CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF CHAMBERS'S INTRODUCTORY. THE EARTH which we inhabit, as has been explained in the article ASTRONOMY, is a nearly round globe or mass of matter, forming one of eleven primary planets, which at various distances revolve round the sun as a centre, and receive from that splendid luminary the blessings of light and heat. The earth is one of the smaller sized of the planets, being only about a fourth of the diameter of Uranus, and an eleventh of the diameter of Jupiter, and forms, therefore, a comparatively small portion of the planetary system, and, with reference to the stars, only a speck in the vast extent of creation. According to the calculations of astronomers, the earth is 7902 miles in mean diameter, and measures about 25,000 miles in circumference. But the diameter or thickness is greater at the middle, or equinoctial line, than in the contrary direction. The cause of this has been explained in ASTRONOMY, but may here be briefly adverted to. The diurnal motion of the earth on its axis, or imaginary poles, causes a greater whirl at the middle than the extremities of the mass, and the earth, originally in a soft state, has been there bulged out all round. The extent of this bulging is twenty-six miles on the whole thickness, or thirteen miles from the surface to the centre of the earth. Thus, the form of the globe is that of an orange, or flattened sphere, and its diameter is twenty-six miles greater from one side to another, at the equinoctial line, than betwixt the poles. Such is the nice adjustment of the daily motion of the earth on its axis, that if it were only a little greater, the sea would rise and fly off, and if the velocity were still more increased, the whole mass of earth and water would be dispersed in fragments, or, in other words, be destroyed. The earth, as far as can be ascertained, is a solid body, well balanced in all its parts, and consists of two kinds of matter, land and water-the land being composed of rocks, metallic ores, soils, and a variety of other substances (see GEOLOGY); while the water, as is well known, is of two qualities, fresh and salt-the former in lakes and rivers, and the latter in the sea or ocean. The greater part of the earth consists of solid land or rocky matter, but a large proportion of it is covered by the waters of the ocean; and therefore, to appearance, the occan forms the principal portion of the globe. It is so, however, only in appearance, notwithstanding its imposing extent, the water being merely a superficial covering to the land. The manner in which the land is mixed with the ocean is quite irregular, and the relative situation and dimensions of each are constantly shifting. From causes which have been explained in the article GEOLOGY, the sea is daily making encroachments on the land, while the land at other places is in the course of being left dry by the sea. Thus, in point of fact, the external features of the globe are ever changing; and it may be safely averred, that in the course of ages there has been a thorough alteration over the whole surface of the globe-that not one part now resembles that form which it originally possessed. its ocean, its atmosphere, its rivers, and its varying climates, forms an appropriate field for animal and vegetable existence. The manner in which animals and plants are thus distributed in situations and circumstances exactly suited to their character, is a matter of deeply interesting observation. Nature-by which, as a phrase of convenience, we denote the great Creating and Disposing Power-has appointed very few forms of animal or vegetable life to be localised in any portion of the globe approaching to its entire terrestrial surface. Most of them are calculated for certain decordingly, are to be found distributed in rings or zones around the globe, or at certain elevations, with a direct reference, in all cases, to the temperature and other conditions of the situation. In order to facilitate the operations of the navigator and traveller, and with the view to mark the relative situation of every spot on the earth's surface, the globe has been subjected to divers measurements, by means of ideal lines drawn from north to south, and east to west, as represented in the figure which forms the frontispiece. In the first place, the whole surface is represented as spread out in the form of two hemispheres-grees of heat and cold, dryness and moisture; and, acthe Eastern Hemisphere containing the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and the Western Hemisphere North and South America. The line which appears to cut across the hemispheres at the middle is the equator or equinoctial line, and from this are measurements in degrees of latitude. The earth's surface has been calculated to contain 198,943,750 square miles, of which scarcely a third part is dry land; the remaining two-thirds are water. The land is