1 Entered according toAct of Congress, in the Year 1860 by JH Colton in the Clerks Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. PLATEAUS AND PLAINS. Is the plateau region of Africa limited to any par- What vast desert occupies most of the northern What desert regions in the south part of Africa? TEMPERATURE. Which is subject to the greater extremes of heat, In July the sun appears as far north as the Tropic ern Africa than in the latter, which has the more Is the general outline of Africa such as renders it Do the isotherms extend farther from the equator SUPERIOR Keweenaw Reg Alinois an Bay hafalaya EAST ORT BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS B STATES FICA SIGAL.) QUESTIONS ON THE MAP. SITUATION AND EXTENT. WHAT is the latitude of the most northern limit of the United States? Of the south point of Florida Keys, the most southern limit of the United States? Ans. About 240 80'. Is this country longest from east to west in the northern or southern part? What is the longitude of the eastern extremity of Maine, the most eastern point of the United States? Ans. About 670 W. lon. Of Cape Flattery, the most western point? MOUNTAINS AND RIVER SYSTEMS. What great chain of mountains forms the dividing line between the waters tributary to the Atlantic and those tributary to the Pacific? Is much the greater part of the country on the eastern or western side of this chain? What noted river divides the eastern section into two nearly equal parts? What mountains form the watershed between the valley of this river and the Atlantic? Which are the two highest chains between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific? Name the three loftiest peaks of the Rocky Mountains in this country, so far as known. What towering summit at the southern extremity of the Cascade Range? Into how many and what principal slopes and basins is that part of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains divided with respect to its drainage? [The extent of the principal basins and slopes is indicated by the coloring.] The part west of the Rocky Mountains? What basin comprises nearly half the whole country? Which is the principal river of the Hudson Bay Basin in the north? Does the Lawrentian Basin-or the valley of the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes-include a very extensive area in the United States? In what direction is the prevailing inclination of the Atlantic slope, or the general course of its rivers, north of Chesapeake Bay? Between the head of Chesapeake Bay and Florida? Of the Gulf slope from Florida to the Mississippi? West of the Mississippi? What great river of the latter section drains the valleys between the southern branches of the Rocky Mountains? What one drains the Pacific slope south and east of the Great Basin? What is its prevailing course, and into what does it flow? What considerable lake receives the drainage of the northeastern part of the Great Basin ? Which is the chief river in the western part of this basin? What river drains the northern part and what one the southern part, of an extensive valley between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range? Do both unite in the same outlet? What great river receives the drainage of nearly the whole of the Pacific Slope north of the Great Basin? What is the true parent stream or chief tributary of the Mississippi? Is it longer than the Mississippi as commonly designated? Are several of the tributaries of the Mississippi-Missouri among the longest rivers in North America? TEMPERATURE. What is the mean annual temperature of the northern part of Maine? [See the isotherms intersecting it.] Through the northern part of what State west of the Great Lakes does the isotherm of 400 pass? To the northern border of what Territory does this isotherm extend southward in the region of the Rocky Mountains? Should we infer that that part of this region inclosed by the isotherm of 400 embraces the coldest sections of the United States? What gives these sections so low a temperature? Do the isotherms, generally speaking, bend somewhat southward in crossing the Appalachian Mountain System? Why do they extend less to the south, than in crossing the Rocky Mountains? What is the mean temperature of the northwestern extremity of the United States? How does it compare with that of the northeastern extremity? Should we infer from its latitude that it would be warmer or colder than the latter? What town in New Mexico has nearly the same mean annual temperature? Is the elevation of Santa Fé more or less than a mile and a quarter (6,350 feet) above the level of the sea? Does the proximity of neighboring mountains, as well as its own elevation, render its climate colder? What city nearly 400 miles farther north on the eastern coast of the United States has the same average temperature? What is the mean temperature of the northern borders of the Gulf of Mexico? Is it warmer than any part of the Pacific coast of this country? RAIN. [For answers to the following questions, see the corner chart.] Does more rain fall in the eastern or western part of the United States? Which part borders on the sea to much the greater extent? What large bodies of water in the north contribute to the supply of rain in this section? Does the eastern part of the country have most rain in the north or south? From what gulf is a large part of the vapor derived which supplies the rain in the south? Is nearly the whole western section of the United States, from a north and south line crossing the middle course of the Missouri River to near the Pacific, scantily supplied with rain, as compared with the eastern section? What parts of Texas and New Mexico have only ten inches a year, or about one fourth as much as the eastern section? What amount of rain falls over a considerable belt extending from this region to about the middle course of the Missouri? What desolate tract is comprised in this belt? Ans. The Great American Desert. Does the western half of the plateau region embraced between the Rocky Mountains on one side and the Blue Mountains and Sierra Nevada on the other, have more or less rain than the Great American Desert ? What third of this section has only five inches a year? Where is there a small tract which has only three inches a year? What completo desert is comprised in this tract? Ans. The Colorado Desert. Is the western border of the United States from the vicinity of San Francisco Bay, southward, scantily supplied with rain? What part of the Pacific coast has more rain than any other portion of the United States? |