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EXPLANATION. -The white spaces show the amount of moonlight each night. January 9, February 8, etc., show the time of new moon, when there is no moonlight during the whole night; January 16, February 15, etc., the moon sets at or near midnight, when the former half of the night has moonlight; January 23, February 22, etc., the time of full moon, when moonlight lasts the whole night. January 31, February 28, March 30, etc., the moon rises at or near midnight, when the latter half of the night has moonlight.

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Facts About the Earth.

ACCORDING to Clark, the equatorial semi-diameter is 20, 926, 202 feet-3963. 296 miles, and the polar semi-diameter is 20,854, 895 feet-3950. 738 miles. One degree of latitude at the pole-69. 407 miles. One degree of latitude at the equator-68. 704 miles.

CONTINENTAL

POPULATION OF THE EARTH BY CONTINENTS.

(From Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society for January, 1891.)

A rea in

DIVISIONS, Square Miles.

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Per Sq. NENTAL Mile. DIVISIONS. 127,000,000 11.00 Europe........ 6,446,000| 89,250,000 13.80 Polar Reg... 6,837,000' 36,420,000 5.30 Total.......

11,514,000

14,710,000 850,000,000

57.70|

3,288,000| 4,730,000 1.40

.......

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The above estimate was made by Ernest George Ravenstein, F. R. G. S., the geographer and statistician, and is for 1890. The population of North America, 1900, had increased to over 100,000,000.

An estimate of population of the earth, made by Drs. Wagner and Supan, editors of "Bevölkerung der Erde" (Perthes, Gotha, 1891), is as follows: Europe, 357,379,000, Asia, 825,954,000; Africa, 163, 953,000; America, 121,713,000; Australia, 3, 230,000; Oceanic Islands, 7, 420, 000; polar regions, 80, 400. Total, 1,479, 729, 400. The estimate of area of the continents and islands by the same authorities is 52, 821, 684.

Ravenstein's estimate of the earth's fertile region, in square miles, is 28, 269, 200; steppe, 13, 901,000; desert, 4, 180, 000; polar regions, 4, 888, 800.

The population of the earth at the death of the Emperor Augustus, estimated by Bodio, was 54, 000, 000. The population of Europe hardly exceeded 50,000,000 before the fifteenth century.-Mulhall.

The area and cubic contents of the earth, according to the data of Clark, given above, are: Surface, 196, 971, 984 square miles; cubic contents, 259, 944, 035, 515 cubic miles.

Murray (Challenger expedition) states the greatest depth of the Atlantic Ocean at 27,366 feet; Pacific Ocean, 30,000 feet; Indian Ocean, 18, 582 feet; Southern Ocean, 25, 200 feet, Arctic Ocean, 9,000 feet. The Atlantic Ocean has an area, in square miles, of 24, 536,000; Pacific Ocean, 50, 309,000; Indian Ocean, 17,084,000; Arctic Ocean, 4,781,000; Southern Ocean, 30, 592, 000. The highest mountain is believed to be Deodhunga, one of the Himalayas, 29,002 feet.

For population of the earth according to creed, see RELIGIOUS STATISTICS. POPULATION OF THE EARTH ACCORDING TO RACE. (Estimated by John Bartholomew, F. R. G. S., Edinburgh.)

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The human family is subject to forty-two principal governments. As to their form they may be classified as follows: Absolute monarchies, China, Korea, Morocco, Persia, Russia, Siam, Turkey; Limiled monarchies, Austria- Hungary, Belgium, British Empire, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Roumania, Servia, Sweden and Norway, Spain; Republics, Argentine Republic, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Hayti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, San Domingo, Switzerland, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela. Besides these are the undefined despotisms of Central Africa, and a few insignificant independent States.

The average duration of human life is about 33 years. One-quarter of the people on the earth die before age 6, one-half before age 16, and only about 1 person of each 100 born lives to age 65. The deaths are calculated at 67 per minute, 97, 790 per day, and 35, 639, 835 per year; the births at 70 per minute, 100, 800 per day, and 36, 792, 000 per year.

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These estimates by Mulhall (1891) exhibit the superior growth of the English language in the last ninety years. Another authority (see English-Speaking Religious Communities) estimates the number using the English language in 1895 at over 124, 130,000. English is fast becoming the polite tongue of Europe.

The Geological Strata.

THE strata composing the earth's crust is divided by most geologists into two great classes: 1. Those generally attributed to the agency of water. 2. To the action of fire; which may be subdivided as follows: (a) Aqueous formations, stratified, rarely crystalline (sedimentary or fossiliferous rocks; metamorphic or unfossiliferous). (b) Igneous formations, unstratified, crystalline (volcanic, as basalt; platonic, as granite).