composed principally of two large masses or tracts, one of which comprehends the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa; the other comprehends the continent of America. Australia, which lies in the ocean in a southerly direction from Asia, is so extensive as to be entitled to the name and character of a fifth division. All the detached and smaller masses of land, called islands, when taken together, are computed to contain as much land as the continent of Europe. In reference to maps of the earth, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, with their islands, are distinguished as lying in the eastern hemisphere; while America, with the West Indian and other islands, are comprehended in the western hemisphere. The seas which encompass these extensive tracts of land have locally various names; but the two principal expanses of water are the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans-the former separating Europe, Asia, and Africa, from America, on the west, and the latter lying betwixt the western shores of America and the eastern shores of Asia. The extensive oceans surrounding the north and south poles are called the Polar Seas, which have not been explored sufficiently for us to be able to say whether any large tracts of land lie in these remote quarters of the globe. Great diversity of opinion prevails with respect to the depth of the ocean. By numerous investigations, it does not appear that the depth is any where much more than two or three miles, generally it is a great deal less; and it might be argued, that notwithstanding the large surface of the ocean, the body of its waters can only be considered as lying like lakes in the hollows of the land; for the earth, as already noticed, is eight thousand miles in diameter, and to that huge mass of dense matter the sea bears no proportion in its depth. While the surface of the land exhibits a variety of mountain ranges, hills, vales, and plains, so also is the bottom of the sea varied in its configuration, abounding in sandbanks, hills, rocks, and reefs dangerous to the mariner; and the islands which rear their heads above the surface are only the tops of the highest hills and mountains in the sea. The waters of the ocean, as every one knows, are salt to a greater or lesser degree-a quality which is considered necessary to preserve them from putridity. How they should possess this saline property, no one has yet been able to explain satisfactorily. Some have imagined that the saltness is caused by rocks of salt at the bottom of the sea, but this is obviously incorrect, for rocks of salt do not abound to such an extent as would be required for performing this important office. It is more probable that the saltness is an inherent property in the water itself; there is at any rate nothing more strange in this than in the circumstance of the atmosphere being in its nature composed of divers kinds of air or gases. For an examination of this point, however, and for a regular account of the ocean and its tides, we refer to the article THE OCEAN. According to the beautiful harmony of design manifested in all departments of creation, the earth, with It appears, from the researches of geologists, that the distribution of animal and vegetable forms has, in the course of ages, undergone variations conformable to alterations of condition in soil, climate, and other circumstances. Races of animals have thus entirely disappeared from the surface of the earth, while insular tracts of land, which have risen from the bosom of the deep, have become clothed with vegetation, and are now the appropriate theatre of existence of various kinds of animals. The dispersing power of winds and currents, not to speak of the active interference of man, is supposed to be capable of accounting for the distribution of many plants; but it is clear, that without the evervigilant superintendence of an all-wise Providence, the earth, taken in its whole extent, could not exhibit those remarkable forms of animal and vegetable life which are so nicely suited to the localities in which they are placed. In Europe, and nearly all other temperate regions, we find the horse, the cow, the dog, the cat, the crow, the sparrow, the house-fly, and other creatures with which we are familiar, because the nature of these animals is suited to climates of moderate heat and cold. In the warm and dry regions of Asia and Africa, other forms of animal life prevail-as the lion, tiger, and camel; the latter being suited to traverse wide sandy deserts, and to endure privations of drought for a greater length of time than other beasts of burden. America has the condor, the Washington eagle, the llama, and other great birds and beasts of prey peculiar to itself. A remarkable distinction in animal forms is that found in Australia. There, as will be afterwards mentioned, the quadruped races are furnished with pouches for their young, and