but its velocity on its own axis amounts to several hundred miles an hour. Wherever it touches the earth houses are blown down, trees uprooted, ponds and rivers sucked dry. In the track of the whirlwind nothing can resist its awful energy. A storm may devastate from 10 to 30 miles of country, cutting a swath 1,000 feet wide.

The plateaux lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, bereft of humid winds, have the character of deserts. It is true that moist winds from the ranges blow over this region, but the soil absorbs so much heat from the sun that such winds are only made warmer, and so retain their moisture until they reach a climate sufficiently cool to compel precipitation.

The desert of the lower Colorado is the point of greatest heat in the United States, a temperature of 125° F. having been recorded at Yuma. The zone formed of certain parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico receives no water except the mountain torrents, and tillage is dependent upon irrigation.

The Pacific seaboard has a climate totally different from that of the hot interior plateau, and is cool and moist. In the same latitude the mean annual temperature is warmer on the Pacific than on the Atlantic coast. The waters of the Pacific are cool, and a cool ocean breeze greatly modifies the climate. The rainfall increases from

21

south to north. The annual rainfall at San Francisco is 20 inches, but the rainfall at the mouth of the Columbia is 40 inches.

There are great differences of climate in Alaska. In the southeast the Japan current produces a temperate climate as far north as Sitka. The prevailing winds are from the Pacific and cause an almost continuous rainfall. This is true of the Aleutian chain also. In the interior, beyond the mountains, dryer and colder conditions prevail. The winters are excessively cold and the summers longer and warmer than on the coast regions. At Sitka the coldest month is January — 31°— the warmest, August55° F. The annual rainfall is 81 inches. At Point Barrow, farthest north, the mean winter temperature is 17° F. below zero, but 50° F. is often reached. Summer temperature averages 36° F.

In Hawaii the climate is that of perpetual summer, healthful and agreeable. The average temperature is 71° F. There is an abundant rainfall, being 176 inches on the windward side of the islands and 51 inches on the leeward. Tornadoes are unknown.

The climate of the Philippines is also continual summer. From March to May is the hottest season. The rainy season begins in the middle of April and lasts six months, and the annual rainfall is 99 inches. The range of the thermometer is from 66° F. to 90° F.

The Atlantic coastlands and highlands, being a plentifully watered region, support a forest growth presenting a great variety of species. Perhaps the most characteristic tree, in this region between the Atlantic and the Mississippi and stretching from Tennessee to beyond the Great Lakes, is the hemlock spruce (Tsuga Canadensis). In all this region, however, deciduous trees abound-oak, maple, elm, poplar, linden, cherry, walnut, chestnut, birch, beech and alder. On the uplands of the Alleghenies are coniferous forests of hemlock, white pine, fir and mountain ash. There is a wealth of vines, moun

tain laurel, dogwood, rhododendrons, honeysuckle, etc. The white pine (Pinus strobus) was formerly the dominant tree, but has been largely cut down by the lumberman's axe. In the Southern States, between the Mississippi and the Atlantic, Georgia pine (Pinus palustris) predominates.

On the coastlands of the Carolinas is a region of "pine barrens," associated with cypress that grows in marshy tracts. From the branches of the cypress hang the long gray fibres of the Spanish moss which is a characteristic feature of these forests. The Palmetto palm (Sabal palmetto) is seen on the Carolina and Georgia seaboard. In south Florida tropical flora prevails. The orange and lemon are associated with cedars, magnolia, live oak, mahogany, palm woods and epiphytes, while the Florida Keys are fringed with mangroves.

In the forests of Maine are to be found the three principal members of the Laurentian deer family- the moose, wapiti or elk, and caribou or woodland reindeer. In addition, deer are also plentiful. In remote districts bear, wolves and lynx exist and an occasional panther. Of lesser game, porcupine, woodchuck, skunk, opossum, squirrel, marten, raccoon, hares, wild turkey, grouse, pigeons, buzzards, ibis, geese, ducks and swans are more plentiful.

Before the Mississippi basin was settled by the white man the prairie region west of the river was clothed

with grasses, while the river courses were bordered with arborescent growths of cottonwood and willows. Apparently these regions have always been destitute of trees. Nature seems to have been more hospitable to herbaceous plants, which here find conditions favorable to their growth. Of course the prairie region is now given over to agriculture, and endless fields of maize take the place of the grasses which formerly supported millions of buffaloes.

The gramma or "bison

grass " forms a natural pasturage for great herds of cattle. Sage brush is common. In the western plains, lacking the moisture of the Atlantic seaboard, trees do not have the proportions of those of Virginia. Sometimes the forest is entirely killed by lack of moisture and crumbles into dust. In the valley of the Mississippi, where the soil is rich and rainfall abundant, sugar, cotton, maize and other plants flourish.

The " cross timbers" region in Texas is a tract of small-leafed oaks growing in arid soil—a connecting link between the fertile eastern lands and the arid western plateau. Of the fauna of the Mississippi basin, the herds of buffalo that formerly roamed over the prairies have disappeared, and the animal is preserved only in small groups fenced in parks. The prong-horned antelope is found in Kansas, the jaguar and ocelot in Texas. The coyote, a species of wolf, and the prairie dog that lives in a

23

community of burrows, are characteristic animals. Alligators are found in the southern bayous. Armadillos are peculiar to Texas.

