used to signify something contemptible. Little did we then suspect that it was only the English way of pronouncing the French quelque chose; i. e., something, contemptuously travestied to mimic and ridicule French prisoners in England. Ment, from the Latin mentum (as in ornamentum, an ornament; adjumentum, an assistance), through the French ment (as in mandement, Latin mandatum, a command), is a suffix which denotes the result of the act indicated in the verb, from which the noun is derived; thus, velo means I veil or cover; and velamen or velamentum is a veil or covering; so aliment (from alo, Lat. I nourish) is a means of nourishing, nourishment. Hence, devotement properly indicates not the act, but the result, not the doing, but the state of feeling which ensues from the doing, the devotion. In practice, however, the usage seems reversed. *Her (Iphigenia) devotement was the demand of Apollo."-Hurd. "O how loud It calls devotion, genuine growth of night! An undevout astronomer is mad." Young, "The Complaint." Mony, as in alimony, sanctimony, a Latin termination (as in parsimonia, sparingness; and matrimonium, the condition of a mother, matrimony, not in great use), which denotes a consequence, as in testimony, the result of the act of testis, a witness. Ness, as found in littleness, nothingness, is a Saxon suffix signi fying the abstract quality. If we compare littleness with the French petitesse (Old English nesse), and take in other words, as tendresse, tenderness, we are led to conjecture that the n is only a connecting consonant, and that ess or esse in both French and English are the same. Consider also the Anglo-Saxon sarenes, soreness, that is, sorrow; gelicness, likeness; heardnes, hardness; micelness, muchness, that is, greatness; and you find the same form in the root of our language. If, however, the n is not an essential part of the word, then the ness or rather ess has no connexion with ness in such words as Dungeness, Sheerness, and other proper names, names of places. In these, the ness comes from the German nase, and the Anglo-Saxon nese, and signifies nose; that is, a headland or promontory. "About six of the clock at night the wind vered to the south-west; and we weighed anker, and bare cleere of the ness, and then set our course north-east and by north until midnight, being then clear of the Yarmouth sands."—Hackluyt. Ock, as in hillock, a diminutive; so that hillock is a little hill. So bullock originally meant a young bull or calf; compare Isaiah xi. 6 with Jer. xxxi. 18, where calf and bullock are the renderings of the same Hebrew term. In the suffix ock the c sound is the essential element, the being merely an affair of spelling, and the o (probably) a connecting vowel. Thus regarded, we find the origin of our diminutive c in the Latin diminutive c, as seen in recula (res, a thing), specula (spes, hope), nubecula (nubes, a cloud), vulpecula (vulpes, a fox), &c. Another form of bullock is bulchin, obviously bull's-kin, that is, bull's child, as in the Hebrew, "steer, the son of a bull," for a bullock or calf (Exod. xxix. 1; Lev. iv. 3). "And better yet than this, a bulchin, two years old, A curl'd pate calf it is, and oft could have been sold." Oon, or on, an augmentive; as in balloon, or great ball. The termination oon, or on, comes to us from the Italian, but is originally from the Latin; as seen in naso, a man with a large nose; capito, a man with a large head. Like balloon is saloon in the French salon, a place of reception (saluer, Fr. to salute, greet; Latin salvus, safe). Or, a termination borrowed from the Latin or; as seen in auctor, in English, author. The correspondent Saxon ending is er, which has already been spoken of. Or denotes the agent. Or, in former times, was written our. Author, properly signifies originator; the first who does anything. Ose, from the Latin osus, as morosus (ill-tempered), morose. The osus in Latin, is sometimes uosus; as, monstruosus, monstrous. We have the ending in imperious, imperiosus; religious, religiosus; invidious, invidiosus; suspicious, suspiciosus. The osus is Englished also by our termination y; as, ventosus, windy; lapidosus, stony. Ote, of Latin origin, found in verbs formed from the Latin participle in otus; as, to promote, from promotus (moved forward); to devote (devotus, Lat. consecrated (votum, a vow), something sacred or set apart for the gods). "Such on Isis' temple you may find, On votive tablets to the life pourtray'd." Dryden. Ric, as in bishopric, in Anglo-Saxon denotes power, dominion, territory; as to-becume thin rice, i. e. thy kingdom come. Bishoprie then, is the jurisdiction of a bishop. Ship, as in hardship, has no connexion with ship, a vessel, bu comes from the Anglo-Saxon scipe, denoting a state, an office, a dignity; e. g., freond-scipe, friendship, the state of being a friend; in German, freundshaft; the shaft represents the older form of the word, which was sceaft. Here is seen the origin of worship; that is, weorth-ship, literally worthiness. "Dinner is on table; my father desires your worship's Company." Shakspear, "Merry Wives of Windsor." Derivatively, worship" signifies adoration. human persons, professing faith in Christ, gathered together in several "Under the name of church, I understand à body or collection of places of the world for the worship of the same God, und united into the same corporation."