moon to attend it, Jupiter four moons, Saturn seven, and the Georgium Sidus two moons. Q. In what form or manner do these planets move? A. They all in different stated periods of time perform their motion round the sun, from east to west, in orbits nearly circular. Q. Have all the planets moons attendant upon them like our earth? A. No; such only of the planets as are farthest from the sun, and therefore enjoy least of his light, have their deficiency made up by sev eral moons, which constantly accompany and revolve about them as our moon reyolves about our earth. Saturn, the remotest planet, has five, and Jupiter has four, which was first dişcovered by the telescope, nor are they to be seen without it. These moons are generally called satellites, or secondary planets. Q. What is a comet ? A. Comets are large solid bodies with long transparent trains or tails, issuing from that side which is turned away from the sun. Q. Does the appearance of a comet foretell any great event? A. No; it was formerly supposed they did, but it was mere supposition. Q. What is the earth? A. The earth is the globe we inhabit. A. Its circumference is about twenty five thousand miles. Q. What is its true figure? A. Though we often call it a globe, yet it is by no means perfectly round, but widened out at عي at the equator, and flattened at both poles like a turnip; or if you are fonder of a hard name, its figure may be called an oblate spheroid. Is it always fixed, or does it move ? A. It moves constantly round the sun. How is this motion performed ? A. Two ways; the earth turns round its axis every twenty four hours, which alternately causes day and night, as either side is turned toward, or from the sun, whilst it revolves round that luminary in three hundred and sixty five days, six hours, which periodical revolution produces the four seasons of the year. This double motion of the earth may be compared to a coach turning round in a court yard; the wheels go round their own axis, at the same time they move round the yard. It travels at the rate of fifty eight thousand miles every hour, which is one hundred and twenty times swifter than a cannon ball, and by its rapid motion on its axis, the inhabitants of London are carried five hundred and eighty miles every hour. Q. What is an eclipse? A. An eclipse is nothing but a total or partial moon. Q. When does an eclipse of the sun happen? A. When the moon comes between the sun and the earth. In this position she will wholly or partly intercept the rays of the sun, which is then said to undergo an eclipse. When this eclipse is total, the darkness is so great that the stars will appear. Q. What Q. What is the cause of an eclipse of the moon? A. By the position of the earth between the moon and the sun, it is easy to be conceived that the moon having no light of her own, when the rays of the sun are intercepted, she will ap pear dark or dusky. An eclipse of the Sun never happens but ata new Moon, nor one of the Moon but when she is full. LESSON XV. OF GEOGRAPHY. Totam licet animis, tanquam oculis lustrare terram mariaque omnia. "One may survey the whole earth and all the seas that "surround it, in the mind, just as they are presented to the "eye." CICERO. Q. WHAT is geography? A. A description of the earth. Q. How is the earth divided? A. Into four parts. 1st, Europe; 2d, Asia; 3d, Africa; and 4th, America, which we inhabit. Q. By whom was the earth peopled? A. By the children of Noah,─Shem, Ham and Japhet. Q. Why is America often called the new world? A. Because it was not discovered till about the end of the fifteenth century, about three hundred years ago. Q. By whom was America discovered?' A. By A. By Christopher Columbus, sent by Ferdinand, King of Spain. Q. Why then is it called America ? A. Because one named Americus Vespusius, be ing sent after Columbus, discovered a greater part of the Continent. It is also named the West Indies, to distinguish it from the East Indies in Asia, but generally applied to the islands. Q. Which is the largest of these four parts? A. America. Q. Which has most mines of gold and silver? Q. Which of them is the richest in natural productions. A. Asia. It is this quarter that furnishes our spices. Q. And where is the heat of the sun most intense ? A. In Africa, which produces negroes, a race of people quite black, having flat noses, thick lips, and hair like wool. Q. And which is that most peopled, and where the sciences are most cultivated? A. Europe, though the smallest of the four. Q. How are the four parts of the world distinguished? A. From the time of Charles the Great, they have been distinguished by the names of East, West, North and South. Q. How do we know where to find those parts? A. Only by turning the back to the rising sun, and on the left hand will be the south; on the right hand the north; behind the east, and directly opposite will be the west. F 2 Q. How Q. How are the winds that blow from these four quarters named ? A. They are called in the same order; 1st, The East wind; 2d, West wind; 3d, Northe wind; and 4th, South wind. Q. What is a sea ? A. A sea is a large collection of salt water. Q. Whence is it that the sea water is charged with saltness, while that of rivers is mild, fresh and sweet, and fit for human purposes. A. It is supposed to arise from great beds of salt lying at the bottom of the ocean. Q. Is it necessary that this water should be salt? A. Yes; for the water of the sea not flowing like that of a river, would be apt to corrupt and stink like a filthy lake, was it not for its saltness, which preserves it pure and sweet. Q. How are the seas distinguished? A. They are generally distinguished by their situation. Thus we say the South Sea, the North Sea, the British sea, the Irish Sea, &c. The general term for a large extensive sea is an Ocean; as the Atlantic Ocean, between Europe and America, the Pacific Ocean between America and Asia, and the Indian Ocean be. tween Africa and the East Indies. Q. What is a strait ? A. A narrow passage of water, inclosed by two shores, as the straits of Dover, between the British Channel and the German sea, &c. Q. What is a continent? A. A large quantity of land containing whole countries and kingdoms, and that is not surrounded by the sea, such as Europe, Asia, Afri ca, and America. Q. What |