Riassunto
Excerpt from An Accompaniment to Mitchell's Map of the World: On Mercator's Projection
America is a vast continent comprising one of the grand divisions of the globe; it contains an extent of territory nearly equal to half of the other three conti nental divisions, constituting about three-tenths of the dry land on the surface of the earth; it is washed on both sides by vast oceans, on the east by the Atlantic, and on the west by the Pacific. It ranges from north to south through 125 degrees of latitude, and in its widest part 113 degrees of longitude, being in length about 9000 miles, and in average breadth about 2000; the extent of sur face has been variously estimated at from to square miles, but in every estimate allowance must be made for the uncertainty of the northern limits, and our still imperfect acquaintance with some of the coasts.
America comprehends the whole of the tropical and temperate climates, with part of the arctic on both sides of the equator. The whole of the continent north of latitude 55° may be considered as a frozen region. In Greenland and around Hudson's Bay, mercury freezes in winter, and ice and snow accumulate on the land and water and covers a great part of the country throughout the year. The winter begins in August and continues for nine months. In summer the heat is as great as in New England; it continues however for too short a period to bring grain to maturity, and cultivation is very little practised. Vegetation is too scanty to supply the inhabitants with any considerable part of their food, they therefore live chiefly on seals and other productions of the sea.
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