-Pearson. Sum, from the Anglo-Saxon sum, an adjective of the same meaning as our adjective some, is employed in both Anglo-Saxon and in English as a suffix; e. g., winsum, winsome; i. e., winning. We find the termination in our present lonesome, handsome, tiresome, &c. The spelling of some in the Anglo-Saxon, namely, sum shows the origin of our pronunciation of the word. Sound Etymology would throw great light on pronunciation. Ster, str, a suffix of Anglo-Saxon origin, denoting the feminine gender, as spinster, a female spinner. We may exhibit the real meaning of nouns ending in ster, as found in the Anglo-Saxon, thus: Th, of Anglo-Saxon origin, being a termination by which adjectives are transformed into nouns; as, treowth, truth, from treowe, German treu, English true; whence troth and betrothed. We find the ending in mirth (merry), dearth (dear), breadth (broad), depth (deep), &c. Tude, a Latin termination, found in latitudo (latus, broad), latitude; longitudo (longus, long), longitude. So fortitude (fortis, "The author of that which causeth anything to be, is author of that brave), magnitude (magnus, great), &c. thing also which thereby is caused."-Hooker. "From his loins Ty, from the Latin substansive termination tas; e, g., commoditas, commodity. Here we have an instance of the way in which derivatives often depart from the meaning of their primitives. Commoditas in Latin means proportion, convenience, while commodity now signifies a thing, and has a strictly commercial import. The steps by which the derivation took place may be supplied from our older Of money in the commerce of mankind the principal use is that of saving the commutation of more bulky commodities.-Arbuthnot, “ On Coins." Ule, as in globule, from the Latin globulus, a small globe or ball. The termination ule (in Latin both ulus ând ula) is found in particule (Lat, particula) shortened into particle. Animalcule, a little animal, is formed by analogy rather than authority, inasmuch as the only connected diminutive in Latin is animula from anima, there being no diminutive from animal. Ure, from the Latin ura; e. g., tinctura (a colour), tincture. It is found also in verdure (Lat. viridis, green), immediately from the French and in tenure from the word tenura, belonging to feudal ör medieval Latin. Ute, from the Latin participial ending utus, ás acutus (acu, Lat. a needle), sharpened, acute. Ward appears in the German warts, as in vorwärts, forwards; and the Latin versus, towards. It forms many compounds, traces which of are found in the Anglo-Saxon, as thider-weard, thitherward; ham-ward, homeward. In the use of toward the to and the ward were sometimes separted by the interposition of the noun under regimen, as in 1 Thes. i. 8. "Your faith to God-ward is spread abroad.” Wise, from the Anglo-Saxon wise, manner, is used in both Anglo-Saxon and English as a suffix; e. g., rightwis, righteous, formerly rightwise; unrightwis, unrighteous. Wise, denoting manner, is in the Bible. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise." (Matt. i. 18.) "If thou amict them in any wise." (Exod. xxii. 2.) Webster, in his dictionary, under wise, states that wise is corrupted into ways, as in lengthways. This position may be questioned. Way, signifying manner, is good English. Why then may we not say lengthways The is merely a terminating consonant for the voice to rest on, as in always. Good writers use longways no less than longwise. Sideways is more common than sidewise. For always, algates; and for otherwise, othergates (which are the same as our always and otherways; gates being from the German gehen, to go; and gasse, a street or way), are not uncommon in the north of England. I, a Saxon termination, in adjectives representing ig, as myrig, merry; wässerig, watery; and in houns representing for the Latin ia, as victoria, victory; for the Greek also ia, as geometria, geometry. See the terminations ance and ce. In such words as yclept, that is, called; yclad, that is, clothed; the y is a softened sound of the German ge, which is prefixed to the past participles as geboren, 8 ery 9 es, s From From Meaning. 