begins upon the plains, & the sugar cane ceases to grow. 424. In the warm regions, which lie next to this, the winters are rather damp than cold, and vegetables grow through the greatest part of the year. They terminate where the olive and the fig cease to grow.

425. In the temperate regions, we first meet with the regular succession of the four seasons of the year, and an equal proportion of cold and heat. They produce wheat and barley, the most nourishing grains, in perfection, and the most useful vegetables and fruits in abundance.

426. In the cold regions, the winters are long and severely cold, and wheat cannot be raised without difficulty; but the pastures are rich, and rye, oats and barley can be cultivated.

427. In the frozen regions the cold of winter is intense, and ice continues through the year. Vegetation is scanty, and chiefly confined to the south side of the hills; and cultivation is almost impracticable.

428. The animals and vegetables of the earth are various in different regions, according to the degree of heat and moisture; and are so wonderfully adapted to their situation and climate, and the wants of the inhabitants, that they furnish the strongest proof of the wisdom, power, and goodness of the Creator.

429. It should be remembered that the islands and mountainous countries of the earth have a climate materially different from the regions in which they lie, and do not always furnish the same animals and vegetables.

Questions-How may the surface of the earth be divided? Describe the equatorial regions. The icy regions. How does the climate vary between these? Is the heat always proportioned to the latitude? What is the difference between the limits of these regions on the two continents? Describe the tropical regions. The warm regions. The temperate. The cold. The frozen. Mention the countries in each region. (See the Allas.) How are animals and vegetables distributed? What countries differ from the regions in which they lic,

VEGETABLES.

430. It is estimated by Humboldt, a celebrated traveller, that the number of plants actually known, amounts to 44,000, of which nearly one half are found in the Torrid Zone, and 17,000 are American plants.

431. The most important vegetables of the earth, are those used for the food of men and animals, including the various kinds of grass, grain, fruit and roots.

432. Flax, hemp and cotton are very important for clothing. Other plants are valuable, as cordials, medicines and dyes; and a few are entirely useless.

433. Most vegetables flourish in the same regions in every part of the world. A few of the more delicate are almost confined to their native soil; as the tea to China, cinnamon to Ceylon, and the nutmeg, mace and clove to the Spice Islands.

434. The grasses are universally diffused over the earth, as far as the limits of the frozen regions; but the pastures are richest, and the verdure is most constant and beautiful in the cold and temperate regions.

435. The hot countries between the temperate regions and the tropics, are not refreshed by the great rains of the Torrid Zone, and the pastures are often scorched and brown for want of moisture. Even in the southern parts of France and Russia, it is often necessary to water the fields by artificial means.

436. In the Torrid Zone, rice, maize and millet are the chief grains used for food, and are very abundant. But the bread fruit of Polynesia, the cassava and arrow root of South America, the sago tree of India, and the plantain, are used as substitutes for grain in the countries where they are found..

437. In the warm and temperate regions, wheat, maize and barley are the most common grains. In the cold regions wheat will scarcely ripen, and rye and oats are cultivated in its stead.

438. In the frozen regions the grasses and grains cease almost entirely, and their place is supplied by various species of lichen and moss, which form a nourishing food, for men and animals.

439. The most delicious fruits, such as the pine-apple, banana, date, orange, lemon, citron, and cocoa-nut, are only found in the equatorial and tropical regions.

440. The fig, olive, and almond, are every where produced in the warm regions; and the orange and lemon extend into the southern parts.

441. The wine grape is found almost exclusively in the warm and temperate regions.

442. The peach, the apple, the pear, and many kinds of nuts, are most perfect in the temperate regions. But we find the plum, the cherry, the currant, the gooseberry, and various kinds of berries, in all parts of the temperate and cold regions; and even the frozen regions are provided with several species of berries.

443. All the regions of the earth except the frozen and icy regions, are provided with an abundance of the common vegetables and roots, so much used for food.

444. The potatoe, cabbage, turnip, beet, &c. are common throughout the temperate and cold regions. The yam, the cassava, and the arrow root, which resemble the potatoe, are confined to the torrid zone.

445. The forests of the frozen regions are chiefly composed of the fir, the pine, and other evergreens, mingled with the birch, the willow, and the beach.

446. On the borders of the cold region, we first meet with the oak, the elm, the chesnut, and other trees of our own country, and these form a principal part of the forests of the temperate and warm regions.

447. In the Torrid Zone, the forests are as valuable as the cultivated fields of other regions, from the variety of nourishing fruits they produce; and the trees assume a size and beauty unknown in other regions.

448. The most remarkable trees of this zone, are the lofty palms, which yield such rich and refreshing juices; the teak tree, the mahogany, and the iron-wood, which form the most durable timber; and the log-wood and other trees, which furnish some of the most valuable dyes.

Questions-How are the vegetables of the earth distributed? What is the whole number known? What are the most important? What others are useful? Where are grasses found? Are the warm regions always verdant? What are the principal grains of the torrid zone? What in the warm, temperate and cold regions? How is their place supplied in the frozen regions? What are the fruits of the equatorial and tropical regions? Of the warm? Where is the wine grape found? What fruits in the temperate regions? Where are the plumb, cherry and berries found? Where are the common vegetables and roots found? Mention those of the different regions. Describe the forests of the frozen regions. Of the cold and temperate regions. Of the Torrid zone. What are some of the most remarkable trees of the Torrid Zone? Examine the view of climates, &c. and meution the regions and countries of each vegetable.

ANIMALS.

449. The animals of the earth are various in different zones, as has already been stated. (See 91–98—— 106.) They may be divided into tame or domestic, and wild animals.

450. Domestic animals are chiefly used for food, or as beasts of burden and draft. Some wild animals are important to man for food; and many, on account of their fur, skin, down, or oil. Others are dangerous to man, as beasts of prey, serpents, &c. ; and others still, very troublesome, as many small animals and insects.

451. The most useful domestic animals, the horse, the ox, the sheep, the hog, the cat, and the dog, are the companions of man in all latitudes, as far as the country will yield them food.

452. The goat, the deer, the rabbit, the fox, the rat and the mouse, are also found in almost every portion

of the globe where man can exist. But all these animals are most perfect in the Temperate Zone, and are much altered by the extremes of heat or cold.

453. In temperate and cold countries the horse and the ox are the most valuable beasts of burden. In hot and mountainous countries the ass and the mule are more useful. But in the frozen regions all these become diminutive, their food fails, and the reindeer and the dog are used in their stead.

454. The llama and vicuna of South America are peculiarly fitted for carrying heavy burdens, over the rugged mountain roads of that country. The camel is the only animal which can carry burdens over the desert regions of Asia and Africa, and has been properly called "the ship of the desert." The elephant is also valued as a beast of burden, for his docility and strength.

455. The various uses of the sheep, the deer, the ox, and many other animals among us, are well known. The flesh and milk even of the camel, the ass, and the horse, are used as food in Asia and Africa; and barbarous and half-civilized nations feed on the flesh of the elephant, rhinoceros, and indeed all species of animals. 456. The skins of all the animals which have been mentioned are useful, and the tusks of the elephant, hippopotamus, and walrus, furnish us with ivory.

457. The animals of the frozen regions are covered with a thick, soft fur. The finest furs are those of the sable, ermine, martin, beaver, otter and seal, which are procured only in these regions.

458. In the icy or polar regions, the fierce white bear and the fox are the only land animals known; but the whale, the seal, and the walrus or sea horse, are found in the ocean; and the nothern seas swarm with the herring, the cod, and other fish, which afford support to the frozen countries around them. Codfish are chiefly obtained on the coast of Newfoundland, and herring on the coast of Northern Europe.