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have often been made as to the favourable verdict expressed by scientific men of note, which are not always verifiable. The supposed testimony of the great chemist, Sir Humphry Davy, who is declared to have expressed his belief in the genuineness of the miracle, seems to be a case in point.

Though in many respects uncritical, the best account of the miracle of St. Januarius is that given by Cavene, Le CHibre Miracle de S, Janvier (Paris, 1909). From the historical side fuller details may be found in Taglialatela, Memorie Storico- critiche del Culto e del tSangue di S. Gennaro (Naples, 1896). Among recent works may be mentioned : Januario, 11 Sangue di S. Gennaro (Naples, 1902); two articles by Silva and Sper- INDBO in the Ommagio delta Rivista di Scienze e Lettere, pub- lished for the centenary of 1905; also Sperindeo, II Miracolo di S. Gennaro (3rd ed., Naples, 190S) ; Thurston in The Tablet. 22 and 29 May, 1909, followed by a correspondence in the same journal.

Of earlier date are Punzo. La Tmi di S. Gennaro (Naples,

1880); loEK.Indaginied,:ss<:', ,.~.lhi Tcco (Naples, 1890) ;

Ai.Bitii in Rendiconti deW A ' - ■'^rienzc fisirhe e mate-

maliche (Socielii Reale di \ is II, vol. IV (1890),

24-27; Acta SS., 19 Sept. i iii n is il~o .an excellent article by Lecanu in Migne, Uu-tuninnn-r des Prophities et des Miracles (1852). 1010-1016. The older books, such as those of Putignani, Tutini, Falcone, etc., are too numerous to men- tion, and they are for the most part very uncritical. The vari- ous "Acts" of St. Januarius have been edited by Scherillo in Atti Accad. Archeol. Napoli. VIII (1876), pt. I, 147-.3.30. For further bibliography, see Chevalier, Bio-Bibl.

Herbert Thurston.

Japan. — Area and Population. — Japan, called in the language of the country Nilum. or Nippon (Land of the Rising Sun), and Dai Nikon or Dai Nippon (Great Japan), is situated north-west of the Pacific Ocean and east of the .\siatic continent. It lies between 1 19° 20' and 156° .32' E. long, (meridian of (h-eenwich), and IxMwccn 21° 62' and 50° 56' N. lat. It consists of six large islands, Honshiu or Hondo, Kiusiu, Shikoku, Hokkaido (Yezo), Taiwan or Formo.sa,and the south- ern part of Karafuto (Sakhalin). There are be- sides about six hundred small islands, among which Sado, Oki, Tsushima, Iki, .4waji, and the four archi- pelagos of the Pescadores, (.'hishima (Kuriles), Ogasa- wara, Shima (Bonin),and Okinawa (Hiu-kiu) deserve mention. The word Japan is the collective name of the whole territory, exclusive of Formosa and Kara- futo. The total area amounts to 162,655 sq. miles.

On31 March, 190S, the total population of Japan was 49.092,000 inhabitants; that of Formo.sa 3,155,005; that of the .4inus (aborigines), 17,6.32. The population is divided according to castes into theivtrazo^u (nobles), heatls of families, 902 ; members of families, about 4600 ; Shizoku (former knights or Samurai), heads of fam- ilies, 439,194; members of families, 1,728,650; Heimin (private citizens), heads of families, 8,285,448: mem- bers of families, 47,358,760. The number of the popu- lation increases rapidly. In 1876 it was 34,338,000; in ISSn, 38,.507,000: in 1896, 42,708,000; in 1907, 49,- 092,000. of which 24,839,000 were men, and 24,2.52,- 000, women. The density is 415 to the sq. mile, ex- clusive of Hokkaido, where it is twenty-three to the sq. mile. Number of married persons, 16,458,308; births in the year 1907, 1,599,231; children born liv- ing, 1,457,0.39; children born dead, 142,092; illegiti- mate births: boys, 60,445, girls, 00,702. Number of marriages,351 ,2(^0 ; divorces, 00, 1 79 ; deaths, 1 ,012,8.55. Recipients of passports to foreign countries, 43,627; Japanese resident abroad, the civil condition of whom is registered at the consulates, 234,124; in China, 34,- 006; in Corea, 81,754; in the United States, 20,080; in Hawaii and the Philippines, 73,974; in Europe, 694; the remainder in various countries. Number of for- eigners resident in Japan, 18,908; Chinese, 12,273; Coreans. 4.59; Englishmen, 2293; .'\mericans from the United States, 1624; Germans, 664; French, 498; Russians, 194; Portuguese, 197; the remainder belong to various nationalities.