28 tỷ 1 ade result ise 6 ish being 7 ote personality condition effect 1 ard 2 aster government quality 24 en 26 ever 29 ish 30 less 32 some 35 ig 87 es, 8 $8 est 39 eth place possession quality female diminution result agent condition family being sonship action division adherence place female sonship diminution descent result effect quality diminution greatness ageney condition authority condition female result result condition diminution capacity belonging to pertaining to state according to quality condition result condition augmentive abundance like condition place, quality quality diminution privation likeness quality a part direction 'manner quality to make he thou It is of little consequence in general whether the suffixes ascribed to the French be ascribed to it or to the Latin, whence they originally come. If the eight French suffixes are added to the 28 Latin ones, then the Latin suffixes are nearly equal to those of Saxon origin. Adding all the foreign suffixes together we find they amount to 43, and so out-number our native or Saxon suffixes. OUR MAPS. BESIDES the explanations which have been given along side of the Maps of Europe and Asia, and which will be given with each successive map, a fuller account of each quarter of the world, and of each separate country, will be given in our Lessons in Geography as we proceed, beginning with the Map of the World. We have hitherto been detained by a wish to let our students know how the earth stands externally related to the solar system of which it forms a part, before we proceeded to give a description of its surface and its inhabitants. Besides, the additions which have been recently made and are now making-to our knowledge of this local astronomy of the heavens, are not only very interesting in themselves, but they make us acquainted with the history of planetary changes, and with what may some day happen to the earth itself; "but of that day and hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only," said he who knew all things, even the most difficult to know, the thoughts of men, and the intents of their hearts. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. next Architecture, followed by Botany; he then goes over Natural History, and lastly, Biography" he next asks if" his mode of procedure be judicious, or his field too varied." In answer to this, we say, first, that our correspondent is too modest in the adoption of a name, for whoever does as he does, cannot be an ignoramus, but the reverse; second, we wish all our readers would follow his first lesson and read the answers to correspondents, they would thus gain much useful information, and save both themselves much trouble in asking the same questions over and over again, and us the same in answering them. As to his mode of procedure in other matters, if he can take up only half of what he reads he will do uncommonly well; but we recommend him to read the papers entitled the PHILOSOPHY OF STUDY—J. PRATT (Willenhall): Logic is a very good study; we recommend Whateley's, of which we believe a cheap copy may be had at about 48.-ELLIVAS (Stepney): Right on the snail query. M. H. PENMAENMAWR, ingeniously proposes for solution by geometrical construction only, without arithmetic or algebra, the problem "To find the length of a pole which is of that length in mud, of it in water, and 10 feet above the water."-J. C. G. (Aberdeen): We cannot really advise him on the matter he wishes to know.-ENCELADUS: Mr. James Sheridan Knowles is a teacher of elocution, at 33, Howland-street, Fitzroy-square. He was the author and actor of several plays, a mode of livelihood which he has wisely Knowles, the author of the modern English Pronouncing Dictionary," was abandoned; he has our deepest sympathy and recommendation. James his father. We believe this gentleman was distantly related to Dr. T. Sheridan, who was the author of an old pronouncing dictionary before of our course.-3. M. O. A SUBSCRIBER (Nott): The Prince like other men Waiker. The different subjects you mention will sooner or later form part will be of age at 21. By a wise arrangement of Providence the face is the index both of body and mind.-ARISTIDES (Limehouse): Thanks for his suggestions.-C. A. S.; J. REDMAN (Haworth); G. MARTIN (Glasgow); C. HILL (Cirencester): Right.-IGNORO (Brompton): Q. E. D. are the initial letters of the Latin words Quod Erat Demonstrandum, signifying Which was to be demonstrated, and not, as a pupil of ours once thought, Quite Elegantly Done!! Q. E. F. are the initial letters of the Latin words Quod Brat Faciendum, signifying which was to be done.-A. B. C.: The remarks of Mr. Nichol on the phosphorescence of the sun, and moon, and the planets are certainly very ingenious and worthy of consideration; but we doubt much whether they can be so substantiated by facts as to throw the light of the sun into the shade. Let us take a common lens or burning glass; it is surely not the glass that burns, but the rays of light from the sun concentrated to a focus; neither is it the Aurora Borealis or any other Aurora that does with the lens in the day time that which cannot be done at night. JAMES VEECOCK (James-street): We have Thomson's Arithmetic, and we were well acquainted with Mr. Knowles. Our correspondent's letters reached us, but we have not had time to reply.