The Rocky Mountain plateau that stretches from the upper Missouri to Texas and from the plains of Colorado to the Sierra Nevada differs widely as a floral region from the Appalachian region, for not 20 per cent. of its plants are found in the East. The limit of tree growth rises from 9,000 feet in the South to 12,000 feet in Colorado. The most characteristic trees are the western yellow pine, west pine and Chihuahua pine in the South, and the mountain pine, black pine, hemlock and tamarack in the North. The most characteristic tree of the hot deserts of Arizona and New Mexico is the giant cactus (Cereus giganteus). In the mountains western yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa) flourishes. In the northern section the sagebrush is represented by Artemisia, Atriplex, Eurotina and Bigelovia. Throughout the region the rivers are lined with cottonwood, balsam, poplar and willow. The western slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the California coast, exposed to the beneficent moisture-laden winds of the Pacific, present a region of arboreal magnificence. Twelve distinct varieties of conifers prevail, arranged in family groups on the slopes of the mountains- the Sequoia gigantea or evergreen redwood being the monarch of all vegetable creation.

The largest noted tree is 325 feet high with a girth of 90 feet, but others that have been felled measured 400 and 425 feet. There also flourish the Australian eucalyptus, the redwood, the Douglas spruce and giant cedar. Further north, clothing the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington, the forests are of still greater extent and reach down to the coast. Douglas spruce, the sugar'pine, western hemlock and giant cedar reach their fullest development.

The animal life of this immense re

gion includes elk, deer, antelope, big horn sheep, Rocky Mountain goat, black and cinnamon bears, wild cat, red and gray wolves, coyote, fox, raccoon, opossum, skunk, beaver, hare, marmot, squirrel and muskrat. Reptiles are numerous - lizards of all sizes and colors, the "Gila monster," large tortoises, horned frogs, centipedes and tarantulas. Game birds and birds of prey are numerous.

In Alaska vegetable life on the mainland and islands includes spruce, hemlock, balsam, fir, yellow cedar, birch, poplar and alder. These clothe the coast region and the mountains up to 2,000 feet. In the north vegetation is very meagre, consisting of dwarf willows and spruce. Of animal life there are caribou, and polar, grizzly, black and the huge Kodiak and glacial bears. Sheep and goats live on the southeastern mountains. Wolves, sledge dogs, Arctic

fox, weasels, wolverines, mink and sea otter are widely distributed. Among marine mammals are whales of several kinds, walrus, sea lions and hair and fur seals.

The flora of Hawaii includes Asiatic, Australian and American varieties. As might be expected from its isolation, of the 900 species of flowering plants, 600 are peculiar to the islands. Forestry is under the control of a Board of Agriculture and Forestry, and there are 400,000 acres in forest preserves. There are very few indigenous animals, save a species of lizard. There are many characteristic birds.

The plant life of the Philippines includes 60 species of hardwood trees. The cocoa palm and bamboo grow everywhere. The banyan is plentiful and cinnamon, clove and pepper flourish. There are 1,200 species of wild plants, the most valuable of which is the Manila hemp (Musa texilis). Apitong, guijo, molave and yacal are the most prized of timber

trees.

Of animals there are the carabao, or water buffalo, which is used as a draft animal, the wild buffalo, deer, goats, hogs, a native pony, civet cats, a wild cat and the binturon jungle fowl, hornbill, fruit pigeon, snipe, and a swift, whose nests are eaten for food. Fish are plentiful, also crocodiles and snakes.

Geology.

The paleozoic rocks, variously known as Laurentian, Huronian or Archean, the oldest known rocks on the earth's surface, which form the eastern half of Canada, extend into the United States and form the basin of the Great Lakes, the valley of the St. Lawrence, all of New England, and the Appalachian mountain system down to Alabama. These consist of hard crystaline gneisses, schists and quartzites. They sweep around Lake Michigan from Wisconsin and form the upper part of the States of Indiana and Ohio, where they are met by a large area of carboniferous or red sandstone of the secondary epoch, which forms the State of Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and which runs down into Alabama. This great deposit of carboniferous rocks, lying like an island in a paleozoic sea, does not end here, for, running in a northeasterly direction across the lower half of Illinois, its lower edge crosses the Mississippi at the junction of the Ohio River, then spreads like a fan both to the northwest and southwest, extending from Iowa to the boundary of Mexico and as far west as the centre of Kansas. These carboniferous measures contain the great coal deposits of the United States and are of vast economic value. There is an isolated outcrop of the same formation in the centre of Michigan, and other outcrops appear along

25

the southern and western shores of

Lake Superior.

These sandstone formations are generally coextensive with the outlines of the primordial sea that once filled the Mississippi valley, and when the land slowly emerged from the waters, the dense forests of the carboniferous area that were the origin of the coal deposits came into existence. Time after time these forests were inundated and overlaid with fresh deposits of sand. The sandstones, shales and limestones of the mesozoic era were laid along the borders of the Appalachian Mountains, on both east and west sides.

In the mesozoic era also large triassic, jurassic and cretaceous formations were deposited west of the carboniferous measures, along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and over the great plains, where they are covered in places with tertiary deposits. During these secondary and tertiary ages, monster lizards and huge land animals existed, such as the brontosaurus, dinosaurus, pleiosaurus, and later the mammoth and elephant. The bones of these monsters are found in the tertiary deposits of Wyoming and elsewhere. To this era belong the great coal deposits of the West, and the gravel, sand and clays deposited over thousands of square miles of territory.

The paleozoic rocks of the great plateaux lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada are