  the  Christian  Era.  It  is  cultivated  to-day 
around  the  world  in  the  temperate  zones,  between  about  50°  north 
and  40°  south  latitude. 

LESSON   v.— COTTON   AND   FLAX. 

Clothing.  —  Next  to  food,  clothing  is  perhaps  the  most  impor- 
tant element  in  human  affairs.  From  time  immemorial  the  fibers 
of  plants,  and  the  skins  and  wool  of  animals  have  been  woven 
by  most  of  the  peoples  of  the  earth  into  g;irments  for  covering  the 
body.  Even  in  the  tropics  the  instinct  to  cover  and  decorate 
some  portion  of  the  body  seems  to  be  universal,  extending  through 


72  PLANTS    WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

all  savage  tribes.     Of  the  plants  used  for  this  purpose,  cotton  and 
flax  are  by  far  the  most  important  and  widespread. 

Cotton.  — The  fine  fibrous  down  of  the  seeds  of  plants  belong- 
ing to  the  mallow  family  forms  the  cotton  of  commerce.  The 
plant  appears  to  have  originated  somewhere  in  tropical  Asia, 
probably  in  India,  as  its  cultivation  and  use  as  a  clothing  material 
have  existed  there  for  more  than  2000  years.  It  became  known 
to  the  Greek  and  Roman  world  after  the  conquests  of  Alexander 
in  the  East.  It  reached  China  only  in  the  ninth  or  tenth  century 
of  the  Christian  Era. 

Cotton  was  found  in  a  state  of  cultivation  by  the  Spanish  dis- 
coverers of  America,  but  the  plant  cultivated  in  America  to-day 
is  the  Old-World  species,  introduced  at  a  comparatively  late  date. 
The  principal  sources  of  supply  to  the  world  to-day  are  the 
Southern  United  States  and  India,  though  China,  Egypt,  Africa, 
Australia,  Italy,  Greece  and  Turkey,  Brazil,  Peru,  and  the  West 
Indies  are  all  cotton-growing  countries.  The  influence  of  tlie 
Civil  War  in  the  United  States  developed  the  raising  of  cotton  in 
other  countries  for  a  time,  in  order  to  supply  the  demands  of 
trade,  crippled  by  the  stopping  of  the  United  States  export. 

The  part  that  cotton  has  played  in  the  history  and  develop- 
ment of  mankind  is  remarkable.  An. advance  has  been  made 
from  the  rudest  methods  of  manufacture,  over  a  limited  portion 
of  the  earth,  to  the  invention  of  the  most  complex  machinery  and 
the  employment  of  many  thousands  of  persons  in  various  parts 
of  the  world.  Among  the  principal  materials  manufactured  from 
cotton  are  thread,  muslin,  and  calico.  The  term  '  muslin  '  comes 
from  the  city  of  Mosul  on  the  Tigris  in  Mesopotamia,  where  the 
stuff"  was  first  woven.  '  Calico '  is  from  Calicut,  a  seaport  on  the 
west  coast  of  India. 

Flax.  —  The  fibers  of  the  flax  plant  have  been  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  clothing  and  for  various  purposes  of  utility  from 
the  remotest  historic  times,  and  even  by  prehistoric  peoples. 

Bundles  of  flax  have  been  found  among  the  remains  of  the  Lake 
Dwellers  of  Switzerland  and  of  a   prehistoric  people    inhabiting 


COTTON  AND  FLAX.  73 

the  country  now  known  as  Lonibanly  in  I'Vance.  The  material 
called  linen,  which  is  made  from  flax,  is  referred  to  in  ancient 
Scripture.  In  Egypt  and  Chaldea  the  plant  was  in  use  apparently 
at  the  beginning  of  history,  the  mummy  cloth  of  the  catacombs 
being  of  this  material. 

The  annual  flax  is  still  found  wild  in  the  region  of  the  Persian 
Gulf  and  the  Black  and  Caspian  seas.  This  probably  represents 
its  original  home,  from  which  it  spread,  very  early,  as  a  cultivated 
plant  into  Egypt,  and  later  into  Europe  by  the  western  branch  of 
the  Aryan  peoples.  The  Finns  appear  to  have  carried  it  to  the 
north  of  Europe  at  a  very  early  date,  and  last  of  all  it  reached 
India  through  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Aryans. 

The  flax  used  by  the  prehistoric  peoples  of  Europe  belonged 
to  a  perennial  species  which  has  been  replaced  by  the  annual. 
To-day  flax  is  grown  in  all  temperate  regions.  The  word  //// 
exists  as  a  root  in  the  Aryan  languages  of  Southern  Europe  — 
the  Greek,  Latin,  Slav,  and  Keltic.  It  is  from  this  that  we  get 
our  word  '  linen,'  the  material  which  is  made  from  flax.  The  word 
'  flax '  is  of  German  or  Teutonic  origin,  and  other  names  for  it 
are  used  in  the  North  of  Europe. 

This  diversity  of  names  indicates  a  remote  antiquity  of  culti- 
vation, for  where  one  people  have  borrowed  the  culture  of  a  plant 
from  another,  they  have  usually  borrowed  the  name  also.  Evi- 
dence of  a  varied  nature  thus  goes  far  to  prove  that  flax  has  been 
known  to  man  for  a  period  of  time  reaching  back  beyond  the 
dawn  of  history,  considerably  more  than  5000  years. 

In  this  short  survey  of  a  few  of  the  plants  useful  to  mankind, 
we  have  covered  a  wide  extent  of  the  earth's  surface,  and  gone 
over  many  centuries  of  history.  The  common  things  of  daily  life 
are  seen  in  a  new  light.  Geography  appeals  to  us  with  a  new 
interest,  —  that  of  the  earth  as  the  home  of  man  ;  how  that  home 
has  influenced  him,  and  what  he  has  done  toward  making  the 
home  what  we  see  it  to-day. 

From  every  quarter  of  the  globe  he  has  gathered   plants  for 


74  PLANTS    WHICH  HA  VE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

food  and  clothing,  in  many  cases  entirely  changing  the  face  of  a 
country.  A  prairie  landscape  becomes  acres  of  waving  wheat ; 
the  once  thickly  wooded  mountain  slope  is  now  a  field  of  tasseled 
corn.  Back  of  all  this,  however,  we  have  caught  a  glimpse  of  the 
limitations  which  the  earth  has  set  upon  man.  Climate  is  the 
master  hand  under  which  he  still  works.  Strive  as  he  may,  climate 
still  directs  his  doings,  and  maps  out  just  how  far  he  can  scatter 
the  seeds  of  strange  plants,  or  introduce  new  animals. 

To  meet  the  requirements  of  climate  man  has  brought  com- 
merce to  his  aid  ;  built  seaport  cities  on  every  shore  throughout 
the  world  ;  sent  his  ships  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  belted  the 
globe  with  cables,  and  spanned  the  continents  with  railways. 
To-day  we  sit  at  our  breakfast  tables  sipping  tea  from  China 
sweetened  with  sugar  from  the  canebrakes  of  the  West  Indies. 
Our  rolls  are  made  from  wheat  grown  on  the  prairies  of  Dakota. 
Spices  are  brought  to  our  table  from  the  Molucca  Islands,  Ceylon, 
or  tropical  America.  Flax  fibers,  maybe  from  a  crop  sown  in 
far-away  New  Zealand,  or  on  the  plains  of  Europe,  are  spun  into 
white  linen  for  our  tablecloths.  The  things  of  to-day  are  our 
inheritance  from  the  very  beginning,  because  Geography  has  so 
directed  the  course  of  human  events. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
ANIMALS   WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

Reading  in  Connection  with  the  Lessons  ok  this  Chapter. 

Primitive  Man.  —  Figuier. 

Articles  on  the  Various  Animals  and   Animal    Products.  —  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica. 


LESSON    L  — ANIMALS   OF   THE   CHASE. 

Primitive  Conditions  ;  Food,  Raiment,  and  Defense.  —  The 
various  animals  with  whicli  man  has  been  associated  in  different 
parts  of  the  earth  have,  from  the  remotest  time,  played  an  impor- 
tant part  in  his  history  and  development.  The  animal  as  well  as 
the  plant  has  always  been  a  source  of  food  and  clothing,  supply- 
ing these  primary  needs  of  man  in  a  variety  of  ways.  According 
to  the  distribution  of  life  under  the  various  conditions  of  climate, 
different  phases  of  this  question  of  food  and  raiment  present 
themselves.  Thus  in  the  far  North,  among  the  Eskimos  and  the 
tribes  of  Northern  Asia,  the  food  and  clothing  are  almost  entirely 
of  an  animal  nature,  while  in  the  tropics  plant  life  furnishes  the 
main  source  of  these  supplies.  In  the  temperate  regions  a  min- 
gling of  the  animal  and  plant  products  is  a  striking  feature  of  the 
food  and  covering  of  man.  The  mingling  of  these  two  element 
has  been  of  undoubted  advantage  to  the  nations  of  the  temperate 
realm.  The  physiological  characteristics  of  man  in  the  different 
regions  of  the  earth  are  largely  the  result  of  the  difference  in  kind 
and  use  of  these  two  great  factors  —  food  and  clothing. 

75 


76  ANIMALS    WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

The  animal  came  into  relation  with  primitive  man  other  than  as 
a  source  of  food  and  clothing.  The  giant  mammalia  of  the  Quater- 
nary period^  were  formidable  adversaries  in  man's  struggle  for 
existence,  and  abundant  proof  of  this  long  and  desperate  encounter 
is  seen  in  the  rude  weapons  of  the  Stone  Age.  We  may  even 
regard  the  great  carnivora-  of  the  Quaternary  as  a  means  in 
man's  development,  bending  his  intelligence  toward  the  fashioning 
of  weapons  of  defense. 

Geography  of  the  Chase.  — From  defending  himself  against  his 
brute  foes,  man  gradually  became  a  hunter.  The  rude  palgeo- 
liths  ^  gave  place  to  the  more  perfectly  fashioned  spear  and  axe 
heads  of  the  Polished  Stone  Age,  and  later,  to  the  various  weapons 
of  bronze  and  iron.  The  chase  took  on  different  features  in 
different  parts  of  the  earth.  Among  the  earliest  animals  of  the 
chase,  sought  alike  for  the  purpose  of  food  and  clothing,  was  the 
reindeer,  vast  herds  of  which  wandered  over  Central  Europe  and 
Asia  toward  the  close  of  the  Glacial  Period.  So  important  was 
this  animal  to  primitive  man,  as  attested  by  its  abundant  remains 
in  the  cave  shelters  of  various  localities,  that  a  distinct  "  Reindeer 
Epoch  "  marks  the  later  Palaeolithic  Age.  In  the  temperate  and 
northern  lands,  various  species  of  deer  have  always  been  objects 
of  the  chase.  Passing  from  a  necessity  to  a  pastime,  stag  hunting 
became  royal  sport  in  the  barbaric  civilization  of  early  Europe. 
"To  drive  the  deer  with  hound  and  horn"  was  a  theme  of  the 
early  bards,  and  the  royal  buckhounds  are,  to-day,  a  survival  of 
this  time-honored  sport. 

The  North  American  bison  and  the  auroch  of  Europe,  two 
closely  related  species  belonging  to  the  ox  tribe,  have  been  hunted 

'^Quaternary:  the  period  of  time  immediately  preceding  the  Present  Era 
characterized  by  the  abundance  of  large  mammalia,  and  the  earliest  appearance 
of  man  upon  the  earth. 

2  Carnivora  :  Flesh-eating  mammals  —  as  the  dog,  cat,  bear,  lion,  etc. 

3  Palasolith  is  an  unpolished  stone  implement,  and  comes  from  two  Greek  words 
meaning  ancient  ■^wii  stone.     Hence  we  speak  of  the  Palaeolithic  or  Old  Stone  Age. 

Neolithic:  the  age  of  polished  stone  implements,  from  two  Greek  words 
meaning  neio  and  stone. 


ANIMALS   OF   THE    CHASE.  77 

to  the  verge  of  extinction.  Tlie  bear  and  the  wolf  have  been 
hunted  in  northern  lands  for  the  sake  of  their  warm  fur,  and  as 
foes  of  man.  The  flesh  of  the  bear  is  used  as  an  article  of  food 
among  various  savage  peoples.  Over  many  parts  of  Europe  the 
wild  boar  has  long  been  an  object  of  the  chase,  its  pursuit,  like 
that  of  the  deer,  being  first  a  necessity  for  increasing  the  food 
supply,  and  degenerating  in  later  times  to  a  mere  sport.  So  with 
fowling  and  fishing  —  the  need  of  food  was  the  first  requisite,  and 
what  is  now  a  sport  with  civilized  peoples  is  a  downright  question 
of  existence  with  the  savage  of  Northern  countries  and  the  settler 
in  new  lands. 

The  trapping  of  animals  is  only  another  form  of  the  chase,  and 
it  is  largely  practiced  by  the  tribes  of  Arctic  America  and  Northern 
Eurasia.  It  was  most  likely  developed  as  a  necessity,  the  habits 
of  many  of  the  smaller  fur-bearing  animals  like  the  beaver,  marten, 
ermine,  sable,  otter,  and  others  rendering  open  pursuit  impossible. 

The  Eskimo,  and  the  Siberian  hunters,  still  pursue  the  reindeer 
over  the  frozen  plains  of  the  North  ;  spear  the  walrus,  seal,  and 
narwhal  amid  the  ice  floes  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  defend  them- 
selves with  rude  but  effective  weapons  from  the  attacks  of  the 
polar  bear.  In  the  tropics  food  and  defence,  more  than  cloth- 
ing, are  the  principal  incentives  to  hunting.  Peculiar  methods 
and  weapons  have  been  developed 
like  the  deadly  blow  tube  of  the 
South  American  natives,  the  pitfall 
and  heavy  drop-spear  of  Africa  for 
killing  large  animals,  such  as  the 
elephant  and  the  hippopotamus. 
Open  pursuit  is  an  exception  in  the 

tropics,  the  dense  cover  of  vegeta-  Primary  Arrow-Release. 

tion  giving  rise  to  ambuscading  and 

stalking  methods.  The  bow  and  arrow  appears  to  have  been 
largely  used  among  the  peoples  of  the  North  Temperate  re- 
gions, and  by  others  widely  distributed  over  the  earth.  Several 
forms  of  "  arrow-release  "  are  characteristic  of  different  regions. 


78  ANIMALS    WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED   MAN. 

The  most  important  of  these  are  the  primary,  —  the  primitive 
method  of  holding  the  arrow  to  the  bow  string  practiced  by  the 
majority  of  savages,  —  the  Mongohan  arrow-release  of  Asian  peo- 
ples, and  the  Mediterranean  arrow-release  of  the  white  race.  The 
efficiency  of  the  last  two  methods  gave  to  these  races  superiority 
in  early  warfare.^ 


Mongolian  Arrow-Release.  Mediterranean  Arrow-Release. 

LESSON    II.  — THE    DOMESTICATION    OF    ANIMALS. 

Primitive  Conditions. — The  taming  of  wild  animals  probably 
arose  at  a  very  remote  period  as  a  natural  result  of  the  observa- 
tions of  primitive  men.  In  the  chase  slightly  wounded  animals 
must  have  frequently  been  taken  alive  and,  more  often,  the  young 
captured  after  killing  the  parents.  This  led  to  a  partial  domes- 
tication and  gradually,  through  observation,  to  different  uses  of 
various  animals.  Man's  inventive  faculties  and  his  powers  of 
observation  led  him,  under  stress  of  surrounding  conditions,  to 
the  cultivation  of  wild  plants  in  many  parts  of  the  earth.  Coupled 
with  these  beginnings  of  agriculture  was  the  domestication  of 
animals.  It  ^s  a  striking  fact,  however,  that  the  majority  of 
domestic  animals  are  natives  of  the  Temperate  regions  of  Eurasia, 
where  the  stress  of  climate  and  other  geographical  conditions  have 
been  most  potent  as  formative  influences  in  the  destiny  of  races. 
In  this  respect  the  black  race  is  in  striking  contrast  with  the 
white.     Surrounded  by  large  animals  of  many  kinds,  such  as  the 

1  Professor  E.  S.  Morse  —  quoted  by  Briiiton. 


THE  DOMESTICATION   OF  ANIMALS.  79 

zebra,  various  antelopes,  and  the  elephant,  the  black  man  never 
reached  a  culture  sufificiently  high  to  bring  into  his  service  animals 
equally  as  serviceable  as  those  that  the  white  man  ages  ago 
domesticated.  The  Negroids  of  the  East  and  South  African  grass- 
lands have  herds  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats,  but  they  are  the 
descendants  of  the  animals  domesticated  centuries  ago  by  the 
white  race  in  Egypt.  Pastoral  life,  though  often  rude  and 
barbarous,  is  a  step  toward  a  higher  culture.  The  uncertainty  of 
securing  game  and  the  frequent  failure  of  the  food  supply  in  the 
Temperate  regions  must  very  early  have  led  man  to  the  cultivation 
and  domestication  of  those  wild  stocks  of  plants  and  animals,  the 
descendants  of  which,  to-day,  form  the  basis  of  his  wealth  and  well- 
being. 

The  Dog.  —  From  what  the  remains  of  primitive  man  tell  in 
the  Neolithic  shell  heaps  and  kitchen-middens  of  various  countries, 
we  are  led  to  believe  that  the  dog  was  the  most  anciently  domesti- 
cated animal.  Man  being  first  a  hunter  must  have  frequently  seen 
wolves  running  down  their  prey,  and  nothing  could  have  been 
more  natural  than  to  train  the  young  of  these  animals  to  pursue  and 
capture  game.  The  wolf  is  an  inhabitant  of  the  cold  and  temperate 
lands,  and  the  dog  appears  to  have  arisen  in  the  same  regions. 
Whether  the  wolf  is  the  original  wdld  stock  from  which  the 
dog  sprang,  or  whether  it  was  a  distinct  and  primitive  species 
which  has  been  lost  by  crossing  and  breeding  in  the  long  ages  of 
domestication,  is  a  matter  of  uncertainty.  Whatever  the  case 
may  be,  the  dog  first  became  the  companion  of  man  under  the 
conditions  of  the  chase.  With  the  domestication  of  other  animals, 
and  the  abandoning  of  the  hunting  for  the  pastoral  life,  the  dog 
became  the  protector  of  the  flocks  and  the  watcher  of  the  household. 

The  natives  of  the  tropics  did  not  originally  possess  the  dog, 
and  it  is  only  sparingly  found  among  them  to-day.  Throughout 
the  vast  stretches  of  Eurasia  and  North  America  the  various 
tribes  have  possessed  the  dog  from  a  remote  antiquity.  In  the 
far  North  the  Greenland  hunter  has  his  pack  of  half-savage,  wolf- 
like dogs  that   drag  him  in  rude  sledges  over  the  ice  fields,  or 


80  ANIMALS    WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

vigorously  defend  him  from  the  bear.  Every  Indian  village  has 
its  troop  of  dogs.  Among  the  inhabitants  of  Siberia  the  dog 
shares  alike  in  the  excitement  of  the  chase  and  the  drudgery  of 
the  march. 

The  different  breeds  of  dogs  iirst  arose  from  natural  causes. 
The  wolf-dog  guarding  the  flocks  was  the  companion  of  the  lonely 
shepherd,  and  we  may  look  upon  our  collie  of  to-day  as  a  survival 
of  this  breed.  The  various  hounds  and  the  hunting  breeds  have  come 
from  the  earliest  dogs  of  the  chase.  The  mastiff  and  his  kind 
were  watch  dogs  of  the  home  in  half-civilized  Europe  of  early 
days. 

The  Ox,  Sheep,  and  Goat.  — The  domestication  of  cattle  extends 
back  to  a  remote  period,  the  remains  of  the  ox  having  been  found 
in  connection  with  Swiss  Lake  dwellings  of  the  Neolithic  Age. 
Several  wild  stocks  inhabited  Western  Europe  at  the  time  of  man's 
appearance,  and  are  undoubtedly  the  ancestors  of  several  existing 
breeds,  as  the  Scotch  and  Welsh  breeds,  the  Chillingham  cattle 
and  others.  In  the  East  the  ox  appears  as  a  domestic  animal 
with  the  dawn  of  history.  It  was  figured  on  Egyptian  monuments 
two  thousand  years  before  the  Christian  Era.  The  wealth  of  the 
earliest  peoples  was  in  their  flocks  and  herds.  Pastoral  life  was 
undoubtedly  the  first  step  in  agriculture,  man  passing  from  the 
wandering  life  of  the  herdsman  to  settled  village  communities. 
In  Japan,  India,  and  Western  Africa  several  breeds  of  humped 
cattle  have  been  under  domestication  from  the  remotest  antiquity. 
In  India  the  white  breed  of  the  humped  bull  or  zebu  is  held 
sacred  by  the  Hindus  in  their  worship  of  Siva.  Among  the  tribes 
of  South  Africa  several  peculiar  breeds  occur,  notably  the  backleys 
of  the  Kaffirs,  which  are  trained  to  guard  flocks  like  dogs.  After 
the  Spanish  conquest  of  America,  a  number  of  cattle  escaped  from 
the  armies,  and  now  countless  thousands  roam  over  the  pampas 
of  the  Argentine  Republic. 

The  present  breeds  of  domestic  sheep  appear  to  have  sprung, 
at  a  very  remote  period,  from  several  races  inhabiting  the  high- 
lands of  Central  Eurasia.     Like  the  ox,  the  sheep  was  a  domestic 


THE   DOMESTICATION   OF  ANLMAIS.  81 

animal  in  Central  Europe  and  Asia  before  the  opening  of  history. 
Whether  any  of  the  existing  wild  stocks  now  living  in  the  moun- 
tainous regions  of  that  continent  are  the  parents  of  the  domestic 
sheep  is  a  matter  of  conjecture.  The  sheep  is  naturally  a  mountain 
lover,  and  several  wild  species  are  to  be  met  with  on  the  lofty 
ranges  of  the  world.  Some  magnificent  species  occur  on  the 
Pamir,  Thian  Shan,  and  Stanovi  ranges,  while  the  "  big  horn  "  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  in  North  America,  the  aoudad  of  the  Atlas 
range  in  North  Africa ;  the  moufflon  of  Corsica  and  Sardinia,  and 
several  other  forms  are  conspicuous  animals  of  their  respective 
regions. 

Like  the  sheep,  the  common  domestic  goat  appears  to  have 
sprung  from  some  wild  ancestor,  now  lost,  which  undoubtedly 
inhabited  the  lofty  mountains  of  Central  Asia.  To-day  several 
wild  breeds  are  known,  as  the  Persian  wild-goat  or  Paseng,  and 
the  goat-like  ibex  of  the  Alps.  A  number  of  other  domestic 
breeds  are  known  besides  the  common  form,  as  the  Syrian, 
Angora,  Kashmir,  Maltese,  the  Egyptian  or  Nubian  goat,  and 
the  curious  Guinea  or  dwarf  goat  of  Western  Africa.  Some  of 
these  breeds,  as  the  Angora  and  Kashmir  goats,  are  valuable  on 
account  of  the  abundance  and  fineness  of  their  wool. 

The  milking  of  such  animals  as  the  cow,  sheep,  and  goat  must 
have  begun  at  a  very  remote  period  in  the  history  of  mankind. 
Our  English  word  "  daughter  "  comes  from  an  ancient  Aryan  root 
meaning  "  a  milker,"  probably  in  allusion  to  her  office  in  the 
household.  Throughout  history  the  various  uses  of  these  wonder- 
fully helpful  animals  have  been  one  of  the  mainsprings  of  advanc- 
ing civilization,  and  to-day  they  have  spread  with  man  into  all 
lands. 

The  Horse,  Ass,  and  Mule.  —  Though  the  ox  was  in  use  as  a 
draught  animal  in  many  countries  in  the  early  ages  of  history,  the 
horse  and  the  ass  gradually  took  its  place  in  this  respect.  In 
the  earliest  times  of  their  domestication,  while  the  ass  bore  with 
the  ox  the  burden  of  work,  the  horse  appeared  in  battle  and 
in  the  chase.     In  Western  Europe  there  is  abundant  proof  of  the 

G 


82  ANIMALS    WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

domestication  of  the  horse  during  the  Pohshed  Stone  epocli  from 
the  rude  drawings  which  have  been  found  of  the  animal  and  the 
relations  of  its  remains  to  those  of  man.  'J'he  horse  of  to-day  is 
in  all  likelihood  the  descendant  of  a  wild  stock  domesticated  ages 
ago  in  Western  Asia.  On  the  steppes  and  among  the  mountains 
of  that  country  a  horse  has  recently  been  found  running  wild  in 
small  herds,  which  may  represent  the  original  stock  from  which 
all  the  domestic  breeds  of  horses  have  descended.  Among  the 
roving  tribes  of  the  Kirghiz  steppes  horses  not  only  perform  their 
ordinary  service  to  man  but  stand  in  place  of  tlie  flock  as  milch 
animals.  The  milk  of  the  mares  yields,  under  fermentation,  an 
intoxicating  drink  called  "  koumys." 

The  ass  appears  to  have  come  into  use  as  a  domestic  animal  in 
the  East,  probably  in  Syria  or  Egypt.  Its  close  resemblance  to 
the  wild  ass  of  the  mountains  of  Abyssinia  makes  it  appear  probable 
that  this  was  the  original  source  of  the  domestic  breed.  Wild 
asses  abound  in  the  mountainous  parts  of  Asia  Minor,  but  they  do 
not  bear  so  close  a  resemblance  to  the  common  form  as  does 
the  Abyssinian  species.  In  South  Africa  the  peculiar  striped 
group  of  horses  occur — the  zebra,  the  dauw,  and  the  quagga, 
which  have  never  been  domesticated.  After  the  Spanish  invasion 
of  America  horses  ran  wild  from  the  armies  of  Cortez  and  Pizarro 
and  soon  multiplied  into  herds  of  many  thousands  in  both  conti- 
nents. Though  the  horse  is  not  indigenous  to  America,  it  is 
curious  to  note  that  the  fossil  remains  of  a  horse  have  been  found 
in  some  parts  of  this  country.  The  animal  appears  to  have  become 
extinct  just  before  the  beginning  of  the  present  era.' 

The  mule,  a  hybrid  between  the  mare  and  the  male  ass,  has  been 
known  from  very  early  times.  It  was  in  use  in  ancient  Greece 
and  is  supposed  to  have  been  originally  bred  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Mysia  and  Paphlagonia.  The  mule  combines  the  good  quali- 
ties of  both  parents.  It  is  a  hardy,  sure-footed  animal,  well 
adapted  for  pack  and  draught  purposes  in  mountainous  countries 
and  in  hot,  drv  climates.  It  enjoys  a  remarkable  freedom  from 
diseases  which  are  often  fatal  to  horses.     With  these  qualities  it 


yy/A  noMF.sriCATioN  of  animals.  83 

has  largely  superseded  the  horse  as  a  beast  of  burden  in  many 
countries,  especially  the  mountainous  parts  of  Southern  Europe, 
France,  Spain,  and  Italy,  and  in  North  and  South  America.  The 
mule  has  become  an  important  transport  animal  in  military  opera- 
tions, and  the  "  mule  battery,"  the  animal  bearing  the  gun,  is 
resorted  to  in  countries  where  the  use  of  the  gun  carriage  is 
impossible,  as  in  the  Punjab  district  in  India. 

The  Pig.  —  The  domestication  of  the  pig  is  probably  of  a  very 
early  date.  Frequent  reference  is  made  to  the  animal  in  ancient 
literature,  as  in  the  Odyssey,  where  Circe  transforms  the  companions 
of  Ulysses  into  swine. 

"  Forthwith  she  smote  them  with  her  wand  (Hvine, 
And  drave  them  out,  and  shut  them  close  in  styes, 
Where  thev  the  head,  voice,  form,  and  hair  of  swine 
Took,  hut  the  heart  stayed  sane,  as  ere  the  wine 
Confused  them;    they  thus  to  tlieir  lairs  retreat; 
She  food,  whereon  the  brutish  herd  might  dine, 
Furnished,  mast,  acorns  their  famihar  meat. 
Such  as  earth-grovehng  swine  are  ever  wont  to  eat." 

{  Worsley'),  Odyssey  x.,  203,  243. 

The  original  wild  stock  of  the  various  domestic  breeds  is  not 
known,  but  it  was  undoubtedly  an  inhabitant  of  some  portion  of 
Central  luirasia.  The  hog  has  spread  with  man  to  all  parts  of 
the  earth,  and  the  preparation  of  its  various  products  —  bristles, 
flesh,  lard,  etc.,  forms  a  vast  industry  in  several  countries,  notably 
in  the  United  States,  where  their  export  ranks  with  that  of  wheat 
and  cotton,  and  in  Servia. 

Fowls. — The  various  breeds  of  chickens  or  barn-door  fowls 
have  all  undoubtedly  descended  from  a  common  wild  stock  —  the 
red  jungle-fowl  of  India.  Its  domestication  was  probably  begun 
in  Burmah  and  neighboring  countries  at  a  very  remote  period  of 
andquity,  as  Chinese  tradition  says  that  poultry  came  from  the 
West  about  1400  b.c.  Fowls  are  not  referred  to  in  ancient  Greek 
or  Hebrew  literature,  but  figure  on  Babylonian  cylinders  six  or 
seven  centuries  before  the  birth  of  Christ.     Aristophanes  refers 


84  ANIMALS    WHICH  HAVE   AFFECTED   MAN. 

to  the  fowl  as  coming  from  Persia,  whicli  lielps  to  confirm  the 
fact  of  its  earliest  domestication  in  the  East.  The  domestication 
of  ducks  and  geese  likewise  goes  back  to  very  remote  times.  The 
wild  mallard  is  probably  the  original  stock  of  the  common  duck, 
while  the  goose  appears  to  have  sprung  from  several  distinct 
species  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  one  form  in  China,  and 
the  common  form  from  the  wild  gray-lag  goose  of  Eurasia. 

The  farm  of  to-day  thus  affords  a  study  in  the  history  of  man- 
kind, for  here  are  gathered  almost  all  of  the  animals  that  he  origi- 
nally domesticated  ages  before  the  dawn  of  history.  This  very 
ancient  action  of  man's  intelligence  has  not  extended  to  other 
animals  .within  the  historic  period,  but  has  steadily  bent  its  energy 
toward  the  perfection  of  the  original  stocks  through  long  centuries 
of  careful  breeding. 

Other  Domesticated  Animals.  —  In  certain  regions  several 
animals  have  been  domesticated  from  the  earliest  times,  but  have 
not  spread  to  any  extent  from  their  original  centers  owing  to 
climate  and  other  surrounding  conditions.  The  domestication  of 
the  two  species  of  camel  in  Central  and  Southern  Asia  and  North 
Africa  is  of  extremely  ancient  origin,  so  ancient  that  no  wild  stock 
has  ever  been  known.  Its  wonderful  adaptation  to  the  deserts 
and  mountainous  table-lands  rendered  it  almost  indispensable  as 
a  beast  of  burden  in  those  countries.  The  two-humped  or  Bactrian 
camel  inhabits  Central  Asia  from  Lake  Baikal  to  China,  where  it 
endures  a  rigorous  winter  cold.  The  one-humped  Arabian  species 
or  dromedary,  in  use  from  the  Sahara  to  India,  is  the  'ship  of 
the  desert,'  the  only  means  throughout  history  by  which  those 
savage  wastes  have  been  penetrated. 