-W. (University, London): If our present correspondent, or any other, will ONLY PROVE that Judicial Astrology (as it is called), or the doctrine of foretelling events in a man's life by the stars; that is, by drawing his horoscope, and announcing the day of his death, or any other remarkable event in his history, without any previous knowledge of that history, we shall make the amende honorable, and confess that we were wrong to call in question the truth of the said science. We are fully open to correction, and we are strenuous advocates of free inquiry. At the same time, we beg to remark that the standard of the religion of the British Empire says, "Go to, now, ye that say, To day or to morrow, we will go into such a city and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain; whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow." HENRY and JOHN (Regent-street): See Cassell's Emigrant's Handbook.-JE VOIS LA RAISON: To answer her queries would require us to sit ALPHA'S questions received.-H. C. (Sheen, Staffordshire): Some books on Geography contain rules for the pronunciation of the proper names, as Thomson's and others. In reading Latin poetry the elision of e and um is not necessary unless you are scanning the lines. We could not learn Latin in three years ourselves to do what you state; so be content, you are no worse than your neighbours.-HUBERTE (Hull): Thanks for his letter.-J. JONES (Glossop): In the Euclid, (Hyp.) means by hypothesis or supposition, and (Const.) means by construction.-C. HILL (Cirencester): His difficulty will be explained in another lesson soon.-MILES ET MUSICUS (Newport): Allantoides means sausage or pudding shaped; it is a medical term. Paulinae is the nominative plural feminine, agreeing with Horae, and de: rived from the name of the Paul, the apostle, thus, Paulinus, a, um, of or belonging to Paul. Huic is pronounced hu-ic on the continent, huyc, as if one word, in England. Doc-u-it is right. Vocatis magis, abl. abs., the Magi being called; the nominative singular is Vocatus magus. P. BALCHIN (Somer's-town): Wrong-JAMES ADAMSON (St. Martins): We thank him for his ingenious method of working Compound Multiplication UNE JEUNE CUISINIER (Borough): We would advise him to apply at H. M. Victualling Office, at Deptford, or H. M. Naval Stores, at Chatham. -JAMES SMITH (Camberwell): Many thanks for his testimony to our edition of Euclid.-ROBERT SMITH (Manchester): Many thanks for his hint on the philosophy of mind: we have made a beginning in the Philosophy of Study. The more recent works on mental philosophy are so full of erroneous views in religion that we cannot recommend them; we would rather recommend some of the older writers, as Locke on the " Human Understanding," Reid on the "Intellectual Powers," Stewart on the "Philosophy of the HumaS Mind," Brown on the same subject, to which he may add "Whateley's Logic." down and compose the most remarkable work on morals, mental philosophy, and religion, as well as the natural history of man that ever yet beheld the light; but as she sees the reason perhaps she would favour us with her views on the queries she has proposed, and enable us to enlighten the public.GEORGE GRAHAM (Belfast): Thanks for his suggestions.-W. B. (Bowling): As to his first query, we are not dentists, and can't say; as to his second, study our Lessons in Penmanship; as to his third, certainly there is remuneration for contributions to the press, if they are worth it.-J. C. (Edinburgh): The question he proposes can be solved algebraically.-P. S. (Lynn): Received.-W. GANE (Boston): Cassell's Arithmetic will contain a rule for the extraction of all roots.-J. GUTHRIE, sen. (Kelso) has mystified himself with subtle distinctions, and he wants us to do the same to our readers, but we wont.-R. S. (Garmouth): Received.-ANXIOUS LEARNER should not mind all that people say to him. He can learn without a pronouncing dietionary; and Mr. Cassell's "Lessons in French," which he can have sent to his address by sending seven penny stamps to this office, will enable him to acquire the pronunciation very well. LITERARY NOTICES. THE UNCLE TOM'S CABIN ALMANACK; or, THE ABOLITIONIST MEMENTO for 1853, splendidly Illustrated by George Cruikshank, Gilbert, Harvey, "Phiz," and other eminent Artists, price 1s. THE ILLUSTRATED EXHIBITOR ALMANACK for 1853, containing upwards of Thirty beautiful Engravings, price 6d. THE POPULAR EDUCATOR ALMANACK for 1853, containing Forty-eight Pages of most interesting and valuable Educational Statistics; including a Comparative View of Education at Home and Abroad; Essays on the Leading Sciences; Brief Notices of Eminent Scholars; Exposition of Technical Terms ; &c. &c., price 2d. and Proportion, and shall avail ourselves of them in the P. E. as soon as possible.-J. BINNEY: There are some lessons in Drawing in the "Magazine of Art."-W. M. T. (Camden-town): Wrong.-A CONSTANT SUBSCRIBER (Wharfdale): Send to Messrs. Bagster, Paternoster-row, for their printed JOHN CASSELL'S ALMANACKS FOR 1853 ARE NOW READY. list of books on the Oriental languages.