ELEMENTAL GEOGRAPHY.
The Earth, on which we live, is nearly a round body, the distance through the centre from north to south, being twenty-six miles less, than the distance through from west to east. That it is a round body is proved, 1st, By having been circumnavigated, or sailed round; 2d, From the appearance of a vessel approaching the land, the top of the masts being seen first; 3d, By the shadow of the earth upon the moon, during an eclipse of the moon.
A VIEW OF THE EARTH’S SURFACE, VIZ.
MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, OCEAN, ISLAND, &c.
MINE. GROTTO.
This cut represents, in a striking manner, the mines and caverns as they exist under the land and ocean. The mine here exhibited, is a picture of a salt mine in Poland, Europe. The grotto is under the island Antiparos in the Mediterranean Sea. A mine is a cavern made by man, in digging for the articles found in the earth. A grotto is a cavern formed by nature.
Physical Geography, or Geography of the Earth, is a description of the earth’s structure and surface. The surface consists of two elements, viz, water and land; only one-third part being land.
Civil or Political Geography defines the boundaries and extent of the various countries in possession of the different nations of the earth. Civil Geography also treats of government, religion, commerce, the characteristic features of the principal races of men, and various other subjects.
Statistical Geography is a description of States, Kingdoms, Empires, or Cities, with reference to their population and resources.