A

NEW TREATISE

ON THE

USE OF THE GLOBES;

OR,

A PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW

OF

THE EARTH AND HEAVENS:

COMPREHENDING,

AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIGURE, MAGNITUDE, AND MOTION OF
THE EARTH; THE NATURAL CHANGES OF ITS SURFACE,
BY FLOODS, EARTHQUAKES, &C. TOGETHER WITH

THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF METEOROLO-
GY, AND ASTRONOMY, THE THEORY
OF THE TIDES, &C.

PRECEDED BY

An extensive Selection of astronomical and other Definitions; and
illustrated by a great variety of Problems, Questions
for the examination of the Student, &c.

DESIGNED FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF YOUTH.

BY THOMAS KEITH,

PRIVATE TEACHER OF MATHEMATICS, GEOGRAPHY, &c,

FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE LAST IMPROVED ENGLISH

EDITION.

New-York:

PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WHITING & CO. NO. 96, BROAD-WAY,
AND SAMUEL WOOD, NO. 357, PEARL STREET.

S. WOOD, PRINTER,

........

AMONGST the various branches of science studied in our academies, and places of public education, there are few of greater importance than that of the Use of the Globes. The earth is our destined habitation, and the heavenly bodies measure our days and years by their various revolutions. Without some acquaintance with the different tracts of land, the oceans, seas, &c. on the terrestrial globe, no intercourse could be carried on with the inhabitants of distant regions; and, consequently, their manners, customs, &c. would be totally unknown to us. Though the different tracts of land, &c. cannot be so minutely described on the surface of a terrestrial globe as on different maps; yet the globe shews the figure of the earth, and the relative situations of the principal places on its surface, more correctly than a map. Had the ancients paid no attention to the motions of the heavenly bodies, historical facts would have been given without dates, and we should have had neither dials, clocks, nor watches. To the celestial observations of Eudoxus, Hipparchus, &c. we are indebted for the knowledge of the precession of the equinoxes. Without some acquaintance with the celestial bodies, our ideas of the power and wisdom of the Creator would be greatly circumscribed and confined. The learned and pious Dr. Watts observes, "What wonders of wisdom are seen in the exact regularity of the revolutions of the heavenly bodies! nor was there ever any thing that has contributed to enlarge my apprehensions of the immense power of God, the magnificence of his creation, and his own transcendent grandeur, so much as the little portion of astronomy which I have been able to attain. And I would not only recommend it to young students, for the same purposes, but I would persuade all mankind, if it were possible, to gain some degree