-H. MARTYN (Southampton): We are not aware of any recently published cheap editions of English Classical Literature; but there have been many. In the prefaces to the British Essayists, the signatures of the different authors are pointed out. For cheap French Classical Literature, apply to any of the foreign booksellers in London, as Bohn, Nutt, and others. We disapprove of Shakspere being read until the elements of useful learning and correct modern literature have been acquired. Moreover, that work is not adapted, in our humble opinion, to the purpose of improving the mind either for time or eternity. The celebrated, revd. and learned Dr. Pye Smith never read it.-PUPIL TEACHER (Notts.): Right; thanks for his letters and suggestions.-ONE WHO WISHES TO GET ON (Colchester): We have known many clever mathematicians and students of Euclid whose age was no more than fifteen years; we solved the following problem ourselves at fourteen:-" Prove that if two chords of a circle intersect each other at right angles, the squares of the four segments are together equal to the square of the diameter;" and we did prove it by the second book of Euclid, too, without going into the third.-ISAK (Leicester): Both right and ingenious.-H. V. D. L. (Belfast): Try Mr. Moore, bookseller, for the extra edition in numbers.-DISCIPULUS (Thirsk): The best Hebrew Grammar is Gesenius's, translated by Dr. Benjamin Davies, and published by Messrs. Bagster, Paternoster-row-H. F. (Stokesley) would be obliged to X. X. X. he would inform him, as soon as convenient, what books it would be best to study before entering the Normal School, London, for a period of six months. IGNORAMUS (Fushie) tells us that "his first lesson on receiving a monthly part [of the P. E.] is to read the notices to correspondents; then Geology, then Physiology, then Geography, then English, next Geometry, THE TEMPERANCE ALMANACK for 1853, much improved and enlarged, and in which will be inserted a Tale of thrilling interest, from the inimitable pen of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, authoress of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," entitled, "THE PLEDGE TAKEN; or, The Husband Saved, and a Family made Happy;" with valuable details of the great Temperance Movement, Statistics, &c. With several Engravings, designed by Gilbert, price 2d. THE PROTESTANT DISSENTERS' ALMANACK for 1853, with 12 beautiful Designs, by Gilbert, of striking Events in the History of Nonconformity, price 6d.-Published by John Snow, Paternoster-row. CASSELL'S ELEMENTS OF ARITHMETIC (uniform with Cassell's EUCLID). is now ready, price ls. in stiff covers, or 1s. 6d. neat cloth. Printed and Published by JOHN CASSELL, La Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgatehill, London.-November 6, 1852, LESSONS IN GEOGRAPHY. - No. XIV. (Continued from p. 63.) HAVING explained, in our Lesson No. XI., of No. 27, the nature of the seasons arising from the annual motion of the earth in its orbit or path round the sun, and the parallelism of its axis, or the invariable inclination of that axis to the plane of its orbit, we shall render this subject more strikingly evident by means of the accompanying diagram of the seasons. Here the sun is considered to be fixed at the point F in the diagram, which is considered to be the focus of the elliptical or oval orbit in which the earth moves, and which is so near to the centre of the curve that it may be, on this small scale of figure, reckoned the same with that centre; and you know that the centre is the point where the major axis, between summer and winter, intersects or crosses the minor axis, between spring and autumn. If you are curious enough to know how far the focus F is from the real centre of the orbit, we shall tell you; it is about one-sixtieth part of the half of the major axis or of the centre of the sun, or the focus of that orbit. Consequently, the earth is about double this distance, or 3,198,050 miles nearer to the sun in winter than in summer. In our diagram, the earth is represented in four different positions (momentary positions) in its orbit; namely, at midsummer, mid-spring, mid-winter, and mid-autumn. In all these positions, as well as all round in its various positions in the orbit, the parallelism of its axis Ns is preserved. This axis is inclined to the plane of the orbit, as we have before observed, at an angle of 66° 32'; hence it makes an angle of 23° 28' with the perpendicular to the plane of its orbit; for the perpendicular, represented by the dotted line passing through the centre o, makes an angle of 90° with the plane of the orbit; and subtracting 66° 32′ from 90o gives the remainder 23° 28′, which is the angle between the axis Ns and the perpendicular or dotted line. By reason of this parallelism of the axis N s, it mean distance between the earth and the sun, from the real centre. Let us see if we can express this distance in some known measure. According to Laplace, the mean distance of the earth from the sun, or the length of the mean semidiameters, of the earth's orbit, is 23,984 times the length of the mean terrestrial radius, or