lowlands, and others, answerable to various local denomina-tions.
Rivers are generally found to be proceeding from rivulets,these draw their being from brooks; whilst those come fromsprings, which usually have their origin in some mountain orhill, which having arrested the progress of the clouds andaqueous vapour in the air, originally produce them. Thusnature answering one part unto another, is carried onwith a simple undeviating harmony, which is conducive tothe general concord of the whole system; and evinces thewonderful providence of its Almighty architect.
With regard to those parts of geography, usually regu-lated by astronomy, the sphere, or globe, is first divided intotwo equal parts, called hemispheres, by a central belt calledthe equator; it is also called the equinoctial line, becausewhen the sun moves in it, which it does twice in the year,equal day and night prevail all over the world. At the dis-tance of 23|° from the equator, on either side, are two otherimaginary lines, called tropics, that on the north is called thetropic of Cancer, and that on the south the tropic of Capri-corn : the space between them is called the torrid zone. 231°from the north and south poles there are two other circles,called the arctic circle at the northern, and antarctic circleat the southern extremity; the spaces between these circlesand the poles are called the frigid or frozen zones ; whilstthe intermediate spaces between those circles on each sideof the equator, and the arctic and antarctic circles, areknown as the temperate zones.
Taking the globe from north to south, it is divided intofour quadrants of 90 J each, amounting to 3G0 3 . Whilsttaking each of the oriental and occidental hemispheres, it isalso reckoned to contain 180° each, amounting to a similarnumber, or 360°. The sun is constantly vertical over somepart of the torrid zone; its course is called the ecliptic; itcrosses the line twice in the year. From natural causes, i. <?.heat, at the equator and within the torrid zone, the bulk ofthe earth is increased; whilst within the frigid zones, fromintensity of cold, it vanishes out of, or recedes from, or asis occasionally said, is evanescent out of a regular circle;whence its form is not perfectly round, but elliptical.
The dimension of each degree, taken north and south, aswell as east and west, is commonly calculated at (i(>£ geo-graphical miles.