Several  species  of  llama,  a  form  closely  allied  to  the  camel,  are 
natives  of  the  lofty  Andes  ranges  from  Peru  to  Patagonia,  where 
one  of  the  species  was  in  use  as  a  beast  of  burden  at  the  time  of 
the  discovery  of  the  continent. 

The  use  of  the  elephant  in  India  as  a  beast  of  burden  and  in 
warfare  extends  back  into  the  remote  ages  before  history,  and  it 
figures  conspicuously  in  the  battles  of  the  ancient  kings  of  the 


SOME   SPECIAL  ANIMAL  PRODUCTS.  85 

Indies  against  invaders.  Its  unwieldy  size  and  difficult  manage- 
ment rendered  it  useless  against  the  charge  of  a  well-disciplined 
body  of  horse,  and  it  gradually  passed  out  of  active  warfare.  The 
African  elephant  has  been  domesticated  but  once  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  and  that  by  the  ancient  Carthaginians.  It  was  undoubt- 
edly this  species  that  Hannibal  used  in  carrying  the  paraphernalia 
of  war  across  the  Alps  against  Rome,  and  which  the  Romans  cap- 
tured and  used  in  their  royal  sports  and  military  pageants. 

The  curious  yak,  an  ox-like  animal,  has  long  been  in  use  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  lofty  table-land  of  Thibet,  for  the  sake  of  its 
milk,  and  long,  thick  hair,  as  well  as  for  a  beast  of  burden.  In  the 
far  north  of  Eurasia  many  tribes  have  had  the  reindeer  under 
domestication  from  time  immemorial.  It  stands  in  the  place  of  a 
draught  animal  and  beast  of  burden  to  these  people ;  supplies 
them  with  milk  and  flesh,  and  its  skin  forms  their  raiment  and  the 
covering  of  their  tents. 

LESSON    III.  — SOME   SPECIAL   ANIMAL   PRODUCTS. 

Leather.  —  The  climatic  extremes  of  the  Temperate  and  North- 
ern realms  very  early  forced  man  to  protect  himself  with  some  sort 
of  covering.  The  fresh  skins  stripped  from  wild  animals  were  un- 
doubtedly the  first  covering  of  the  human  species.  The  more  or 
less  rapid  decomposition  of  these  skins  gradually  developed  an 
art  directed  toward  their  preservation,  and  we  find  the  iaunino^  of 
hides  and  their  conversion  into  leather  among  the  oldest  of  human 
arts.  \Mien  and  how  man  became  acquainted  with  the  remarkable 
property  of  certain  plants  for  this  purpose,  can  only  be  conject- 
ured. That  it  arose  in  the  Temperate  regions  is  beyond  doubt,  for 
there  the  oak  and  other  tannin-producing  plants  flourished,  and 
oak  bark  appears  to  have  been  the  earliest  human  agent  in  tanning. 

The  production  of  leather  is  a  vast  industry  in  many  countries 
to-day,  the  hides  of  a  great  number  of  animals  are  used,  and  there 
are  various  curing  processes  other  than  tanning,  such  as  faiving 
with  mineral  salts,  and  dressing  with  oil  or  shamoying.  The  skins 
of  nearly  all  domestic  animals  are  now  employed  in  the  manufact- 


86  ANIMALS    WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

lire  of  leather,  besides  those  of  many  wild  animals,  as  the  walrus, 
hippopotamus,  kangaroo,  zebra,  seal,  porpoise,  deer,  buffalo,  ante- 
lope, etc. 

Wool. — The  wearing  of  the  hairy  side  of  an  animal's  skin  next 
the  body  to  secure  greater  warmth  must  have  been  the  first  step  in 
man's  intelligence  that  led  to  the  use  of  wool  as  a  covering  mate- 
rial. The  shearing  of  sheep  and  the  spinning  of  wool  are  as  old 
as  the  oldest  history,  and  stand  out  as  vivid  pictures  of  the  early 
pastoral  and  home  life  of  the  peoples  of  Western  Asia,  Egypt,  and 
Europe.  Wool  ranks  next  to  cotton  as  the  most  important  textile 
fabric,  and  the  history  of  woolen  manufactures  in  later  times 
abounds  with  inventions  of  complicated  machines.  This,  with 
the  perfection  of  the  material  through  the  various  processes  of 
cleaning  and  handling  raw  wool,  and  the  intelligent  breeding  of 
sheep,  has  been  one  of  the  important  factors  in  the  advance  of 
civilization.  Into  whatever  region  the  white  man  has  spread,  ex- 
cept the  low  tropical  countries  and  arid  deserts,  the  sheep,  the 
spinning  wheel,  and  later  the  woolen  mill  have  followed.  Where 
once  the  housewife  spun  the  wool  of  her  goodman's  flocks  into 
clothing,  as  may  still  be  seen  in  some  out-of-the-way  mountain 
homesteads  in  Scotland  and  the  North,  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
people  now  find  employment  in  the  woolen  mills  of  the  world, 
and  Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  annually 
export  their  millions  of  pounds. 

It  is  curious  to  note  how  man's  mind  has  worked  toward  the 
same  ends  in  widely  different  parts  of  the  world.  While  the  rude 
inhabitants  of  Europe  and  Western  Asia  Avere  spinning  the  wool  of 
their  sheep,  the  Peruvian  on  the  high  Andes  was  making  his  llama 
and  alpaca  wool  into  wonderful  vestments ;  the  Oriental  was 
using  his  camel's  hair,  and  the  mohair  and  fleece  of  two  species  of 
goats  were  being  wrought  into  fabrics  in  Angora  of  Asia  Minor, 
and  among  the  mountain  vales  of  Kashmir. 

Silk.  —  The  cocoons  and  webs  of  many  insects  are  composed 
of  a  fibrous  substance  which  yields  a  thread  in  spinning,  but  the 
art  of  using  this  material  was  known  to  only  one  people  for  long 


SOME   SPECIAL  ANIMAL  PRODUCTS.  87 

ages  of  history.  The  cocoon  of  the  silk  moth,  whose  worm  or 
larva  feeds  on  the  leaves  of  the  mulberry  tree  of  China,  was  used 
by  the  Chinese  at  a  period  so  remote  that,  like  tea-culture,  it  is 
lost  in  the  mists  of  tradition.  The  cultivation  of  the  mulberry, 
the  rearing  of  worms,  and  the  reeling  of  silk  was  an  industry  in 
China  more  than  two  thousand  years  before  Christ.  A  knowledge 
of  this  material  spread  into  Japan  through  Korea  some  three  hun- 
dred years  before  the  Christian  Era.  Somewhat  later  it  reached 
India,  a  tradition  being  that  the  eggs  of  the  insect  and  the  seeds 
of  the  mulberry  were  brought  concealed  in  the  head-dress  of  a 
Chinese  princess. 

From  the  valley  of  the  Ganges  sericulture  slowly  spread  west- 
ward into  Persia  and  Asia  Minor.  Aristotle  first  makes  mention 
of  the  silk-worm  in  Grecian  literature,  and  refers  to  the  spinning 
of  silk  in  the  island  of  Cos  by  Pamphile,  daughter  of  Plates.  The 
word  "  silk  "*  is  of  Grecian  origin  and  refers  to  China,  the  land  of 
its  first  culture. 

Raw  silk  became  an  important  item  of  trade  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  Era,  increasing  in  costliness  until  it  was  said  to  be 
worth  its  weight  in  gold.  The  Emperor  Justinian  held  a  monopoly 
of  the  silk  trade  in  Constantinople  and  endeavored  to  direct  it  from 
the  road  through  Persia,  whence  it  reached  the  West.  This  was 
not  accomplished,  but  two  Persian  monks,  who  had  learned  the  art 
of  silk  culture  after  a  long  residence  in  China,  imparted  the  mys- 
tery to  Justinian.  Returning  to  China  they  brought  back  a  num- 
ber of  silk-worm  eggs  concealed  in  a  hollow  cane.  This  was  about 
550  A.D.,  and  marked  the  beginning  of  sericulture  in  the  Western 
world,  for  literally  out  of  this  hollow  cane  came  the  silk  trade  that 
enriched  the  civilized  world  for  twelve  hundred  years. 

Under  the  Saracen  conquest  the  silk  trade  and  culture  spread 
westward  through  Europe,  ultimately  reaching  Italy  and  France. 
Silk  manufacture  came  into  England  under  the  reign  of  Henry  VI., 
receiving  an  important  impetus  in  1585,  when  the  skillful  Flemish 
weavers  came  over,  having  fled  from  the  religious  troubles  with 

*  From  the  Greek  Seres,  a  people  of  Eastern  Asia  celebrated  for  their  silks. 


88  ANIMALS    WHICH  HAVE  AFFECTED  MAN. 

Spain.     One  hvindred  years  later  the  edict  of  Nantes  drove  the 
weavers  of  France  into  England,  Germany,  and  Switzerland. 

Efforts  were  made  at  an  early  date  to  introduce  silk  culture  into 
the  New  World,  notably  by  Cortez  in  Mexico,  all  traces  of  which 
have  been  lost,  and  in  the  settlements  of  Virginia.  This  last 
spread  through  the  Colonies,  but  was  checked  by  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence. In  1838  the  culture  of  the  silk-worm  reached  a  mania 
in  the  United  States  through  the  supposed  capabilities  of  the  South 
Sea  Islands  mulberry,  or  mi/liicaulis,  as  a  silk-worm  food.  Thou- 
sands of  acres  were  given  over  to  the  growth  of  this  plant,  but  it 
'soon  proved  to  be  a  hollow  speculation.  To-day  efforts  are  made 
in  various  places  to  establish  silk  culture  with  little  apparent  suc- 
cess. It  is  not  a  question  of  climate  but  of  cheap  labor,  and 
China,  Japan,  Bengal,  and  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  are  the  silk- 
producing  countries  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER    V. 

MAN. 


Reading  in  Connection  with  this  Chaffer. 

*  Races  and  Peoples.  —  Brinton. 

*  Anthropology.  —  Tvlor. 
Earth  and  Man.  —  Guyot. 
Herodotus. 


LESSON    I.  — TYPES    OR    RACES    OF    MAN. 

Main  Types  or  Races. — The  three  original  types  of  mankind 
are  to  be  met  with  to-day  in  our  own  country,  —  the  Wliite  Man, 
the  Black  Man,  and  the  Yellotv  Man.  The  white  race  is  the  one  to 
which  we  ourselves  belong,  and  no  matter  how  varied  the  different 
peoples  of  this  race  may  appear,  they  all  present  the  broad  and 
striking  features  of  the  white  type. 

The  pure-blood  black  man  or  negro  is  known  at  once  by  his 
characteristic  features,  hair,  and  coloring.  So  with  the  yellow  man, 
as  seen  in  the  Chinaman,  his  peculiar  traits  are  distinctive  and 
unmistakable. 

Every  child  in  his  daily  walks  meets  with  these  three  ancient 
types  of  man.  He  knows  them  all  to  be  men,  but  very  different 
in  appearance.  This  difference  is  the  result  of  their  long  resi- 
dence and  geographical  separation  in  widely  different  parts  of  the 
earth.  They  are  brothers  that  long  ages  ago  wandered  away  from 
their  first  home  and  came  to  dwell  in  lands  so  different  in  character 
and  climate  that  each,  throughout  the  long  years  that  followed, 

89 

'J* 


90  MAN. 

changed  under  the  action  of  these  all-powerful  geographical  con- 
ditions. Their  peculiar  characteristics  became  fixed  by  long  resi- 
dence in  their  different  countries,  so  that  to-day  we  behold  the 
white,  the  black,  and  the  yellow  types  of  man. 

We  can  recognize  the  distinctive  traits  of  these  three  great  types 
in  three  well-marked  features  of  each. 

Physical  Traits  of  the  Races.  —  The  white  man,  wherever  found, 
is  at  once  recognized  by  the  following  well-marked  traits:  i.  by 
his  white  color,  varying  between  darker  and  lighter  shades,  or  bru- 
nette and  blonde  types,  but  always  unmistakably  white  \  2.  by  his 
wavy  hair ;  and  3.   by  his  narrow  nose. 

The  black  man  is  at  once  the  opposite  of  the  white  man  in  the 
color  of  his  skin  and  the  character  of  his  hair  and  nose  :  i.  his 
color  is  black  or  dark  ;  2.  his  \v2ax  frizzly  or  crinkled ;  and  3.  his 
nose  is  broad. 

The  yellow  man  is  equally  distinct  from  the  other  two  :  i.  his 
color  is  yellow  or  olive;  2.  his  hair  straight;  and  3.  his  nose 
medium,  neither  very  broad  nor  very  narrow. 

Culture  and  Civilization.  —  Man,  no  matter  what  his  circum- 
stances in  life,  always  presents  a  certain  amount  of  culture.  The 
term  'culture'  is  used  to  indicate  the  possession,  by  man,  of  any 
art  no  matter  how  primitive  or  crude  it  may  be.  Weapons  ortools, 
whether  they  be  a  bow  and  arrow  or  a  repeating  rifle  ;  two  flat 
stones  for  grinding  corn  or  a  steam  mill  with  its  comphcated 
machinery ;  the  crudest  ideas  about  God  and  Nature,  or  the  high- 
est ideals  of  divinity,  literature,  and  science  —  all  these  are  forms 
or  expressions  of  culture.  These  differences  in  culture  among  the 
various  peoples  imply  more  or  less  different  states  of  society, 
though  a  people  may  be  highly  advanced  in  one  art  or  conception 
and  have  comparative  crude  ideas  of  others.  Savage  and  barba- 
rian are  terms  indicating  comparatively  low  and  primitive  states 
of  culture  and  society,  while  civilization  includes  culture  in  its 
highest  and  widest  sense  and  is,  therefore,  an  advanced  state  of 
society. 

Social  Status  of  the  Races.  — The  black  man  stands  lowest  in 


TYPES    OR  RACES   OF  MAX.  91 

the  social  scale  and  in  point  of  culture.  The  vast  majority  of  his 
people  are  savage,  cultivating  the  arts  of  life  in  their  lowest  and 
simplest  forms.  \V'ar  and  the  chase  form  the  principal  occupa- 
tions of  these  savage  tribes,  and,  though  some  possess  the  art  of 
smelting  ores  and  fashioning  weapons,  often  of  wonderful  design, 
their  condition  is  relatively  low.  The  religion  of  the  negro  is 
largely  material  in  its  nature,  being  the  worship  of  some  animal 
as  a  tribe  totem,  and  a  belief  in  the  power  of  departed  spirits. 
The  only  ideal  element,  if  it  can  be  so  called,  in  this  material 
religion  is  one  of  witchcraft  and  sorcery. 

In  the  yellow  man  we  see  a  decided  advance  in  culture  over 
the  negro.  In  a  few  instances,  as  in  the  Chinese  and  Japanese, 
he  has  reached  a  comparatively  high  degree  of  civiHzation.  Still 
his  arts  are,  with  some  striking  exceptions,  crude,  his  ideals  far 
from  high,  and  his  religious  conceptions  of  a  decidedly  material 
nature.  A  large  portion  of  his  race  are  barbarians  —  wandering 
tribes  following  their  herds  and  flocks  over  vast  stretches  of 
pasture  land  without  any  definite  occupation. 

The  white  man,  on  the  other  hand,  possesses  a  culture  so  far 
advanced  in  its  development  that  the  term  civilization  is  used  to 
embrace  his  entire  social  state.  His  arts  of  life  are  not  only  far 
above  those  of  other  races,  but  in  thought  and  imagination  he 
reaches  heights  unknown  to  any  other  race  of  men,  and  his 
religion  is  of  a  purely  spiritual  and  ideal  character. 

Cause  of  the  Different  Social  States.  — The  cause  of  the  differ- 
ence in  culture  among  the  races  of  mankind  is  to  be  found  in 
inherent  traits  fixed  at  a  very  early  period  by  various  causes. 
Among  these,  conditions  of  a  geographical  nature  undoubtedly 
play,  and  always  have  played,  a  very  important  part.  Just  how 
these  causes  have  operated  in  producing  the  different  physical 
traits  is  a  very  difficult  question  to  determine,  but  their  effect  on 
the  social  life  is  much  more  apparent.  This  we  can  see  when 
viewing  the  distribution  of  the  different  races  on  the  earth's 
surface. 


92  MAN. 

LESSON    II.  — GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION    OF   THE 

WHITE   RACE. 

Reading  in  Connection  with  this  Lesson. 

A  Short  History  of  the  English  People. —  Green. 

*  Outlines  of  Universal  History.  —  Fisher. 

*  The  Aryan  Race. —  Morris. 

Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun. — -Du  Chaillu. 
Hours  of  Exercise  in  the  Alps.  —  Tyndall. 
Views  Afoot.  —  Bayard  Taylor. 

Original  Home.  —  The  name  Caucasian  has  been  appUed  to  the 
white  race  from  the  supposition  that  the  purest  type  of  the  white 
man  now  inhabits  the  region  of  the  Caucasus  Mountains,  and  that, 
therefore,  this  was  the  original  home  of  the  race.  Recent  studies, 
however,  have  thrown  more  light  on  the  subject,  and  all  the  evi- 
dence brought  forward  goes  far  to  prove  that  the  purest  type  is 
not  the  man  of  the  Caucasus,  nor  does  that  region  offer,  in  any 
way,  the  slightest  proof  that  it  was  the  cradle  of  the  white  race. 
There  is  evidence,  moreover,  that  the  original  home  of  the  white 
man  was  somewhere  in  the  Western  Mediterranean  region  —  South- 
western Europe  and  Northern  Africa.  To-day  the  purest  type  of 
the  white  race  is  supposed  to  survive  in  the  Berber  peoples,  living 
in  the  valleys  of  the  Atlas  Mountains  in  Northwestern  Africa.  The 
Egyptian  peoples  belong  to  the  white  race,  and  their  civilization, 
the  oldest  in  the  world,  is  nearest  to  this  region. 

The  South  Mediterranean  Branch  of  the  White  Race.  —  In  an- 
cient times  the  Libyan  group  of  Hamitic  peoples,  to  which  the  Ber- 
bers and  other  tribes  belonged,  occupied  the  entire  extent  of  the 
northern  portion  of  the  Sahara  Desert  and  the  present  Barbary 
States,  from  the  Adantic  Ocean  to  the  Nile  Valley.^  East  of  this, 
various  Semitic  peoples,  as  the  Israelites,  ancient  Chaldeans,  Abys- 
sinians,  Arabs,  Bedouins,  etc.,  occupied  the  country  known  as  Syria 

1  The  ancient  Egyptians  and  their  existing  representatives,  the  Copts  and  Fella- 
heen peoples,  also  the  Somalis,  Gallas,  Khamirs,  and  other  tribes  living  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Red  Sea,  belong  to  the  Hamitic  slock  of  the  white  race. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    DISTRTRUTTON   OF    IVIHTE    RACE.      93 


Abd-El-Kader ;    Semitic   stock  of 
white  race.      (After  Quatrefages.) 


and  Palestine,  Abyssinia,  the  peninsula  of  Arabia,  and  the  valley 
of  the  Euphrates.     In  the  fertile  plains  between  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates,  the  land  of  Mesopotamia,  were  developed  those  famous 
civilizations  of  history  —  the  Baby- 
lonian and  Assyrian. 

The  South  Mediterranean  peo- 
ples of  the  white  race  have  always 
lived  surrounded  by  the  savage 
landscape  of  the  desert.  They 
have  been  largely  roving  and 
warlike  tribes,  traders  threading 
with  their  caravans  the  wastes  of 
the  Sahara  and  Arabian  deserts. 
Their  few  fertile  oases,  river  val- 
leys, and  strips  of  coast  line  have 
offered  the  barest  inducements  to 
the  development  of  civilization, 

and  yet  from  among  these  peoples  has  arisen  not  only  the  culture 
of  the  civilized  world  to-day,  but  also  the  most  sublime  religious 
ideals  —  Christianity  and  Mohammedanism. 

The  North  Mediterranean  Branch  of  the  "White  Race.  —  The 
Mediterranean  Sea  long  separated  the  white  race  into  its  two 
primary  branches,  the  peoples  of  Northern  Africa  and  those  in- 
habiting Southern  Europe.  At  the  dawn  of  history  the  North 
Mediterranean  branch  was  far  behind  the  African  section  in  cul- 
ture and  civilization.  They  were  mere  wandering  hordes,  begin- 
ning to  take  here  and  there,  in  some  favored  spot,  the  first  steps 
of  a  civilization  that  was  destined  to  spread  and  to  rule  the  entire 
earth.  The  central  and  important  stock  of  this  North  Mediter- 
ranean branch  were  the  Aryan  peoples,  from  which  we  are  de- 
scended. 

In  early  times  they  occupied  all  of  Southern  and  Central  Europe, 
and  Asia  to  the  borders  of  the  high  plateau  region,  probably  to  the 
banks  of  the  Oxus  flowing  north  into  the  Sea  of  Aral.  Some  of  the 
most  eastern  of  these  peoples  very  early  established  the  great  Per- 


94 


MAN. 


sian  civilization  on  the  plateau  of  Iran,  while  others,  pushing  across 
the  Hindu-Kush  Mountains  and  spreading  over  the  valleys  of  the 

Indus  and  Ganges,  in  the  penin- 
sula of  Hindustan,  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  the  ancient  civihzation 
of  India. 

The  Western  Aryans.  — The 
Aryans  had  come  from  the  West 
as  wild,  wandering  tribes,  meet- 
ing, battling,  and  mingling  with 
the  South  Mediterranean  peo- 
ples. While  the  Persians  and 
Hindus  started  their  career  of 
civilization  in  the  regions  where 

Hindu  of  Calcutta,  Aryan.    (After  Qua-     ^.         ^^-j^  ,^1^-^^^  ^,^g  ^^^^^^  ^^^^  ^f 

"    "  the  Aryans  began   a  slow  west- 

ward movement  back  again,  barred  from  further  progress  to  the 
East  by  the  great  mountain  wall  of  Central  Asia  —  the  Pamir,  or 
"  roof  of  the  world,"  as  it  was  known  to  the  Persians. 

Spreading  into  the  Balkan  Peninsula  and  the  isles  of  the  ^Egean 
Sea,  some  of  these  wild  tribes,  after  long  years  of  struggle,  devel- 
oped a  culture  which  in  later  time  became  the  source  and  inspira- 
tion of  the  entire  civilized  world  —  the  Grecian  Civilization.  In 
the  mountainous  peninsula  of  Italy  the  Latin-speaking  peoples 
developed  later  into  the  great  Roman  Civilization. 

Reaching  to  the  western  shores  of  Europe  the  Aryans  became, 
in  time,  broken  into  numerous  distinct  peoples,  speaking  different 
lansuages  and  distributed  over  a  wide  area  of  country.  The 
Keltic  peoples  occupied  the  extreme  western  portion  and  are  seen 
to-day  in  the  Irish,  the  Welsh,  the  Scotch  Highlanders,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Brittany  in  France.  The  Teutonic  peoples  spread 
over  Central  Europe.  In  Roman  history  the  barbaric  Goths  and 
Vandals  belonged  to  this,  people,  also  the  Angles,  Saxons,  Norse- 
men, and  Franks,  who  later  became  the  present  nations  of  the 
Scandinavian  peninsula,  Denmark,  Germany,  Holland,  England, 
and  America. 


95 


96  MAN. 

The  Latin-speaking  peoples,  who  estabhshed  the  civilization  of 
Rome,  and  several  other  tribes  have  become  extinct,  the  living 
descendants  of  the  ancient  Italian  group  being  seen  to-day  in  the 
Spanish,  Portuguese,  Italians,  French  and  other  less  prominent 
nations. 

Another  Aryan  group  pushing  north  over  the  plains  of  Russia 
were  the  Slavonic  peoples,  seen  to-day  in  the  modern  Russians, 
Poles,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Servia,  Bulgaria,  etc. 

Language. — The  common  ancestry  of  all  these  Aryan  nations 
of  to-day  is  traced  largely  through  words  used  in  the  different 
languages.  Many  words  in  Latin,  Greek,  the  Sanscrit  of  the 
ancient  Persians  and  Hindus,  German,  French,  Spanish,  Italian, 
and  Anglo-Saxon  have,  without  doubt,  been  derived  from  a  com- 
mon root  or  original  word,  of  which  they  still  show  unmistakable 
traces.^ 

While  the  two  main  branches  of  the  white  race  show  their 
relationship  by  physical  traits  and  the  capability  of  entertaining 
high  spiritual  ideals  and  of  reaching  advanced  stages  of  culture, 
the  different  peoples  of  a  stock  or  subdivision  indicate  their 
relationship  largely  through  language  and  customs. 

Geographical  Considerations.  —  The  present  distribution  of  the 
nations  and  peoples  of  the  white  race  is  part  of  history.  Through 
all  this  history  geographical  conditions  have  played  a  very  im- 
portant part.  The  fertile  valley  of  the  Nile,  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  the  desert,  and  favoring  agricultural  pursuits,  early  invited 
some  of  the  wandering  tribes  of  the  region  permanently  to  settle 
here.  Thus  were  laid  the  foundations  of  a  civilization  the  germ 
of  which  was  only  slumbering  in  the  brains  of  these  higher  types 
of  mankind. 

The  peculiar  geography  of  Hindustan,  a  peninsula  guarded 
from  the  barbarian  hordes  of  yellow  men  on  the  north  by  the 
giant  mountain  wall  of  Central  Asia,  undoubtedly  favored  the 
development  and  continuance  of  the  Indian  civilization. 

So  with  Rome  in  its  infancy.     The  peninsula  of  Italy  was  its 

1  See  "  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop,"  by  Max  Miiller. 


GEOGRAPHICAL   DISTRIBUTION  OF    WHITE  RACE.     97 

guardian,  and  the  lofty  ranges  of  the  Alps  and  Apennines  kept 
back  for  centuries  the  barbarian  invaders,  allowing  the  seeds  of 
one  of  the  greatest  civilizations  to  come  to  perfection. 

The  little  nation  of  Switzerland  has  held  its  own  against  heavy 
odds  in  the  rugged  and  almost  unreachable  fastnesses  of  its 
mountain  home. 

The  vast  steppes  of  Russia,  traversed  by  such  great  rivers  as 
the  Volga,  the  Don,  the  Dnieper,  Dniester,  and  others,  bordered 
on  the  southeast  by  the  Black  and  Caspian  seas,  and  on  the  north- 
west by  the  Baltic,  offered  peculiar  conditions  for  the  develop- 
ment of  a  great  nation  in  the  immense  territory  of  grass-covered 
plains,  wide  water-courses  and  endless  reaches  of  forest. 

The  supremacy  of  England  to-day  is  largely  the  result  of  its 
being  an  island  separated  from  the  continent  by  a  strait,  narrow 
indeed,  yet  broad  enough  to  develop  a  distinct  and  characteristic 
nation  of  people.  If  Ireland  had  not  been  a  separate  island,  the 
Irish  question  would  probably  not  be  agitating  the  nation  to-day. 
From  the  fact  of  its  being  a  group  of  islands  Great  Britain,  in  large 
part,  owes  her  supremacy  as  a  naval  power,  and  as  a  conqueror 
in  distant  lands. 

These  examples  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  instances  in  man's 
history  of  the  effect  of  geographical  surroundings  and  their  im- 
portance in  influencing  the  destiny  of  nations  and  peoples. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Caucasus  to-day  represent  a  few  peoples 
that  have  found  a  refuge  in  these  mountain  valleys.  The  whole 
broad  region  of  Europe  and  Northern  Africa  has  for  ages  been  the 
home  of  the  white  race.  Its  cradle  was  probably  somewhere  in 
the  Western  Mediterranean  region  at  a  time,  ages  ago,  when  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  was  much  smaller  than  it  now  is,  and  when  two 
strips  of  land  extended  between  Europe  and  Africa  ;  one  from  the 
southern  shores  of  Spain,  and  the  other  from  the  southern  shores 
of  Italy.  In  these  parts  the  sea  bottom  now  presents  high  ridges 
covered  by  comparatively  shallow  water,  not  more  than  1200  feet 
in  depth,  while  on  either  side  of  the  ridges  a  depth  of  13,000  feet 
has  been  reached.     Evidently  the  islands  of  Sicily  and  Malta  are 

H 


98  MAN. 

the  exposed  tops  of  a  sunken  chain  of  mountains  that  stretched 
from  Italy  into  Africa.  You  must  bear  in  mind  that  geology, 
which  is  largely  the  study  of  the  past  history  of  the  earth  and  its 
relation  to  the  present,  has  solved  many  more  wonderful  problems 
than  this  one  of  a  lost  land  connection.^ 

The  climate  of  this  Mediterranean  region  must  have  been  in 
every  way  favorable  to  the  development  of  the  white  man,  and  it 
was  largely  the  cause  of  at  least  one  of  his  present  physical  traits 
—  the  ivhite  skin.  To-day  we  find  two  distinct  types  in  reference 
to  color  —  the  blonde  and  the  brunette,  but  there  are  endless 
varieties  resulting  from  the  mixture  of  the  two.  The  pure  blondes 
occur  mostly  in  the  northern  peoples;  the  dark  whites  or  bru- 
nettes, in  the  south,  and  this  we  should  expect  on  geographical 
grounds. 

From  all  the  evidence  thus  far  gathered,  a  geographical  name 
has  been  proposed  for  the  white  race,  that  of  Eiirafrican,  as  best 
indicating  the  land  of  its  early  development  and  the  scene  of 
some  of  its  greatest  achievements. 

1  At  the  time  of  the  very  earliest  appearance  of  man,  probably  in  the  early 
Quaternary,  the  present  continent  of  Africa  was  separated  by  a  sea  from  its  north- 
ern portion,  which  formed  a  part  of  what  is  now  Southwestern  Europe.  (The 
Atlas  Mountains  belong,  genetically,  to  the  same  system  as  the  mountains  of  Eu- 
rasia.) The  Northern  Ocean  reached  much  farther  south,  covering  what  is  now 
the  low  plains  of  Northern  Europe  and  Asia.  The  peninsulas  of  Arabia  and 
Hindustan  were  then  islands,  which  later  became  a  part  of  the  main  land  through 
alluvial  deposits.  (See  map.)  It  seems  highly  probable,  from  the  evidence  so  far 
gathered,  that  the  three  great  races  of  history — the  white,  yellow,  and  black  — 
have  occupied  their  present  "areas  of  characterization  "  from  an  extremely  remote 
period,  and  under  the  influence  of  peculiar  geographical  (orographical)  condi- 
tions. The  peoples  of  the  white  race,  as  seen  by  a  study  of  the  map  on  page  95, 
have  always  occupied  a  position  between  the  black  peoples  on  the  South  and  the 
yellow  men  of  Asia  to  the  Northeast.  By  reference  to  the  map  on  the  opposite 
page  (99),  illustrating  Quaternary  geography,  it  will  be  seen  how  these  areas  of 
race  characterization  were  isolated  from  one  another.  The  present  site  of  the 
Sahara  Desert  was  a  sea  separating  the  ancient  land  masses  of  Eurafrica  and  Aust- 
■  africa.  The  present  Caspian  Sea,  in  an  area  of  depression  below  the  sea  level,  and 
its  neighboring  salt  lakes  are  the  "evaporating  lees"  of  that  ancient  northern 
ocean  that  once  largely  cut  off  a  land  mass  of  Asia  to  the  East  from  the  other  land 
areas. 