of the mean distance from the centre of the globe of the earth to its surface. According to the same authority, the earth's mean radius is about 3956 British miles, and of course its mean diameter 7912 miles. Therefore, multiplying 3956 miles by 23,984, we have the mean distance of the earth from the sun, that is, half the major axis of its orbit, about 94,880,704 miles; this makes the mean diameter of the earth's orbit about 189,761,408 miles, and its circumference about 596,153,045 miles. The true eccentricity of the earth's orbit being '016792 instead of one-sixtieth, we have 1,599,025 miles for the distance between the centre of the orbit and the VOL. II. so happens that at mid-spring, or March 20th, the half of the globe is illuminated from pole to pole, that is, from the northern extremity of the axis N, to the southern extremity of the axis and the days and nights are then exactly equal all over the earth; that is, there are twelve hours of light and twelve hours of darkness to every spot on the carth's surface for this day. Hence this day is called the equinox (equal night) of spring, or the vernal equinox. Again, at mid-summer, or June 21st, the half of the globe is illuminated from the circumference of a small circle of the globe at the distance of 23° 28′ from the north pole N, to the circumference of a small circle at the distance of 23° 28′ from the south pole s; and the day is 24 hours long at all places of the earth contained in the space between the small circle and the north pole; that is, there are 24 hours of light and no darkness at all to every spot within this space on this day; but the night is 24 hours long at all 33 places of the earth contained in the space between the small | then it is evident that every point on ts surface will, in the circle and the south pole, that is, there are 24 hours of dark-course of its revolution or whirling on its axis, describe a circle; ness and no light at all to every spot within this space on this thus the points, M, E, and T on the surface, will describe the day. As at this point the earth begins to return to a position circles MS, EQ, and TN respectively; and it is evident that the similar to that at the vernal equinox, and the sun seems to be point E, equally distant from the two points P P, the extremi stationary as to its appearance and effects on the earth's sur- ties or poles of the axis, will describe the largest circle cf all face for two or three days before and after this day, it is called in the course of the revolution; and that if the sphere were cut the summer solstice (sun-standing), or the tropic (turning) of sum- by a plane or flat surface, like an orange by a knife, through mer. Next, at mid-autumn, or Sept. 23rd, the half of the globe the circle EQ, it would pass through c, the centre of the is again illuminated from pole to pole, and the same appear-sphere. Every circle, whose plane thus passes through the ances take place as at the equinox of the spring, that is, the centre of the sphere, is called a great circle of the sphere. It is days and nights are then exactly equal all over the earth, or further evident that every point, such as M, on the surface of there are 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness to every the sphere, will describe a circle smaller than the circle EQ in spot on the earth's surface for this day. Hence, this day is proportion to its distance from the point s on either side, or to called the equinox of autumn, or the autumnal equinox. Lastly, its vicinity to either of the points PP; and that if the sphere at mid-winter, or Dec. 21st, the half of the globe is illuminated were cut by a plane or flat surface, like an orange by a knife, from the circumference of a small circle of the globe at the through such a circle as мs, it would not pass through c, the distance of 23° 28′ from the south pole s, to the circumference centre of the sphere. Every circle whose plane does not pass of a small circle at the distance of 23° 28' from the north pole through the centre of the sphere, is called a small circle of the N, and the day is 24 hours long at all places of the earth con- sphere. Accordingly, the circles Ms and TN, are called small tained in the space between the small circle and the south circles of the sphere; and if the points м and T be equally dispole; that is, there are 24 hours of light and no darkness at all tant from the point E, these circles will be equal in size, and to every spot within this space on this day; but the night is their planes will cut the axis in two points equally distant from 24 hours long at all places of the earth contained in the space the centre c. The plane of a great circle such as E Q, cuts the between the small circle and the north pole; that is, there are globe or sphere into two equal hemispheres; but the plane of a 24 hours of darkness and no light at all to every spot within small circle cuts it into two unequal parts, or segments (cuttings) this space on this day. of a