The geological record is classified into five main divisions or periods: 1. The Archæan, lifeless and dawn of life. 2. The Paleozoic (ancient life). 3. The Mesozoic (middle life). 4. The Cenozoic (recent life). 5. Quaternary, the age in which man's first appearance is indicated.

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Palæozoic
Period.

3. Purbeck. Jurassic 2. Oölite.

1. Lias.

4. Rhætic.

7. Trias-3. Upper.

sic.

2. Middle.

1. Lower.

3. Permian.

Lower Chalk. Chalk Marl
Gault.

Neocomian. Lower Greensand.

Wealden.

Purbeck, Portland, Kimmeridge.
Oxford Oölites. Lower or Bath Oölite.
1. Lower Lias. 2. Marlstone. 3. Upper
Lias.

Kössen beds, Dachstein beds; Alpine
Keuper.
[Trias, in part.

Muschelkalk Bunter-Sandstein.

2. Magnesian Limestone.

1. Lower Red Sandstone, or Rothli3. Upper Coal-Measures.

Carboniferous 2. Carboniferous. 2. Lower Coal-Measures.

Age of Coal
Plants.

Era.

Age of Fishes.

1. Subcarbonifer

ous.

5. Catskill and
Chemung.
4. Portage.

Devonian Era. 3. Hamilton.

Age of
Invertebrates.

Upper
Silurian.

Archæan Period.

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Lower
Silurian.

2. Chazy.

1. Calciferous.

Cambrian.

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Eozoic (dawn of life). 1. Laurentian. Huronian.

Azoic (lifeless).

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Rules for Foretelling the Weather.

ADAPTED FOR USE WITH ANEROID BAROMETERS.

A RISING BAROMETER.

A RAPID rise indicates unsettled weather.

A gradual rise indicates settled weather.

A rise with dry air and cold increasing in Summer indicates wind from the northward; and if rain has fallen, better weather may be expected.

A rise with moist air and a low temperature indicates wind and
rain from the northward.
A rise with southerly winds indicates fine weather.
A STEADY BAROMETER.

With dry air and seasonable temperature indicates a continuance of very fine weather.

A FALLING BAROMETER.

A rapid fall indicates stormy weather.

A rapid fall with westerly wind indicates stormy weather from the northward.

A fall with a northerly wind indicates storm, with rain and hail in Summer, and snow in Winter.

A fall with increased moisture in the air, and heat increasing, indicates wind and rain from the southward.

A fall with dry air and cold increasing in Winter indicates snow. A fall after very calm and warm weather indicates rain with squally weather.

The barometer rises for northerly winds, including from northwest by north to the eastward for dry, or less wet weather, for less wind, or for more than one of these changes, except on a few occasions, when rain, hail, or snow comes from the northward with strong wind.

The barometer falls for southerly wind, including from southeast by south to the westward, for wet weather, for stronger wind or for more than one of these changes, except on a few occasions, when moderate wind, with rain or snow, comes from the northward.

The above printed rules are in use by the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club of New York.

DURATION OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF WEATHER IN THE SEVERAL
STORMS-VICINITY OF NEW YORK.

-12 -15

5

-14.2-17.8

O ZERO Fahr.

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0

10

20

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LINE OF PERPETUAL SNOW.

The line of perpetual snow varies with latitude, and is as follows in feet above sea-level:

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OBJECTS VISIBLE AT SEA-LEVEL IN CLEAR WEATHER.

The following table shows the distance at sea-level at which objects are visible at certain elevations: ELEVATION-FEET.

Miles.

ELEVATION-FEET.

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Miles.

ELEVATION-FEET.

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Miles.

12.25

13. 23

16.22

18.72

22.91

29.58

33.41

96.10

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Recently formed ice (and on the surface) one inch and a half thick will support a man; four inches thick will support cavalry; five inches thick will support an eighty-four pound cannon; ten inches thick will support an army; eighteen inches thick will support a railroad train.

THICKNESS OF ICE.

Maximum thickness Winter of 1899-1900 in rivers as reported by the United States Weather Bureau:

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Table of Magnetic Declinations,

OR VARIATIONS OF THE COMPASS FOR THE EPOCH JANUARY, 1900-WITH THE ANNUAL CHANGE FROM 1895 TO 1900 FOR THE PRINCIPAL PLACES IN THE UNITED STATES.

A plus (+) sign denotes West Declination; a minus (-) sign East Declination. For the annual change a plus sign denotes increasing West or decreasing East declination, and a minus sign the

reverse.

(Specially prepared for THE WORLD ALMANAC from reports of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.)

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Lincoln..... Omaha.......

71 18 156 39-32 30+12.0 Nevada... Carson City.
-13 30+ 1.5

Eureka...

32 44 114 37-13 12+ 1.0 N. H. Concord...
31 20 110 56-12 6+1.5 N. J. Trenton.....