/ 


99 


100  MAN. 

LESSON    III.  — GEOGRAPHICAL     DISTRIBUTION     OF    THE 

BLACK    RACE. 

Reading  in  Connection  with  this  Lesson. 

Through  the  Dark  Continent.  —  Stanley. 
Hunting  in  South  Africa. — Baldwin. 
*  Tropical  Africa.  —  Drummond. 
The  Ruined  Cities  of  Mashonaland.  —  Bent. 
Lost  in  the  Jungle.  —  Du  Chaillu. 
Country  of  the  Dwarfs,  etc.  —  Du  Chaillu. 
The  various  recent  works  on  Africa. 

Home  of  the  Black  Race.  —  The  Continent  of  Africa  south  of 
the  Sahara  Desert  is,  and  ahvays  has  been,  the  home  of  the  black 
man.  In  this  territory  he  is  divided  up  into  numerous  tribes,  each 
occupying  some  definite  region  and,  though  differing  in  many  ways 
from  one  another,  all  possessing  the  unmistakable  traits  of  the 
race.  These  traits  have,  without  doubt,  been  largely  developed 
by  a  long  residence  in  the  hot,  moist  climate  of  the  tropical  forests 
of  Western  Africa.  The  more  or  less  uniform  conditions  of  the 
tropics,  supplying  an  a5undanQe_oX  food,  with  little,  if  any,  effort 
in  cultivation,  has  been  an  important  element  in  kg^pi"g  the  black 
man  in  a  state  of  savagery.  His  needs  are  few  ;  warfare,  hunting, 
fishing  and  the  rudest  kind  of  agriculture  have  always  been  his 
main  .pursuits,  and  his  culture  has  developed^  only  so_Jar._as  these 
needs  required. 

The  Physical  Geography  of  Africa.  —  The  western  half  of  Africa, 
from  the  northern  borders  of  the  Sahara  to  beyond  the  Congo, 
is  a  dense  forest  region.  Eastward  the  land  gradually  rises 
into  the  great  plateau  of  the  continent  —  open,  grass-covered 
steppes  and  pasture  lands,  broken  with  patches  of  woodland. 
From  this  elevated  region  rise  lofty  mountains  and  the  snow-clad 
summits  of  extinct  volcanic  peaks  as  Ruwenzori,  Kenia  and  Kili- 
manjaro, 20,000  feet  above  the  sea.  This  highland  is  continued 
northward  on  the  east  into  the  mountains  of  Abyssinia.  To  the 
southward  it  becomes  lower  but  spreads  out,  so  that  South  Africa, 


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Ethnic  Chart  of  Austafrican  Race.     (After  Brinton.) 


lOI 


102  MAN. 

beyond  the  Zambesi  River,  is  a  mountainous  and  hilly  country 
interspread  with  grass-covered  plains,  belts  of  forest,  and  arid 
deserts. 

In  the  high  portions  of  eastern  equatorial  Africa  a  group  of 
remarkable  fresh-water  lakes  or  inland  seas  occurs — Victoria, 
Albert,  and  Albert  Edward  Nyanza,  Tanganyika,  Nyassa,  Bangweolo, 
and  many  others  of  less  importance.  These  lakes  are  the  feeders 
of  gigantic  water-courses  that  traverse  the  continent  north,  west, 
and  east.  The  Nile  flows  north  from  the  Nyanza  group,  empty- 
ing into  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  The  Congo  flows  westwardly 
into  the  Atlantic,  while  the  Zambesi,  rising  in  the  mountains  of 
the  south  central  part  of  the  continent  and  receiving  the  Shire,  an 
important  tributary  from  Lake  N3'assa,  empties  into  the  Indian 
Ocean.  South  of  the  Zambesi  the  Limpopo  River  likewise  empties 
into  the  Indian  Ocean,  while  still  farther  south,  the  Orange  or 
Gareep  River  pursues  a  westerly  course  to  the  Atlantic. 

The  great  forest  region  of  the  West  coast  is  drained  by  a  re- 
markable river,  the  Niger,  emptying  into  the  Gulf  of  Guinea ; 
while  still  farther  north,  the  Senegal  flows  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

African  Zoology.  —  The  African  Continent  is  the  home  of  a 
vast  number  of  large  and  peculiar  animals,  many  of  them  being 
found  nowhere  else  on  the  earth.  Two  large,  man-like  apes,  the 
gorilla  and  the  chimpanzee,  are  found  in  the  dense  forests  of  the 
western  part.  Great  herds  of  antelope,  of  many  kinds,  roam  over 
the  pasture  lands  of  East,  Central,  and  South  Africa.  Zebra  and 
giraffe,  the  two-horned  rhinoceros,  the  hippopotamus,  a  species  of 
elephant,  the  lion,  the  leopard,  and  several  species  of  hyena  are 
some  of  the  characteristic  animals.  All  these  are  being  driven 
farther  and  farther  into  the  heart  of  the  continent  before  the 
steady  advance  of  the  white  man.  The  '  big  game  '  of  Africa  is 
destined,  before  many  years,  to  disappear  from  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

Bird-life  is  here  remarkably  rich  in  peculiar  forms.  The  ostrich 
roams  over  the  open  lands  and  desert  tracts  of  the  entire  conti- 
nent.    The   curious  secretary  bird,    feeding  upon    serpents,   the 


.■•s^^^- 


Relief  Sketch.     Map  of  Africa  (Lambert's  projection). 


GEOGKAriUCAL    DISrRIBUTrOX   OF  BLACK   RACK.     103 

guinea  hen,  bee-eaters,  sun-birds,  weaver  birds,  kingfishers,  parrots, 
and  a  host  of  other  more  or  less  remarkable  forms,  besides  flocks 
of  water-fowl,  swarming  along  the  great  rivers,  add  to  the  wonder- 
fully rich  and  peculiar  life  of  this  strange  land. 

Among  reptiles,  the  crocodile  of  the  various  African  rivers  is  the 
most  remarkable.  Fishes  are  found  in  great  abundance,  and  in- 
sect life  reaches  a  wonderful  development  in  variety  and  numbers. 

African  Landscapes  and  Vegetation.  —  The  features  of  an 
African  landscape  tlepend  largely  upon  the  character  of  the  vege- 
tation in  the  different  parts  of  the  continent.  Throughout  the 
desert  region  the  date  palm  forms  a  characteristic  feature.  South 
of  this  dry  belt  the  date  disappears,  and  the  elTect  of  the  tropical 
rains  coming  in  from  the  Atlantic  marks  the  great  forest  region 
with  its  rich  and  varied  forms  of  plant  life.  Here  occur  the  bao- 
bab, the  giant  cotton  trees,  the  oil  and  sago  palms,  the  golden- 
flowered  laburnum,  and  the  papyrus  plant  of  the  river  shores  and 
swamps.  Among  food  i^lants  the  papaw,  ground  nut,  manioc, 
pigeon  pea,'l^ustard~ai:)ple,  plantains,  and  tamarinds  are  con- 
spicuous. 

TiTthe  higher,  more  open  regions  of  the  eastern  and  southern 
portions  of  the  continent  the  heaths  are  found  in  great  abundance, 
also  the  euphorbias,  mimosas,  and  many  singular  tribes  ;  while  in 
the  arid  desert  tracts  occur  curious  fleshy  plants  like  the  aloes  and 
melons.  In  every  part  the  vegetation  forms  a  striking  feature  of 
the  African  landscape. 

African  Tribes  and  Peoples.  —  Over  this  great  region,  with  its 
remarkable  animal_and  plant  life,  the  black  race  is  distributed, 
being  broken  up  into  numerous  tribes  in  the  different  parts  of  the 
continent.  Three  main  branches  of  the  race  are  recognized  :  the 
true  Negroes,  the  Negroids,  and  the  Negrillos  or  dtvarfs. 

The  true  negroes  inhabit  the  dense  forests  of  Guinea  and  Sene- 
gambia  in  the  west,  extending  eastward  through  the  Soudan  or 
"Land  of  the  Blacks"  to  the  Nile  Valley.  They  consist  of  nu- 
merous tribes  scattered  throughout  this  region,  which  is  divided 
into  various  kingdoms.     Hunting,  fishing^jilling  th£_soil  and  war- 


104 


Af.LV. 


fare  are  the  principal  occupations^  cif_theae. . peoples  and  some  of 
them,  like^tHe  Fans  of  Guinea,  are  cannibals.  The  western  part 
of  this  region  and  the  Guinea  coast  were  for  years  the  seat  of  the 

slave  trade,  whence 
thousands  of  negroes 
were  shipped  across 
the  sea  to  America. 

The  Nep-oid  peo- 
ples are  probably  the 
result  of  a  mixture 
between  the  true  ne- 
groes and  some  of 
the  Semitic  members 
of  the  white  race  in- 
habiting North  and 
East  Africa.  This 
mixing  of  the  two 
opposite  races  along 
their  line  of  contact, 
the  middle  Nile  Val- 
ley and  northern  bor- 
ders of  the  Soudan, 
must  have  been  begun  at  a  remote  period  and  kept  up  closely  for 
a  long  time,  as  the  Negroids  are  now  a  well-marked  branch,  split 
up  into  numerous  tribes.  The  tribes  inhabiting  Nubia,  the  high 
grass-lands  of  East-central  Africa  (the  great  lake  region  and  upper 
Nile  basin),  the  immense  territory  embraced  by  the  water-sheds 
of  the  Congo  and  Zambesi ;  the  Kaffirs,  Zulus,  Bechuanas,  and 
numerous  other  peoples  of  the  Bantu  group  in  the  south  all  belong 
to  this  Negroid  stock.  They  differ  quite  markedly  from  the  true 
negro,  being  in  many  ways  more  advanced,  and  when  inhabiting 
the  open  grass  country  they  lead  a  more  or  less  pastoral  life. 

The  Negrillos  or  dwarfs  are  a  little  people.  Some  tribes  dwell 
in  the  dense  forests  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Congo.  They  are 
expert  elephant  hunters,  and  engage  also  in  hunting,  constructing 


A  Negro  Type,  Ouali  Serere.     (After  Quatrefages.) 


GEOGRAPirrCAl.    niSTRlBUTION   OF  BLACK   RACE.     105 

pitfalls  tor  game,  etc.  In  South  Africa  these  little  folk  are  again 
found  as  the  Bushmen,  one  of  the  lowest  tribes  of  mankind,  dwell- 
ing on  the  borders  of  the  great  Kalahari  Desert ;  and  the  Hotten- 
tots, somewhat  larger  in  stature  and  much  more  intelligent,  being 
probably  the  result  of  a  mixture  of  Bushmen  with  some  of  the 
Negroid  peoples  of  the  region. 

The  Kalahari  region  is  not  a  desert  in  the  general  sense  of  the 
word,  but  a  waterless  waste  of  country  overgrown  with  thickets 
of  mimosa  and  camel's  thorn  which  send  their  roots  deep  down 
into  the  soil  in  search  of  water.  The  Bushmen  are  very  expert 
in  finding  the  presence  of  water,  often  at  a  considerable  distance 
below  the  surface.  They  feed  on  siiakes Jizards,  insects,  and 
roots,  and  build  grass  huts_for  shelter. over  night. 

Effect  of  Arab  Invasion.  —  The  Arab  of  the  white  race  has  long 
held  sway  over  a  wide  portion  of  Africa.  He  carried  the  creed 
of  Islam,  or  Mohammedanism,  into  many  of  the  native  tribes, 
and  through  his  influence  populous  cities  arose  in  several  negro 
kingdoms.  Prominent  among  these  is  Timbuctoo,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Niger,  built  of  sun-dried  bricks  and  containing  a  popula- 
tion of  20,000  souls.  The  influence  of  the  Arab,  however,  was 
not  for  good.  As  a  trader  in  slaves  and  ivory,  he  has  spread 
terror  over  a  vast  extent  of  country.  Tribe  after  tribe  has  fallen 
into  his  hands,  and  the  net-work  of  well-worn  paths  leading  from 
the  interior  to  the  shores  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  on  the  Zanzibar 
coast,  are  continually  traversed  by  long  caravans  of  wretched 
captives  loaded  down  with  ivory. 

The  Future  of  Africa.  — To  the  European  the  climate  of  many 
parts  of  Africa  is  deadly  in  the  extreme.  It  is  especially  so  in 
the  low  river  valleys  and  along  the  coast  where  dense  vapors 
abound,  loaded  with  malaria  and  the  fever  poison  from  decaying 
vegetation.  Until  this  element  is  overcome  by  long  residence 
and  gradual  acclimatization  the  condition  of  Central  Africa  must 
remain  much  as  it  is  to-day,  and  has  been  for  centuries.  In  the 
South,  colonization  by  the  white  man  has  advanced  rapidly. 
The  only  possible  hope  of  checking  the  Arab  slave-hunting  raids 


106  MAN. 

in  the  interior  is  from  the  gradual  extermination  of  the  elephant. 
When  this  is  accomplished,  the  question  of  ivory  from  this  source 
will  be  at  an  end  and  one  of  the  main  causes  of  the  slave  trade 
removed. 

Geographical  Name  of  the  Race. — The  black  man  is  distinctly 
a  native  of  the  southern  half  of  the  African  Continent.  The  term 
Austafrican  race  has,  therefore,  been  proposed,  the  word  '  aust,' 
from  austral,  meaning  south,  indicating  the  land  of  his  birth, 
characterization,  and  present  distribution. 


LESSON    IV.  — GEOGRAPHICAL    DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE 

YELLOW    RACE. 

Reading  in  Connection  with  this  Lesson. 

Central  Asia.  —  Bayard  Taylor. 

Japan. —  l]ayard  Taylor. 

Tent  Life  in  Siberia.  —  Kennan. 

Land  of  the  White  Elephant.  —  Vincent. 

Roof  of  the  World.  — •  Gordon. 

A  Social  Departure.  —  Duncan. 

Home  of  the  Yellow  Race.  —  The  great  land  mass  of  Asia  east 
of  the  O-xus  or  Amu  River  and  the  Ural  river  and  mountain  range 
is  the  home  of  the  Yellow  or  Asian  race.  From  time  immemorial 
the  yellow  man  has  occupied  this  area  of  the  earth,  and  its  pecu- 
liar physical  conditions  must  have  set  their  stamp  upon  him  at  a 
very  early  period,  for  we  find  him  at  the  beginning  of  history 
occupying  this  same  region  with  the  same  physical  characters  of 
form  and  feature  that  we  see  to-day.  Like  the  black  man,  the 
yellow  man  has  remained  much  the  same  in  intellectual  develop- 
ment and  culture  as  when  he  first  appeared  on  the  historic  scene. 
The  great  and  often  rapid  changes  toward  a  higher  culture  that 
mark  the  career  of  the  white  man,  are  as  strikingly  absent  in  the 
yellow  as  in  the  black  race,  though  the  yellow  man  under  pecu- 
liarly favorable  conditions  early  reached  a  form  of  civilization  which 
has  not  advanced  beyond  a  certain  step  in  centuries.    The  reasons 


I07 


108  MAX. 

for  this  arrested  development  are  to  be  fouiul  largely  in  the  geo- 
graphical surroundings  of  the  yellow  race  which,  though  totally 
unlike  those  of  the  black  race,  have  had  a  somewhat  similar  effect 
in  checking  any  tendency  toward  advancement  of  culture.  It  is 
a  striking  fact  that  any  elevation  in  the  members  of  either  race  has 
come  from  contact  with  the  white  man  and  his  broadening  influ- 
ence. This  is  especially  true  in  later  years  of  the  more  civilized 
Chinese  and  Japanese. 

Physical  Geography  of  Asia.  —  The  surroundings  of  the  yellow 
race,  except  in  a  few  favored  river  valleys  and  tropical  coast 
regions,  are  largely  of  a  forbidding  character.  Two  prominent 
features  mark  the  geography  of  Asia  :  to  the  south  is  a  series 
of  mountain-rimmed  plateaus  of  great  elevation ;  and  stretch- 
ing north  of  this  highland,  to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean, 
is  a  vast  expanse  of  level  plain,  consisting  of  extensive  marshes, 
forests,  and  grass-covered  steppes.  These  two  features  are 
known  as  the  Central  Asian  Plateau  and  the  Great  Siberian 
Plain. 

The  Central  Asian  Plateau.  —  East  of  Persia  or  Iran  the  land 
mass  of  Asia  rises  into  that  lofty  ridge,  the  Pamir  or  '  roof  of  the 
world,'  15,000  feet  above  the  sea.  Running  westward  from  the 
southern  corner  of  this  is  the  great  Hindu-Kush  range,  connected 
by  numerous  ranges  with  the  Elburz  Mountains  south  of  the 
Caspian  Sea,  and  so  on  through  the  Caucasus  with  the  mountain 
ranges  of  Europe.  Eastward  from  the  Pamir  two  great  mountain 
ranges  extend  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  one  to  the  north  is  the 
Thian  Shan,  continued  northeastwardly  to  the  Sea  of  Okhotsk  by 
such  broken  ranges  as  the  Siansk,  Altai,  Khinghan,  Stanovi,  and 
numerous  others. 

The  great  mountain  wall  to  the  south,  reaching  quite  to  the 
J]ay  of  Bengal,  is  the  far-famed  Himalaya  range,  containing 
throughout  its  length  some  of  the  most  remarkable  mountain 
peaks  on  the  earth.  Among  these  is  Mount  Everest,  29,000  feet 
above  the  sea,  and  as  far  as  known,  the  highest  peak  in  the  world  ; 
Kanchinjinga,  near    the  village    of   Darjeeling,  and  many  others 


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2.  § 


GEOGKArillCAI.  DISTRIBUTION  OF  YELLOW  RACE.     109 

almost  as  high.^  These  two  great  ranges,  the  Himalaya  and  'I'hian 
Shan,  inclose  a  triangular  table-land  of  immense  height,  its  base 
reaching  far  to  the  northeast.  The  southern  portion  of  this 
tabledand  is  much  higher  than  the  northeastern  and  is  separated 
from  it  by  a  range  of  mountains  running  nearly  parallel  with  the 
Himalayas  —  the  Kuen  Luen  range.  This  high,  southern  portion, 
lying  between  the  Himalayas  and  Kuen  Luen  ranges,  is  the 
Plateau  of  Thibet.  Across  its  surface,  from  west  to  east,  runs 
another  high  range  of  mountains  parallel  with  the  others  —  the 
Karakorum.2  The  northeastern  portion  of  this  table-land,  between 
the  Kuen  Luen  and  Thian  Shan,  is  the  great  Mongolian  Plateau 
traversed  by  numerous  mountain  ranges  and  divided  into  two 
portions  —  the  desert  region  of  Eastern  Turkestan  to  the  west, 
and  the  Shamo  or  Gobi  desert  to  the  northeast. 

Lowlands.  — On  all  sides  of  this  elevated  plateau  the  land  falls 
away  :  to  the  south  and  east  into  the  tropical  peninsulas  of  Hindu- 
stan, Farther  India,  and  the  lowlands  of  Southern  China ;  to  the 
west  into  Turkestan  and  the  depression  about  the  Caspian  Sea ; 
while  to  the  north  it  passes  into  the  great  Siberian  Plain.  This 
vast  expanse  consists  of  stretches  of  pine  forests  interspersed  with 
open  country  in  the  south,  while  to  the  north  the  characteristic 
tundras  or  marshy  lands,  broken  here  and  there  by  low,  straggling 
mountain  ranges,  extend  to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

Drainage.  —  Numerous  large  rivers  rise  in  the  mountains  of  the 
central  plateau  region  and  flow  in  all  directions  toward  the  sea. 
To  the  south,  in  Hindustan,  the  Ganges,  and  its  great  tributary 
the  Brahmaputra  empty  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  while  the  Indus 
flowing  southwestwardly  empties  into  the  Arabian  Sea.  From 
the  eastern  spurs  of  the  mountain  region  flow  the  two  great  rivers 
of  China — the  Yang-tse-kiang  and  Hoang  Ho,  emptying  into  the 
Pacific.  Farther  to  the  north,  from  the  Mongolian  Plateau,  the 
Amur  River  flows  eastward  into  the  Pacific.  The  Oxus  and 
Jaxartes,   rising   in   the    neighborhood  of  the   Pamir,   flow  north- 

'  The  highest  niountain  is  now  thought  to  be  DeocUiunga,  one  of  the  Himalayas,  29,002 
feet.  -  The  Karakorum  Mmintaiii  range  does  not  reacli  across  I'hibct  as  an  unbroken  chain. 
The  range  bearing  this  name  is,  in  reahty,  a  gigantic  spur  of  the  Himalayas  jutting  out  from 
the  Pamir,  and  as  such  is  known  as  the  Karakorum  Himalayas. 


110  MAN. 

westwardly  into  the  Sea  of  Aral,  while  northward  across  the 
Siberian  Plain  from  the  northern  mountain  ranges  those  great 
water  ways,  the  Obi,  the  Yenisei,  and  the  Lena,  flow  into  the 
Arctic  Ocean. 

Climate.  —  The  climate  of  this  great  region  is  one  of  extremes, 
burning  hot  in  summer,  and  in  winter  cold  almost  beyond  de- 
scription. Along  the  low  eastern  and  southern  coast  lands  and 
peninsulas  of  Asia  a  tropical  climate  prevails  throughout  the  year. 

Peoples  of  the  Asian  Race.  —  The  great  Siberian  Plain  reaches 
westward  into  Europe  and  extends  on  the  south  to  the  shores  of 
the  Black  Sea,  and  northwestwardly  to  the  Baltic,  embracing  all  of 
Russia,  and  the  lowlands  of  Central  Europe.  This  geographical 
feature  is  of  great  importance  when  we  consider  the  distribution 
of  the  Asian  race. 

The  race,  as  a  whole,  presents  two  primary  and  well-marked 
geographical  divisions,  into  one  or  the  other  of  which  all  the  differ- 
ent tribes  and  peoples  fall.  These  divisions  are  known  as  the 
Sinitic  and  Sibiric  branches. 

The  Sinitic  Branch.  —  The  Sinitic  branch  comprises  the  inhabi- 
tants of  High  Asia,  from  the  Pamir  eastward  across  the  Plateau  of 
Thibet,  also  those  of  China  and  the  peninsula  of  Farther  India, 
The  religion  of  nearly  all  these  peoples  is  that  of  Buddhism,  a 
material  and  mystical  belief  in  which  the  higher  faculties  of  the 
mind  are  developed,  but  not  a  spiritual  worship  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  lofty,  mountain-rimmed  Plateau  of  Thibet 
form  an  isolated  group,  partially  civilized,  leading  a  pastoral  rather 
than  an  agricultural  existence,  but  mainly  given  over  to  a  religious 
life.  Buddhism  finds  its  most  devoted  followers  among  these  peo- 
ples, thousands  of  them  leading  the  life  of  monks  and  lamas,  or 
priests,  in  the  holy  city  of  Lhasa  and  the  monasteries  scattered 
here  and  there  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains. 

The  Chinese  have  reached  a  rather  advanced  state  of  civiliza- 
tion that  is  largely  the  result  of  their  geographical  surroundings. 
The  fertile  valleys  of  the  Hoang  Ho  and  Yang-tse-kiang  —  streams 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DrSTA'/BUTWAr  OF  YELLOW  RACK.     Ill 


flowing  from  the  hill  country  and  mountainous  regions  through  low 
flood  plains  to  the  sea  ;  the  temperate  and  tropical  climates  of  the 
northern  and  southern  portions  ;  and  the  high  mountainous  deserts 
barring  China  off  from  the  rest  of  the  continent,  have  all  tended 
to  foster  the  conditions  of  culture 
leading  to  civilization.  China  was 
long  excluded  from  the  rest  of  the 
world  by  its  peculiar  position.  The 
people  were  for  a  long  time  averse 
to  foreign  intercourse,  but  this  feel- 
ing gradually  gave  way  to  the  out- 
side influence  exerted  by  the  white 
man.  To-day  the  Chinaman,  with 
his  oblique,  almond-shaped  eyes,  his 
yellow  skin  and  straight  pig-tail,  his 
shuffling  gait  and  "  Pigeon  Eng- 
lish "  talk,  is  in  lands  far  away  from 
the  Celestial  Empire.  His  arts 
and  products  are  in  every  country, 

and  Peking,  Nan-King,  Canton,  and  Hong-Kong  are  marts  and 
cities  of  the  world.  The  great  wall  of  China  was  built,  214  b.c, 
in  order  to  protect  the  country  from  the  once  frequent  inroads  of 
the  barbarian  hordes  of  Mongolia  that  several  times  threatened 
the  life  of  the  empire. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  several  countries  forming  the  peninsula 
of  Farther  India  —  Burmah,  Siam,  Annam,  Cochin  China,  Tonquin, 
and  Cambodia  —  belong  to  the  Sinitic  branch  of  the  yellow  or 
Asian  race.  Some  of  these  people  show  traces  of  admixture  with 
peoples  of  the  other  two  races,  though  the  Asian  traits  predominate. 
They  have  reached  a  certain  degree  of  civilization,  and  this  is  es- 
pecially true  of  the  Burmese  and  Annamese. 

The  Sibiric  Branch.  —  The  terms  '  Sinitic  '  and  '  Sibiric  '  in- 
dicate roughly  the  geographical  relations  of  the  two  main  branches 
of  the  Asian  race.  The  first  is  derived  from  the  old  Greek  name 
for  China,  the  Chinese  being  the  typical  members  of  this  group. 


Young  Japanese  girl — Asian   type. 
(After  Quatrefages.) 


112 


JILLV. 


Sibiric  is  derived  from  the  name  '  Siberia,'  this  great  territory 
being  the  center  of  distriliution  of  the  various  peoples  comprised 
under  this  head.  'I'he  Sibiric  peoples  are  spread  north  of  High 
Asia  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Baltic.  At 
one  end  of  this  extensive  area,  on  a  group  of  islands  lying  off  the 
eastern  shores  of  Asia,  are  the  Japanese  peoples,  the  most  highly 
civilized  of  the  Asian  race.  At  the  southwestern  corner,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Black  Sea,  is  the  great  Ottoman  Empire,  occu- 
pying the  country  known  to-day  as  Turkey  and  in  ancient  times  as 
Asia  Minor.  Six  distinct  groups  of  this  Sibiric  branch  are  more 
or  less  clearly  defined  as  to  their  geography. 

T.  The /<T/>a//ese  group  already  mentioned,  which,  according  to 
tradition,  appear  to  have  come  to  the  islands  from  the  mainland 
at  a  remote  period,  and  to  have  displaced  a  ruder  race,  the  Anios, 

a  remnant  of  which  still  in- 
habits the  northern  islands 
of  Japan.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  peninsula  of  Korea 
are  closely  related  to  the 
Japanese,  belonging  to  the 
same  group  of  peoples. 

2.  The  Arctic  group  of 
peoples  comprise  numer- 
ous rude,  barbarous  tribes 
living  in  Kamchatka  and 
Northeastern  Asia,  between 
the  Arctic  Ocean  and  the 
Pacific.  The  Chukchis,  the 
Kamchatkans,  the  Koraks, 
with  their  herds  of  rein- 
deer, the  Namollos  of  East  Cape,  the  Ghiliaks  of  Saghalien  Island, 
and  the  Anios  of  Northern  Japan  belong  to  this  group. 

3.  The  Finnic  peoples,  as  the  present  Finns  and  Lapps  of  Fin- 
land and  Lapland  in  Arctic  Europe ;  the  Samoyeds,  and  other 
tribes  inhabiting  Northern  Siberia,  the  regions  about  the  great 
river  vallevs  and  Lake  Baikal. 


Chukchis 


■Asian  type— Arctic  group.    (.After 
Quatrefages.) 


GKOGRArinCAl.  DlSTRfBUTlOX  OF  YELLOW  RACE.     113 


4.  The  Tiith^uisic  grouij  inhabiting  the  country  known  as  Man- 
churia, from  China  north  to  Kamchatka,  and  from  the  Yeni- 
sei  Valley    to    the    Pacific.     This 

group  consists  of  two  peoples  — 
the  Manchus,  a  somewhat  superior 
triiie,  who  gained  possession  of  the 
Chinese  throne  about  two  hundred 
years  ago,  and  still  continue  to 
govern  the  great  empire,  and  the 
Tungus,  a  ruder  people,  living  to 
the  north  in  the  great  wilderness 
of  swamp,  mountain,  and  forest. 

5.  The  Mongolic  group,  whose 


original   home   was   in   the  desert 


Maudchon  —  Asian  type. 
Quatrefages.) 


(After 


wastes  of  the   Mongolian  Plateau, 
south  of  the  Altai  Mountains,  and 

extending  eastward  to  Manchuria.  The  group  comprises  the  pres- 
ent warlike  and  roving  Kalmucks  —  the  true  herdsmen  of  the 
Steppes  —  extending  from  Lake  Baikal  to  the  Volga  River  in  Rus- 
sia, and  the  present  inhabitants  of  Mongolia.  The  Mongolian  has 
played  an  important  part  in  the  history  of  the  past.  In  barbarian 
hordes,  under  such  fomous  leaders  as  Genghis  Khan,  Tamerlane, 
and  Baber,  he  has  from  time  to  time  swept  the  continent  of  Asia, 
leaving  ruin  in  his  wake.  The  last-named  leader  once  held  India 
under  the  empire  of  the  Great  Mogul  (Mongol). 

6.  The  Tataric  ^  group  found  their  original  home  in  Turkestan, 
north  of  the  Pamir.  From  this  point,  at  an  early  date,  they  spread 
as  barbarians  east,  west,  and  south.  At  the  fldl  of  Rome  they 
swept  westward  into  Europe  under  Attila,  the  "scourge  of  God." 
Of  their  descentiants  to-day  we  have  the  Turks,  a  Mohammedan 
people  ruling  Turkey  in  Asia  and  Europe  ;  the  Cossacks  and  Kir- 
ghis  of  the  Steppes  ;  the  inhabitants  of  Bulgaria  and  Hungary  in 

1  Frequently,  but  incorrectly,  spelled  Tartar.  It  is  derived  from  the  Chinese 
word  ta-ta.  Tu-kiu,  another  Chinese  name,  is  tlie  origin  of  our  word,  "  Turk." 
(Brinton.) 


114  •  MAN. 

Europe,  and  other  less  prominent  peoples.  Turkish  dominion, 
embraced  under  the  Ottoman  Empire,  includes  also  Syria  and 
Egypt.  It  recognizes  the  Sultan  as  its  head,  and  as  the  political 
power  of  the  entire  Mohammedan  world. 

Effect  of  Geographical  Features  in  the  History  of  Asiatic  Peo- 
ples.—  The  white  race,  as  we  have  already  seen,  occupies  only  a 
small  portion  of  Asia' proper  —  the  peninsulas  of  Arabia  and  Hin- 
dustan and  the  plateau  of  Iran  or  Persia.  Between  Persia  and 
Hindustan  lie  the  two  small  countries  of  Afghanistan  and  Beloo- 
chistan,  peopled  by  branches  of  the  Indian  stock.  The  civiliza- 
tion reached  by  these  Asiatic  members  of  the  white  race,  though 
inferior  to  European  culture,  is  vastly  superior  to  any  civilization 
of  the  Asian  race.  While  Mohammedanism  prevails  in  Persia 
from  its  close  geographical  relations  with  Arabia,  a  nature  wor- 
ship, called  Brahminism,  and  Buddhism  are  the  religions  of  India. 
Buddhism  had  its  origin  in  India,  spreading  then.ce  to  Farther  India, 
Thibet,  Central  Asia,  and  China,  so  that  the  religion  of  the  Asian 
peoples  had  its  source  in  the  white  race.  To-day  the  votaries  of 
Buddha  far  exceed  in  numbers  any  other  religious  sect  in  the  world. 

