America.

Andes, SouthChimborazo, Quito3620,900
America.Cotopaxi, Quito3718,880

Height of Remarkable Lakes, Cities, &c.

AlpsLake of Lausanne388640
Lake of Lanzon, on the mountain of Olan396797
SwitzerlandLake of Lucerne401408
South AmericaCity of Riobamba, Quito4118,800
City of Quito429356
North AmericaCity of Mexico437424
AustriaTown of Eisenerz442056
EgyptThe great Pyramid45477

WATER IN GENERAL.


273. WATER, generally speaking, is a transparent and nearly incompressible fluid, the component parts of which are two kinds of gas, called hydrogen ([45]) and oxygen ([21]).

It is liquid in the common temperature of our atmosphere, assumes a solid state under the denomination of ice, in a cold temperature (32° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer); and, by heat at 212°, is converted into an elastic vapour of almost incredible force, called steam. At any temperature betwixt these two points, it returns, unaltered, to its liquid state. The weight of water is about 816 times greater than that of atmospheric air.

Water abounds in, and may be considered as, a kind of general cement to all solid bodies. It performs the most important functions both in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and even enters largely into their composition.