34 44 92 166 36+ 4.3 N. Mex... Santa Fé
-16 0 0.0 N. Y

Yuma....
Nogales.
Little Rock.
Sacramento..... 38 36 121 30
San Francisco.. 37 48 122 27
Los Angeles...... 34 4118 15
San Diego.....

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-16 420.1 -14 18+ 1.0 32 43 117 10 -13 42+ 1.3 39 45 105 0 -13 30+ 3.5 N. 41 46 72 40 +10 24+ 2.8

New Haven......41 18 72 55+ 9 54+ 3.1 N. 39 9 75 31+ 6 27+ 3.0

Col. Washington.

Florida... Tallahassee

Jacksonville..

Key West..

Georgia. Atlanta.....

Savannah.

Idaho...... Boisé..

Illinois... Springfield.

Chicago..

Ind. Ter.. Atoka...

Indiana.. Indianapolis..

Fort Wayne...

Iowa....... Des Moines....

38 53 77 0+4 50+ 3.0 30 26 84 172 0+4.0

30 20 81 39

.24 33 81 48

33 44 84 22

Albany..
New York..
Ithaca..
Buffalo..........

C......... Raleigh.

Wilmington.....
Dak... Bismarck.

Ohio...

054+3.5 Okla......

Pembina.... Columbus Cleveland Cincinnati.. Guthrie

2 42+ 2.8 Oregon... Portland....
1 363.7 Pa.

32 5 81 5-0 48+ 3.6

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41 16 95 56 39 10 119 46-16 36+1.0 39 31 115 58-16 12+ 1.5 43 12 71 29 +12 24+ 2.0 40 13 74 44 +7 54+ 3.0 35 41 105 57-12 24+ 1.7 42 40 73 45 +11 6+ 3.2 40 43 74 096+ 3.6 42 27 76 29 +7 30+ 5.1 42 55 78 54+ 60+4.0 35 47 78 38+1 48+ 3.0 34 13 77 56 +1 36+ 2.5 46 48 100 47-14 36+ 3.0 48 58 97 14-11 6+ 4.8 40 0 83 0 + 0 36+ 4.5 41 30 81 42 +230 +2.7 39 8 84 25-1 18+ 3.3 9 03.0 45 31 122 41-22 30-0.6 40 16 76 53+ 60+ 1.7 39 58 75 10+ 7 42+ 3.6 40 28 80 1+ 3 36+ 2.9 41 50 71 24 +120+ 2.5 34 0 81 2-0 24+ 3.0 32 47 79 56+0 30+ 2.3 44 22 100 22-12 30+ 3.0 42 53 97 25-11 0+ 3.4 36 9 86 48-3 36+ 4.7 35 58 83 55+0 12+ 4.3 35 8 90 3-5 18+ 4.4 30 17 97 44-7 54+ 2.8 San Antonio.. 29 27 98 28 8 18+ 3.8 Houston.... 29 42 95 207 12+ 3.5 Galveston... 29 18 94 476 54+ 4.0 El Paso.... 31 46 106 29-11 30+ 2.7 Salt Lake.. 40 46 111 54-16 6+ 2.1 Ogden.... 41 13 112 0--17 02.1 Montpelier. 44 17 72 36 +14 0+ 2.5 Burlington. 44 28 73 12+12 30+ 2.2 Richmond.. 37 32 77 26+3 42+ 3.2 Norfolk.... 36 50 76 17+ 40+ 2.8 Lynchburg...... 37 25 79 9+212 + 3.5 Olympia...... 47 2122 54-22 30- 1.7

Harrisburg. Philadelphia. Pittsburgh. Providence.. Columbia... Charleston.

1 364.3 S. Dak.... Pierre........

7 425.1 Tenn........

41 54 87 37

34 24 96 5

39 47 86 8

41 3 85 3

0 42+ 4.0

41 36 93 36

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Yankton.. Nashville.. Knoxville. Memphis. Austín.

Mich.......

Lansing.

..

Detroit.....

42 21 83

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+050 +4.0 W. Va..... 3+1 12+ 2.3 222 24 5-8 42+ 5.2 4-12 18+ 2.1

Milwaukee. Superior City.

Minn.....

Miss....... Jackson........

Walla Walla..... 46 4 118 21-21 6-1.5 Charleston.. 38 21 81 38 +20+ 3.5 Wheeling. 40 3 80 44+1 6+ 3.5 4.0 Wis....... Madison. 43 4 89 25-5 12+ 3.8 43 4 87 53-3 36+ 5.4 46 40 92 4-9 30+ 2.1 41 8 104 49-14 12+ 3.0

32 19 90 12-5 36+ 3.5 Wyo.......Cheyenne

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