Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 40.djvu/419

 Rh new issue, the statistics of the area and population of the various divisions and subdivisions of Turkey in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and of her tributary states, being given in minute detail, with copious references to authorities.

There are some curious and delicate estimates of the area of Europe according to various calculations and within various limits. Thus, according to Strelbitsky (who for several years has been making elaborate calculations and measurements on the subject), the area of Europe is 3,756,545 square miles, while according to Wagner's estimate it is 3,755,493, a difference of about 1,000 miles. But if to this we add Nova Zembla, Cis-Caucasia, and Cis-Uralia, the Marmora Islands, and Iceland, we get, according to Strelbitsky, 3,865,417 square miles, and according to Wagner, 3,865,279, a difference of only 138 miles. Again, if we take Europe within the limits of administrative divisions we obtain an area of 3,836,912, but this includes Iceland, Nova Zembla, the Canaries, and Madeira, making 79,165 square miles. Here comes in the question as to what are the natural boundaries of Europe, a question to which Drs, Wagner and Supan briefly refer. They regard as outside of Europe the Canaries, Madeira, the Azores, and the Marmora Islands. The inclusion or otherwise of Iceland, Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla, will make a difference of 103,093 square miles; while there will be a further difference of 424,750 square miles depending on the limits adopted for the eastern boundary of Europe. Europe in the narrowest sense, according to these highly competent authorities, covers 3,570,030 square miles. This excludes the polar islands, and draws the boundary of eastern Europe along the crest of the Urals and the line of the Manytch River, thus excluding the Caspian Steppe, but including the Sea of Azoff. By including the polar islands another 103,000 square miles would be added. If the Caspian Steppe be included, the area of Europe would amount to 3,688,792, or with the polar islands to 3,791,792 square miles. If the boundary of eastern Europe be drawn along the Ural crest, the Ural River, and the crest of the Caucasus, we obtain an area of 3,790,504 square miles, or, including Iceland and Nova Zembla (Europe in Strelbitsky's acceptation), the area is 3,866,605 square miles. Finally, taking Europe in the widest sense, including the Ural Mountains, the south slope of the Caucasus, the countries on the east side of the Ural, and the steppe between the Ural River and the Emba, we obtain an area of 3,988,618 square miles, or, with the polar islands, about 4,093,000 square miles.

For the section dealing with Asia, Herr B. Trognitz, a land surveyor, has undertaken a new and elaborate calculation of the area of the continent on the basis of the best maps at his command. Into the details of his methods it is unnecessary to