move forward by leaping, peculiarities conformable to the locality in which they happen to be placed. EUROPE. Europe is the smallest of the great divisions of our globe, but distinguished above the rest by the character of its population, the superior cultivation of the soil, and the flourishing condition of arts, sciences, industry, and commerce, the multitude of large and well-built cities, and its power and influence over the other parts of the world. It is washed on three sides by the sea, which is called by different names, and belongs either to the Northern Arctic or the Atlantic Ocean. A narrow strait of the Mediterranean separates it from Africa. On the east alone it joins the mainland, being there separated from Asia by an imaginary line. Europe is situated in the northern frozen and the northern temperate zones, between 10° and 63° east longitude, and 36° and 71° north latitude. Including the islands, which contain about 317,000 square miles, the whole extent of Europe amounts to about 3,250,000 square miles, of which Russia comprises nearly one-half. The greatest length, from Cape St Vincent, in Portugal, to the northern extremity of the eastern boundary, at Waygatt's, is about 3500 miles. The greatest breadth, from Cape Matapan in the Morea, to the North Cape in Norway, is about 2500 miles. Europe is remarkably well watered, although its rivers have not so long a course nor such large cata racts as those in other parts of the globe, particularly | European peninsulas are six in number: Scandinavia, in America. The principal rivers are the Ebro, the Rhone, and the Po, running into the Mediterranean; the Danube, the Dnieper, and the Dniester, into the Black Sea; the Don, into the Sea of Azoph; the Wolga, into the Caspian; the Dwina, into the Arctic Ocean; another Dwina or Duna, the Vistula, and the Oder, into the Baltic; the Elbe, Weser, and Rhine, into the North Sea; the Seine into the English Channel; the Thames into the German Ocean; the Loire and Garonne, the Duoro and Tagus, the Gaudiani and Gaudalquiver, into the Atlantic. The Wolga and Danube are the longest. By the Danube, which penetrates the continent on its southern, and the Rhine which penetrates it on its north-western side, Europe is almost cut in two by water-courses. The Rhine is celebrated for the romantic beauty of its banks, on the middle and higher part of its course. At the distance of 200 miles from the sea, it is as broad as the Thames at Westminster, and suitable for navigation with steamboats and small vessels. Europe possesses numerous large lakes, but none so extensive as those in North America. The largest is Lake Ladoga in Russia. The lakes celebrated for their beauty and extent are Lake Constance and Lake Leman in Switzerland, or on the borders of that country. A great part of Europe is mountainous; the southern more so than the northern. The most elevated region is Switzerland, from which there is a descent, which terminates, on the side of the North Sea and the Baltic, in low plains. The lowest and most level parts are Holland and Northern Germany, Denmark, Russia, and Prussia. The highest mountains are the Alps, in Switzerland and Italy, which spread from those countries in various directions, extend westwardly into France, and are connected by the Cevennes with the Pyrenees, which separate France from Spain. One chain of the Alps stretches south towards the Mediterranean; then, taking an easterly course, runs through Italy, under the name of the Appenines. Several branches run eastward from the Alps, through the south of Germany, as far as the Turkish provinces. Another chain, the Jura, runs to the north, and separates Switzerland from France. In the east of Europe are the Carpathian mountains, which on one side meet the Sudetic range, and on the other the mountains of Turkey in Europe. The highest mountain in Europe is Mont Blanc, in Savoy, one of the Alps, which is said to be 15,766 feet above the level of the sea. Several of the European mountains are volcanoes; as Ætna, Vesuvius, and Hecla. It is a fact worthy of notice, that none of the volcanoes of Europe are to be found in any of the great chains of mountains which have just been enumerated. The only one on the continent is Vesuvius, and this is too much detached to be considered as properly forming one of the Appenines. Ætna, in the Island of Sicily, rising to the height of ten or eleven thousand feet above the level of the sea, is the largest European volcano. The Lipari Islands, anciently called the Æolian, a few miles to the north of Sicily, bear evident marks of a volcanic origin; and in several of them, subterranean fires are still in operation. Iceland, too, presents the most abundant tokens of the presence of volcanic fire, and has often suffered under its devastations; Mount Hecla is the most noted, although not the only source of the eruptions on this island. To the possession of many inland seas, and, consequently, of a line of coast very extensive in proportion to its area, Europe is greatly indebted for the great advancement of its inhabitants in civilisation; these circumstances being favourable to that intercourse without which nations never make great advances. The chief islands belonging to Europe are-Iceland, in the north sea, lying in the 65th degree of north latitude; Great Britain, Ireland, and other British islands, in the Atlantic and German Oceans; Majorca, Minorca, Sardinia, Sicily, Corsica, Elba, the Ionian Isles, Malta, Candia, and Cyprus, in the Mediterranean Sea. The Jutland, Crimea, Italy, Spain, and Greece. The soil of Europe, though not equal in luxuriance to that of the tropics, is almost throughout fit for cultivation. The tracts in the northern zone are almost the only exception. With respect to climate, Europe may be divided into three parts the warm region, where the lemon-trees grow wild, as far as 48° north lat., having a pleasant spring, a hot summer, and short winter; the temperate, as far as 65° N., in which grain ripens; and the cold region, to the extreme north, where nothing will grow but reindeer moss, and no domestic animal can live except the reindeer. The products are not so various as in other parts of the world, and many of them were originally brought from foreign countries and naturalised; but, on the other hand, Europe can boast of a more perfect cultivation. Among the animals are horses, some of which are of the nobler breeds; horned cattle; sheep in Spain, Saxony, and England, of the finest wool; asses, goats, swine, dogs; reindeer; wild beasts of different kinds, valuable for their flesh or fur; whales, sea-cows, sea-dogs; abundance of wild and tame fowl; large quantities of fish in the seas, lakes, and rivers, among which the herring, in particular, affords sustenance to many of the inhabitants; useful insects, such as bees, silkworms, kermes, gall-flies, and Spanish flies. Oysters and pearl mussels also abound. It produces all kinds of grain, and sufficient for its consumption; beautiful garden plants; abundance of fruits, including those of southern climates, such as figs, almonds, chestnuts, lemons, oranges, olives, pomegranates, dates; also flax, hemp, cotton, madder, tobacco; the best kinds of wine; and a great variety of wood for fuel, and for house and ship building. The birch and the willow best endure the cold of the northern polar circle. Europe produces all the varieties of metals and minerals in great excellence and abundance. In gold and silver, Hungary and Transylvania are the richest ; in iron, the northern countries, Sweden, Norway, and Russia. Salt of all kinds, rock, sea, and spring salt, is also abundant in Europe. The inhabitants, estimated by Malte-Brun at 200 millions at least, are unequally distributed; in Russia and Sweden there are from fifteen to eighteen to a square mile; in the Netherlands, where the population is most dense, Italy, France, Great Britain, and Germany, the same extent supports from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty persons. The inhabitants consist of several different races, speaking distinct languages. The stocks to which the principal languages belong, are-the Teutonic, which is the mother of the German, Dutch, English, Swedish, and Danish; the Latin, or Roman, now spoken only by the learned, but the mother of the Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Wallachian; the Sclavonic, to which belong the Russian, Polish, Bohemian, Bulgarian, Vandal, and the Servian, or Illyrian. Besides these, there are the modern Greek; the Turco-Tartaric; the Finnish and Hungarian; the Celtic in Wales and the north-west part of France (Bretagne); the Highlands of Scotland and Ireland; the Basque, among the Pyrenees. The most widely spoken is the German, with its kindred languages, formed by an union of the Roman with the Teutonic. The prevailing religion is the Christian, which includes several churches, viz., the Roman Catholic, which is the most numerous; the Protestant (Lutheran, Calvinistic, and Anglican), consisting of numerous sectsAnabaptists, Mennonites, Quakers, Unitarians, Methodists, Moravians, and the Greek church. A part of the inhabitants profess the Jewish, a part the Mahommedan religion. Among the Laplanders and Samoeides, there are also some heathens, but their number is small. Agriculture has made great advances in Europe, and is daily improving. In this respect, those countries are particularly distinguished where the Teutonic languages are spoken, as also are France and a part of Italy. In no part of the world are manufactures carried to such perfection as in several of the European countries, especially in Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Germany. The inhabitants work up not only native European, but also foreign products, and supply all the wants and luxuries of life. Commerce is not less active, and is promoted