SCHOOL ATLAS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY ILLUSTRATING IN A SERIES OF ORIGINAL DESIGNS THE ELEMENTARY FACTS OF GEOLOGY, HYDROGRAPHY, METEOROLOGY BY ALEX. KEITH JOHNSTON LL.D. F.R.S.E. F.R.G.S. F.G.S. GEOGRAPHER IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY FOR SCOTLAND; AUTHOR OF THE PHYSICAL NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON MDCCCLXXIII GEOGRAPHY has of late years assumed that position in the business of Education to which, from its interest and importance, it is so well entitled; and it is now found that, in order to do justice to its claims, it must be taught in a manner more systematic and orderly than was formerly considered necessary. The most obvious means of facilitating its study was the separation of its component parts into the great divisions of PHYSICAL or NATURAL, and GENERAL and DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY; and since public attention was first directed to the advantages of this distinction by the Author's folio Physical Atlas, many elementary treatises have been published for the purposes of general instruction. The subject-matter of each of these will find its appropriate illustration in the following Work, which has been prepared expressly for the purpose of conveying broad and comprehensive views of the Form and Structure of the Earth, and the principal phenomena affecting its outer crust. Beginning with a representation of the Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, Mountain-Chains, Plains, and Valleys of the different portions of the Globe, it proceeds to the distribution of those elements by which its surface is affected—Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Heat, Wind and Rain; and concludes with the actual occupation of its surface by the different races, families, and species of plants, animals, and man. The object of PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, in treating of inorganic matter, is to represent the Earth in its natural state, divested of the accidental or artificial divisions which have been introduced by man's agency. By a patient study and careful comparison of numerous facts, the knowledge requisite for such a representation has, within a recent period, been greatly extended. Comparative Geography has led to analogous views of the structure of the different Continents similar to those which comparative anatomy has established in relation to the lower animals and man. The bones and arteries of the latter have their representatives in the mountain-chains and river-courses of the former. Asia, in its continental mass, presents a picture of majestic unity; Europe, indented and broken up into numerous peninsulas, exhibits an example of the greatest diversity; while the Western Continent is remarkable for its grand simplicity. Again, contrasting climate and position, we find that Africa, presenting the greater part of its surface to the burning rays of a tropical sun, has all its days and nights of nearly equal length-the diversity of the seasons being almost unknown; while, in the frozen regions around the Poles, night extends its absolute empire, " day disappears with its radiant cortege, or if it shines, it is but the longest meteor of a long night." * Physical Geography teaches that there is an intimate and reciprocal action of Man on the Earth, and of the earth on man, without attention to which it is not possible to understand the National character or physical development of a people. In the East, his wants being easily supplied, and having no necessity to struggle with nature, Man resigns himself to indifference and fatalism; while in the West, in order that he may live, he must conquer the obstacles which nature opposes to his progress; and hence much of the energy, the perseverance, and the intellectual pre-eminence which characterise the races of the West. The whole character of a nation may, as Dr Arnold observes, be influenced by its geology and physical geography. "Who can wonder," he says, "that the rich and well-watered plain of the Po should be filled with flourishing cities, or that it should have been contended for so often by successive invaders?”+ It is the abundance of its coal-mines that gives to England its pre-eminence in the manufacturing world. China is chiefly interesting to us for its cultivation of the tea-plant, the Molucca islands for their spices, and Siberia for its furs. It is owing to the nature of the soil and climate that the Southern States of North America are essentially agricultural; while, from having fewer advantages in this respect, and greater geographical facilities from seaports, the Northern States are almost as essentially manufacturing and commercial. The eminently suggestive character of the Maps will, it is hoped, enable the intelligent teacher to draw many such contrasts and comparisons. Physical Geography is the history of Nature presented in its most attractive form, the exponent of the wonders which the Almighty Creator has scattered so profusely around us. Few subjects of general education are, therefore, so well fitted to expand and elevate the mind, or satisfy the curiosity of youth. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. IN the present edition four plates appear for the first time, the others have been revised and improved,§ and the text is in great part re-written. For valuable aid in the design and execution of the geological illustrations, the Author is indebted to his friend, Archd. Geikie, Esq., F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey of Scotland. EDINBURGH, December 1868. PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. AT the suggestion of the Rev. Edward Hale, of Eton College, the cotidal lines have been added to the map, which exhibits the ocean currents; and the opportunity was taken to re-engrave this plate from a more perfect drawing. This forms the chief new feature of the present edition of the Atlas; but the whole of the maps have been subjected to a critical revision, and a large part of the accompanying letterpress has been re-written. EDINBURGH, February 1873. * RITTER. + Lectures on Modern History.' Plates II. and III., Illustrations of Physical Geology; XIII. and XIV., River Systems of the British Isles. § The Geological Map of the British Isles has been engraved from a new drawing. PHYSICAL 13 23 3. ILLUSTRATIONS of the GEOLOGICAL ACTION of Sea aND ICE, 5. DISTRIBUTION OF EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES OVER THE 17 6. THE MOUNTAINS, TABLE-LANDS, PLAINS, & Valleys of EUROPE, 29 w w w w ☹ 35 32 HYDROGRAPHY. 11. CHART OF THE OCEAN CURRENTS AND COTIDAL LINES, 13 & 14. RIVER SYSTEMS, RAINFALL, AND CONTOURS OF THE 39 43 METEOROLOGY. 15. THE DISTRIBUTION OF RAIN AND SNOW OVER the Globe, 49 50 17. MAP OF THE CONSTANT AND PERIODICAL WINDS OF THE GLOBE, 51 [18. MAP OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF VEGETABLE LIFE OVER THE GLOBE, 52 |