Answer.—The table below shows the total land grants made by the United States down to 1880, as given in “The West in 1880.”
| States and | Acres | Acres |
| Corporations. | Granted. | Certified. |
| Illinois | 2,595,053 | 2,595,053 |
| Missouri | 2,985,160 | 1,828,005 |
| Iowa | 6,795,527 | 3,940,270 |
| Michigan | 4,712,480 | 3,328,987 |
| Wisconsin | 4,808,486 | 2,672,803 |
| Minnesota | 9,992,041 | 6,925,351 |
| Kansas | 9,370,000 | 3,851,536 |
| Pacific Railroad | 159,486,766 | 8,831,687 |
| Total | 215,203,807 | 42,847,403 |
These grants, amounting in the aggregate to 215,203,807 acres, or over 355,000 square miles, are only about 6,000 miles less in area than all the original thirteen States of the Union taken together, and is more than 60 per cent greater than the total area of the German Empire. Fortunately for the country, a number of these grants have been forfeited; yet, as above shown, 42,847,403 acres, or more than the total area of England and Wales together, had been actually certified to the States and roads named before June 30, 1879; and many acres have been certified since that time. The exact amount down to date is not yet published. To avoid taxation, the railroads entitled to public lands delay taking their certificates until the settlement of the country and opportunity for selling make it to their interest to do so. A large amount of the land covered by the above grants will be certified to the grantees on demand.
POPULATION OF THE GLOBE.
Unionville, Iowa.
Please state in Our Curiosity Shop the estimated present population of the world. Also, the population of the United States according to the revised census of 1880.
A. J. R.
Answer.—The population of the entire globe is still far from being definitely determined. Hardly two original investigators agree. In this country the estimates of Drs. Behm and Wagner are generally accepted as the most reliable, yet their latest figures differ from those of two years before by upward of 22,000,000. Then they stated the population of the entire globe at 1,455,923,500, whereas now they state it at 1,433,887,500, distributed as follows:
| Europe | 327,743,400 |
| Asia | 795,591,000 |
| Africa | 205,823,200 |
| America | 100,415,400 |
| Australia and Polynesia | 4,232,000 |
| Polar regions | 82,500 |