The  decision  of  the  question  of  supremacy  in  the  East  between 
the  powers  of  England  and  Russia  lies  largely  in  geographical 
conditions.  England's  empire  in  India  and  Russian  power  on  the 
frontiers  of  Afghanistan  are  separated  by  the  Hindu-Kush  and  out- 
lying ranges,  and,  if  war  be  the  issue,  the  Khyber  Pass  must 
largely  decide  the  result. 

The  destiny  of  Asia  lies  in  the  hands  of  the  ever-conquering, 
all-possessing  white  race.  Russia  or  England  will  decide  the  fate 
of  the  Turkish  Empire  and  its  Sultan,  and  all  because  the  plains 
and  rivers  of  Russia  reach  to  the  Black  Sea,  and  ships  from  the 
Mediterranean  may  enter  its  domain  through  the  Dardanelles  and 
the  Bosphorus.  The  Russian  Government  is  now  laying  one  of 
the  greatest  railroads  of  modern  times  across  the  wastes  of  Sibe- 
ria from  the  Baltic  Sea  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  the  barbarians 
of  Asia  are  destined  to  disappear  before  this  greatest  of  civilizing 
influences. 


MAN  IN  AMERICA.  115 


LESSON   v.— MAN    IN    AMERICA. 

ReadiiNg  in  Connection  with  this  Lesson. 

The  Ancles  and  the  Amazon.  —  Orton. 

A  Thousand  Miles'  Walk  Across  South  America.  —  Bishop. 

*  Concjuest  of  Peru.  —  Prescott. 

*  Conquest  of  Mexico.  — Prescott. 

*  Nature  and  Man  in  America.  —  Shaler. 
Our  Arctic  Province.  —  Elliott. 

The  Red  or  American  Race.  —  The  white,  the  black,  and  the 
yellow  races  are  the  races  of  history.  With  the  discovery  of 
America  a  new  race  appeared  upon  the  scene.  Men  of  a  red  or 
coppery  color,  with  straight  or  wavy  hair  and  inediufu  nose,  leading 
for  the  most  part  a  savage  life,  though,  in  some  instances,  possess- 
ing a  culture  hardly  inferior  to  that  of  many  of  the  white  peoples. 
The  peoples  of  this  Red  or  American  race  became  known  to  the 
world  as  Indians,  a  name  which  they  still  hold,  from  the  fact  that 
Columbus,  when  he  landed  on  the  now  historic  island  of  the 
Bahama  group,  believed  that  he  had  reached  India  by  sailing 
westward  around  the  earth. 

Broken  into  numerous  tribes  and  peoples  throughout  the  entire 
extent  of  both  North  and  South  America,  the  red  man  every- 
where presents  the  same  physical  features  which  at  once  dis- 
tinguish him  from  the  other  races.  His  origin  is  obscure.  He 
has  been  an  inhabitant  of  the  American  Continent  long  enough 
to  have  had  his  peculiar  race  traits  indelibly  fixed  by  the 
geographical  conditions  of  the  country  and  climate.  The  red 
man  undoubtedly  came  from  Eurasia  at  a  very  remote  period, 
probably  in  that  first  general  migration  from  the  original  home 
which  carried  man  to  all  parts  of  the  earth,  and  brought  about 
the  different  races  as  we  have  already  noticed.  By  what  route 
he  came  it  is  difficult  to  determine,  some  authorities  believing 
that  it  was  from  Asia  by  way  of  Behring  Strait,  others  from  Europe 


Relief  Sketch.     Map  of  North  America  (Lambert's  projection). 


MAN  IN  AMERICA.  117 

at  a  time  when  more  or  less  of  a  land  bridge  existed  between 
Europe  and  Arctic  America  and  Greenland.  Some  writers,  from 
some  points  of  resemblance  in  his  features,  have  claimed  for  him 
a  descent  from  the  Asian  race.  However  this  may  be,  the  red 
man  or  Indian  of  to-day  is  both  physically  and  geographically 
a  distinct  race  —  the  Americaii. 

Culture.  —  The  North  American  Indian  leads  the  life  of  a 
savage  hunter.  Throughout  the  continent,  when  first  discovered, 
the  various  tribes  practiced  a  number  of  rude  arts,  pottery,  the 
fashioning  of  weapons  and  implements  of  the  chase,  and  the 
cultivation  of  maize  and  tobacco  about  their  wigwams.  In 
Central  and  South  America  remarkable  civilizations  had  developed 
among  some  of  the  tribes,  and  cyclopean  ruins  of  wonderful 
design  show  that  architecture  had  reached  a  high  degree  of 
perfection. 

Although  the  largest  number  are  savages,  an  ideal  religion  has 
always  existed  among  them,  the  worship  of  a  '  Great  Spirit'  being 
almost  universal  throughout  the  various  tribes  in  both  North  and 
South  America. 

Physical  Geography  of  the  American  Continents.  —  The  general 
outline  of  the  land  mass  of  the  Western  Hemisphere  naturally 
divides  it  into  two  large  continents  connected  by  a  third,  much 
narrower,  portion.  The  first  of  these,  or  North  America,  is 
characterized  by  regions  of  widely  different  aspect.  By  far  the 
largest  area  is  forest-clad,  a  vast  wooded  land  in  the  eastern  half 
stretching,  at  the  time  of  the  discovery,  from  the  northern  limit 
of  trees  in  the  far  northwest  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
River.  West  of  this  is  the  region  of  the  great  plains,  rolling, 
grass-covered  prairies,  dry  and  treeless,  except  in  the  lower  river 
valleys.  To  the  west  these  plains  gradually  rise  into  a  great 
plateau  region,  crowned  by  the  lofty  ranges  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain system.  Between  this  and  the  Sierra  Nevada  ranges  to  the 
west  hes  the  Great  American  Desert,  a  dry,  alkaline  region 
covered  with  sage-brush  and  coarse  grass.  On  the  Pacific  slope 
a  forest  region  again  prevails. 


Relief  Sketch.      Map  of  South  America  (Lamberfs  projection). 


MAN  IN  AMERfCA.  119 

Arctic  America,  north  of  the  forest  limit,  is  a  barren  stretch 
covered  with  a  stunted  vegetation.  To  the  extreme  north  the 
land  is  broken  into  an  archipelago  of  numerous  islands  separated 
from  Greenland  by  Baffin's  Bay  and  the  narrow  channels  leading 
toward  the  North  Pole.  The  Rocky  Mountain  system  stretches 
from  Alaska  in  the  extreme  northwest  to  the  highlands  of  Mexico. 
The  coast  lands  of  Mexico  are  low  and  tropical  in  character,  and 
this  condition  becomes  more  and  more  pronounced  as  we  travel 
southward.  The  mountain  ranges  become  insignificant,  and  in 
the  peninsula  of  Yucatan,  in  Guatemala,  in  Nicaragua,  and  on 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama  the  vegetation,  scenery,  and  climate  are 
wholly  tropical. 

In  that  part  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  known  as  the  Caribbean 
Sea,  between  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  northern  shores  of 
South  America,  lie  a  great  number  of  volcanic  and  coral  islands 
known  as  the  Greater  and  Lesser  Antilles,  or  the  West  Indies, 
comprising  the  islands  of  Cuba,  Hayti,  Jamaica,  the  Bahamas, 
Windward  and  Leeward  Islands,  Trinidad,  and  numerous  others. 

The  Isthmus  of  Panama  joins  Central  America  with  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  South  American  Continent,  and  the  low  moun- 
tain ridges  almost  immediately  rise  into  the  lofty  chain  of  the 
Andes,  stretching  along  the  western  or  Pacific  side  to  Cape  Horn. 
In  this  great  Cordilleran  or  Andes  chain  is  to  be  found  some  of 
the  grandest  scenery  in  the  world.  A  magnificent  tropical  vegeta- 
tion covers  the  mountain  slopes  and  valleys,  while  rising  thou- 
sands of  feet  into  the  air  tower  numerous  volcanic  peaks,  many 
of  them  active  and  covered  with  perpetual  snow. 

The  eastern  portion  of  South  America,  like  the  western  portion 
of  Africa,  is  low  and  covered  with  a  dense  tropical  forest,  a  result 
of  the  moisture-laden  trade  winds  of  the  Atlantic.  This  forest 
region  is  of  vast  extent,  stretching  from  the  eastern  base  of  the 
Andes  to  the  Atlantic,  and  south  to  the  Rio  de  la  Plata.  South 
of  this  great  river  the  open,  grass-covered  plains  or  pampas  reach 
to  the  narrow,  mountainous  end  of  South  America,  known  as  Pata- 
gonia, ending  at  the  Straits  of  Magellan.     This  narrow  strip  of 


120  MAN. 

water  separates  the  continent  from  the  Ibland  of  Tierra  del  P'uego, 
at  the  southern  termination  of  which  is  Cape  Horn,  jutting  out 
between  the  icy  waters  of  the  South  Atlantic  and  South  Pacific 
oceans. 

Rivers.  —  In  the  eastern  wooded  region  of  North  America  the 
low  ranges  of  the  Appalachian  Mountain  system  run  north  and 
south.  These  act  as  a  water  shed  to  numerous  streams  flowing 
into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  on  the  one  hand,  and  into  the  great 
Mississippi  system  of  drainage  on  the  other.  In  the  same  way 
the  Rocky  Mountains  part  the  streams  flowing  east  into  the 
Mississippi  from  those  going  west  toward  the  Pacific.  The  Missis- 
sippi is  the  great  central  drain  of  the  continent,  flowing  into  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  East  of  its  source  a  remarkable  chain  of  fresh- 
water lakes  occurs,  finding  an  outlet  to  the  Atlantic  through  the 
St.  Lawrence  River. 

North  of  the  source  of  the  Mississippi  is  a  low  range  of  hills 
called  the  '  Height  of  Land,'  separating  streams  that  flow  north 
into  Hudson  Bay  from  southward  flowing  waters. 

A  number  of  large  lakes  are  scattered  through  the  northern 
portion  of  the  continent,  and  several  rivers  of  considerable  size 
flow  into  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

In  South  America  three  great  rivers  rise  in  the  Eastern  Andes 
and  flow  through  the  low,  tropical  forests  to  the  Atlantic.  The 
one  farthest  north  is  the  Orinoco.  The  Amazon,  the  largest 
stream  in  the  world,  flows  across  the  continent  at  about  its  broad- 
est part,  while  to  the  south  is  the  great  La  Plata.  These  three 
rivers  are  very  near  one  another  at  their  head  waters,  and  the 
Amazon  and  Orinoco  are  connected  by  a  stream  called  the  Cassi- 
quaire.  Only  a  few  mountain  torrents  flow  into  the  Pacific  on  the 
western  side  of  South  America,  the  steepness  of  the  slope  leaving 
but  a  narrow  fringe  of  level  coast  land. 

Tribes  and  Peoples  of  the  American  Race.  —  The  peoples  of  the 
American  race  fall  very  naturally  into  seven  geographical  groups. 
I.  The  Arctic  Group,  comprising  the  Eskimo  tribes  and  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Aleutian  chain  of  islands,  stretching    from  the 


MAN  IN  AMERICA. 


121 


southern  coast  of  Alaska  almost  to  Kamchatka.  The  Eskimo 
peoples  are  spread  from  Icy  Bay  in  Alaska  eastward  across  Arctic 
America  into  Cireenland.  They  are  for  the  most  part  seafaring, 
engaged  in  hunting  the  walrus,  seal,  narwhal,  polar  bear,  and  other 
arctic  animals.  They  depend  on  their  packs  of  dogs  to  carry 
them  in  sledges  over  the  land-ice  and  frozen  seas  of  their  desolate 
home.  Unlike  many  of  the  Northern  Asiatic  tribes,  they  have  not 
domesticated  the  reindeer  which,  along  with  the  curious  musk 
sheep,  abound  in  this  re- 
gion, but  they  hunt  these  -  --«.-<««>--- 
animals  for  their  skins  and 
flesh.  Their  '  kayaks  '  or 
sea-canoes,  made  of  seal 
skins  stretched  over  frames 
of  wood  or  bone,  are  models 
of  skillful  workmanship,  as 
are  also  their  various  hunt- 
ing and  fishing  implements, 
made  of  wood,  bone,  and 
ivory.  They  live  in  snow 
houses,  and  it  is  interesting 
to  note  that  the  arch  or 
dome- shape  of  these  dwell- 
ings was  an  idea  of  their 
own. 

2.  The  North  Athtntic 
Group  comprises  all  the  In- 
dian tribes  of  North  Amer- 
ica from  the  Atlantic  west 
to    the    Rocky    Mountains, 

and  south  of  the  Arctic  peoples.  In  other  words,  they  oc- 
cupy the  vast  territory  drained  by  the  rivers  flowing  into  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  either  directly,  or  through  Hudson  Bay.  and  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  eastern  stocks,  like  the  i\.lgonkin  and  Iro- 
quois   tribes,  have    long    since   disappeared.      The    Northern    or 


Gray  Eagle — Apache  —  American  type. 
(After  Quatrefages.) 


122 


MAN  IN  AMERICA.  123 

Athapasca  stock,  known  among  its  members  as  Tinneh,  "  people," 
and  by  the  Algonkins  as  Chepewyans,  or  "  pointed  skins,"  from 
the  shape  of  the  skin  robe  which  they  wore,  was  at  one  time 
widely  dispersed  from  Hudson  Bay  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and 
west  ah-nost  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon  River  in  Alaska.  Some 
of  their  tribes  that  wandered  south  are  the  present  Apaches 
and  Navajos  of  the  southwestern  United  States.  The  Dakota 
stock,  better  known  to-day  as  the  Sioux  tribes,  at  one  time 
spread  from  Lake  INIichigan  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  from 
the  Saskatchewan  River  on  the  north  to  the  Arkansas  River 
on  the  south.  The  now  civihzed  Choctaws,  Cherokees,  Chick- 
asaws,  Creeks,  and  Seminoles  formerly  occupied  the  present  area 
of  the  Gulf  States,  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic.  The 
Creeks  are  thought  to  be  the  descendants  of  the  curious  people 
called  '  Mound  Builders,'  who  have  left  their  strange  earth-works 
in  the  Ohio  Valley.  The  '  Plain's  Indians  '  of  to-day,  outside 
of  the  Sioux  tribes,  are  mostly  descended  from  two  stocks  —  the 
Caddoe  and  the  Shoshonee.  Of  the  former  are  the  Pawnees 
and  Kioways  ;  of  the  latter,  the  Utes  and  Comanches.  Most  of 
the  Plain's  Indians  are  expert  horsemen,  having  domesticated  the 
descendants  of  the  horses  that  ran  wild  after  the  Spanish  invasion 
by  Cortez. 

3.  The  North  Pacific  Group  includes  various  tribes  from  Mount 
St.  Elias,  on  the  north,  to  Mexico  and  I,ower  California.  In  the 
north  they  have  always  been  mostly  hunters  and  fishers,  but,  in 
the  south,  such  tribes  as  the  Pueblo  Indians  and  the  Cliff  Dwellers 
of  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona  reached  a  considerable 
degree  of  culture,  the  evidence  of  which  is  seen  in  their  remark- 
able  stone  dwellings,  pottery,  and  clothing. 

4.  The  Mexican  Group  includes  the  famous  Aztec  civilization, 
remains  of  which  are  still  seen^n  the  wonderful  ruins  of  architect- 
ure, and  in  the  manufactures  and  implements  which  they  used. 

5.  The  Central  American  Group  of  people  living  between  the 
Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  and  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  are  known  as 
the  Mayas.     They  are  to-day  degenerate  descendants  of  a  once 


124 


JlAiV. 


highly  cultured  people,  who  have  left  striking  evidence  of  their 
architectural  skill  in  the  numerous  ruins  of  monuments  and  fortifi- 
cations scattered  throughout  the  region. 

6.  The  S0U//1  Atlantic  Group  comprise  the  formei;  inhabi- 
tants of  the  West  Indian  Islands,  the  forests  of  the  Orinoco, 
Amazon,  and  La  Plata,  known  as  Caribs,  Tupis,  Arawaks,  etc., 
and  the  tribes  descended  from  them.  Belonging  to  this  same 
group  are  the  roving  peoples  of  the  pampas,  the  Indians  of  Pata- 
gonia, and  the  natives  of  Tierra  del  Fuego. 

7.  The  South  Pacific  Group,  or  the 
ancient  dwellers  along  the  Andes 
Mountains,  had  reached  a  remarkable 
civilization  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish 
Conquest.  These  people  were  the 
Incas  or  Qquichua  tribes  of  Peru.^ 
They  cultivated  various  plants ;  had 
a  system  of  canals  for  carrying  water  ; 
built  temples  of  wonderful  design  and 
structure  and  domesticated  the  llama, 
a  peculiar  animal  of  that  mountainous 
region.  From  the  wool  of  this  crea- 
TeresaCapac- Peruvian.  (After    jure  they  wove  various  cloths,  and  this 

Quatrefages.)  ,     r  ^i         1       •         r      i 

same  wool  forms  the  basis  of  the 
material  known  to-day  as  '  alpaca.'  They  were  skillful  workers  in 
gold  and  various  metals,  and  in  pottery  of  the  finest  character ; 
understood  the  embalming  or  mummifying  of  the  dead,  like  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  and  possessed  advanced  forms  of  worship  and 
government.  All  this  splendor  of  civilization  was  cut  short  by  the 
bloody  conquest  of  the  Spaniards  under  Pizarro. 

South  of  the  great  Peruvian  civilization,  in  the  mountains  of 
Chile,  lived  the  Araucanians,  a  warlike  and  hunting  people,  related 
to  the  tribes  of  the  pampas,  though  of  superior  intelligence  in 
consequence  of  contact  with  the  Incas. 


1  The  term  Inca  referred  to  the  rulers.     Qquichua  was  the  language  spoken. 


o 


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H 


C 


C 
(U 

o 
•  •— ^ 

-a 

•a 
c 


O., 


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oi 


ISLANDERS  AND    COAST  PEOPLES.  125 

LESSON   VI.  — ISLANDERS   AND   COAST  PEOPLES. 
Reading  in  Connechon  with  this  Lesson. 

The  Malay  Archipelago.  —  Wallace. 
Coral  Islands.  —  Dana. 
Among  Cannibals.  —  Lumholtz. 

Island  Geography.  —  From  the  southeastern  shores  of  the 
Malay  Peninsula  a  chain  of  islands  extends  almost  to  Australia. 
Sumatra,  Borneo,  Celebes,  Java,  and  its  group  of  smaller  islands, 
the  Moluccas  or  Spice  Islands,  Timor,  Ceram,  New  Guinea,  and 
a  host  of  smaller  ones  are  all  more  or  less  mountainous  and  vol- 
canic islands  with  low,  coral-fringed  shores  and  covered  with  a 
luxuriant  tropical  vegetation.  Immediately  to  the  north  of  these 
lie  the  Philippines  and  Formosa,  of  much  the  same  character, 
while  south  of  the  peninsula  of  Hindustan  is  the  island  of  Ceylon. 
In  the  Indian  Ocean,  east  of  Hindustan,  are  two  small  groups, 
the  Andaman  and  Nicobar  islands.  Off  the  east  coast  of  Africa 
is  the  large  island  of  Madagascar  with  its  outlying  groups,  the 
Mauritius,  Seychelles,  and  Comoro  islands.  South  and  east  of 
the  island  continent  of  Australia  lie  Tasmania  and  New  Zealand, 
while  a  vast  area  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  north  and  east  of  this  is 
dotted  with  a  multitude  of  islands  and  island  clusters,  or  archi- 
pelagoes, the  entire  region  being  known  as  Polynesia  or  Oceania. 
Among  the  more  noted  of  these  island  groups  are  the  Salomon, 
Caroline,  Ladrone,  Pelew,  Marshall,  Gilbert,  Sandwich  or 
Hawaiian  Islands,  Samoa  or  Navigators,  Fiji,  Friendly,  Society, 
and  Low  Archipelago,  besides  hundreds  of  other  less  noted  and 
conspicuous  islands  and  clusters.  Many  of  these  islands  are 
coral  formations,  built  on  sunken  volcanic  mountain  ridges,  and 
rising  out  of  a  deep  sea.  They  are  mostly  covered  with  a  luxu- 
riant tropical  vegetation. 

These  islands  are  all  inhabited  by  peoples  which,  though  very 


126 


MAN. 


different  in  many  respects  from  one  another,  all  possess  certain 
physical  traits,  which  point  to  a  common  origin  and  a  more  or  less 
close  relationship,  though  now  separated  by  wide  stretches  of 
ocean. 

Physical  Traits  of  Island  Peoples. — These  physical  traits  are 
a  dark  shade  of  color,  wavy  or  frizzly  hair,  and  medium  or  narrow 
nose.  Some  of  these  peoples  show  a  decided  likeness  to  certain 
Asiatic  types,  while  others  resemble  the  black  peoples  of  the 
African  continent.  Based  on  these  physical  characteristics  and 
their  relationships,  we  can  divide  them  into  three  main  branches 
or  stocks,  —  the  Negritic,  Malayic,  and  Australic. 

Distribution.  —  \.'\\\q.  Negritic  stock  includes  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Andaman  and  Nicobar  islands,  the  tribes  inhabiting 
Malacca  and  the  Philippines,  the  Papuas  of  New  Guinea,  and  the 
natives  of  the  Fiji  and  Loyalty  islands.  New  Caledonia,  New 
Hebrides,  etc.  The  physical  aspects  of  many  of  these  peoples 
are  strikingly  like  some  of  the  black  tribes  of  Africa.  Some,  like 
the  Papuas,  are  low  in  the  scale  of  development,  unacquainted 

with  even  the  bow  and  arrow. 
Others,  again,  like  the  Fiji  Island- 
ers, have  reached  a  considerable 
degree  of  culture. 

2.   The  Malayic  stock  includes 
the  Malays  of  the  Malay  Penin- 
sula,  or  Malacca,  and  Sumatra ; 
the  natives  of  Java ;   the  Dayaks 
,\    \      '^^  or    '  head    hunters '    of   Borneo ; 

the    Macassars   of  Celebes ;    the 
,^  '^  Tagalas  of  the   Philippines ;    the 

~     '" ^-  Hovas   of  Madagascar;    and  the 

Javanese  —  Island  type.    (After  Qua-    Polynesians,     Micronesians,     and 
trefages.)  Maoris,    spread    over    that    vast 

expanse  of  coral  sea  from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  on  the  north,  to 
New  Zealand,  on  the  south.  Though  rude  and  savage  by  nature, 
many  being  cannibals,  some  have  attained  a  remarkable  degree 


ISLANDERS  AND    COAST   PEOPLES.  127 

of  culture.  Arts  of  various  kinds  have  reached  more  or  less  per- 
fection ;  a  belief  in  many  gods,  or  polytheism,  is  prevalent,  and 
evidences  of  ancient  architectural  skill  are  seen  to-day  on  several 
of  the  islands,  notably  on  Easter,  Tonga,  Pitcairn,  and  the 
Carolines. 

3.  The  Australic  stock  consists  of  two  widely  separated  groups, 
—  the  natives  of  Australia  and  Tasmania,  and  the  Dravidians  or 
'  hill  peoples  '  of  India.  The  inhabitants  of  Tasmania  have  dis- 
appeared entirely  before  the  white  race,  and  the  native  Australians 
of  pure  blood  are  fast  following  them  in  this  respect.  The  Austra- 
lian is  of  the  lowest  grade  of  culture  ;  a  roving,  ungoverned, 
naked  savage,  unacquainted  with  the  bow  and  arrow,  using  as 
weapons  the  spear  and  a  curious  crooked  club  for  throwing  at  ob- 
jects, called  the  '  boomerang.'  He  is  a  cannibal  of  the  most 
cruel  kind,  with  a  religion  full  of  sorcery,  witchcraft,  and  curious 
rites. 

The  Dravidians,  though  physically  related  to  the  Australians, 
are  as  widely  different  from  them  in  other  respects  as  they  are 
widely  separated  geographically.  The  present  '  hill  tribes  '  of 
India  are  of  Dravidian  blood,  their  ancestors  being  the  original 
inhabitants  of  the  peninsula  of  Hindustan,  occupying  the  soil  at 
the  time  of  the  Aryan  invasion,  some  four  thousand  years  ago. 

Means  of  Dispersal  of  the  Island  Peoples. — The  question  of 
how  this  great  island  region  was  peopled  is  exceedingly  interest- 
ing. At  a  very  early  period,  the  inhabitants  of  Southern  Asia,  a 
people  in  all  probability  resembling  the  present  Malays  of  the 
Malay  Peninsula,  spending  much  of  their  time  at  sea  fishing  and 
voyaging  in  their  rude  boats,  gradually  extended  their  voyages  to 
distant  islands.  By  this  means  all  the  islands  came  in  time  to  be 
peopled,  each  group  holding  its  own  people,  which  sooner  or  later 
differed  more  or  less  from  the  other  islanders,  owing  to  various 
conditions  of  the  different  islands  themselves,  and  the  cutting  off 
of  frequent  intercourse  by  the  wide  stretches  of  sea  between  them. 
To-day  the  Polynesians,  and  many  of  the  other  island  peoples,  are 
largely  aquatic,  being  expert  swimmers,  spending  a  great  deal  of 


128  Af.LV. 

their  time  in  the  water,  and  often  making  in  their  canoes  voyages 
of  many  thousand  miles.  The  Malay  pirates  have  long  been  a 
terror  to  ships  sailing  in  East  Indian  waters,  and  the  lascars,  or 
East  Indian  sailors,  that  help  to  make  up  the  crews  of  ships  in 
many  parts  of  the  world,  belong  to  this  Malay  stock. 

Peoples  of  the  black  race  from  the  east  shores  of  Africa  have 
undoubtedly,  at  a  remote  period,  reached  some  of  the  islands  in 
the  Indian  Ocean,  and,  mixing  with  the  tribes  there,  have  produced 
the  negro  traits  which  we  see  in  certain  islanders  to-day. 

It  was  undoubtedly  in  some  such  way,  by  longer  and  wider 
voyages  from  the  shores  of  the  mainland  and  its  adjacent  islands, 
that  man  came  in  time  to  people  the  entire  island  region  of  the 
Pacific,  and,  coming  under  new  and  peculiar  geographical  condi- 
tions, to  form  a  more  or  less  distinct  island  race. 


CHAPTER    VI. 
COMMERCE. 


Reading  in  Connection  with  this  Chapter. 

*  History  of  Civilization.  —  Buckle. 
Applied  Geography.  —  Keltic. 

The  Discovery  of  America.  —  Fiske. 

*  The  American  Commonwealth.  —  Bryce. 

*  The  Influence  of  Sea  Power  upon  History.  —  Mahan. 


Lesson  I.  — THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  COMMERCE. 

What  is  Commerce? —  Commerce  is  the  exchange  of  commodi- 
ties between  different  peoples.  Trade  and  traffic  are  terms  mean- 
ing the  same  thing.  The  essential  feature  of  commerce  is  the 
possession  of  certain  things  by  a  people  in  a  land  where  these 
things  are  native  or  manufactured,  and  the  need  for  these  same 
things  by  peoples  dwelling  in  lands  where  they  do  not  naturally 
exist.  These  last  peoples  must,  however,  possess  things  needed 
by  the  others,  in  order  to  effect  a  trade. 

It  is  plain  to  be  seen,  from  what  we  have  already  learned,  that 
geography  is,  after  all,  the  essential  element  of  commerce. 

Money  as  a  Medium  of  Exchange.  —  A  unit  of  value  or  medium 
of  exchange  has  existed  from  earliest  times  among  the  various 
tribes  and  peoples  of  the  earth.  Many  of  the  commodities  form- 
ing the  wealth  of  peoples  were  difficult  to  transfer,  and  this  led  in 
the  course  of  time  to  the  use  of  money  as  representing  a  fixed 
standard  of  value. 

K  129 


130  COMMERCE. 

Various  articles  have  been  used  for  money  throughout  history. 
The  wealth  of  the  early  pastoral  peoples  was  in  their  flocks  and 
herds.  The  current  value  of  anything  was  represented  by  the  ox 
or  sheep.  Our  word  '  pecuniary,'  in  use  to-day,  comes  from  the 
Latin  word  pecus,  meaning  a  flock.  Among  many  savage  tribes 
various  articles  are  still  in  use  as  money.  The  Fiji  Islanders  use 
the  tooth  of  the  sperm  whale  ;  the  natives  of  India  use  cowrie 
shells.  Among  some  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  North  America,  the 
skins  of  wild  animals  were  for  a  long  period  a  medium  of  ex- 
change, and  certain  kinds  of  clay  and  ochre,  used  in  the  manufoct- 
ure  of  pipe  bowls  and  for  decorating  the  body  with  paint,  formed 
articles  of  standard  value. 

All  this  gives  us  a  picture  of  how,  in  the  early  history  of  civil- 
ized peoples,  money  came  to  be  established  as  a  medium  of  ex- 
change. As  man's  occupation  passed  from  the  life  of  a  hunter  to 
that  of  a  shepherd,  the  skin  of  an  animal  gave  place  to  the  animal 
itself,  and  later  to  a  standard  of  value  representing  the  animal. 

Gold  and  Silver.  —  A  substance  durable  and  lasting,  easily  trans- 
ported, and  capable  of  being  divided  became  in  time  the  needed 
requisite  for  a  basis  of  money.  From  the  rare  kinds  of  stones, 
shells,  and  earths  it  passed  to  metals.  Iron  appears  to  have  been 
used  at  a  very  early  period  for  this  purpose.  Tin,  copper,  lead, 
and  alloys  of  metals  were  in  use  at  different  periods  of  history  by 
various  peoples.  Finally,  gold  and  silver  came  into  use,  and  gradu- 
ally spread  over  the  greater  part  of  the  earth.  Smelting,  or  the 
process  of  separating  the  pure  metal  from  its  ore,  and  making  it 
into  a  piece,  was  an  art  easily  practiced  by  the  more  advanced 
peoples.  The  value  of  an  ox  or  sheep  was  given  by  weighing  the 
gold  or  silver.  Every  'piece  '  must,  therefore,  have  a  given  weight. 
For  a  long  period  the  gold  and  silver  were  weighed  out  at  the  time 
of  barter,  but,  as  Aristotle,  the  old  Greek  philosopher,  long  ago 
writes,  the  piece  was  "  afterwards  determined  in  value  by  men 
putting  a  stamp  upon  it,  in  order  that  it  may  save  them  from  the 
trouble  of  weighing  it."  In  this  way  our  present  systems  of  coin- 
age and  exchange  have  arisen. 