sphere. For some purposes, the circumference of a circle, large or small, is divided into 360 equal parts, in order to enable us to measure distances along the circumference; each of these equal parts being called a degree; for other purposes, the circle is divided into two equal parts called semicircles, and these are also divided into degrees, each containing 180 degrees, and both 360 degrees as before; and for other purposes still, the circle is divided into four equal parts called quadrants, each containing 90 degrees, and the whole containing 360 degrees as before. Each degree is divided into 60 equal parts called press any part or fraction of a degree which may be found over and above a certain number of degrees in any distance. Again, each minute is divided into 60 equal parts called seconds, and these seconds (second minute parts) are employed to express any part or fraction of a minute which may be found over and above a certain number of degrees and minutes in any distance; and so on, to thirds, fourths, &c. This division of the degree is called the sexagesimal (by sixtieths) division of the degree; the division of the quadrant of a circle into 90 degrees, is called the nonagesimal (by ninetieths) division of the quadrant. French, in some of their scientific works, adopt a different division of the circle and its parts. They divide the circle into 400 equal parts, calling them degrees; and of course, the quadrant into 100 degrees; also the degree into 100 parts called minutes; and so on; this is called the centesimal (by hundredths) division of the quadrant. Any number of degrees is marked by a circlet (or small circle) placed on the right of the number in a small character, and above the line; thus 27° denotes 27 degrees. Any number of minutes is marked by one acute accent or dash from right to left; of seconds, by two dashes, and so on. On the globe of the earth, or terrestrial globe as it is called, the first great circle of importance is the meridian; this is a great circle which passes through the two poles P P of the axis of the earth, and through any point, as м, on the earth's surface; it is called meridian, because when the sun in our climate shines on a gnomon or style (the pin of a sun-dial) and casts its shadow in the direction of this line on the surface of the earth, it is then (meridies) mid-day or noon; and whenever any heavenly body appears in the plane of this circle, as determined by the position of the style and its shadow at noon it is said to be on the meridian. The meridian of the point м is, according to this definition, the circle P M TPNS. But as every spot on the surface of the globe has its own meridian, if we wish to have a proper notion of the distance of the meridian of any place from that of the place where we dwell, we must fix upon the meridian of some one place as a standard to which we shall refer the distance of every other meridian. Accordingly the meridian of Greenwich has been fixed upon by common consent in this country, as the standard or FIRST MERIDIAN, to which we are to refer all others in point of distance. The second great circle of importance is the équator; this is a great circle which In looking at the diagram, you see at the equinox of spring, or March 20th, the whole of the illuminated half of the globe, because from the representation of its position it is turned in front both to the sun at F, and to you the spectator; at the summer solstice, or June 21st, you see only half of the illuminated half of the globe, because it is turned in front to the sun at F, but only sideways to you the spectator, you being outside of the orbit; at the autumnal equinox, or Sept. 23rd., you see none of the illuminated half of the globe, because it is turned in front to the sun at F, but at the back to you the spec-minutes, and these minutes (minute parts) are employed to extator, you being outside the orbit and as it were behind the globe; and at the winter solstice, or Dec. 21st, you again see half of the illuminated half of the globe, because it is turned in front to the sun at F, but only sideways to you the spectator for the same reason as before. But were you placed in the middle of the orbit at the point F, you would, by turning round and round to the different points of it we have been describing, see the whole of the illuminated half of the globe at each point; and were you placed outside of the orbit in the directions of the major and minor axes, and made to look at the globe in these directions only, you would see none of the illuminated half of the globe, but only the dark side in each position. Fig. 3. M P S E C Q T P N We must now explain the nature of some of the more important circles on the sphere cr globe of the earth. If, in fig. 3, which we suppose to be a representation of the globe of the earth, PP denotes the axis; that is, the diameter of the sphere, passing through the centre (the heart or middle point) c, on which the sphere or globe revolves like a wheel on an axle, The |