Sea of Aral, by cold which fell below zero; and yet the Sea of Aral is in the same latitude as the Azores, which enjoy a perpetual summer. ver'-ti-cal, in the top of the sky. tem'-per-a-ture, heat as measured by the thermometer. e'-qua-ble, tending or inclining to be quite equal, or to be always the same. 1. Zero, the figure 0. It here indicates the point beyond which Fahrenheit's thermometer does not mark the cold 5.-CLIMATE.-II. 1. Ocean-currents.-There are rivers or currents in the ocean; and these are either cold or warm. An icy cold current runs down the east coast of North America, and lowers the temperature all along that coast. A warm current-called the Gulf Stream-leaves the Gulf of Mexico, crosses the Atlantic Ocean in a north-easterly direction, laves the British Islands and the west coast of Norway in its lukewarm waters, and gives us a mild climate in winter. Labrador lies in the same latitude as the British Isles; and yet Labrador-owing to the icy current from the north which flows along its shores-has a winter of the severest kind, which lasts nine months. 2. Rainfall. The amount of moisture contained in the air is an important element in climate. In our country there is always a good deal of moisture in the air; and this moisture often falls in the form of rain. In looking at the question of rain, we must consider two points: (i) how much rain falls; and (ii) on how many days it rains. The amount of rain and the number of rainy days are both of importance. The south-west monsoon brings immense quantities of moisture from the Indian Ocean; and, when the moisture is condensed in the upper air on the cold sides of the Himalayas, it falls in deluges and waterfalls, rather than showers, upon the valleys and plains. But the number of rainy days in India is not so great as on the west coast of England. The rainiest place on the continent of Europe is Coimbra, in Portugal; but the number of rainy days there is not so great as at Manchester. 3. Mountain-chains.-The position and direction of great mountain-chains is of much importance in considering climate. A mountain-chain often protects a country from cold winds. The chain of the Carpathians rises to the north of the fertile plain of Hungary, and defends it from the piercing north-easters, which blow from the Arctic Ocean. . . The absence of a chain of mountains across the main watershed of North America allows the polar winds to blow over the whole continent; and a change of wind will sometimes send the temperature—say at Washington-down from summer heat to winter cold in the course of a single hour. 4. Slope. The climate of a country depends to a very great extent on its slope. We all know how much better fruits and flowers grow in a garden which, in our hemisphere, inclines to the south. Such a slope gets most of the sun's rays. We may compare the valley of the Rhine, which looks to the north, with that of the Rhone, which faces the south. Laves, washes. (From L. lavāre, to wash. Hence also lavender (= the washing plant), laundry, laundress, etc.) del'-u-ges, floods. 1. Monsoon, a season wind-a wind that blows only at certain times. B 6.-INTERCHANGE OF PRODUCTS. 1. Too Much.-If we go to the wide and fertile plains of the United States, we shall find that they grow more corn than the American people can eat. If we go to the grassy uplands of Australia, we shall find that more wool is produced than the Australian settlers need for their own cloth and their own coats. What is the American to do with his overplus of corn, and the Australian with his too great quantity of wool? What they do is to exchange their corn and their wool for manufactured goods, which are made in Great Britain, in France, or in Germany. The first condition of commerce or interchange of productions is the existence of too much of a thing in this or that country. 2. Value. The second condition of commerce is the condition of value. A pound of wool is of more value in England than in Australia; a pocket-knife is of more value in Australia than in England. Thus we see that some things are of greater value in one place than in another. The practical problem then arises: How are we to take our goods to the places where they will be of the greatest value? This opens the new question of carriage. 3. Shipping. It is found that the cheapest way of carrying goods is by water. The highway-which is the sea-costs nothing; and some of the motive power—the wind-costs nothing also. What does cost something is the building of the ship, the wages and the provisions of the sailors who work the ship, and guide her to her haven in a far-off country. The largest number of ships for carrying goods is possessed by Great Britain. 4. Raw Materials and Manufactures. The inter change of raw materials for manufactured goods is the chief kind of commerce in which Great Britain is engaged. Other countries and continents have too much in the way of wool, raw silk, cotton, corn, coffee, tea, or timber; Cotton The places in the Old World where Cotton, Sugar, Coffee, and Tea are we have too much in the way of iron manufactures, calico, To Coffee,Cotton & Cocoa Cotton The places in the New World where Cotton, Sugar, and Coffee are chiefly grown try in the world. So cheaply can Britain manufacture, that it frequently happens that she buys the raw materials for her goods in a distant land, brings them across the sea to this island, makes them up into cloth, carries the cloth back to the same distant country, and sells it there at a profit. 5. Imports. What we bring into the country from abroad is called an import. Our chief imports are, as has been said, raw materials and provisions. The principal articles we import are six in number. They are corn; raw cotton; wool; sugar; timber; and tea. We spend £60,000,000 a-year on corn and flour; more than £40,000,000 on wool; and about £11,000,000 on tea. 6. Exports. What we carry out of the country to sell abroad is called an export. Our principal exports also number six; and we shall see that they are chiefly manufactured goods. They are cotton cloth; woollen cloth; articles made of iron and steel; coals; machinery; and linen manufactures. Of cotton manufactures we sell every year nearly £80,000,000's worth; of iron, both raw and manufactured, we sell yearly to the value of about £30,000,000; and other countries buy from us machinery to the value of nearly £10,000,000. . . A hundred years ago the total value of our annual imports and exports reached only £20,000,000; they are now more than £600,000,000 a-year. 7. The British Mercantile Navy.-To carry all these things to and fro across the ocean requires a very great number of very large ships. And Great Britain possesses the largest navy of merchant-ships in the world. She owns nearly 20,000 steam and sailing vessels; and this fleet is manned by nearly 200,000 able seamen. 8. Our Customers. -Our best customer is the United States. We sell goods to the people of the United States to the value of about £30,000,000 every year. But we buy very much more from them. Every year we buy from them to the value of more than £100,000,000. Next to the United States as a buyer comes British India; and what we import from her amounts to a little more |