THE  BEGINNINGS   OF  COMMERCE.  131 

Ancient  Routes  of  Commerce. — Water  ways  and  river  valleys 
formed  natural  highways  of  commercial  intercourse  at  an  early 
period.  The  ancient  centers  of  civilization  were  in  river  valleys, 
and  undoubtedly  a  traffic  existed  in  the  most  ancient  times  along 
the  lower  Nile,  and  in  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  to  the  Persian 
Gulf.  These  early  traders  without  doubt  coasted  along  the  shores 
of  Arabia  and  Africa  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  may  have  reached  even 
the  western  shores  of  India  at  a  very  early  date.  These  earliest 
centers  of  civilization,  the  Egyptian  and  Chaldean,  in  their  fertile 
river  valleys,  were  separated  by  the  sandy  wastes  of  the  desert. 
Any  communication  between  them  must  lie  across  this  desert  and 
be  carried  on  by  means  of  slowly  moving  caravans  of  camels. 
Famines  occurred  from  time  to  time,  and  led  to  the  storing  up 
of  large  quantities  of  grain  or  '  corn '  in  the  granaries  of  Egypt 
and  the  cities  of  Mesopotamia  for  time  of  need.  In  sacred  writing 
the  famine  is  mentioned  that  sent  the  sons  of  Jacob  down  into 
Egypt  from  Palestine  for  corn.  The  transaction  with  Joseph  was 
made  in  silver  coinage. 

Arab  Traders.  — The  Arabs,  leading  a  wandering  life  along  the 
edges  of  the  deserts,  early  became  the  carriers  for  the  more  civil- 
ized nations  about  them.  With  their  caravans  of  camels  they 
carried  merchandise  across  the  wild  and  desert  tracts  of  country 
between  one  city  and  another.  The  civilizations  of  the  Nile  and 
the  Euphrates  valleys  were  thus  brought  into  contact,  and  the 
goods  of  each  exchanged.  In  the  Bible  mention  is  made  of  one 
of  these  merchant  caravans,  the  Ishmaelites,  that  carried  Joseph 
into  Egypt  from  the  land  of  Canaan. 

The  Phoenicians.  —  When  the  Israelites  crossed  the  Jordan  into 
the  land  of  Canaan  after  their  forty  years  of  wandering  in  the 
wilderness,  they  conquered  and  drove  out  the  nations  occupying 
the  land.  Among  these  were  a  people  of  the  Semitic  stock  of  the 
white  race,  known  as  the  Phoenicians,  who,  after  having  been  driven 
out,  established  themselves  on  the  narrow  strip  of  coast  bordering 
on  the  Mediterranean  Sea  and  shut  off  from  the  rest  of  Palestine 
by  a  series  of  low  mountain  ranges.     With  little  chance  for  devel- 


132  COMMERCE. 

opment  on  land  in  so  narrow  a  territory,  these  Phoenician  people 
developed  a  seafaring  life,  and  became  the  first  sailors  known  to 
history.     They  built  the   famous  cities  of  Tyre  and   Sidon,  and 
their  fleets  of  vessels  became  carriers  for  the  civilized  world  at 
that  time.     Probably  at  first  creeping  along  the  shores  in  boats 
propelled  by  oars,  they  later  hoisted  sail  and  stood  out  into  the 
Mediterranean.     When  King  Solomon  built  the  great  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  he  contracted  with  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  who  fitted  out 
a  fleet  of  ships  that  sailed  to  a  distant  land  called  Ophir,  and 
brought  back  costly  woods,  rich  perfumes,  oils,  fruits,  spices,  pre- 
cious metals,  curious  birds,  ivory,  and  apes.     This  fleet  was  prob- 
ably fitted  out  on  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea,  and,  sailing  through 
what  are  now  the  Straits  of  Bab-el-Mandeb,  passed  into  the  Indian 
Ocean.     Whether  they  sailed  to  the  west  coast  of  India  and  some 
of  its  islands,  or  southward  along  the  African  coast,  we  are  left  to 
conjecture.     The  discovery  of  ancient  ruins  of  undoubted  Semitic 
origin,    in    connection   with    long-abandoned    gold   workings,    in 
Mashonaland,  south  of  the  Zambesi,  points  to  this  region  as  the 
possible  land  of  Ophir.     To  whatever  place  they  sailed  they  must 
have  kept  close  to  shore,  for  they  would  hardly  dare  lose  sight  of 
land  on  so  adventurous  a  voyage. 

Sailing  westwardly  along  the  Mediterranean  shores,  these  Phoe- 
nician navigators  established  a  famous  colony  on  the  African 
coast,  near  the  present  Cape  Bon,  which  later  grew  into  the  great 
city  of  Carthage. 

Carthage.  —  The  Phoenicians  disappeared  from  history  after  the 
conquest  of  the  East  by  Alexander.  That  great  conqueror  sighed, 
as  his  horses  stood  drinking  on  the  banks  of  the  Indus,  to  think 
"  that  there  was  no  more  world  to  conquer,"  little  dreaming  of 
the  great  Indian  civilization,  with  all  its  magnificence  and  splen- 
dor, that  lay  almost  within  his  reach.  Other  great  seaports  had 
arisen  along  the  Mediterranean.  Alexander  founded  on  the  west- 
ern side  of  the  Nile  delta  the  city  that  to  the  present  day  bears 
his  name.  The  Mediterranean  became  a  highway  of  trafiic. 
Athens,  Corinth,  and  Argos  rivaled  one  another  in  splendor  and 


THE  BEGINNINGS    OF  COMMERCE.  133 

commercial  enterprise.  Fleets  of  ships  carried  merchandise  and 
treasures  from  one  land  to  another.  Foremost  among  these  were 
the  fleets  of  Carthage.  The  Carthagenians  established  the  colo- 
nies of  Carthagena  and  Barcelona  on  the  shores  of  Spain,  and  had 
steered  their  ships  through  the  '  straits,'  between  the  Pillars  of 
Hercules,  out  into  the  Atlantic.  On  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Spain 
they  founded  the  seajiort  of  Cadiz.  One  of  their  boldest  naviga- 
tors, Hanno,  sailed  southward  along  the  western  coast  of  Africa 
as  far  as  the  Eight  of  Biafra.  Carthage  fell  under  the  Roman 
power  one  hundred  and  forty-six  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ, 
and  the  great  city  was  razed  to  the  ground.  Corinth  and  Athens 
fell  under  the  same  power,  and  Rome  held  the  commerce  of  the 
world. 

Venice.  —  .'\mong  the  numerous  tribes  inhabiting  Italy  in 
Roman  times  were  a  people  called  the  Veniti,  living  in  the  valley 
of  the  Po.  They  were  an  agricultural  people,  but  largely  engaged 
also  in  various  commercial  enterprises.  The  Po  flows  into  the 
Adriatic  Sea,  or  that  portion  of  the  Mediterranean  between  the 
Italian  and  Balkan  peninsulas.  At  its  mouth  it  forms  a  delta  con- 
sisting of  numerous  islands,  between  which  the  v^arious  channels  of 
the  river  wind  in  their  flow  toward  the  sea.  The  barbarian  hordes 
of  the  north,  under  Alaric,  had  spread  terror  over  the  plains  of 
Italy,  and  when  Attila  with  his  savage  bands  of  Huns  swept  west- 
ward, the  Vefiiti  fled  with  their  goods  to  the  islands  of  the  delta, 
where  they  could  effectually  guard  the  various  water  ways  sur- 
rounding their  island  home  from  barbarians  unlearned  in  the 
handling  of  boats.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  great  city  of 
Venice,  which  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  dazzled  the  world 
with  her  splendor  and  held  the  commerce  of  land  and  sea. 

The  Crusaders  spread  the  glory  of  Venice  far  into  the  east,  and 
brought  back  fabulous  accounts  of  Oriental  wealth  and  splendor. 
They  thus  did  more  to  bring  the  east  into  commercial  relations 
with  the  west  than  could  possibly  have  been  done  by  any  other 
means  at  the  time.  Venetian  travelers,  like  Marco  Polo,  made 
•  visits  to  the  far  east,  reaching  even  China,  or  Cathay  as  it  was  then 


134  COMMEKCE. 

called,  and  brought  back  glowing  accounts  of  strange  lands  and 
peoples. 

Venice,  under  the  influence  of  her  developing  conamerce,  be- 
came the  great  center  of  finance,  and  the  distributor  of  trade  to 
all  the  nations  of  Western  Europe.  Bookkeeping  and  banking 
reached  a  high  degree  of  perfection  in  Venice.  Other  cities  of 
Italy  followed  in  her  steps  and  became  rival  commercial  powers. 
Among  these  were  Genoa,  Florence,  Naples,  and  even  fallen  Rome. 
Venice  still  held  her  own,  however,  and  continued  to  command 
the  commerce  of  the  world. 


LESSON    II.  — THE    ERA    OF    DISCOVERY. 

The  Middle  Ages.  —  The  period  of  history  usually  called  the 
Middle  or  Dark  Ages  covered  about  a  thousand  years,  from  the 
fall  of  Rome  to  the  discovery  of  the  New  World.  During  all  this 
time  Venice  from  her  early  start  and  her  peculiar  geographical 
position,  at  the  head  of  the  Adriatic,  held  the  key  of  commerce. 
The  rest  of  civilized  Europe,  however,  profited  by  this.  Art  and 
culture  developed  to  a  surprising  degree  under  the  influence  of 
the  wealth  which  Venice  spread  abroad.  Notwithstanding  the  in- 
roads of  the  Moors  or  Saracens  from  Northern  Africa  into  South- 
ern Europe,  or  the  influence  of  the  feudal  system  in  the  north, 
civilization,  with  all  its  attendant  features,  steadily  advanced.  Inven- 
tion, manufacture,  painting,  letters,  were  all  developed  in  the  va- 
rious cities  of  Southern  Europe,  and  gradually  spread  into  those 
of  more  northern  parts.  New  ideas  succeeded  old  ones,  and 
among  them  new  notions  as  to  the  shape  of  the  earth  and  other 
geographical  questions  took  a  foremost  place  in  men's  minds. 
Some  of  the  old  Greek  philosophers  held  the  belief  that  the  earth 
was  round,  but  this  idea  died  out  with  the  fall  of  Greece  under 
the  Roman  power,  and  throughout  the  long  centuries  that  followed 
men  clung  to  the  ancient  idea  that  the  earth  was  a  flat  surface. 
The  Mediterranean  was  the  known  sea.  Beyond  the  '  straits  ' 
few  had  dared  lose  sight  of  land. 


THE  ERA    OF  DISCOVERY.  135 

"  Illusion  dwells  forever  with  the  wave. 
I  know  what  spells  are  laid.     Leave  me  to  deal 
With  credulous  and  imaginative  man; 
For,  though  he  scoop  my  water  in  his  palm, 
A  few  rods  off  he  deems  it  gems  and  clouds. 
Planting  strange  fruits  and  sunshine  on  the  shore, 
I  make  some  coast  alluring,  some  lone  isle, 
To  distant  men,  who  must  go  there  or  die." 

Voyages  of  Discovery. —  Such  legends  as  those  of  the  Golden 
Fleece  and  of  the  Land  of  the  Hyperboreans,  behind  the  north  wind, 
had  fired  the  imaginative  mind  of  ancient  Greece,  and  lured  her 
sailors  westward.  By  this  means  geographical  knowledge  was 
widened,  and  new  settlements  sprang  up  on  distant  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean.  With  the  perfecting  of  the  mariner's  compass, 
about  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  a  new  era  was  at 
hand.  Navigators  dared  venture  out  of  sight  of  land  with  reasona- 
ble hopes  of  keeping  to  a  given  course  and  returning  again  to  the 
port  from  which  they  had  set  sail.  Italy  was  no  longer  alone  the 
seafaring  nation.  Other  nations  of  Europe  joined  in  the  new 
enterprise  of  voyaging  and  discovery.  France,  Spain,  Holland, 
and  England,  under  the  advantages  given  to  seagoing  by  the  com- 
pass, had  their  ships  upon  the  ocean,  and  before  many  years  the 
Adantic  was  being  explored.  In  1330  the  Canary  Islands  were 
discovered,  and  a  few  years  later  the  islands  of  Madeira.  In  1431 
the  x'\zores,  lying  still  farther  west,  were  sighted. 

Foremost  among  these  voyagers  were  the  Portuguese,  who,  see- 
ing the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  a  control  of  the  commerce  of 
the  East  Indies,  bent  their  energies  toward  the  discovery  of  a  sea 
route  in  that  direction.  In  i486  Bartholomew  Diaz,  a  Portuguese 
navigator,  sailing  southward  along  the  African  coast,  reached  the 
land's  end.  From  the  tempests  and  high-running  waves  which  his 
vessel  encountered,  he  called  it  the  '  Cape  of  Storms,'  but  it  gave 
such  promise  of  a  sea  route  to  India  that  on  his  return  King 
John  II.  of  Portugal  called  it  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

Christopher  Columbus,  a  native  of  Genoa  in  Italy,  conceived 
the  idea  that  the  earth  was  round,  and  that  by  sailing  westward  he 


136  •        COMMERCE. 

could  reach  India  and  China.  His  memorable  voyage  in  1492 
from  the  port  of  Palos  in  Spain  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  the 
New  World.  His  landfall  was  one  of  the  Bahama  Islands,  but  he 
believed  that  he  had  reached  India.  From  this  mistaken  idea  the 
entire  island  region  is  known  to  this  day  as  the  West  Indies,  and 
the  inhabitants  of  America  are  called  Indians.  Though  Columbus 
made  four  voyages  to  the  New  World,  he  never  found  out  his  mis- 
take, and  died  in  the  belief  that  he  had  reached  the  East  Indies. 

In  1497  the  Portuguese  sailor,  Vasco  da  Gama,  doubled  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  reaching  Zanzibar  on  the  east  coast  of  Africa, 
and  later  the  port  of  Calcutta,  thus  opening  the  eastern  sea  route 
to  India. 

Ferdinand  Magellan  (or  Magalhaens)  of  Spain,  firmly  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  the  earth  was  round,  sailed  westward  in  15 19. 
He  passed  through  the  straits  separating  Tierra  del  Fuego  from  the 
main  continent  of  South  America,  which  bear  his  name  to-day. 
He  was  killed  in  the  Ladrone  Islands,  fighting  with  the  natives, 
but  his  mate,  Sebastian  del  Cano,  took  command  of  the  vessel  and 
still  sailing  westward  reached  Spain  again  at  the  end  of  three  years, 
his  being  the  first  ship  to  sail  around  the  earth. 

Colonization  and  Development  of  Trade.  — The  Portuguese,  from 
their  peculiar  position,  occupying,  like  the  ancient  Phoenicians, 
a  comparatively  narrow  territory  on  the  shores  of  an  almost 
unknown  ocean,  were  the  leaders  in  these  voyages  of  discovery. 
They  were  the  first  to  open  trade  with  China,  obtaining  Macao 
as  a  settlement  in  1537.  Holland,  like  Portugal,  was  a  maritime 
country.  Her  inhabitants  naturally  developed  a. seagoing  life, 
and  the  Dutch  soon  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  Portuguese  to 
the  East  Indies.  They  established  a  colony  on  the  island  of 
Java  in  1575. 

The  East  and  the  West  were  developing  at  the  same  time, 
under  the  hands  of  these  seafaring  nations  of  the  Atlantic  coast 
of  Europe.  Spain  sent  her  fleets  of  armed  ships  into  the  Carib- 
bean Sea,  holding  Central  and  South  America  in  her  power.  To 
this  day  Spanish  power  antl  influence  form  the  largest  political 


PRESENT  FEATURES   OF  COMMERCE.  137 

element   in    these    countries.      Under    Cortez    and    Pizarro    she 
claimed  the  great  Aztec  and  Inca  civilizations  as  her  own. 

France  possessed  herself  of  immense  territories  in  North 
America  following  the  valleys  of  two  great  rivers,  the  Mississippi 
and  the  St.  Lawrence.  She  thus  gained  possession  of  water  ways, 
the  sources  of  which  lay  in  the  same  region,  but  whose  parted 
waters,  flowing  away  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  brought  them 
finally  to  the  ocean,  east  and  south,  a  full  quarter  of  the  compass 
apart. 

The  finding  of  gold  in  the  New  World  was  a  powerful  incentive 
to  discovery  and  settlement,  but  a  missionary  spirit  was  also 
abroad.  Foremost  in  the  work  of  colonization  were  the  Jesuits 
of  France  and  Spain.  War  and  Christianity  forced  themselves, 
hand  in  hand,  into  the  wilderness  and  into  the  ancient  culture 
of  the  New  World,  from  Canada  to  Peru.  Traces  of  this  early 
colonization  of  America  by  the  two  great  powers  survive  to-day 
in  the  French  and  Spanish  names  of  many  places. 

Other  nations  made  settlements  along  the  Atlantic  coast.  The 
Dutch,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  and  in  Surinam  or  Guiana 
in  Northern  South  America.  Great  Britain  had  become,  from 
her  pecuhar  geographical  position  as  an  island,  a  nation  of  seamen. 
Under  the  Cabots  she  had  explored  the  coast  of  Labrador,  and 
in  the  age  of  Elizabeth  she  began  her  career  as  a  naval  power, 
which  remains  to-day  one  of  the  strongest  features  in  her  history. 
From  her  colonies  founded  under  Elizabeth  sprang  the  greatest 
republic  the  world  has  ever  known,  —  Our  own  United  States  of 
America. 


LESSON  IIL— PRESENT    FEATURES  OF    COMMERCE  AND 

CIVILIZATION. 

Development  of  Resources  in  Different  Countries. — The  re- 
sources or  wealth  of  a  country  are  its  natural  products,  —  mineral, 
vegetable,  and  animal.  From  a  very  early  period  man  has  devel- 
oped these  native  products  in  the  various  regions  of  the  earth 


138  COMMERCE. 

which  he  inhabits,  by  mining,  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  breed- 
ing of  animals.  Many  of  the  useful  plants  and  animals  have  been 
introduced  by  him  into  new  countries  when  the  climate  and  other 
conditions  of  life  permitted.  This  we  have  already  seen  in  the 
cultivation  of  some  of  the  common  food  and  clothing  plants.  The 
manufacture  of  the  crude  or  raw  materials  into  substances  and 
articles  of  use  form  the  various  industries  of  a  people.  Products, 
either  raw  or  manufactured,  sent  from  countries  where  they  are 
native,  or  can  be  made  to  the  best  advantage,  to  lands  where  they 
do  not  occur  or  cannot  be  worked  up  with  profit,  constitute  the 
exports  of  a  country,  and  those  foreign  articles  received  in  return, 
constitute  its  imports.  This  interchange  lies,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  at  the  basis  of  commerce. 

The  mineral  resources  form  an  important  feature  in  the  wealth 
of  many  countries.  Iron  is  the  most  useful  and  widespread  of 
metals,  occurring  as  an  ore  or  earth  which  requires  to  be  smelted 
in  order  to  extract  from  it  the  pure  metal  for  use.  The  smelting 
of  iron  forms  a  primitive  industry  of  numerous  savage  tribes  to-day, 
and  it  was  in  use  among  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  ages 
before  the  dawn  of  history.  Copper  occurs  native  or  nearly  pure 
in  some  regions,  and  in  many  others  is  found  more  or  less  abun- 
dantly in  combination  with  other  substances.  The  metal  copper 
fused  with  //;/  forms  the  alloy  known  as  bronze,  a  material  in  use 
by  many  primitive  peoples,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  long 
before  the  use  of  iron.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  drew  their 
supply  of  copper  mainly  from  the  island  of  Cyprus  in  the  Eastern 
Mediterranean,  from  which  the  name  '  copper '  and  its  scientific 
term  cuprum  are  derived.  Lead  is  also  of  quite  ancient  use,  and 
occurs  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  principally  in  combination 
with  sulphur,  as  an  ore  called  '  galena.'  Gold  and  silver  are  the 
two  most  important  precious  metals,  their  workable  ores  forming 
a  substantial  basis  of  wealth  in  many  countries.  We  have  already 
learned  that  they  have  been  known  from  a  very  ancient  time. 
The  thirst  for  gold  was,  as  we  have  seen,  an  important  element  in 
the  discovery  of  new  countries,  especially  in  the  Western  Hemi- 


PRESENT  FEATURES    OF  COMMERCE.  139 

sphere.  Salt  is  a  widespread  mineral  substance,  used  by  mankinds 
as  a  necessary  element  of  food.  It  exists  either  in  rock  masses, 
which  must  be  mined  out,  or  as  a  crust- like  surface  deposit  in 
places  that  were  once  covered  by  the  sea.  The  use  of  salt  goes 
back  to  a  great  antiquity.  It  was  carried  long  distances,  and  the 
earliest  commercial  routes  are  supposed  to  have  been  '  salt  roads.' 
One  of  these  routes  extended  from  the  salt  deposits  of  llie  Sahara 
into  Egypt. 

Vegetable  products,  being  mainly  dependent  upon  climate,  are 
widely  different  in  different  parts  of  the  earth.  The  forests  of  the 
temperate  zone  yield  various  woods  useful  for  building  and  other 
purposes.  Lumbering  is,  therefore,  an  important  industry  in  these 
regions.  Mahogany  and  ebony  grow  in  the  tropical  forests  of  both 
hemispheres.  The  tropical  forests  likewise  yield  a  vast  number 
of  peculiar  oils,  gums,  resins,  india  rubber,  and  coloring  materials, 
useful  in  the  arts  of  civilized  peoples.  The  distribution  of  the 
more  important  food  plants  we  have  already  considered.  Plants 
yielding  substances  from  which  various  drugs  are  extracted  abound 
in  tropical  forests.  All  these  products,  found  native  or  wild  in  the 
different  countries,  are  developed  by  man  as  commercial  enter- 
prises. 

Coal  is  the  result  of  the  plant  life  of  past  ages  and  occurs  in  beds 
of  great  extent  and  thickness  in  various  parts  of  the  earth.  It 
forms  the  main  fuel  substance  of  most  civilized  countries,  and  its 
mining  is  among  the  most  important  industries. 

Animal  products,  such  as  wool,  feathers,  silk,  hides,  tallow,  etc., 
are  developed  in  almost  every  land.  Open  and  extensive  pasture 
lands  and  grassy  mountainous  regions,  especially  in  temperate 
regions,  form  the  natural  home  of  the  grazing  animals,  as  cattle, 
sheep,  and  horses,  the  kinds  most  useful  to  man.  The  skins  and 
furs  of  wild  animals  are  an  important  resource  in  the  development 
of  a  new  country.  In  the  early  history  of  North  America  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  an  English  enterprise,  planted  outposts 
and  trading  houses  in  the  northern  wilderness  for  this  purpose, 
and  they  formed  an  important  element  in  discovery  and  settle- 


140  COMMERCE.  ■ 

ment.  The  manufacture  of  silk  from  the  silk-worm  is  a  peculiar 
Chinese  industry  which  has  spread  to  other  countries,  where  the 
climate  and  the  growth  of  tlie  mulberry  tree,  on  the  leaves  of 
which  this  worm  feeds,  permit  its  introduction.  The  fossil 
remains  of  animals  form  in  some  places  immense  deposits  of 
bone  earth,  which  is  useful  as  a  fertilizer  to  enrich  the  soils  of 
crop-growing  lands.  The  same  is  true  of  the  vast  quantities 
oi  guano,  or  the  accumulations  of  sea-bird  droppings  on  various 
oceanic  islands.  The  sea  has  also  yielded  up  its  harvests  to  man. 
Fishing  forms  the  main  industry  of  many  coastwise  peoples  in 
northern  regions,  and  the  pursuit  and  capture  of  whales  in  the 
oceans  of  both  the  Northern  and  the  Southern  hemispheres,  for 
the  valuable  whalebone  and  sperm  oil,  are  peculiar  to  certain 
seaports  on  both  sides  of  the  North  Atlantic  and  also  on  the 
Pacific  coast  of  North  America. 

Location  of  Commercial  Centers. — The  cities  of  the  world 
have  developed  mainly  as  the  result  of  two  causes  :  i,  protection 
of  groups  of  peoples,  and  2,  as  centers  of  commercial  activity. 
The  former  became  seats  of  government,  centers  of  power,  as 
well  as  centers  of  commerce,  and  were  located  in  positions  that 
commanded  a  more  or  less  extensive  surrounding  territory.  The 
latter  were  located  with  a  special  view  to  the  shipping  facilities,  — 
good  harbors,  easy  access  to  the  sea.  Nearly  all  the  great  cities 
of  the  world  are  located  on  some  river,  usually  not  far  from  its 
mouth,  commanding,  on  the  one  hand,  the  interior  of  a  country 
with  its  native  products,  and,  on  the  other,  the  commercial  high- 
way of  the  ocean.  In  the  settlement  of  every  country,  this  has 
always  been  the  leading  feature.  The  river,  bay,  or  estuary  was 
an  inviting  harbor,  and  setdements  grew  up  along  its  banks.  As 
an  illustration  of  this,  we  have  only  to  recall  the  early  colonies 
of  our  own  country,  —  Jamestown,  the  Delaware  settlements,  the 
Dutch  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson,  etc.  Ancient  history  is  full 
of  similar  illustrations.  The  Byzantine  Empire,  with  its  center 
Byzantium,  was  founded  by  Greek  traders  six  hundred  years  B.C., 
on  a  bay  of  the  western  shore  of  the  Bosphorus,  the  strait  leading 


PRESENT  FEATURES    OF   COMMERCE.  141 

from  the  Mediterranean  through  the  Sea  of  Marmora  into  the 
Euxine  or  Black  Sea.  Here  was  a  vantage  point  both  in 
commerce  and  warfare,  that  has  remained  a  power  to  the  present 
time.  More  than  three  hundred  and  twenty  years  after  Christ 
the  city  of  Constantinople  arose  on  the  ruins  of  Byzantium.  'I'he 
city  forms  the  center  of  Turkish  rule  to-day,  surrounded  as  it  is 
by  the  nations  of  the  white  race. 

Commercial  Relations  between  Different  Countries.  —  The 
present  commercial  relations  of  the  various  countries  of  the  earth 
are  the  result  of  the  past  conditions.  Geography  still  plays  the 
most  important  part,  but  the  advance  of  civilization  has  overcome 
many  obstacles  which  at  an  earlier  day  were  hindrances  and 
barriers  to  the  full  development  of  commerce.  For  long  years 
the  vast  expanse  of  the  ocean ;  the  dreary  wastes  of  the  desert ; 
the  awful  solitudes  of  the  mountain  ranges,  rising  into  regions  of 
perpetual  snow ;  the  savage  men  and  savage  beasts  of  almost 
unknown  lands ;  the  impenetrable  forests,  marshes,  and  deadly 
climate  of  the  tropics, — all  tended  to  separate  more  or  less 
widely  the  various  countries  of  the  earth  from  one  another. 
With  the  advance  of  civilization,  two  important  discoveries  have 
taken  place,  which  have  largely  altered  the  face  of  the  earth  in 
relation  to  commerce.  These  two  discoveries  are  steam  and 
electricity,  and  their  application  through  various  machines  to  the 
multitude  of  human  needs.  Railroads  and  ocean  cables  girdle 
the  earth  as  a  network,  bringing  distant  lands  into  almost  daily 
contact  and  communication.  New  York,  San  Francisco,  London, 
Melbourne,  Buenos  Ayres,  Calcutta,  Zanzibar,  and  all  the  great 
cities  of  the  world  flash  messages  to  one  another  around  the  earth. 
The  locomotive  has  become  the  great  agent  of  civilization.  Its 
whistle  and  roar  wake  echoes  in  places  that  a  few  years  ago 
resounded  only  to  the  cries  of  savages  and  wild  beasts.  The 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  shores  of  North  America  lie  within  a  five 
days'  journey  of  each  other.  The  great  Siberian  railway  will  soon 
reach  across  Eurasia  from  the  Baltic  Sea  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
The  heart  of  '  Darkest  Africa '  is  being  penetrated  by  a  railroad 


142  COMMERCE. 

laid  along  the  banks  of  the  Congo.  In  the  sacred  land  of  Pales- 
tine, a  railway  has  been  built  from  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem,  and  this 
great  civilizer  stands  to-day  before  the  Holy  City,  the  greatest 
conqueror  that  has  ever  compassed  her  time-worn  walls. 

The  ocean  has  become  the  highway  of  commerce  ;  its  once 
trackless  waste  is  traversed  by  paths  leading  to  and  from  every 
seaport  of  the  world.  Fast-going  steamships  are  afloat,  carrying 
the  merchandise  of  nations.  In  every  port  the  ships  of  all  nations 
lie,  loading  and  unloading  their  various  cargoes. 

"  Yon  deep  Imrk  goes 

Where  Traffic  blows, 
From  lands  of  sun  to  lands  of  snows  ;  — 

This  happier  one, 

Its  course  is  run 
From  lands  of  snow  to  lands  of  sun." 

Navigation  has  become  a  science.  The  invention  of  instruments 
to  determine  the  position  of  any  point  on  the  earth's  surface  was 
second  only  to  the  discovery  of  the  compass  in  its  importance  to 
the  world.  The  imaginary  lines  surrounding  the  earth  are  real 
lines  on  a  map  or  chart,  and  are  of  the  utmost  value  to  navigators, 
travelers,  and  students  of  geography.  They  tell  exactly  the  loca- 
tion of  every  spot  on  the  earth,  whether  land  or  sea,  enabling  the 
mariner,  tossing  on  a  trackless  waste  of  waters  thousands  of  miles 
from  any  shore,  to  know  exactly  where  he  is.  A  transatlantic 
steamer  falls  in  with  a  wreck  floating  in  mid-ocean.  Mid-ocean  is 
a  very  big  place,  but  if  the  steamer's  log  reports  from  the  captain's 
observations  at  the  time,  —  Latitude  45°  26'  N. ;  Longitude  32° 
18'  23"  W.,  —  by  referring  to  the  chart  or  map  every  one  knows 
the  exact  spot  where  the  derelict  was  seen.  Latitude  and  longitude 
are  reckoned  by  observations  on  the  position  of  certain  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  —  sun,  moon,  and  various  stars,  in  relation  to  one 
another  and  to  the  earth,  and  on  the  particular  time  of  day.  This 
is  done  through  the  use  of  an  instrument  called  the  sextant. 
Time  or  longitude  is  calculated  from  the  meridian  of  Greenwich, 
The  earth's  rotating  on  its  axis  from  west  to  east  brings  the  sun 


PRESE.VT  FEATURES   OF  COMMERCE.  143 

over  the  meridian  of  every  place  on  its  surface  once  in  twenty- 
four  hours.  It  is  then  tweh'e  o'clock,  midday,  at  that  particular 
place.  In  twelve  hours  the  sun  will  be  on  the  same  meridian,  only 
exactly  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  earth,  and  it  will  be  twelve 
o'clock,  midnight,  at  the  place  in  question. 