by well-constructed roads and canals, by well-organised posts, banks, insurance companies, commercial companies, and fairs. The commerce of Europe extends to all quarters of the world, and every sea is filled with European ships. In this respect, Great Britain is most distinguished. Europe is the seat of art and science; to her belongs the honour of discovering the most important truths, of giving birth to the most useful inventions and the finest productions of genius, and the improvement of all the sciences. In intellectual progress, the Teutonic races, and those who speak the languages derived from the Latin, have surpassed the Slavonic nations. The Turks have remained strangers, in many respects, to the literary and scientific improvement which has marked the other European nations. Eighty-five universities provide for the higher branches of education; numerous gymnasia and academies for the preparatory studies, and a great number of lower schools, particularly in Germany, are employed in educating the common people. In many places there are academies of science, and societies of all kinds, for the cultivation of the arts and sciences. By its physical situation, Europe is divided into East and West Europe. West Europe comprises the Pyrehean peninsula (Spain and Portugal), the country west of the Alps (France), the countries north of the Alps (Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands), the country south of the Alps (Italy), the islands of the North Sea (Great Britain, Ireland, and Iceland), and the countries on the Baltic (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Prussia). East Europe contains the countries north of the Carpathian mountains (Russia and Gallicia), and the countries south of the Carpathian mountains (Hungary, in its more comprehensive sense, and Turkey). much the finest portion of the island, and lies betwixt [It is considered unnecessary here to say any thing further of the British Islands, as they form the subject of various other articles, entitled HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN, DESCRIPTION OF ENGLAND, DESCRIPTION OF SCOTLAND, DESCRIPTION OF IRELAND, CONSTITUTION AND RESOURCES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, not to speak of the accounts of Canada, West Indies, East Indies, and other foreign possessions, each forming distinct numbers of the present work.] FRANCE. After Great Britain, France is usually reckoned the most powerful and influential country in Europe. In point of territorial extent and amount of population, it stands much higher than Great Britain, which is but a small country, and it likewise possesses a finer climate; nevertheless, such have been its unfortunate political and religious dissensions and misarrangements, that it has permitted itself to be outstripped in the race of improvement by England. Yet under all its backwardness, in many points France forms a great nation, well deserving of the sympathy and respect of its neighbours; and it is greatly to be desired that in future a good understanding should subsist betwixt it and Great The following are the political states of Europe:The three empires of Austria, Russia, and Turkey; seventeen kingdoms, viz., Portugal, Spain, France, Great Britain, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, (including Norway), Sardinia, the Two Sicilies, Greece, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, and Würtemberg; one ecclesiastical state, the papal dominions; eight republics, namely, Switzerland, the Ionian Islands, San Marino, Hamburg, Lubeck, Bremen, Cracow, and Frankfort; one electorate, Hesse; six grand-duchies, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Saxe-Weimar, MecklenburgSchwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and Tuscany; twelve duchies, viz., Oldenburg, Gotha, Meiningen, Altenburg, Brunswick, Nassau, Dessau, Bernburg, Cöthen, Mo-Britain. dena, Parma, and Lucca; one landgraviate, viz., Hesse- France is situated between latitude 42° 20′ and 51° 5' Homburg; twelve principalities, viz., Hohenzollern- N., and longitude 3° 51′ E. and 9° 27′ W., comprising Hechingen, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Schwarzburg- an extent of 213,800 square miles, with a population Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Waldeck, Lippe-Detmold, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lichtenstein, Reuss-Greiz, Reuss-Schleiz, Reuss-Lobenstein, and Reuss-Ebersdorf. Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Würtemberg, Hamburg, Lubeck, Bremen, Frankfort, Hesse, and the above grand-duchies and duchies, compose the region which we call Germany, but the proper name of which, as given by the natives, is Deutschland-the land of the Teutones, an ancient people of central Europe. THE BRITISH ISLANDS. according to official returns, in 1827, of 31,851,545. It is bordered on the north-east by the Low Countries, the Prussian province of the Lower Rhine, and Rhenish Bavaria; on the east, it is separated from Baden by the Rhine, and touches Switzerland and Sardinia; on the south, its boundaries are the Mediterranean, the Pyrenees, and the Bidasson; the ocean bounds the rest. The island of Corsica, and the Hières, in the Mediterranean, and the Isles of Oleron, Ré Noirmoutier, Belle-Isle, Dieu, and Ushant in the Atlantic, belong to France. The foreign possessions are of little value. They are, in Asia, Pondicherry and These islands, the most important belonging to Karical on the Coromandel coast, Yanaon in the NorthEurope, lie at a short distance from the north-western Circars, Chandernagore in Bengal, Mahe on the coast of France, betwixt the Atlantic Ocean on the Malabar coast, a factory at Surat, and some factories west and the German Ocean on the cast. From their in Arabia, containing in all 179,000 inhabitants; in southernmost boundary upon the British Channel to Africa, Senegal, Goree, the Isle of Bourbon, and some the most northerly of the Shetland group, is a distance factories, containing 99,000 inhabitants; in America, of very nearly eleven degrees, measuring from the 50th Martinique, and Gaudaloupe with its dependencies, to the 61st degree of north latitude. The main island, Guiana, and the small islands of St Pierre and Miquelon, which since the Union has been called Great Britain, near Newfoundland, containing 225,000 inhabitants. is composed of two portions, with considerably distinctive The territory is divided into 86 departments, which features, under the names of England and Scotland. generally derive their names from the rivers. They England forms the larger, the most southerly, and are subdivided into 363 arrondissements, 2844 cantons, and 38,339 communes. Each department is governed by a prefect, and each arrondissement by a subprefect. The cantons have no administrative powers. The communes are under a mayor. The provincial officers generally are appointed by the home minister, only those of towns under 5000 inhabitants being appointed by the prefect. The principal mountains of France are-1. The Vosges on the north-east. They are of a rounded outline, with gentle slopes, and afford much open pasturage. The highest summit is not more than 4500 feet high. 2. The Jura mountains lie to the south of these, and their summits rise to the height of 6000 feet. 3. Many Alpine branches intersect Dauphiny and Provence. In the centre of the kingdom are-4. The mountains of Auvergne, of volcanic origin, of which the Puy de Dome, the Monts d'Or, and the Cantal, are the most conspicuous. 5. The Cevennes lie to the south-east of the range last mentioned. Their highest summit is Mont Lozère (about 6510 feet). 6. The Pyrenees form the principal part of the boundary between France and Spain. These mountains divide the country into four great basins, the form and exposure of which necessarily have a great influence on their climate and productions. The narrow valley of the Rhone runs from north to south, while the open basins of the Seine, the Loire, and the Garonne, stretch in a north-western direction. The Adour rises in the Pyrenees, and washes the walls of Bayonne. The other rivers are principally tributaries. The Marne and the Oise fall into the Seine; the Allier, the Loire, the Sarthe, and the Mayenne, into the Loire; the Rhone receives the Saône, the Isére, the Durance, the Ain, and the Sorgue; the Tarn and the Dordogne join the Garonne. The numerous branches of these rivers are joined by canals, which form an extensive internal water communication. In respect to soil, the richest part of France is the northern division, comprehending the provinces of Flanders, Artois, Picardy, Normandy, and the Isle of France, where there is a deep rich loam; about 18,179,590 acres in extent. The valley of the Garonne is composed of a friable sandy loam, with a calcareous mixture, and moisture sufficient for every purpose. This district contains 7,654,561 acres. The great valley of Languedoc is extremely prolific, though the soil is not so fine as that of the preceding districts. The Limagne, a valley of Auvergne, is considered to have one of the finest soils in the world. It consists of beds of earth, said to be twenty feet deep, formed from the decomposition of soft basalt. The calcareous and chalk formations are extensive. The chalk provinces are unfruitful in grain, but the genial influence of the sun allows them other riches. The calcareous loam on the borders of the chalk formation is more productive. In Bretagne, Anjou, and Maine, are immense heaths. The landes are extensive tracts of sandy deserts, producing nothing but broom, heath, and juniper. The most extensive are the landes of Bordeaux, twenty leagues in length by twelve in breadth. In the remaining provinces, gravel, or a gravelly sand, is the predominating soil. The woods and forests are estimated to cover a space of 18,795,000 acres. The