Physical Geography. — Sensf and Straiti. — The seas which surround Japan are the Pacific Ocean on the east, the Sea of Okhotsk on the north, the Sea of Japan on the west, and the (.'hina Sea on the south.

The straits separating the principal islands are the Strait of Soya or La P^-rouse between Hokkaido and the Sakhalin Islands, the Strait of Tsugaru between the Great Island Honshiu and Hokkaido, and the Strait of Shimonoseki between Honshiu and Kiusiu.

Coasts, Gulfs, and Bays. — The coasts are very ir- reguhir, the gulfs and bays very numerous. On the Pacific Ocean are the gulfs of Sagami and Tosa, the bays of Tokio, Suruga, Ise, Omi, Tsuchiura, Seto, etc.; on the Sea of Japan, the l^ays of Fukuoaka, Wakasa, Tsuruga, Nanao, Otaru; on the C'hina Sea, the bays of Kagoshima, Yatsushiro, Amagusa, Shimabara, etc.

Lakes. — The largest is Lake Biwa, which is about 180 miles in circumference, 36^ miles long, and 12* miles wide. According to tradition Lake Biwa was formed by an earthquake in 286 B. c. Renowned for the beauty of its scenery, its praises h:ive often been sung by tlic poets. After Laki' Biwa the best known are Lake Suwa in Shinano, Lake Hakone, on the sum- mit of the mountain of the same name, Lake Chiusenji in Shimotsuke, west of Nikko, 15^ miles in circumfer- ence, 4375 feetabove sea-level. The cascade of Kegon, one of the most beautiful and renowned of Japan, is on this lake.

Rii'ers. — The slopes of the mountains being so close to the sea, the watercourses are not very long. They are for the most part only torrents, few of them ca- pable of carrying boats, but they are utilized for rafting ami thus supplement the roads. Only fifteen are 40 ri and more long, the longest being 110 ri in length. (The ri is almo.st equal to 2^ miles.)

Mountains. — In Japan the mountains cover two- thirds of the surface of the soil. The country is trav- ersed by two chains of mountains, one a part of Sak- halin Island, the other south-east of China crossing Formosa. These two chains meet in the middle of the Great Island (Honshiu), dividing it into two parts which present striking contrasts as much from the po- litical as from the geographical point of view. The high- est peaks are situated at the intersection of these two chains, about the thirty-fifth parallel, which hascaused tourists to give them the name of the Japanese Alps. The highest are Niitaka in Formosa (12,850 feet), and Fuji (12,395 feet) in Honshiu. This last mountain must have been formed by the same earthquake which hollowed out Lake Biwa (286 B. c). It is a volcano subject at times to terrible eruptions. On account of its regular outline and its majestic beauty it has fur- nishcil an inexhaustible source of inspiration to Japan- ese artists, poets, painters, etc.

Valleys. — Although very mountainous, the country is not devoid of valleys, the principal ones being those of Etchigo, Sendai, and Kwanto, with Tokio and Yoko- hama, and a population of 6,(100,0110 souls, of Mine and Owari (1,150,000 souls), of Kiuai, with Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe (2,600,000 souls), of Tsukushi in Kiusiu. The oil mines of this valley furnish 67% of the total production of the mines of Japan.

Volcanoes. — Three chains of volcanoes exist in Japan. The Kuriles, Fuji, and Kirishima contain 200 volcanoes, of which 100 are still active. The principal ones are Tarumai, Noboribetsu, Komagatake, Agat- suma, Bandai, Kausatsu, Kaimon, Sakaurajima, Fuji, Kirishima, Asama, and Aso. This last, situated north-east of Higo, numbers five peaks, the highest of which reaches an altitude of nearly one mile. It is perhaps the largest volcano in the world, its craters having an extent of 15 miles from north to south, 10 miles from east to west. It was in eruption in 1884, 1SS9. and 1896.

Earthquakes. — Their number is proportionate to that of the volcanoes. From 1S83 to 1897 there were 17,7.50, that is, 1.365 per year, and nearly 3J per day. From 1596 to 1877 Japan was visited by 100 more or less disastrous earthquakes. According to minvite re- searches made by a commission of scholars, the num- ber of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions which have