Steam  runs  the  plow  and  reaps  the  harvest  in  many  lands.  The 
wheat  that  to-day  is  growing  on  a  Dakota  prairie  is  cast  in  a  few 
weeks  into  the  bins  of  a  Liverpool  warehouse.  The  long-horned 
steer  grazing  over  the  range  of  a  Texas  ranch,  in  a  single  week 
finds  himself  on  the  crowded  cattle  deck  of  an  Atlantic  Liner 
rolling  in  mid-ocean  on  his  way  to  the  English  market.  This 
bringing  of  the  ends  of  the  earth  together  has  introduced  many 
complex  problems  into  civilization  and  commerce.  The  influence 
of  a  labor  cheaper  in  one  country  than  in  another  sends  the  raw 
materials  of  the  latter  to  be  manufactured  by  the  former,  and  sent 
back  again  at  a  much  less  cost  than  it  would  take  to  make  the 
articles  in  the  country  where  the  material  was  produced.  The 
United  States  ships  raw  cotton  to  England,  for  example,  to  be 
made  into  garments  which  are  sent  back  and  sold  cheaper  than 
they  could  be  if  made  at  home.  The  importance  of  commercial 
intercourse  between  countries  is  a  powerful  influence  in  promoting 
peaceful  relations.  The  growing  tendency  is  not  war,  but  arbitra- 
tion and  peace  principles. 

One  more  fact  of  importance.  The  races  of  mankind  have 
come  into  closer  contact  through  the  wide  spreading  of  commer- 
cial intercourse.  The  benefits  to  the  less-advanced  peoples  will 
be  great,  if  they  are  morally  and  physically  able  to  fall  in  with  the 
march  of  civilization.  But  the  rights  of  each  and  every  man  as  a 
member  of  the  great  human  family,  no  matter  to  what  race  he 
may  belong,  must  be  respected,  and  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the 
more  highly  enlightened  peoples,  the  men  and  women  of  the  white 
race  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  to  help  their  less-favored  brethren 
and  sisters  to  a  knowledge  of  the  best  way  to  live.  "  Man,"  the 
poet  has  said,  "  must  rule  the  empire  of  himself."  In  the  long 
years  of  his  struggle  with  nature  he  has  overcome  many  obstacles, 


144  COMMERCE. 

and  now  beholds  himself  master  of  the  world.  There  will  always 
be  some  high  ideal  to  be  attained,  some  '  best  thing '  in  life  to  be 
reached,  and  these  can  only  be  reached  by  man's  mastery  of  him- 
self. 

The  study  of  geography  has,  after  all,  revealed  man  in  his  true 
light,  —  that  of  a  being  overcoming  his  surroundings,  itnd  attaining 
high  places  through  perpetual  struggle. 


APPENDIX. 


I.    The  Principal  States  and  Cities  of  the  World. 
II.     Population  of  the  Earth. 

III.  Forms  of  Government. 

IV.  Extract  from  First  Report  of  United  States  Board  on 

Geographic  Names. 
V.     Geographical  Distribution  of  Animals.  —  A  Synopsis  of 
Study. 
VI.    How  to  read  a  Weather  Map. 


APPENDIX. 

i.    the  principal  states  and  cities  of  the 

worLd. 

Adapted  from  Bartholomew's  Geographical  Statistics. 
Arranged  alphabetically. 


The  pupil  should  locate  each  country  on  the  map,  the  situation  of 
its  principal  towns,  and  its  foreign  possessions.  The  teacher  should 
question,  with  the  use  of  a  good  wall  atlas,  as  to  these  points,  endeav- 
oring also  to  bring  out  the  fact  of  geographical  position  in  relation  to 
commercial  advantages. 

Argentine  Republic.  —  South  America. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Buenos  Ayres,  Cordova,  Rosario,  La  Plata, 
Mendoza,  Panama,  Tucuman,  etc. 

Exports. — Wool,  hides,  sheepskins,  tallow,  live  animals,  maize, 
wheat,  flax,  salted  meat. 

Mineral  Products.  —  Copper,  silver,  coal,  salt,    alum,  sulphur,  and 

gold. 

Austria-Hungary.  —  Europe. 

Principal  Toiuiis.  —  Vienna,  Budapest,  Prague,  Trieste,  Lamberg, 
etc. 

Exports.  —  Agricultural  produce,  timber,  sugar,  fancy  wares,  live  ani- 
mals, wool,  glass,  leather,  silks,  cottons,  wine,  etc. 

Belgium.  —  Europe. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Brussels,  Antwerp,  Ghent,  Liege,  etc. 
Exports. — Cotton,  woolen  and  linen  thread,  cereals  and  rice,  ma- 

147 


148  APPENDIX. 

chinery,  coal  and  coke,  stones,  wool,  wrought  iron,  glass,  sugar,  hides, 
zinc,  oil  seeds,  resin,  candles,  vegetables,  etc. 

Bolivia.  —  South  America. 
Principal  Towns.  —  Sucre,  Potosi,  La  Paz,  Cochabamba,  etc. 

Brazil. —  South  America. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Bahia  (San  Salvador),  Recife 
(Pernambuco),  etc. 

Exports.  —  Raw  cotton,  sugar,  India  rubber,  coffee,  cocoa,  tobacco, 

gum,  hides,  etc.    Logwood,  mahogany,  rosewood,  and  brazilwood  grown 

in  the  forests. 

British  Empire.  —  British  Isles. 

Great  Britain  (England,  Wales,  Scotland,  and  outlying  islands)  and 
Ireland. 

Principal  Toivns.  —  London,  Liverpool,  Glasgow,  Manchester,  Bir- 
mingham, Dublin,  Leeds,  Sheffield,  Edinburgh,  Leith,  Belfast,  Bristol, 
Newcastle-on-Tyne,  etc. 

The  British  Empire. 

Countries  under  British  Ride  in  Europe.  —  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
Heligoland,  Gibraltar,  Malta. 

/;/  Asia.  —  Cyprus,  British  India,  Ceylon,  Andaman  and  Nicobar 
Islands,  Straits  Settlements  and  Malay  Protectorate,  Upper  Burma, 
North  Borneo,  Hong-Kong,  Labuan  Island,  Aden,  Perim,  and  Mosha, 
Kamaran  Island,  Keeling  and  Christmas  Islands,  Socotra  Island. 

1)1  Oceania.  —  New  South  Wales,  Norfolk  Island,  Victoria,  Queens- 
land, South  Australia,  Western  Australia,  Tasmania,  New  Zealand  and 
Dependencies,  Fiji  Islands,  Rotumah  Island,  Lord  Howe  Island,  Her- 
vey  or  Cook  Islands,  New  Guinea,  and  other  islands. 

In  Africa.  —  Cape  Colony  and  Dependencies,  Natal,  Zululand, 
Bechuanaland,  Matabeleland  to  the  Zambesi,  Walfisch  Bay,  Sierra 
Leone  and  Gambia  River,  Gold  Coast  and  Lagos,  Niger  Districts, 
St.  Helena  and  Ascension,  Imperial  British-East  Africa,  Somali 
Coast,  Tristan  d'  Acunha,  Mauritius  and  Dependencies,  New  Amster- 
dam, and  St.  Paul. 

In  North  Anierica.  —  Dominion  of  Canada,  Newfoundland,  Ber- 
mudas, Bahamas,  Jamaica,  Turk  and  Caicos  Islands,  Cayman  Islands, 
British  Honduras,  Barbadoes  and  Leeward  and  Windward  Islands  of 
the  West  Indies. 


PRINCIPAL    STATES  AND    CITIES    OE    THE    WORLD.      149 

/;/  Soitth  America.  —  Trinidad,  British  Guiana,  Falkland  Islands, 
South  Georgia. 

Principal  Towns  of  British  India.  —  Calcutta,  Bombay,  Madras. 
Hyderabad,  Cawnpore,  Lahore,  Lucknow,  Benares,  Delhi,  Agra,  Ran- 
goon, etc. 

Of  Australasia.  —  Melbourne  (Victoria),  Sydney  (New  South 
Wales),  Adelaide  (South  Australia),  Brisbane  (Queensland),  Hobart 
Town  (Tasmania),  Perth  (West  Australia),  Auckland  (New  Zealand), 

etc. 

Of  British  America.  —  Montreal,  Toronto,  Quebec,  Halifax,  Ottawa, 
St.  John,  Winnipeg,  Victoria,  etc. 

Bulgaria.  —  Europe. 

Principal    Tmuns.  —  Sofia,    Varna,     Shumla,     Rustchuk,     Sistova, 

Plevna,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Corn,   wool,    tallow,    hides,    butter,    cheese,    flax,    and 

timber. 

Central  America'. 

Republics  and  Capitals.  —  Guatemala  (Capital  City  —  Guatemala), 
Salvador  (San  Salvador),  Nicaragua  (Managua),  Honduras  (Tegu- 
cigalpa), Costa-Rica  (San  Jose). 

Chile.  —  South  America. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Punta  Arenas  (Straits  of  Magellan),  Concepcion, 

Talca,  Santiago,  Valparaiso,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Nitre,   copper   bars    and    ores,  silver   ores,    corn,    flour, 

leather,  and  guano. 

China.  —  Asia. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Peking,  Nanking,  Shanghai,  Foochow,  Ningpo, 

Amoy,  Canton,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Tea,  silk,  silk  manufactures,  and  sugar. 

Dependencies.  —  Manchuria,    Mongolia,    Thibet,   Jungaria,    Eastern 

Turkestan. 

Colombia.  —  South  America. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Panama,  Cartagena,  Socorro,  Medillin,  Bogota. 

Congo  Free  State.  —  Africa. 
Principal  Stations.  —  Banana,   Borna,    Matadi,   Lukunga,  Leopold- 
ville,  Bangala,  and  Stanley  Falls. 


150  APPENDIX. 

Denmark.  —  Europe. 

Defwiark  Proper.  —  Copenhagen,  Islands  in  the  BaUic,  Jutland, 
Faroe  Islands. 

Dependencies.  —  Iceland,  Greenland,  West  Indies  (St.  Croix,  St. 
Thomas,  and  St.  John). 

Exports  of  Denmark  Proper.  —  Wheat,  barley,  bacon,  hams,  flour, 
butter,  eggs,  hides,  skins,  corn  meal  and  oil  cakes,  horses  and  cattle. 

Ecuador.  —  South  America. 
Principal  Towns.  —  Quito,  Guayaquil,  Cuenca,  Riobamba. 

France.  —  Europe. 

Principal  Toivtis.  —  Paris,  Lyons,  Marseilles,  Bordeaux,  Nantes, 
Rouen,  Havre,  Nice,  Brest,  Toulon,  Orleans,  Calais,  Boulogne,  Ver- 
sailles, etc. 

Colonies  and  Dependencies  in  Asia.  —  Indian  Possessions,  Cochin- 
China,  French  Tonquin.  Cambodia  and  Annam  under  French  pro- 
tection. 

In  Africa.  —  Algeria,  Senegambia,  Gaboon  and  Gold  Coast,  Congo 
Region,  Reunion,  etc. 

In  Ajnerica.  — Guiana  or  Cayenne,  Guadeloupe, Martinique,  St.  Pierre, 
etc. 

/;/  Oceania. — New  Caledonia,  Marquesas  Islands,  Tahiti,  Gambler, 
and  other  islands. 

Tunis,  in  North  Africa,  is  a  French  Protectorate. 

Products  and  Exports.  —  Silks,  dress  stuff's,  leather  goods,  jewelry, 
wines  and  spirits,  cereals,  perfumes,  chemicals,  etc. 

German  Empire. 

Principal  Towns .  —  Berlin,  Hamburg,  Munich,  Dresden,  Leipzig, 
Cologne,  Frankfort-on-Main,  Bremen,  Strasburg,  Potsdam,  etc. 

Protectorates  in  Africa.  —  On  the  slave  coast,  on  the  Cameroon  River, 
coast  of  Damaraland  and  Namaqualand,  territories  of  several  negro 
chiefs  in  East  Africa,  portion  of  Zanzibar  coast. 

In  Oceania.  —  A  portion  of  New  Guinea,  the  Bismarck  Archipelago, 
and  other  islands. 

Prodncts  and  Exports.  —  Agricultural  produce,  woolen  and  silk  manu- 
factures, sugar,  leather  wares,  cotton  stuffs,  coal,  machinery,  chemicals, 
wines,  etc. 


PRINCIPAL  STATES  AND  CITIES  OE  THE    WORLD.     151 

Greece.  —  Europe. 
Principal   Towns.  —  Athens,    Piraeus,    Patras,    Hermopolis,    Corfu, 
Zante,  Larissa,  Argos,  Pyrgos. 

Products.  —  Raisins,  olive  oil,  lead,  hides,  wine,  figs,  gallnuts,  etc. 

Haiti.  —  West  Indies. 
Chief  To%un.  —  Port  au  Prince. 

Exports. —  Mahogany,  logwood,  coffee,  cocoa,  sugar,  honey,  and  gum. 
Haiti  and  St.  Domingo  are  on  the  same  island. 

Hawaii  or  Sandwich  Islands.  —  Pacific  Ocean. 
Chief  Town.  —  Honolulu. 
Exports.  —  Sugar,  rice,  bananas,  hides,  wool,  and  coffee. 

Italy.  —  Europe. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Naples,  Milan,  Rome,  Turin,  Palermo,  Genoa, 
Florence,  Venice.  Bologna,  Leghorn,  Messina,  Verona,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Olive  oil,  hemp,  oranges  and  lemons,  sulphur,  chemical 
products,  shumac,  wine,  almonds,  and  stones. 

Colonial  Possessions.  —  A  strip  on  the  Red  Sea  from  Assab  Bay  to 

Massowah. 

Japan.  —  Asia. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Tokio,  Yokohama,  Osaka,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Silk,  tea,  tobacco,  coffee,  rice,  copper,  camphor,  wax,  fish, 

etc. 

Korea.  —  Asia. 

Chief  Town.  —  Seoul. 

Liberia.  —  West  Africa. 

Chief  Town.  —  Monrovia. 

Exports.  —  Coffee,  cocoa,  sugar,  wax,  ginger,  palm  oil,  indigo,  hides, 

ivory,  gold  dust,  etc. 

Madagascar. 

Island  in  Indian  Ocean  east  of  Africa. 
France  regulates  the  foreign  relations  of  the  country. 
Exports.  —  Cattle,  india  rubber,   hides,    horns,  coffee,    lard,    sugar, 
vanilla,  wax,  gum,  rice,  and  seeds. 

Mexico.  —  America. 
Principal  Toiuns.  —  City  of  Mexico,  Monterey,  Vera  Cruz,  Puebla, 
Campeche,  Colima,  Oaxaca,  Zacatecas,  San  Luis  Potosi,  etc. 


152  APPENDIX. 

Exports.  —  Minerals,    mahogany,    dye  woods,  cattle,  vanilla,  coffee, 
cocoa,  cochineal,  tobacco,  drugs,  etc. 

Montenegro.  —  Europe. 
Chief  Towns.  —  Cittigne,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Shumac,  flea-powder,  smoked  sardines,  smoked  mutton, 
hides,  skins,  and  furs. 

Morocco.  —  North  Africa. 

Chief  Towns.  —  Fez,  Morocco,  etc. 

Ports.  —  Tangier,  Tetuan,  Rabat,  El  Araish,  Casa  Blanca,  etc. 
Exports.  —  Maize,  beans,  peas,  oil,  wool,  dates,  fowls,  eggs,  carpets, 
slippers,  goatskins,  leather,  grain,  cattle,  ostrich  feathers,  etc. 

Netherlands  (Holland) .  —  Europe. 

Chief  Towns.  —  Amsterdam,  Rotterdam,  The  Hague,  etc. 

Colonies.  —  Java  (Batavia  the  capital),  east  and  west  coast  of  Suma- 
tra, coast  possessions  in  Borneo,  Celebes.  Moluccas,  New  Guinea,  and 
other  East  Indian  Islands.  Several  West  Indian  Islands — Curacao 
Aruba,  St.  Martin,  etc.     Surinam  or  Dutch  Guiana  in  South  America. 

Exports.  —  Butter,  butterine,  oxen   and   sheep,  cheese,  gin,  sugar, 

iron  and  steel  goods,  woolen  and  cotton  manufactures,  silk  stuffs,  and 

ribbons. 

Orange  Free  State.  —  South  Africa. 

Mainly  a  grazing  country,  being  too  dry  for  agriculture. 

Chief  Town.  —  Bloemfontein. 

Exports.  —  Wool,  ostrich  feathers,  hides,  diamonds,  etc.  » 

Paraguay.  —  South  America. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Asuncion,  Villa  Rica,  etc. 

Products.  —  Sugar,  rum,  cotton,  woolen  cloths,  and  leather. 

Persia.  —  Asia. 

Principal  Tl^w;/^.  ^Tabriz,  Teheran,  Ispahan,  Astrabad,  etc. 
Exports.  —  Silks,  carpets,  hides,  tobacco,  opium,  gum,  wool,  dates, 
cereals,  rice,  etc. 

Peru.  —  South  America. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Lima,  Callao,  Arequipa,  Cuzco,  Chiclayo. 
Exports.  —  Guano,  nitrate  of  soda,  sheep  and  alpaca  wool,  sugar, 
silver,  and  chinchona. 


PRINCIPAL   STATES  AND   CITIES  OF  THE   WORLD.     153 

Portugal.  —  Europe. 
Portiiml  and  the  Azores  and  Madeira  Islands. 
Principal  Towns.  —  Lisbon,  Oporto,  Funchal  (Madeira). 

Colonial  Possessions. 

In  Africa.  —  Cape  Verde  Islands,  Guinea,  Prince's  and  St.  Tliomas's 
Islands,  Ajuda,  Angola,  Benguela,  Mozambique,  Congo  Districts,  etc. 

In  Asia.  —  Goa,  Daman,  Diu,  etc.  (India).  Timor  (Indian  Archi- 
pelago).    Macao  (China). 

Exports.  —  Wine,  cork,  cattle,  copper  ore,  fruits,  oil,  and  salt. 

Roumania.  —  Europe. 
Principal  Towns.  —  Bukarest,  etc. 
Exports.  —  Wheat,  barley,  maize,  rocksalt,  and  cattle. 

Russia.  —  Europe. 

Russia  Proper,  Poland,  Finland,  Caucasus,  Trans-Caspian,  Central 
Asia,  and  Siberia. 

Principal  Towns.  —  St.  Petersburg,  Moscow,  Warsaw,  Riga,  Khar- 
koff,  Odessa,  Astrakhan,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Grain,  wool,  hemp,  rape  and  linseed,  cordage  and  twine, 
tallow  and  stearine,  bristles,  oil-seed  cake,  tar,  etc. 

San  Domingo.  —  West  Indies. 

CJnef  Town.  —  San  Domingo. 

Exports.  —  Lignum  vita;,  logwood,  mahogany,  coffee,  fustic,  tobacco, 

and  cocoa. 

Servia.  —  Europe. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Belgrade,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Live  animals,  grain,  cereals,  hides,  prunes,  etc. 

Siam.  —  Asia. 

Principal  Town.  —  Bangkok. 

Exports.  —  Rice,  gums,  teak,  sandalwood,  rosewood,  aloeswood, 
pepper,  sesame,  skins,  birds'  nests,  etc. 

South  African  Republic. 
(Transvaal.) 
Chief  Town.  —  Pretoria. 

Exports.  —  Wool,  cattle,  hides,  grain,  ostrich  feathers,  ivory,  butter, 
gold,  etc. 


154  APPENDIX. 

Spain.  —  Europe. 

Spain  Proper,  tlie  Canary  and  Balearic  Islands. 

Principal  Toivns.  —  Madrid,  Barcelona,  Valencia,  Seville,  Malaga, 
Cartagena,  Cadiz,  Palma  (Canaries),  etc. 

Exports.  —  Wine,  oranges,  raisins,  grapes,  olive  oil,  cattle,  esparto 
grass,  cork,  copper  ores,  iron  ores,  lead,  salt,  quicksilver,  etc. 

Sweden  and  Norway.  —  Europe. 

Sweden. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Stockholm,  Upsala,  Kalmar.  etc. 

Exports.  —  Wood  and  timber,  oats,  iron  bars,  butter,  live  animals, 

etc. 

Norway. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Christiania,  Bergen,  Stavanger,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Timber,  cod,  cod  oil,  herrings,  minerals,  ice,  etc. 

Switzerland.  —  Europe. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Geneva,  Basel,  Bern,  Lau.sanne,  Ziirich,  Luiern, 
etc. 

Manufactures  and  Exports.  —  Silks,  cottons,  linen,  woolens,  lace, 
thread,  watches,  machinery,  ice,  cattle,  cheese,  etc. 

Turkish  Empire. 

Turkey  in  Europe,  beside  the  immediate  provinces,  includes  East 
Roumelia  as  a  self-governing  province,  and  Bulgaria  as  a  tributary  prin- 
cipality, also  Bosnia,  etc. 

Tripoli,  in  North  Africa,  is  a  Turkish  province. 

Principal  Towns.  —  In  Europe.  —  Constantinople,  Salonica,  Adriano- 
ple,  Philippopolis.  etc. 

In  Asia.  —  Smyrna,  Damas,  Bagdad,  Aleppo,  Beirut,  Mosul,  Jeru- 
salem, Trebizond,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Tobacco,  cereals,  fruits,  silk,  opium,  mohair,  cotton, 
coffee,  skins,  wool,  oil  seeds,  valonia,  carpets,  etc. 

Egypt.  —  Africa. 
(  Turkish  Protectorate . ) 
Principal   Towns.  —  Cairo,    Alexandria,    Damietta,    Rosetta,    Port 
Said,  Suez,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Cotton  and  cotton  seed,  beans,  wheat,  sugar,  maize,  rice, 
gum,  hides,  wool,  ivory,  ostrich  feathers,  etc. 


PRINCIPAL   STATES  AND   CITIES   OF   THE    WORLD.     155 
United  States  of  America. 

States.  Capitals*  and  Chief  Towns. 

Alabama Montgomery,*  etc. 

Arkansas Little  Rock,*  etc. 

California Sacramento,*  San  Francisco,  etc. 

Colorado Denver,*  Colorado  Springs,  etc. 

Connecticut Hartford,*  New  Haven,  etc. 

Delaware Dover,*  Wilmington,  etc. 

District  of  Columbia  .     .  Washington  *  (Capital  of  U.S.). 

Florida Tallahassee,*  Jacksonville,  etc. 

Georgia Atlanta,*  Savannah,  etc. 

Idaho Boise  City,*  etc. 

Illinois Springfield,*  Chicago,  etc. 

Indiana Indianapolis,*  etc. 

Iowa Des  Moines,*  etc. 

Kansas Topeka,*  etc. 

Kentucky Frankfort,*  Louisville,  etc. 

Louisiana Baton  Rouge,*  New  Orleans,  etc. 

Maine Augusta.*  Bangor,  etc. 

Maryland Annapolis,*  Baltimore,  etc. 

Massachusetts  ....  Boston,*  Worcester,  etc. 

Michigan Lansing,*  Detroit,  etc. 

Minnesota St.  Paul,*  Minneapolis,  etc. 

Mississippi Jackson,*  Vicksburg,  etc. 

Missouri Jefferson  City,*  Kansas  City.  St.  Louis,  etc. 

Montana Helena,*  etc. 

Nebraska Lincoln,*  Omaha,  etc. 

Nevada Carson  City,*  etc. 

New  Hampshire     .     .     .  Concord,*  Portsmouth,  etc. 

New  Jersey Trenton,*  Newark,  etc. 

New  York Albany.*  New  York,  Troy,  Buffalo,  Roches- 
ter, Syracuse,  etc. 

North  Carolina .     .     .     .  Raleigh,*  etc. 

North  Dakota   ....  Bismarck,*  etc. 

Ohio Columbus,*  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Toledo, 

etc. 

Oregon Salem,*  Portland,  etc. 

Pennsylvania     ....  Harrisburg,*  Pittsburg,  Philadelphia,  etc. 

Rhode  Island    ....  Providence,*  Newport,  etc. 


156 


APPENDIX. 


States 

South  Carolina 
South  Dakota 
Tennessee 
Texas  .     . 
Utah     .     . 
Vermont  . 
Virghiia    . 
Washington 
Wisconsin 
Wyoming 


Capitals*  and  Chief  Towns. 

Columbia,*  Charleston,  etc. 
Pierre,*  etc. 
Nashville,*  etc. 
Austin,*  Galveston,  etc. 
Salt  Lake  City.* 
Montpelier,*  etc. 
Richmond,*  etc. 
Olympia,*  Tacoma,  etc. 
Madison,*  Milwaukee,  etc. 
Cheyenne,*  etc. 


Territories. 

Alaska Sitka.* 

Arizona Phoenix,*  Tucson,  etc. 

Indian  Territory    .     .     .  No  organized  Territorial  Government. 

New  Mexico      ....  Santa  Fe,*  etc. 

Oklahoma Guthrie.* 

Uruguay.  —  South  America. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Montevideo,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Cattle,  preserved  meats,  skins,  hides,  tallow,  wool,  hair, 
guano,  bone  dust,  ostrich  feathers,  etc. 

Venezuela.  —  South  America. 

Principal  Towns.  —  Caracas,  Tocuyo,  Maracaybo,  La  Guayra,  etc. 
Exports.  —  Coffee,  sugar,  corn,  cocoa,  cotton,  hides,  tobacco,  indigo, 
bark,  tallow,  dyewoods,  timber,  copper  ores,  and  gold. 


Zanzibar.  —  East  Africa. 

Chief  Towns.  —  Zanzibar  (on  an  island  off  the  coast),  Mombas, 
Quiloa,  etc. 

Exports.  —  Ivory,  caoutchouc,  hides  and  skins,  cloves,  orchilla, 
cocoanuts,  gum-copal,  seeds,  etc. 


POPULATION  OF   THE  EARTH. 


157 


II.  — POPULATION    OF    THE   EARTH    BY   CONTINENTS. 
From  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  for  January,  1891. 


Divisions. 


Africa .     .     . 

America,  N. 
America,  S.  . 
Asia  .  .  . 
Australasia  . 
Europe  .  . 
Polar  Regions 

Total     . 


Area  in 
Square  Miles. 


11,514,000 
6,446,000 
6,837,000 

14,710,000 
3,288,000 

3>555.ooo 
4,888,800 


51,238,800 


Inhabitants. 


1 27,000,000 

89,250,000 

36,420,000 

850,000,000 

4,730,000 

380,200,000 

300,000 


1 ,487,900,000 


Number  of 

Inhabitants  per 

Square  Mile. 


II. O 
13.8 

5-3 

57-7 

1.4 

106.9 

0.7 


29.0 


POPULATION  OF  THE  EARTH  ACCORDING  TO  RACE. 
Estimate  by  John  Bartholomew,  F.R.G.S. 


Race. 

Number. 

Race. 

Number. 

White  .... 
Black    .... 

610,500,000 
150,150,000 
630,000,000 

American      .     . 

Islanders  .     .     . 

Total      .     . 

15,000,000 
35,000,000 

Asian    .... 

1,440,650,000 

158 


APPENDIX. 


III.  — FORMS    OF    GOVERNMENT. 

Absolute  Monarchies.  —  China,  Madagascar,  Morocco,  Persia,  Russia, 
Siam,  Turkey. 

Limited  Monarchies.  —  Austria-Hungary,  Belgium,  British  Empire, 
Denmark,  Germany,  Greece,  Hawaii,  Italy,  Japan,  Netherlands,  Portu- 
gal, Roumania,  Servia,  Spain,  Sweden,  and  Norway. 

Republics.  —  Argentine  Republic,  Bolivia,  Brazil,  Chile,  Colombia, 
Costa  Rica,  Ecuador,  France,  Guatemala,  Haiti,  Honduras,  Mexico,  Nica- 
ragua, Orange  Free  State,  Paraguay,  Peru,  Salvador,  San  Domingo, 
Switzerland,  Transvaal,  United  States  of  America,  Uruguay,  Venezuela. 


IV.  —  EXTRACT     FROM     THE     FIRST     REPORT     OF    THE 
UNITED    STATES    BOARD   ON    GEOGRAPHIC   NAMES. 


Letters. 

Sounds. 

Example. 

a 

ah,  a  as  in  father 

Java,  Banana,  Somili,  Bari. 

e 

eh,  e  as  in  meti       

Tel  el  Kebir,  0161eh    Me- 

dina, Levuka,  Peru. 

i 

English  e;  /as  in  ravine;  the  sound  of  ee 

in  beet.     Thus,  not  Feejee,  but    .... 

Fiji,  Hindi, 

o 

0  as  in  mote. 

u 

double  0,  as  in  hoot. 

All  vowels  are  shortened  in  sound  by  doub- 

ling the  following  consonant 

Yarra,  Tanna,  Jidda,  Bonni. 

Doubling  of  a  vowel  is  only  necessary  where 

there  is  a  distinct  repetition  of  the  single 

sound    

Nuulua. 

ai 

English  /  as  in  ice 

Shangliai. 
Fuchau. 

au 

orv  as  in  ho7v.     Thus,  not  Foochow,  but 

ao 

is  slightly  difterent  from  above 

Nanao. 

ei 

is  the  sound  of  the  two  Italian  vowels,  but 
is   frequently    shirred   over,   when    it    is 

» 

scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  ey  in 

the  Enc^lish  they 

Beirut  Beiliil. 

b 

English  b. 

c 

is  always  soft  and  nearly  the  sound  oi  s\ 

the  hard  c  is  given  by  /& 

Celebes. 

ch 

is  always  soft,  as  in  church 

Chingchin. 

GEOGRAPHIC  NAMES. 


159 


Letters. 

d 
f 


g 
h 


kh 
gh 

Jj 

n  J 
ng 

P 

q 

r 

s 

V 

w 

X 

y 


Sounds. 


English  (^ 

English/;  ph  should  not  be  used  for  the 

sound  of  f.    Thus,  not  Haiphong,  but     . 
is  always  hard  (soft^  is  given  by 7)    .     .     . 
is  always  pronounced  when  inserted. 
English  j.    Dj  should  never  be  put  for  this 

sound    

English  k.    It  should  always  be  put  for  the 

hard  c.     Thus,  not  Corea,  but    .... 

the  Oriental  guttural 

is  another  guttural,  as  in  the  Turkish      .     . 

as  in  English. 

has   two   slightly   different    sounds,  as    in 

finge7\  singer. 
as  in  English, 
should  never  be  employed  ;    gu  is  given  by 

kw 


as  in  English 


is  always  a  consonant,  as  in  yard  (Kikuyu), 
and  therefore  should  not  be  used  for  the 
vowel  i.     Thus,  not  Mikindany,  but    .     . 

English  z 

Accents  should  not  generally  be  used,  but 
where  there  is  a  very  decided,  emphatic 
syllable,  or  stress  which  affects  the  sound 
of  the  word  it  should  be  marked  by  an 
acute  accent 


Example. 


Haifong,  Nafa. 
Galapagos. 


Japan,  Jinchuen. 


Korea. 
Khan. 
Dagh,  Ghazi. 


Kwangtung. 


Sawdkin. 


Mikinddni. 
Zulu. 


Tongatdbu,  Galdpagos, 
Palawan,  Sarawak. 


160  APPENDIX. 

v.  — GEOGRAPHICAL   DISTRIBUTION   OF   ANIMALS. 

A  Synopsis  of  Study.* 

Reading  Matter.  —  Works  by  Alfred  Russell  Wallace  — "  Darwinism," 
"  Island  Life,"  and  ''  Geographical  Distribution  of  Animals."  Also 
''The  Geographical  and  Geological  Distribution  of  Animals"  —  by 
Angelo  Heilprin.     International  Science  Series. 