principal are those of Ardennes, Orleans, and Fontainebleau. The northern and western coasts are formed in a great proportion by immense downs or sandbanks; and where the shores are formed by cliffs, they are seldom bold enough to be approached with safety. The harbours are therefore few. On the Mediterranean, the coast of Languedoc is very dangerous, but Provence abounds in good harbours. The culture, throughout the northern half of the kingdom, consists of wheat, barley, oats, pulse, and of late, much more than formerly, of potatoes; in the southern half, corn (particularly maize), vines, mulberries, and olives. The eastern parts, being more elevated than the western, have more rigorous winters and more ardent summers. Coal and iron are found in abundance. The most common fuel is wood. The superficial extent of France has been recently The estimated by Baron Dupin at 53,533,426 hectares, or 132,694,000 English acres. The amount of capital invested in agricultural pursuits is estimated at 37,522,061,476 francs; the gross annual produce at 4,678,708,885 francs; the expenses of cultivation at 3,334,005,515; leaving a profit of 3 per cent. on the capital. The produce of wheat in the best cultivated districts, and on the best soil, hardly exceeds eighteen bushels per acre: an English farmer expects twenty, five on the same extent. In 1812, the number of horses in France was 2,176,000; but in 1819, the horses and mules together amounted only to 1,657,671; at present the number is estimated at 2,500,000. number of horned cattle is 6,973,000; of sheep, about 45,000,000. The total number of all kinds of poultry is about 51,600,000. The French are the best winemakers in the world. The Champagne, Burgundy, Claret, Hermitage, are universally celebrated. For a long time, the choicest growths were in the hands of the church; and in the frequent changes of property which have taken place since the revolution, many vineyards have deteriorated in consequence of bad management. The brandies of France are believed to be unrivalled. The value of the whole produce of wine and brandy is about 800,000,000 francs. The culture of the vine is supposed to have increased nearly onefourth since the revolution, owing principally to the small proprietors, each of whom endeavours to supply his own consumption by a little patch of vineyard. * M. Dupin says that many hectares of French territory are yet uncultivated, merely for want of cattle to stock and manure them; that two-thirds of the inhabitants are without animal food; that more than one-third subsist entirely on oats, buckwheat, rye, chestnuts, or potatoes, and that the agricultural population is too great for the prosperity of France. Two-thirds of the population is agricultural. The France possesses a soil and climate capable of furnishing her with all the raw materials of manufacture except cotton. The manufacture of fine woollen cloths at Sedan was introduced under the auspices of Colbert. The machinery used was very defective until M. Chaptal engaged an English machinist to instruct the French artisans. Steam-engines are rare; the spinning-mills being worked chiefly by water or by horses. quantity of native wool manufactured in 1819 was 38,000,000 kilogrammes (of about 23 lbs. each), and, in 1826, 42,000,000, with 8,000,000 of imported wool; the value of the manufactured articles was 265,000,000 francs; of the raw wool, 105,000,000: the quantity exported was about one-thirteenth of the whole quantity manufactured. By the exertions of Henry IV., the mulberry-tree was cultivated in all the southern provinces. At Tours, silk stuffs for furniture are chiefly manufactured; at Ganges, and other places in the Cevennes, silk stockings. Lyons is the principal place for silk manufactures of all kinds. Paris ranks next after Lyons. In 1812, the value of the raw material amounted to 45,560,000 francs, of which 22,000,000 were the price of imported silk. The value of manufactured goods, at the same period, was 107,560,000 francs, of which less than one-third was exported. Forty years ago, the spinning of cotton by machinery was hardly practised in France. Cotton mills have been established within that period, and the manufactures of Alsace are now superior to those of England in the brilliancy of their colours. In 1812, 10,362,000 kilogrammes of cotton were spun by machinery; and in 1825, 28,000,000 of greater fineness. The cambrics, gauze, and lawn of St Quentin, Valenciennes, and Cambray, are among the most valuable products of French industry. Lace is made in great quantities. The whole produce of the linen and hemp manufactures is estimated at 200,000,000 francs. In 1814, 100,000,000 kilogrammes of cast-iron were produced; in 1825, 160,000,000. Gilding and watch-making are carried on, chiefly in Paris, to the annual value of about 38,000,000 francs each. Printing also employs a great number of persons at Paris. In 1814, the number of |