ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE, HISTORY, POLITICS AND
BIOGRAPHY,
BROUGHT DOWN TO THE PRESENT TIME;
A COPIOUS COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL ARTICLES
THE BASIS OF THE SEVENTH EDITION OF THE GERMAN
E. WIGGLESWORTH AND T. G. BRADFORD.
Philadelphia:
CAREY AND LEA.
SOLD IN PHILADELPHIA BY E. L. CAREY AND A. HART-IN NEW YORK
BY G. & C. & H. CARVILL-IN BOSTON BY
CARTER, HENDEE & BABCOCK.
EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit:
BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the tenth day of August, in the fifty-fourth year of the Independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1829, Carey, Lea & Carey, of the said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:
"Encyclopædia Americana. A Popular Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature, History, Politics and Biography, brought down to the present Time; including a copious Collection of Original Articles in American Biography; on the Basis of the seventh Edition of the German Conversations-Lexicon. Edited by Francis Lieber, assisted by E. Wigglesworth."
In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned:" and also to the act, entitled, "An Act supplementary to an act, entitled, 'An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etching historical and other prints."
Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Gen. Lib.
source Unknown
1-16-46
GREECE, ANCIENT. The name of Gra-
cia originated in Italy, and was prob-
ably derived from Pelasgian colonies,
who, coming from Epirus, and calling
themselves Grecians, from Græcus, the
son of their ancestor, Thessalus, occa-
sioned the application of this name to all
the people who spoke the same language
with them. In earlier times, e. g., in the
time of Homer, Greece had no general
name among the natives. It afterwards
received the name of Hellas, and still lat-
er, after the country was conquered by
the Romans, the name of Achaia, under
which Macedonia and Epirus were not
included. The Grecian tribes were so
widely dispersed, that it is difficult to de-
termine, with precision, the limits of
Greece, properly so called. The name
was sometimes applied only to that coun-
try which was surrounded on three sides
by the Mediterranean sea, was separated
from Macedonia by the Cambunian moun-
tains, and contained about 42,000 square
miles; sometimes it was taken in a wider
sense, including Macedonia and Epirus,
having mount Hamus and the Egean
and Ionian seas for its boundaries, and
comprising the islands of these two seas.
Greece consists partly of continental,
and partly of insular regions. A chain
of mountains, extending from the Ambra-
cian gulf, in the west, to Thermopyla, on
the east, separates Northern Greece from
Southern. The climate is alternately se-
vere or mild, as the mountains or valleys
predominate, but it is agreeable and
healthy. People are not unfrequently
found here, whose age is over 100 years.
The soil of the valleys and plains is favor
able to the growth of the finest tropical
fruits, while the summits of the high
mountains are covered with the plants of
the polar regions. In Athens, the ther-
mometer very seldom falls below the
freezing point, or rises above 25° Réau-
mur (88 Fahrenheit). In the islands, eve-
ry evening, at a particular hour, a gentle
sea breeze sets in, which tempers the heat
of the day. But in the plains of Thessa-
ly, which lie 1200 feet above the level of
the sea, and more especially in the moun-
tains of Arcadia, the winter is as severe
as in England. The fruits of the soil are
as abundant as they are various. Even
where it is not adapted for the purposes of
husbandry, it produces thyme, marjoram,
and a number of aromatic herbs, which
afford a rich pasturage. Greece produces
eight kinds of corn and ten kinds of
olives. It is, perhaps, the native country
of the grape, particularly of the small
sort, from which the currants of com-
merce are made. The name of these is
a corruption of Corinth, the chief planta-
tion having formerly been on the isthmus
of this name. There are 40 kinds of Gre-
cian grapes known. The honey of this
country is very famous. (See Hymettus.)
Greece produces all the necessaries of
life, and there is no country whose coast
is so well supplied with bays and harbors
for commerce. The main land is now
divided into Northern Greece, Middle
Greece, Greece Proper, or Hellas, in its
narrower sense, and the Peloponnesus
(Morea). I. Northern Greece includes,
1. Thessaly (q. v.) (now Janna); 2. Epi-
rus (q. v.) (now Albania); 3. Macedonia
(now Macedonia, or Filiba-Vilajeti), ac-
counted a part of Greece from the time
of Philip and Alexander, and making a
link in the chain between Greece and
Thrace, of which, in earlier times, Mace-
|