1.  Geographical  Distribution  and  Diversity  of  Species.  —  General 
facts  and  observations. 

a.  Popular  idea — diversity  of  animals  due  to  diversity  of  climate 
and  vegetation,  animals  distributed  in  zones  or  regions  of  latitude  — 
e.g.  arctic,  temperate,  and  tropical  zones,  etc. 

b.  Incorrectness  of  this  idea  seen  by  comparing  the  animals  of  equa- 
torial Africa  and  South  America,  South  Africa  and  Australia,  Europe 
and  temperate  America. 

c.  Incorrectness  of  idea  proved  also  by  widely  ranging  animals  — as 
opossums;  crows  found  in  all  parts  of  the  world  but  South  America; 
sloths  found  only  in  that  continent ;  antelopes  found  only  in  Asia  and 
Africa ;  lemurs  only  in  Madagascar  and  adjacent  regions ;  birds  of 
paradise  only  in  New  Guinea. 

2.  The  Causes  of  Dispersal. 

a.  Original  home  of  an  animal  or  its  'center  of  development.*' 

b.  Increase  of  individuals  is  enormous  and  causes  rapid  diminution 
of  food-supply  in  a  restricted  area —  (^e.g.  a, bird  living  5  years  and 
producing  10  pairs  of  young  would  increase,  if  unchecked,  to  100,000,000 
in  40  years —  IVallace). 

c.  This  necessitates  the  enlarging  of  an  animaPs  range  in  order  to 
obtain  more  food,  and  establishes  a  wandering  habit . 

d.  Accidental  causes  of  dispersal  —  driftwood,  floating  ice,  winds, 
etc. 

3.  Barriers  Limiting  an  Animal's  Range.  —  An  animal  in  wandering 
meets  with  various  barriers  that  tend  to  check  its  further  progress  — 
two  kinds,  physiographic  and  organic. 

a.  Mountain  ranges  separate  species,  e.g.  Andes,  Alps,  Pyrenees,  etc. 

b.  Rivers  and  arms  of  the  sea. 

c.  Islands. 

*  This  synopsis  is  intended  especially  for  the  teacher. 


GEOGRAPHICAL   DTSTKIBUrWN  OF  ANIMALS.         161 

d.  Isothermal  lines  {heat  zones). 

e.  Deserts  and  forests. 

We  have  to  consider  what  facilities  different  classes  have  in  over- 
coming barriers,  and  what  barriers  are  most  effectual. 

4.  Mammals.  —  Ability  of  many  to  roam  over  whole  continents, 
checked  only  by  food  and  climate.- 

a.  Elephant  lives  on  both  plains  and  mountains ;  ascends  Adam's 
Peak,  Ceylon. 

b.  Tiger  swims  arms  of  the  sea  ;^  has  great  powers  of  dispersal,  can 
endure  the  cold  of  North  China  and  Tartary  as  well  as  the  heated  jun- 
gles of  Bengal. 

c.  Rhinoceros  and  lion  are  widely  dispersed,  area  of  land  and  food 
only  limiting  their  possible  range. 

d.  AjDes,  monkeys,  lemurs,  and  many  small  animals  leading  arboreal 
lives  are  much  more  restricted. 

e.  Open  country  essential  to  some  animals,  e.g.  antelopes,  zebra,  etc. 

f.  High  mountains  for  goats  and  ibex. 

g.  Rivers  for  beaver,  etc. 

//.  Climate  limiting  a  mammaPs  range;  more  often  due  to  change  of 
veg-etation  as  the  result  of  climate  than  to  climate  itself. 

i.  Monkeys  limited  to  equatorial  belt  of  forest  30'^  wide  ;  due  largely 
to  food  (fruit).  One  monkey  inhabits  Himalayas  above  snowline 
(altitude  11.000  feet). 

j.  Many  northern  animals  bounded  by  isotherm  of  32°  —  polar  bear 
and  walrus. 

/'.  Fossil  remains  of  elephants  and  rhinoceros  found  imbedded  in  ice 
proves  their  once  colder  habitat. 

I.  Valleys  and  rivers  as  barriers. —  Their  humidity,  etc.  Monkeys 
and  birds  (trumpeters)  on  the  Amazon. 

;//.  Arms  of  the  sea  are  barriers.  Few  mammals  can  swim  very  wide 
areas  of  water,  but  many  swim  well  for  short  distances,  e.g.  jaguar, 
bear,  bison,  deer,  rodents,  etc. ;  pig's  ability  to  swim. 

71.   Ice  floes  and  drift  timber. 

o.    Bats,  seals,  and  cetaceans  have  very  great  facilities  for  dispersal. 

5.  Birds. — Though  possessing  greater  powers  of  dispersal  (flight), 
they  are  as  strictly  limited  as  mammals. 

a.  Petrels,  gulls,  and  sliore  birds  wide  rangers.  Most  species  con- 
fined to  one  or  other  ocean. 

M 


162  APPENDIX. 

b.  Smaller  perching  birds  much  more  limited. 

c.  Dispersal  of  birds  by  winds  ;  American  birds  in  Europe,  etc. 

d.  Barriers  to  birds. — Narrow  seas  and  straits  often  effectual  bar- 
riers ;  forest  country ;  mountain  ranges  rising  above  woody  country ; 
great  rivers. 

e.  Migration  of  birds  —  regular,  compared  with  the  irregular  periodi- 
cal movements  of  some  mammals  {e.g.  lemming,  antelopes,  etc.). 
Movements  of  fishes  more  like  birds. 

f.  Migration  in  Europe.  —  Constancy  of  appearance  ;  routes.  The 
nightingale ;  wide  range ;  antiquity-  of  migrations ;  past  conditions  of 
land;  the  Mediterranean  a  dangerous  crossing. 

g.  India  and  China  —  birds  come  in  autumn  from  Europe  and  West- 
ern Asia. 

h.  North  America.  —  Migrations  mostly  eastern  ;  many  more  migra- 
tory and  many  less  resident  species  than  in  Europe,  significance  of  this. 
Wood  warblers  and  orioles  ;  cliff  swallow  ;  bobolink,  its  range  has  in- 
creased with  extension  of  wheat  and  rice  growth. 

/.    South  temperate  America. — 

j.  Habit  of  wandering  in  birds  exaggerated.  Why?  Instinct;  Gla- 
cial period  ;  nesting  site,  more  or  less  regular  in  many  species. 

k.  Importance  of  food.  —  Winged  insects  and  caterpillars,  signifi- 
cance. 

6.  Reptiles  and  Batrachians.  —  With  exception  of  marine  forms, 
reptiles  are  scarcely  more  fitted  for  crossing  ocean  and  seas  than  are 
mammals. 

a.  Reptiles  on  oceanic  islands. 

b.  Several  groups  differ  considerably  in  dispersal  and  overcoming 
powers  —  snakes  most  dependent  on  climate,  not  found  above  62^^  in 
North  America ;  nor  on  mountains  to  any  great  height  (Alps  6000 
feet).     Different  stations  of  snakes. 

c.  Lizards,  tropical  as  a  rule,  but  go  farther  north  and  reach  higher 
altitudes  than  snakes  (10,000  feet  in  Alps).  Dispersed  over  the  ocean 
probably  in  egg  state  to  some  extent,  as  they  inhabit  islands  where 
there  are  no  snakes  or  mammals. 

d.  Batrachians  (frogs,  etc.).  —  Wider  ranging  than  reptiles;  deserts 
and  oceans  are  barriers  to  them,  as  dryness  and  salt  water  are  fatal. 

7.  Fishes,  Fresh-water  and  Marine.  — 

a.  Temperature  is  a  barrier. 

b.  Depth  of  water  a  barrier. 


GEOGRAPHICAL   DISTRIBUTION  OF  ANIMALS.         163 

c.  Limited  migration. 

d.  Dispersal  by  winds. 

e.  Eggs  carried  by  birds. 

8.  MoUusca:  Marine,  Fresh-water,  and  Land.  — 

a.  Marine  mollusca.  —  Many  kinds  drift  in  mid  ocean;  probably  only 
limited  by  temperature,  presence  of  certain  enemies,  and  scarcity  of 
food.  Slow-moving  forms,  as  whellv  and  cockle,  range  widely,  as  their 
young  are  free  swimming. 

b.  Fresh-water  mollusca.  — We  would  suppose  them  to  be  limited  to 
particular  river  basins,  but  they  are  widely  dispersed.  Eggs  become 
attached  to  feet  of  aquatic  birds.     Salt  water  fatal  to  them. 

c.  Land  shells.  —  A  more  difificult  problem  ;  very  sensitive  to  salt 
water,  and  not  in  places  much  frequented  by  aquatic  birds,  still  are 
widely  dispersed  over  globe  and  in  most  oceanic  islands,  possessing 
remarkable  vitality,  e.g.  snail  glued  down  to  tablet  in  British  Museum 
for  four  years.  Darwin's  experiment  shows  that  when  they  form  a 
membrane  over  mouth  of  shell,  can  resist  sea  water  for  some  time  (14 
days).  Attached  to  feet  of  wading  birds  which  wander  inland.  Even 
though  it  should  only  occur  once  in  a  thousand  years,  a  few  snails 
carried  to  a  distant  island  would  by  these  means  eventually  stock  it. 

9.  Dispersal  of  Insects.  —  Winged  insects  have  varied  means  of  dis- 
persal over  globe  ;  many  can  fly  immense  distances  ;  many  carried  far 
out  to  sea  by  storms,  e.g.  hawk  moths  250  miles  from  tropical  shores ; 
Darwin  caught  a  locust  370  miles  from  nearest  land.  '  Tropical  insects 
in  the  London  docks.  Great  vitality  of  insects,  e.g.  beetles  in  strong 
spirit  and  in  boiling  water.  Barriers  to  insect  —  presence  or  absence 
of  certain  forms  of  vegetation ;  parasitic  and  mimicking  species  de- 
pend on  presence  of  other  animals ;  enemies  to  the  several  stages  of 
insect  existence  form  a  barrier. 

10.  Distribution  affected  by  Changed  Conditions  of  Earth's  Surface.  — 

a.  Physical  geography  —  contour  and  relief;  depth  of  water;  posi- 
tion of  desert,  lake,  and  forest ;  ocean  currents ;  climate ;  winds,  etc. 
—  very  important. 

b.  Relations  of  land  and  water  to  each  other  —  area  of  water  three 
times  that  of  land.  Elevation  and  subsidence.  Large  masses  of  land 
have  probably  been  more  isolated.  Shallow  parts  of  ocean  are  mostly 
in  the  vicinity  of  land  ;  significance  of  these  facts. 


164  APPENDIX. 

c.  Continental  areas.  —  Land  mass  almost  continuous,  consists  only 
of  three  masses  :   i ,  American  ;  2,  Asia-African  ;  3,  Australian. 

d.  Slow  process  of  upheaval  has  always  produced  land  close  to  con- 
tinental areas. 

e.  Present  isthmuses  small  and  insignificant  compared  with  countries 
they  unite  :  Suez  a  desert  barrier ;  Panama  a  more  effectual  connection. 

/.  Asia  :  Himalayas  a  great  transverse  barrier. 

g.  Africa :  Great  Sahara  Desert,  transverse  barrier. 

h.  Europe  and  Asia  cannot  be  separated  zoologically. 

/'.  Recent  changes  in  continental  areas :  Sahara  was  under  water  at 
a  very  recent  period ;  sea  shells,  identical  with  living  Mediterranean 
species,  found  abundantly  as  high  as  900  feet ;  deposits  of  salt  abun- 
dant ;  a  species  of  fish  found  in  inland  salt  lake,  identical  with  one  in 
Gulf  of  Guinea. 

j.  Mediterranean  has  suffered  subsidence  in  parts  ;  submerged  banks 
300  to  1200  feet,  other  parts  13.000  feet  deep. 

/'.  Remains  of  African  elephant,  of  a  fossil  elephant,  and  two  species 
of  hippopotamus  found  in  Sicilian  caves ;  in  Malta,  three  species  of 
fossil  elephant ;  significance  of  these  facts. 

/.  Many  shells  and  corals  of  West  Indies  and  Pacific  coast  are  iden- 
tical ;  some  living  fishes  also  ;  significance. 

1 1 .  Glacial  Epoch.  —  Effect  on  existing  species  ;  evidence  of  '  drift.' 

a.  Many  fossil  animals  and  plants  show  that,  previous  to  glacial 
epoch,  the  climate  of  Central  Europe  was  much  warmer  than  now,  and 
a  temperate  climate  extended  into  Arctic  regions,  allowing  a  magnifi- 
cent vegetation  to  flourish  within  12  degrees  of  pole. 

b.  Gradual  refrigeration  of  climate  taking  place.  life  forms  were 
driven  southward  or  exterminated,  e.g.  mammoth,  reindeer,  etc. 

c.  Evidences  of  the  etTect  of  Glacial  epoch  upon  life,  seen  in  recent 
remains  of  shells  with  living  arctic  representatives ;  in  arctic  and 
alpine  plants.  White  Mountains  and  Labrador ;  Pyrenees  and  Scotland 
and  Scandinavian  Peninsula ;  in  changes  of  vegetation,  e.g.  prehistoric 
Denmark.     Old  forests,  peat  bogs,  kitchen-middens. 

d.  Cause  of  glaciation  (Wallace,  "  Island  Life,"  Croll,  "  Climate  and 
Time  "). 

12.  Organic  Barriers.  —  Complex  effects. 

a.  Goats  in  island  of  St.  Helena,  destroying  forests. 

b.  Swine  in  Mauritius,  exterminating  the  dodo.  Swine  kill  poison- 
ous serpents. 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ANIMALS.         165 

c.  Cattle  often  prevent  growth  of  trees  ;  effect  on  insects  and  birds. 

d.  Effect  of  Paraguay  fly ;  effect  of  South  African  tse-tse  fly  on  dif- 
ferent animals. 

e.  Cats  and  clover  (Darwin). 

f.  General  conclusions  ;  hypothetical  case  (Wallace). 

13.  Zoogeography.  —  Food,  climate,  and  physical  character  of  land 
of  utmost  importance  in  making  an  animal  what  we  see  it. 

a.  Native  country  or  habitat. 

b.  Diversity  ;  how  produced. 

c.  Early  types  were  fewer ;  present  types  more  numerous. 

d.  Effect  of  surrounding  conditions  and  power  to  wander,  the  two 
great  factors  in  producing  diversity ;  different  parts  of  the  earth  char- 
acterized by  different  animals  as  a  result  of  these  two  factors. 

e.  Earth  divided  accordingly  into  zoological  regions. 

'/".    The  animals  of  a  particular  country  are  collectively  called  its  fa7t}ia. 

g.  We  would  suppose  all  animals  closely  allied  to  inhabit  the  same 
or  continuous  areas  of  country,  and  vice  versa. 

h.  Certain  widely  distributed  animals  are  not  found  in  certain  coun- 
tries, e.g.  bears  and  deer  not  found  in  tropical  or  South  Africa. 

/.  Certain  closely  allied  animals  are  found  widely  separated,  e.g.  tapirs, 
anthropoid  apes,  and  camel  tribe.  These  are  problems  to  be  consid- 
ered ;  their  solution  found  in  the  two  factors  and  in  the  past  history  of 
the  earth  and  its  inhabitants. 

j.  Importance  of  geology,  physical  geography,  and  the  study  of  fos- 
sils or  paltcontology. 

k.  Most  important  class  of  animals  in  determining  regions  are  mam- 
mals ;  then  birds  ;  other  groups  follow. 

/.  Primary  divisions  dependent  on  great  barriers  —  mountain  range, 
ocean,  desert,  climate  (isotherms). 

14.  Palgearctic  or  Eurasiatic  Region.  —  {North  Temperate  Realtn.)* 

a.  Barriers. 

b.  Characteristic  animals  —  almost  entire  family  of  moles  ;  peculiar, 
carnivores  ;  camels  ;    deer ;  yak  ;  chamois  ;   saga-antelope  and  addax ; 

*  The  Arctic  Realm.  —  Now  includes  the  northern  portion  of  both  the  Eurasiatic 
and  North  American  regions.     The  animals  given  are  those  peculiarly  character- 
istic of  each  region  —  and  not  those  ranging  throughout  the   North   Temperate^ 
Realm. 


166  .  APPENDIX. 

peculiar  rats  ;  dormice;  tailless  hares.     Peculiar  genera  and  species  of 
birds  numerous. 

c.  Several  sub-regions  characterized  by  certain  peculiar  species. 
Local  barriers. 

15.  Ethiopian  Region. —  {Tndo-African  Realm.)  —  Africa  south  of  the 
Atlas  Mountains  and  the  islands  of  the  Madagascar*  group. 

a.  Characteristic  animals  —  peculiar  apes,  gorilla,  and  chimpanzee  ; 
lemurs,  hippopotamus  and  giraffe  strictly  peculiar ;  such  highly  char- 
acteristic groups  as  hyaenas ;  several  cats ;  hyrax ;  rhinoceros  (two 
horned)  ;  zebra  and  numerous  antelopes. 

b.  But  no  bears,  moles,  camels,  deer,  sheep,  goats,  or  wild  cattle. 

c.  Peculia  genera  and  species  of  birds  numerous  —  bee-eaters,  horn- 
bills,  shrikes,  crows,  starlings,  cuckoos,  and  the  peculiar  plantain-eaters  ; 
the  Guinea-hen  and  secretary  bird  highly  peculiar. 

d.  Altogether  a  very  isolated  and  peculiar  region. 

16.  Oriental  Region. —  {Indo-Africau  Realm.)  —  India,  China,  and 
Malay  islands  as  far  as,  and  including,  Java  and  Borneo. 

a.  Barriers. 

b.  Rich  and  varied  animal  life.  —  Orang-outang;  distinct  family  of 
lemurs ;  remarkable  insectivore  (flying  lemur) ;  peculiar  carnivora 
(civets,  weasels,  etc.)  ;  peculiar  dolphin  found  in  Ganges  and  Indus; 
peculiar  deer-like  form  (chevrotain)  ;  buffalo  and  zebu;  rhinoceros 
and  elephant,  etc.     Numerous  peculiar  birds. 

17.  Australian  Region.  —  Australia  and  Polynesia;  one  of  the  best 
defined  regions,  including  Australia  and  the  adjacent  islands  as  far 
east  as  the  Sandwich  and  Marquesas  groups.  The  island  continent  of 
Australia  is  in  the  track  of  the  southern  desert  zone ;  no  inland  moun- 
tain chain  ;  interior  a  parched  desert. 

a.  Highly  characteristic  mammals.  —  Marsupials  and  monotremes ; 
rats,  mice,  and  bats  the  only  other  mammals. 

b.  Marsupials  diversified  to  fill  every  position  in  economy  of  Nature 
—  carnivorous,  insectivorous,  herbivorous,  etc. 

c.  Birds  highly  peculiar  —  no  true  finches,  woodpeckers,  vultures, 
nor  pheasants  ;  but  many  parrots,  birds  of  paradise,  lyre  birds,  mound- 
makers,  cassowaries,  brush-tongued  paroquets  strictly  peculiar ;  pigeons 
and  kingfishers  remarkably  developed. 

*  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen  separates  Madagascar  as  a  distinct  Le7nurian  Realm, 


GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF  ANIMALS.         167 

i8.  Nearctic  Region.  —  {North  Temperate  Realm. ^  —  North  America 
to  the  highlands  of  Mexico.  Northern  part  now  included  in  Arctic 
Realm. 

a.  Characteristic  animals  —  star-nosed  mole;  peculiar  weasels; 
raccoon  ;  peculiar  seals  on  coast ;  prong  buck,  musk  sheep,  and  Rocky 
Mountain  goat ;  musk  rat,  pouched  rats  or  gophers,  prairie  dog,  and 
chipmunk;  Canada  porcupine  and  white-footed  mouse. 

b.  A  number  of  distinct  birds  —  wood  warblers,  wrens,  finches,  etc. 

c.  Subregions  — local  barriers. 

19.  Neotropical  Region.*  —  South  and  Central  America;  richest  in 
peculiar  forms  of  any  region  in  the  world  ;  isolated. 

a.  Characteristic  mammals  —  two  families  of  tailed  monkeys  ;  blood- 
sucking bats  ;  chinchilla  and  cavy  ;  tree  porcupines  ;  sloths,  armadillos, 
and  ant-eaters  i^Edoitata)  ;  marsupials,  (opossums) ;  one  mole-like 
form ;  llama  and  several  deer,  the  only  ruminants ;  peccary  and  tapir 
the  only  non-ruminating  hoofed  mammals. 

b.  Birds  highly  peculiar  —  humming  birds,  ant  thrushes,  trumpeters, 
toucans,  puff  birds,  jacmars,  etc. 

c.  Relations  of  Nearctic  and  Neotropical  regions  ;  significance. 

20.  Geological  Distribution.  —  Study  of  the  geological  history  of 
animals  (fossils)  reveals  their  relations  to  tijiie,  as  geographical  dis- 
tribution reveals  their  relations  to  place. 

a.  Many  problems  of  distribution  can  only  be  solved  by  a  survey  of 
past  conditions. 

b.  Origin  of  existing  species  ;  immense  lapse  of  time  since  their  first 
appearance. 

c.  Animals  change  with  changing  physical  conditions  ;  great  length 
of  time  required. 

d.  Rapid  multiplication  a  cause  of  dispersal  over  newly  raised  areas 
of  land. 

e.  Most  radical  difference  between  species  dependent  on  degree  of 
isolation  by  most  effectual  barrier. 

/.  Spread  of  species  follows  geological  change  ;  extreme  slowness  of 
the  movement. 

*  Dr.  Allen's  classification  divides  South  America  into  two  distinct  realms,  the 
American  Tropical  and  the  South  American  Temperate. 


168  APPEND  rx. 

21.  Divisions  of  Time.  —  Geological  history  divided  into  eras,  ages, 
periods,  and  epochs,  each  determined  by  certain  great  changes  that 
have  taken  place  in  physical  geography,  climate,  and  forms  of  life. 

a.  Each  great  division  of  time  recorded  in  a  rock  fonnatioii  or  rock 
system;  the  life  remains  fovuid  in  each  are  termed  xX.'s, fossils. 

b.  Each  division  is  characterized  by  the  dominance  of  some  particular 
class  of  life  forms,  e.g.  age  of  fishes  ;  age  of  coal  plants. 

c.  Each  age  has  gradually  merged  into  the  succeeding  one ;  in  one 
age,  the  life  of  the  next  begins  to  appear. 

d.  Each  class  does  not  die  out,  but  its  species  become  changed 
according  to  laws  already  pointed  out,  and  in  succeeding  ages  new 
types  appear  higher  than  those  of  preceding  age,  more  complex  in 
structure  (ascending  series). 

22.  Dynamics.  —  Great  rock  beds  of  earth's  crust  as  we  see  them 
to-day  have  resulted  from  the  ceaseless  action  of  ocean,  rain,  rivers, 
ice,  wind,  and  frost  upon  ancient  land  areas  which  have  appeared  and 
disappeared  from  time  to  time  owing  to  certain  internal  conditions 
producing  upheaval  (elevation)  and  sinking  (subsidence)  of  crust. 

a.  These  same  geological  processes  are  going  on  to-day  ;  have  always 
been  going  on  very  slowly. 

b.  Sudden  revolutions  have  occurred  in  earth's  history,  causing  great 
destruction  of  life  ;  life  was  not  entirely  extinguished. 

c.  Then,  as  now,  shells  lived  in  ooze  of  sea  bottom  or  were  cast  up 
on  ancient  beaches  ;  leaves  and  branches  of  trees  and  bodies  of  animals 
were  carried  down  by  rivers  and  buried  in  the  mud  of  lakes  and  seas. 

d.  Their  remains  have  been  deposited  in  the  mud  or  sand,  which  in 
the  long  lapse  of  time  has  become  hardened  into  rock  (shale,  slate, 
sandstone,  limestone,  etc.),  and  are  preserved  to  the  present  day  as 
fossils. 

e.  Generally  only  the  hard  parts  of  animals  are  preserved  (shell, 
bone)  ;  often  only  their  impressions  or  casts. 

f.  Kind  of  fossils  found  depends  on:  i,  kind  of  rock;  2,  country; 
3,  age. 

23.  Chronology.  —  Five  great  eras  of  geological  history,  each  em- 
bodied in  a  corresponding  system  of  rocks  — 

a.  Eozoic  (dawn  of  animal  life),  seen  in  Archsan  or  Primary  rock 
system. 


HOW    TO  READ  A    WEATHER  AfAP.  169 

b.  Palaeozoic  (old  life)  —  Silurian,  Devonian,  and  Carboniferous  ages  ; 
rocks  of  transition  series. 

c.  Mesozoic  (middle  life)  —  Triassic,  Jurassic,  and  Cretaceous  ;  rocks 
of  Secondary  series. 

d.  Cenozoic  (recent  life) — Tertiary  and  Quaternary  periods  and 
deposits. 

e.  Psychozoic  (rational  life),  —  present  system  of  sediments. 

VI.  — HOW   TO    READ    A    WEATHER    MAP. 

This  map  represents  the  data  collected  by  the  Weather  Bureau  at 
Washington,  D.C.,  from  points  all  over  the  United  States  for  a  certain 
day  in  May,  i8 — .-  A  synopsis  of  the  weather,  accompanying  the  map, 
was  stated  thus  :  "  The  storm  has  moved  rapidly  during  the  past  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  is  now  central  over  the  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario  Dis- 
trict. An  area  of  high  barometer,  with  clear  and  cooler  weather, 
occupies  the  Northwest,  following  after  the  storm.  Generous  showers 
have  occurred  over  nearly  all  the  country  during  the  past  three  days, 
in  many  localities  the  fall  being  very  heavy." 

Explanation.  —  The  heavy  black  lines  are  isobars  ;  the  dotted  lines, 
isotherms.  Arrows  fly  with  the  wind,  and  the  signs  of  the  ring  in  their 
shafts  indicate  states  of  the  weather,  thus  :  Q  Clear ;  0  Partly  Cloudy  ; 
0  Cloudy ;  0  Rain  ;  ©  Snow.  Horizontal  lines  colored  pink  (not 
shown  in  this  map)  indicate  warmer.,  io°  or  more.  Similar  lines  col- 
ored purple  (on  this  map  horizontal  lines  showing  a  faintly  shaded 
area)  indicate  colder,  \o°  or  more.  Close  set  vertical  lines  (shown  on 
map)  indicate  a  rainfall  of  \  inch  or  more.  The  isobars  indicate  the 
pressure  in  tenths  of  an  inch  as  shown  by  the  figures  at  their  ends. 
The  isotherms  represented  are  those  of  50°,  60",  and  70°  F.  A  con- 
siderable area  of  cold  is  indicated  on  the  map  in  the  storm's  wake  inci- 
dent to  the  anticyclone  in  the  Northwest. 

This  storm  developed  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  Region,  and  was  one 
of  the  most  disastrous  in  many  years.  It  swept  eastward  over  the 
United  States  passing  out  onto  the  Atlantic  in  a  rather  narrow  path. 


INDEX. 


Abyssinia,  62,  93,  100. 
Abyssinians,  92. 
Adriatic  Sea,  133. 
^gean  sea,  94. 
Afghanistan,  114. 
Africa,  future  of,  105. 

physical  geography  of,  100. 

western,  loo. 
African  landscapes,  103. 

tribes,  103. 

zoology,  102. 
Agave,  27. 
Air,  22. 
Alaric,  133. 
Alaska,  39. 

Albert  Edward  Nyanza,  102. 
Albert  Nyanza,  102. 
Aleutian  islands,  120. 
Alexander,  132. 
Algonkin,  121. 
Allen,  Dr.  J.  A.,  24. 
Alloys,  130. 
Alpaca,  86,  124. 
Alpine  passes,  30. 
Alps,  29,  97. 
Altai,  108. 
Altitude,  36. 

vegetation  zones  of,  36. 
Amazon,  12,  120. 
Amboyna,  66. 
America,  14,  94. 

American  continents,   physical    geogra- 
phy of,  117. 
American  Indian,  culture,  117. 
American  race,  115. 

tribes  and  peoples  of,  120. 


American  tropical  realm,  24,  25. 

Amu  river,  106. 

Amur  river,  109. 

Andaman  islands,  125,  126. 

Andes,  12,  29,  53,  119. 

Angles,  94. 

Animals,  domestication  of,  78. 

Anios,  112. 

Annam,  iii. 

Annamese,  iii. 

Anteaters,  25. 

Antelope,  25,  102. 

Antilles,  Greater  and  Lesser,  119. 

Anti-trades,  53. 

Apaches,  123. 

Apennines,  97. 

Appalachian  system,  12,  26,  29,  120. 

Arabia,  63,  64,  93. 

Arabiarf  sea,  109. 

Arab  invasion,  effect  of,  105. 

Arabs,  65,  68,  92,  105. 

Arab  traders,  131. 

Aral,  sea  of,  93,  no. 

Araucanians,  124. 

Arawaks,  124. 

Archipelago,  14. 

Arctic  America,  119. 

Arctic  belt,  26. 

Europe,  112. 

group,  112. 

ocean,  12. 

realm,  24. 
Areas  of  low  pressure,  49. 
Argentine  republic,  67. 
Argos,  132. 
Aristotle,  87,  130. 
Arizona,  123. 
Arkansas  river,  123. 

171 


172 


INDEX. 


Arrow-release,  'jj. 
Aryan  peoples,  93. 
Aryan  words  (Flax),  73. 
Aryans,  western,  94. 
Asia,  destiny  of,  114. 

ethnic  chart  of,  107. 
Asia  Minor,  82,  87,  112. 
Asian  race,  106. 

Asia,  physical  geography  of,  108. 
Asiatic   peoples,   effect  of  geographical 

features  in  the  history  of,  114. 
Ass,  82. 
Assam,  61. 

Assyrian  civilization,  31,  93. 
Asters,  27. 

Athapasca  stock,  123. 
Athens,  132. 
Atlantic  ocean,  12. 
Atlas  mountains,  92. 
Atmosphere,  22. 

action  of,  18. 

relation  to  life,  23. 

relation  to  surface,  23. 
Attila,  113,  133. 
Auroch,  25,  76. 
Austafrican,  106. 

Austafrican  race,  ethnic  chart  of,  loi. 
Australia,  14,  61. 
Australian  realm,  24,  25. 
Australians,  127. 
Australic  stock,  127. 
Austria,  29. 

Azores,  discovery  of,  135. 
Aztec  civilization,  123. 


Bab-el-Mandeb,  132. 

Baber,  113. 

Babylon,  31. 

Babylonian  civilization,  93. 

Buckleys,  80. 

Bahama  islands,  119,  136. 

Balkan  peninsula,  94,  133. 

Baltic  nations,  31. 

Baltic  sea,  114. 

Bamboo,  25. 

Banana,  70. 

Banda  islands,  66. 

Bangweolo,  102. 


Banking,  134. 

Bantu  group,  104. 

Banyan,  25. 

Baobab,  25. 

Barbarian,  90. 

Barbary  States,  92. 

Barcelona,  133. 

Barley,  68. 

Barren  grounds,  12. 

Beaches,  11. 

Bear,  25,  77. 

Bear,  polar,  77,  121. 

Bechuanas,  104. 

Bedouins,  92. 

Beeches,  25. 

Belooehistan,  114. 

Bencoolen,  66. 

Bengal,  bay  of.  53,  65,  68,  108,  109. 

Berber  peoples,  92. 

'  Big  game,'  of  Africa,  102. 

Bight  of  Biafr.i,  133. 

Birches,  25. 

Bird-life,  Africa,  102. 

Bison,  25,  76. 

Black  sea,  29,  no,  114. 

Black  Stream,  61. 

Black  race,  home  of  the,  100. 

Blondes,  98. 

Blow  tube,  77. 

Bog  iron  ore,  19. 

Bolivia,  64. 

Book-keeping,  134. 

'  Boomerang,'  127. 

Borneo,  125. 

Bosphorus,  114,  140. 

Bow  and  arrow,  77. 

Brahmaputra,  109. 

Brahminism,  114. 

Brazil,  61,  64. 

current,  64. 

mountains  of,  12. 
Breeze,  sea  and  land,  47. 
British  America,  12,  39. 
British  isles,  11,  31. 
Brittany,  inhabitants  of,  94. 
Bronze,  138. 
Brunettes,  98. 
Buddhism,  no,  114. 
Buffaloes,  25. 
Bulgarians,  96,  113. 


INDEX. 


173 


Burmah,  iit. 
Burmese,  iii. 
Bushmen,  105. 
Byzantine  empire,  140. 
Byzantium,  settlcn>ent  of,  140. 


Cabots,  the,  137. 

Cactus,  27. 

Caddoe,  123. 

Cadiz,  133. 

Calcutta,  136. 

'  Calico,'  72. 

CaHcut,72. 

Cahns,  belt  of,  46. 

Cambodia,  iii. 

Camel,  84. 

Camel,  Bactrian,  84. 

Canaan,  131. 

Canada,  137. 

Canary  islands,  discovery  of,  135. 

Canons,  17. 

Canton,  iii. 

Cape  Bon,  132. 

Cape  Horn,  120. 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  66,  67,  135. 

'  Cape  of  Storms,'  135. 

Cape  St.  Roque,  64. 

Carboniferous  period,  27. 

Caribbean  Sea,  119,  136. 

Caribs,  124. 

Carnivora,  Quarternary,  76. 

Caroline  islands,  125,  127. 

Carthage,  31,  132,  133. 

Carthagena,  133. 

Carthaginians,  85. 

Caspian  sea.  98,  108,  109. 

Cassava  meal  or  bread,  70. 

Cassiquaire,  120. 

Cataracts,  iS. 

Cathay,  I33. 

Caucasus,  inhabitants  of,  97. 

mountains,  92,  108. 
Celebes,  125. 
Celestial  empire,  iii. 
Central  America,  119. 
Central  American  group,  123. 
Central  Asian  plateau,  108. 
Ceram,  125. 


'  Cereal,'  67. 

Ceres,  67. 

Ceylon,  61,  64,  66,  125. 

Chaldea,  73. 

Chaldeans,  92. 

Chalk,  19. 

"  Change  of  seasons,"  35. 

Chase,  animals  of  the,  75. 

geography  of  the,  76. 

(primitive  conditions),  75. 
Chepewyans,  123. 
Cherokees,  123. 
Chickasaws,  123. 
Chile,  68,  124. 
Chillingham  cattle,  80. 
Chimpanzee,  102. 
China,  29,  61,  67,  68,  87. 

great  wall  of,  62,  iii. 
Chinaman,  in. 
Chinese,  31,  no. 
Chin-Xong,  68. 
Choctaws,  123. 
Christianity,  93. 
Chukchis,  112. 
Cinchonas,  25. 
Cinnamon,  66. 
Civilization,  90. 

Aztec,  123. 

Grecian,  94. 

Indian,  94,  96. 

Persian,  94. 

Peruvian,  29. 

Roman,  94. 
Cliff  dwellers,  123. 
Climate,  continental,  39. 

definition  of,  33. 

elements  of,  33. 

influence  on  man,  54. 

moral  effects  of,  57. 

oceanic,  39. 

physiological  effect  of,  55. 
Climates,  effect  of  hot  and  cold,  58. 

mountain,  58. 
Climatic  zones,  cause  of,  40. 
Clothing,  71. 
Clouds,  23,  52. 
Cloves,  66. 
Coal,  139. 
Coast  line,  Africa,  31. 

Eastern  North  America,  31. 


174 


INDEX. 


Coast  line,  South  America,  31. 

Western  Europe,  31. 
Coast  lines,  10. 
Cochin  China,  65,  iii. 
Coffee,  62. 

conditions  of  growth,  63. 

drinking,  63. 

history  and  commerce,  63. 
Coinage,  130. 
Colonization,  136,  137. 
Color,  distribution  of,  56. 

(human),  55. 
Colorado,  123. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  135.  " 

Comanches,  123. 
Commerce,  129. 

ancient  routes  of,  131. 
Commercial  centres,  location  of,  140. 
Commercial  relations,  141. 
Comoro  islands,  125. 
Congo,  12,  31,  103, 104. 
Constantinople,  87,  141. 
Continental  irregularity,  30. 
Copper,  130,  "138. 
Coral  polyps,  19. 
Cordilleran  chain,  119. 
Corinth,  132. 
'  Corn  belt,'  68. 
Corn,  Indian,  68. 
Cortez,  67,  82,  88,  123,  137. 
Cossacks,  113. 
Cotton,  27,  72. 
Cow  tree,  25. 
Creeks,  123. 
Crocodile,  103. 
Crusaders,  the,  63,  133. 
Cuba,  64. 
Culture,  90. 
Cuprum,  138. 
Cyclones,  48. 

anti-,  49. 

paths  of,  49. 
Cyprus,  138. 

D. 

Dakota  stock,  123. 
Danube  countries,  29. 
Dardanelles,  114. 

Darjeeling,  108. 


Dark  Ages,  134. 

"  Darwinism,"  14. 

Date,  the,  71. 

Dayaks,  126. 

Deer,  25,  76. 

Defense  (primitive  conditions),  75. 

Delaware  settlements,  140. 

Deltas,  II,  18. 

Denmark,  94. 

Deodhunga,  109. 

Desert  belts,  53. 

Desert,  Great  American,  117. 

Desert  sands,  18. 

Diaz,  Bartholomew,  135. 

Distribution,  23. 

Dnieper,  97. 

Dniester,  97. 

Dog,  the,  79. 

Domesticated  animals,  other,  84. 

Domestication     of    animals     (primitive 

conditions),  78. 
Don  river,  97. 
Drainage,  Asia,  109. 
Dravidians,  127. 
'  Drift,'  18. 
Dromedary,  84. 
Drop-spear,  'j'j. 
"  Dry  season,"  35. 
Duck,  84. 
Dunes,  18. 
Dust  motes,  52. 
Dust  whirls,  50. 
Dutch,  62,  63,  66,  136,  137. 
Dwarfs,  104. 
Dwina,  12. 


B. 


'I 


Earth's  crust,  rising  of,  13. 

sinking  of,  13. 
Earthworms,  action  of,  20. 
East  Africa,  12,  53. 
East  Cape,  112. 
Easter  island,  127. 
Eastern  question,  114. 
Eastern  Turkestan,  109. 
Ebony,  139. 
Edict  of  Nantes,  88. 
Egypt,  19,  31,  63,  68,  73,  114. 
Elburz  mountains,  108. 


INDEX. 


175 


Electricity,  141. 
Elephant,  25,  84. 

African,  85,  102,  106. 
Elizabeth,  age  of,  137. 
England,  94,97,  114,  135. 
Environment,  28. 
Eskimo,  54,  77,  120. 
Euphrates,  31,  68,  93. 
Eurafrican,  98. 

race,  ethnic  chart  of,  95. 
Eurasia,  14. 

ethnic  chart  of,  107. 
Eurasiatic  region,  25. 
Euxine,  141. 
Everest,  Mount,  108. 
Exports,  138. 


Fans,  104. 

Farther  India,  no. 

Feudal  system,  influence  of,  134. 

Fiji  islands,  125,  126. 

natives  of,  126. 
F'inland,  112. 
Finnic  peoples,  112. 
Finns,  112. 
Fishing,  77,  140. 
Flax,  72. 
Fleece,  Angora,  86. 

Kashmir,  86. 
Flemish  weavers,  87. 
Flora,  North  America,  27. 
Florence,  134. 
Flumes,  17. 
Fog,  52. 
Food,  effect  of,  57. 

(primitive  conditions),  75. 
Foraminifera,  19. 
Forests,  20. 
Formosa,  125. 
Fossil  remains,  16. 
Fowl,  jungle,  83. 
Fowling,  77. 
Fowls,  83. 

France,  29,  135,  137. 
Franks,  94. 
French,  96. 
Friendly  islands,  125. 


G. 

Ganges,  18,  31,  87,  94,  109. 

Garden  spots,  31. 

Gareep  river,  102. 

Gautemala,  64,  119. 

Genghis  Khan,  113. 

Genoa,  134. 

Geographical  considerations,  96. 

Geographical  features,  permanence  of,  12. 

Germany,  94. 

Geysers,  16. 

Ghiliaks,  112. 

Gifford,  J.,  20. 

Gilbert  islands,  125.  '' 

Giraffe,  25,  102. 

Glacial  period,  18,  76. 

Glaciers,  18. 

Gneiss,  16. 

Goat,  81. 

Gobi,  desert  of,  109. 

Gold,  130,  138. 

Golden  fleece,  135. 

Goldenrods,  27. 

Goose,  84. 

gray-lag,  84. 
Gorilla,  102. 
Goths,  94. 
Gradient,  48. 
Granite,  10,  16. 
Great  Britain,  137. 
Great  Lakes,  31. 
Great  Mogul,  the,  113. 
Great  plains,  27. 
'  Great  Spirit,'  117. 
Greece,  29,  31. 
Greenhearts,  25. 
Greenland,  14. 
Greenwich  time,  142. 
Guano,  140. 
Guatemala,  119. 
Guiana,  63,  64,  66,  137. 
Guinea,  62,  103. 

coast,  104. 

Gulf  of,   102. 

Gulf  of  Mexico,  119,  121. 
Gulf  States,  123. 
Gulf  Stream,  39. 
Guyot,  29. 


^ 


176 


INDEX. 


H. 

Hamitic  stock,  92. 

Hannibal,  85. 

Hanno,  133. 

Hawaiian  islands,  125. 

'  Head  hunters,'  126. 

Heat  of  earth,  16. 

Height  and  depth,  11. 

'  Height  of  land,'  120. 

High  Asia,  no. 

'  Hill  peoples,'  127. 

Himalayas,  11,  30,  61,  ig8,  109. 

Hindu-Kush  mountains,  94,  108. 

Hindus,  31,  94. 

Hindustan,  94,  96. 

Hippopotamus,  25,  102. 

Hoang-Ho,  31,  61,  109,  no. 

Hog,  products,  83. 

Holland,  31,  94,  135. 

Hong-Kong,  in. 

Horse,  the,  81,  82. 

fossil  remains  of,  82. 

Horsechestnuts,  27. 

Hot  springs,  16. 

Hottentots,  105. 

Hovas,  126. 

Huckleberries,  27. 

Hudson  bay,  120,  121. 

Hudson  Bay  Company,  139. 

Hudson,  settlements  at  mouth  of,  140. 

Humboldt,  67,  71. 

Humboldt  current,  41. 

Humming  birds,  25. 

Hianus,  20. 

Hungary,  29. 

inhabitants  of,  113. 

Hurricanes,  49. 

Hydrothermal  fusion,  16. 

Hyena,  25,  102. 

Hyperboreans,  135. 


Ice  action,  18. 

Icy  bay,  121. 

Imports,  138. 

Incas,  124. 

India,  29,  61,  67,  87. 

Indian  corn,  68. 

Indian  ocean,  12,  14,  63. 


20. 


Indians,  115. 

of  Patagonia,  124. 
Indian  tribes  (Map),  122. 
Indo-African  realm,  24,  25. 
Indus,  31,  94,  109. 
Industries,  138. 
Insect-life,  103. 
Intelligence,  28. 

Invention,  development  of,  134. 
Iran,  plateau  of,  94,  108. 
Ireland,  97. 
Irish,  94. 
Iron,  130,  138. 
Iron  ore,  138. 
Iroquois,  121. 
Ishmaelites,  131. 
Islam,  105. 

Island  geography,  125. 
Island  peoples,  branches  of,  126. 
distribution  of,  126. 
means  of  dispersal  of,  127. 
physical  traits  of,  126. 

Islands,  11. 

Islands,  growth  of  tropical 

Isobars,  47. 

Isothermal  lines,  40. 

Isothermal  zones,  41. 
their  oscillation,  42. 

Israelites,  92,  131. 

Isthmus  of  Panama,  119. 

Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec, 

Italian  group,  96. 

Italians,  96. 

Italy,  68,  94,  96,  133. 

Ivory,  105. 


Jamaica,  64. 
Japan,  n,  61,  87. 

current,  39,  60. 
Japanese  group,  112. 
Jamestown,  140. 
Java,  61,  63,  125, 136. 
Javanese,  126. 
Jaxartes,  109. 
Jerusalem,  132. 
Jesuits,  137. 
Jordan  river,  131. 
Justinian,  87. 


123. 


INDEX. 


177 


K. 


Kaffirs,  80,  104. 

Kalahari  desert,  105. 

Kalgan  gale  (Great  Wall  of  China), 

Kalmucks,  113. 

Kamchatkans,  112. 

Kameroons,  12. 

Kanchinjinga,  108. 

Kangaroo,  25. 

Karakorutii,  109. 

Kayaks,  121. 

Keltic  peoples,  94. 

Kenia,  100. 

Khasia  hills,  53. 

Khinghan,  108. 

Khyber  pass,  114. 

Kilimanjaro,  100. 

King  John  II.,  135. 

Kioways,  123. 

Kirghis,  113. 

Kirghiz  steppes,  82. 

Koraks,  112. 

Korea,  87. 

Koreans,  112. 

"  Koumys,"  82. 

Kuen  Luen,  61,  109. 

Kuro  Siwo,  61. 


Labrador  coast,  exploration  of,  137. 

current,  39. 
Ladrone  islands,  125,  136. 
Lake  Baikal,  112. 
Lake  Michigan,  123. 
Lamas,  no. 
Land,  formation  of,  13. 
"  Land  of  the  B.acks,"  103. 
Language  (Aryan),  96. 
Lapland,  112. 
La  Plata,  12,  119. 
Lapps,  112. 
Larches,  25. 
Lascars,  128. 

Latin-speaking  peoples,  94,  96. 
Latitude,  34. 

Latitude  and  longitude,  142. 
Lava,  16. 
Lava  fields,  16. 
N 


62. 


Lead,  130,  138. 

Leather,  85. 

Lemur,  25. 

Leniurian  realm,  24. 

Lena,  12,  no. 

Leopard,  25,  102. 

Letters,  development  of,  134. 

Lhasa,  no. 

Libyan  group,  92. 

Life,  21. 

animal,  21. 

areas,  23. 

conditions  of,  28. 

plant,  22. 

sequence  of,  27. 

unity  of,  28. 
Lime  formations,  19. 
Limpopo  river,  102. 
Linen,  73. 
Lion,  25,  102. 

Liver,  influence  on  color,  55. 
Living  matter,  19. 
Llama,  84. 
Locusts,  27. 
Lombardy,  73. 
Lombroso,  C,  59. 
Lost  land,  14. 
Low  archipelago,  125. 
Lower  California,  123. 
Lowlands,  Asia,  109. 
Loyalty  islands,  126. 
Lumbering,  139. 

M. 

Macao,  136. 
Macassars,  126. 
'  Mace,'  66. 
Mackenzie,  12. 
Madagascar,  24,  25,  66,  125. 
Madeira  islands,  discovery  of,  135. 
Magellan,  Ferdinand,  136. 
Magnolias,  27. 
Mahogany,  139. 
Maize,  68. 
Malabar  coast,  65. 
Malay  archipelago,  14. 
Malayic  stock,  126. 
Malay  islands,  66. 
peninsula,  65. 


178 


INDEX. 


Malay  pirates,  128. 
Malays,  126. 
Mallard,  84. 
Malta,  97. 
Mammalia,  25,  76. 
Man,  black,  89, 

red,  115. 

white,  89. 

yellow,  89. 
Manchuria,  113. 
Manchus,  113. 
Manioc,  69. 
Manlike  apes,  25. 
Manufacture,  development  of,  134. 
Maoris,  126. 
Marco  Polo,  62,  133. 
Marshall  islands,  125. 
Marshes,  growth  of,  20. 
Marsupials,  25. 
Mashonaland,  132. 
Mauritius,  64,  66,  125. 
Mayas,  123. 
Mediterranean  region,  13,  14,  30,  97. 

sea,  30,  131,  132. 

volcanoes,  16. 
Medium  of  exchange,  129. 
Merriam,  Dr.  C.  H.,  38. 
Mesopotamia,  67,  93. 
Mexican  group,  123. 
Mexico,  67. 
Micronesians,  126. 
Middle  Ages,  the,  134. 
Milking,  81. 

Mississippi,  11,  12,  18,  31,  137. 
Missouri,  12. 

Mohammedanism,  93,  105,  114. 
Moisture,  33. 
Molucca  islands,  65,  66. 
Money,  129. 

of  savage  tribes,  130. 

origin  of,  130. 

piece  of,  130. 

weighing  of,  130. 
Mongolia,  113. 
Mongolian,  the,  113. 

plateau,  109. 
Mongolic  group,  113. 
Mohair,  86. 
Monsoons,  47. 
Moors,  134. 


Morocco,  65. 

Morse,  Prof.  E.  S.,  78. 

Mosul,  72. 

Mound  builders,  123. 

Mountain  climates,  58. 

ranges,  11. 

ranges,  origin  of,  15. 

walls,  29. 
Mountains,  11. 
Mount  St.  Elias,  123. 
Mozambique,  62. 

current,  64. 
Mulberry,  87. 

South  Sea  islands,  88. 
Mule,  82. 

"  Mule  battery,"  83. 
Mummy  cloth,  73. 
Musk  sheep,  121. 
'  Muslin,"  72. 

N. 

Namollos,  112. 
Nan-king,  iii. 
Naples,  134. 
Narwhal,  77,  121. 
Natal,  61. 

Nations  of  Europe,  94. 
Navajos,  123. 
Navigation,  142. 
Navigators  islands,  125. 
Negrillos,  104. 
Negritic  stock,  126. 
Negroes,  103. 
Negroid  peoples,  104. 
Negroids,  79,  103. 
Nelson  river,  12. 
Neolithic,  76,  79,  80. 
New  Caledonia,  126. 
New  Guinea,  24,  125. 
New  Hebrides,  126. 
New  Mexico,  123. 
New  Zealand,  24,  125. 
Nicaragua,  iig. 
Nicobar  islands,  125,  126. 
Niger,  12,  102. 
Nile,  II,  12,  18,  31,  102. 

valley,  19,  92,  96,  103,  104. 
Norsemen,  94. 
North  American  plateau,  27,  117. 


INDEX. 


179 


North  American  region,  25. 
North  Atlantic,  14. 

group,  121. 
North  Pacific,  14. 

group,  123. 
North  polar  area,  12. 
North  temperate  realm,  24,  25. 
Norway,  14,  67. 
Nubia,  104. 
Nutmeg,  66. 

Nyanza  group  of  lakes,  102. 
Nyassa,  102. 


Oaks,  25. 
Oats,  68. 
Obi,  12,  no. 
Oceania,  125. 
Ocean  cables,  141. 

currents,  39,  50. 

formation  of,  13. 
Off-shore  islands,  14. 
Ohio  valley,  123. 
Okhotsk,  sea  of,  108. 
Ophir,  132. 
Orange  river,  102. 
Orinoco,  12,  120. 
Ottoman  empire,  114. 
Ox,  the,  80. 
Oxus,  93,  106,  109. 
Oxygen,  22. 
Ozone,  59. 


Pacific  ocean,  12,  14,  16,  19. 

Pacific  slope,  30,  117. 

Painting,  development  of,  134. 

Palasolith,  76. 

Pali«olithic  age,  76. 

Palestine,  93. 

Palm  belt,  26. 

Pamir,  94,  108. 

Pampas,  tribes  of,  124. 

Papuas,  126. 

Patagonia,  119. 

Pawnees,  123. 

Peat,  19. 

'  Pecuniary,"  130. 


Peking,  iii. 
Pelew  islands,  125. 
Peninsulas,  13. 
Peoples,  African,  103. 

Keltic,  94. 

Slavonic,  96. 

Teutonic,  94. 
Pepper,  black,  65. 
'  Pepper-corn  rents,'  65. 
Persia,  63,  65. 
Persians,  94. 
Peru,  64,  72,  124,  137. 
Philippines,  11,  65,  125. 
Phcenicia,  31. 
Phoenicians,  the,  131. 
Pig,  the,  83. 
"  Pigeon  English,"  in. 
Pillars  of  Hercules,  133. 
Pines,  25. 
Pitcairn,  127. 
Pitfall,  77. 

Pizarro,  82,  124,  137. 
Plains,  12. 

Plains,  growth  of,  18. 
Plain's  Indians,  123. 
Plain,  the  Great  Siberian,  108,  109. 
Plantain,  70. 
Plateau,  Central  Asian,  108. 

of  Thibet,  109. 
Po,  II,  18,  31.  133. 
Poles,  96. 

Polished  Stone  Age,  76. 
Polynesia,  125. 
Polynesians,  126,  127. 
Portugal,  135,  136. 
Portuguese,  62,  66,  96,  135,  136. 
Potato,  sweet,  69. 

the,  69 
Products,  animal,  139. 

vegetable,  139. 
Province,  arid,  27. 

humid,  27. 
Ptolemy,  34. 
Pueblo  Indians,  123. 

Q. 

Quartz,  10. 

Quaternary  geography,  99. 
period,  76. 


ISO 


INDEX. 


Qquichua,  124. 
Quito,  67. 


R. 


Races,  physical  traits  of,  90. 

social  status  of,  90. 
Railroads,  141. 

Raiment  (primitive  conditions),  75. 
Rain,  17,  23,  52. 
Rainfall,  51. 

distribution  of,  53. 
"  Rainy  season,"  35. 
Realms,  24. 
Red  man,  characteristics  of,  115. 

origin  of,  115. 
Red  race,  115. 
Reindeer,  85. 
"  Reindeer  epoch,"  76. 
Religion,  91. 
Resources,  development  of,  137. 

mineral,  138. 
Rhinoceros,  25,  102. 
Rice,  27,  68. 
Rivers,  12. 

African,  102. 

American,  120. 

Asian,  log. 
River  valleys,  31. 
River  terraces,  18. 
Rocky  mountains,  11,  117. 
Roman  roads,  lost,  19. 
Rome,  29,  31,  96. 
Roumania,  67. 
Russia,  12,  67,  97,  no,  114. 
Russians,  96. 
Ruwenzori,  100. 
Rye,  68. 


Saghalien  island,  112. 
Sahara  desert,  14,  19,  92. 
Salomon  islands,  125. 
Salt,  139. 

deposits,  14. 
'  Salt  roads,'  139. 
Salt  water,  23. 
Samoa  islands,  125. 
Samoyeds,  112. 


Sandwich  islands,  125. 
Saracen  conquest,  87. 
Saracens,  134. 
Sargasso  sea,  51. 
Saskatchewan  plains,  26. 
Saskatchewan  river,  123. 
Savage,  90. 
Saxifrages,  27. 
Saxons,  94. 

Scotch  highlanders,  94. 
Sea  bottoms,  11. 
Sea,  distance  from,  38. 

of  Marmora,  141. 

route,  the  eastern,  136. 
Seal,  77,  121. 
Sebastian  del  Cano,  136. 
Sedimentation,  11. 
Seminoles,  123. 
Semitic  stock,  92. 
Senegal  river,  102. 
Senegambia,  103. 
Sericulture,  87. 
Servians,  96. 
Sextant,  142. 

Sexual  selection,  effect  of,  56. 
Seychelles,  125. 
Shaler,  Prof.  N.  S.,  29. 
Shamo,  109. 
Sheep,  80,  81. 
Shire  river,  102. 
Shoshonee,  123. 
Siam,  65. 
Siamese,  in. 
Siansk,  108. 
Siberia,  12,  67,  109. 
Siberian  railroad,  114. 
Sibiric  branch,  the,  ill. 
Sicily,  97. 
Sidon,  132. 
Sierra  Nevada,  117. 
Silk,  86. 

Silk  moth  (silkworm),  87. 
Silver,  130,  138. 
Simooms,  50. 
Sinitic  branch,  no. 
Sioux  tribes,  123. 
Siva,  80. 

Slave  trade,  104,  105. 
Slope  exposure,  37. 
Sloths,  25. 


INDEX. 


181 


Smelting,  130.  ^38- 

Snowflakes,  53. 

Social  states,  cause  of  different.  91. 

Society  islands,  125. 

Soil,  18,  2Q. 

Soudan,  62,  103,  104- 

South  Africa,  100.  , 

South  America,  physical  geography   of, 

South  American  temperate  realm,  24,  25 

South  Atlantic  group,  124. 

South  Atlantic  ocean,  120. 

South  Pacific  group,  124- 

South  Pacific  ocean,  120. 

Spain,  29,  31.  68,  I3S.  136,  I37- 

Spaniards,  65,  124- 

Spanish,  96. 

invasion,  82,  123. 

Sperm  oil,  140- 

Spice  islands,  65. 

Spices,  the,  65. 

ISeTlE-in  Pasha  Relief  Expdt.),  70. 

Stanovi,  108. 

Steam,  141-  ,  , 

Steppes,  herdsmen  of  the,  113. 

St.  Lawrence  river,  120,  137. 

Stone  age,  76. 

Storms,  47- 

Straits  of  Magellan,  119- 

Stratified  rocks,  15- 

Subregion,  cold  temperate,  26. 

warm  temperate,  26. 

Su<Tar  cane,  the,  27,  64. 

Su^ar,  history,  range,  and  commerce,  65 

Sultan,  114- 
Sumatra,  64,  125. 
Sun  burn,  56. 
Sun's  rays,  34- 
Surinam,  63,  i37- 
Swiss,  29.  - 

lake  dwellers,  67,  72.  80. 

Switzerland,  97. 
Syria,  68,  92,  ii4- 

T. 

Tagalas,  126. 
Tamerlane,  113. 
Tanganyika,  102. 
Tanning,  85. 


Tapioca,  70. 
Tasmania,  125. 

natives  of,  127. 
Tataric  group,  113- 
Tea,  black,  62. 

'brick,'  62. 

green,  62. 

conditions  of  growth,  61. 

consumption  of,  62. 

gardens,  62. 

history  and  commerce,  61. 

plant,  60. 

range  and  cultivation,  61. 
Temperate  forest  belt,  26. 
Temperature,  33. 
Teutonic  peoples,  94- 
Thian  Shan,  108. 
Thousand-fathom  line,  14. 
Thunderstorms,  50. 

Tiber,  31. 
Tiger,  25. 
Tigris,  31,  72.93- 
Timbuctoo,  105. 
Timor,  125. 
Tierra  del  Fuego,  120. 
natives  of,  124. 

Tin,  130.  138- 
Tinneh,  123. 
Tomato,  the,  70. 
Tonga  island,  127. 
Tonquin,  in- 

Tornadoes,  50. 

Torres  Strait,  63. 

Torrid  zone,  35. 

Totem,  91. 

Trade,  129. 

development  of,  130. 

Traffic,  129. 
Trapping,  77- 
Trinidad,  ii9- 
Tulip  poplars,  27. 

Tundras,  109. 
Tunguisic  group,  ii3- 

Tungus,  113- 

Tupis,  124. 

Turkey,  63,  112. 

Turkish  dominion,  114- 

Turks,  113- 
ryphoons,  49. 

Tyre,  132. 


182 


INDEX. 


U. 


Ural  range,  12. 

river,  106. 
Utes,  123. 


V. 


Valleys,  17. 
Vandals,  94. 
Vasco  da  Gama,  136. 
Vegetable  mould,  19. 
Vegetation,  22. 

African,  103. 
Vegetation,  distribution  of,  26. 
Venezuela,  64. 
Venice,  31,  133,  134- 
Veniti,  133. 
Victoria  Nyanza,  102. 
Vikings,  31. 
Vine,  the,  71. 
Volcanoes,  16. 
Volga  river,  97,  113. 
Voyages  of  discovery,  135. 

W. 

Wallace,  A.  R.,  14. 

Walrus,  77,  121. 

Water,  action  of,  17. 

Waterspouts,  50. 

Weather,  50. 

Weapons,  bronze  and  iron,  76. 

Welsh,  94.     ■ 

Western  Africa,  100. 

Western  Europe,  30,  31. 

Western  Hemisphere,  117. 

West  Indies,  64,  65,  66. 

Whalebone,  140. 

Whaling,  140. 

Wheat,  66. 


Wheat  range  and  yield,  67. 
White  skin,  98. 
White  Race,  cradle  of,  97. 
White  race,  geographical  distribution  of, 
92. 

North  Mediterranean  branch  of,  93. 

original  home,  92. 

South  Mediterranean  branch  of,  92. 
Willows,  25. 
Winds,  18,  23. 

Buys  Ballot's  law  of,  46. 

constant,  46. 

counter-trades,  46; 

effect  of  earth's  rotation  on,  44. 

periodic,  46. 

prevailing,  39. 

primary  cause  of,  43. 

trade,  46. 
Wolf,  25,  77,  79. 
Wombat,  25. 
Wool,  86. 


Yak,  85. 

Yang-tse-kiang,  31,  61,  109,  no. 

Yams,  69. 

Yellow  race,  home  of  the,  106. 

Yenisei,  12,  no. 

valley,  113. 
Yucatan,  119. 
Yucca,  27. 
Yukon,  12,  123. 


Zambesi  river,  102,  104. 
Zanzibar,  66,  105,  136. 
Zebra,  25,  82,  102. 
Zebu,  80. 
Zulus,  104. 


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Meiklejohn's  English  Grammar.  Also  composition,  versification,  paraphrasing,  etc. 
For  liigh  schools  and  colleges,     go  cts. 

Meiklejohn's  History  of  the  English  Language.  78  pages.  Part  in  of  Eng- 
lish Language  above,  35  cts. 

Williams's  Composition  and  Rhetoric  by  Practice.  For  high  school  and  col- 
lege. Combines  the  smallest  amoiuit  of  theory  with  an  abundance  of  practice.  Revised 
edition.     Si.oo.- 

Strang's  Exercises  in  English.  Examples  in  Syntax,  Accidence,  and  Style  for 
criticism  and  correction.      50  cts. 

Huffcutt's  English  in  the  Preparatory  School.  Presents  as  practically  as  pos- 
sible som;  of  the  advanced  methods  of  teaching  English  grammar  and  composition  in  the 
secondary  schools.     25  cts. 

Woodward's  Study  of  English.  Discusses  English  teaching  from  primary  school  to 
high  Collegiate  work.     25  cts. 

Genung's  Study  of  Rhetoric.  shows  the  most  practical  discipline  of  students  for  the 
maknig  of  literature.     25  cts. 

GOOdchild's  Book  of    Stops.      Punctuation  in  Verse.     Illustrated.     10  cts.      ^ 
See  also  our  list  of  books  for  the  study  of  English  Literature. 


D.    C.    HEATH    &    CO.,    PUBLISHERS, 

BOSTON.        NEW  YORK.         CHICAGO. 


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