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674 sq. m.; that of the grasses and coarser grains, 2,300,000 sq. m.; of maize, 500,000 sq. m. The summer isothermal of 70°, starting at Long island, lat. 41°, and passing through Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago, rises in its westward course, on the Saskatchewan, to lat. 52°, at the meridian of 110°; that of 62°, starting off Boston, crosses the Red river in lat. 50°, lon. 97°, and rises to 60° at Mackenzie river.—The valley of the St. Lawrence is a region of immense forests of coniferæ and deciduous trees. Whatever may be the effect of these forests in producing precipitation, they certainly prevent evaporation, retaining the moisture in the ground and keeping the rivers and springs constantly supplied. Over the whole of this valley up to 49° the sugar maple is found; the ash-leaved maple on the Saskatchewan in 54°; and wherever the maple is found it has the wild vine for a companion. The Canadian forests comprise 60 different trees. The black walnut, now becoming scarce, attains an average height of 120 feet.—The government of Canada is modelled in some respects after that of the United States, but in others wholly differs from it. The constitution is embodied in an imperial act, known as “the British North American act, 1867;” it received the royal assent on March 29 in that year. The passage of this act took place at the express desire of the provinces interested. The immediate reason for a change was that the old union between Upper and Lower Canada had become unsatisfactory. Based as this union was upon an equality of suffrages, without regard to relative population, the increasing preponderance of Upper Canada, carrying with it no corresponding increase of political power, made itself felt in discontent with the existing political condition. When it became manifest that Lower Canada would not consent to an increase of the representatives of Upper Canada, under the then existing legislative union, the upper province sought a remedy in a change of the relations of the provinces to one another, and to those adjoining but not united to them. The initiative was taken in 1864 by the parliament of Canada, a secret committee of the legislative assembly being appointed to inquire into the political condition of the provinces, and devise a remedy for the evils complained of. The proceedings of that committee have never been divulged. Scarcely had it concluded its labors when the two political parties, hitherto separated by an antagonism which every year tended to make more acrimonious, united with the avowed object of bringing about a federal union of the whole of British America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, the latter of which, in the colonial system, is not considered part of British America. Delegates were appointed by the governments of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick to arrange a basis of federal union. Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland

refused to coöperate; and the great majority of the people of Nova Scotia, far from sanctioning the action of their government, displayed an almost revolutionary violence in their opposition. Threats of resorting to arms were sometimes uttered. When the basis of union had been agreed upon at the Quebec conference of delegates, it was submitted to the several legislatures for ratification. In Upper Canada there was no opposition; in Lower Canada opposition was confined to the usual political minority, relatively very small; in New Brunswick confederation, after a struggle, commanded a large majority; in Nova Scotia the consent of the legislature was not obtained. Delegates were now appointed by the governments of the several provinces to carry this basis of union to England and get it embodied in an act of the imperial parliament. That parliament would probably have refused to do violence to the wishes of any province; but it was induced to believe that the question of confederation had not been an issue at the previous general election in Nova Scotia. To the united provinces the name of “the Dominion of Canada” was given. At the start the confederation included four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. British Columbia has since been brought in, and the whole of the Hudson Bay territory purchased and annexed. The executive authority is nominally vested in the queen of England; and the governor general, the only officer in the Dominion who receives his appointment from the British government, carries on the government in her name. With the sole exception of the pardoning power, the authority of the governor is exercised under the advice of a privy council, appointed and removable by himself, with the approbation and assent of the house of commons. The command of the land and naval militia, and of all naval and military forces, is vested in the queen. Ottawa is the seat of the federal government. The legislative power is exercised by two houses of parliament, styled the senate and the house of commons, in connection with the governor general, whose assent to all acts of parliament is given in the name of the queen. The senate is not a representative body, in the sense of being periodically elected. Its members are nominally appointed by the crown; in fact by the governor general, on the recommendation of the privy council. Under the legislative union of the Canadas, the legislative council, which then formed the second chamber, had for some years been elected by the people. This practice had not prevailed in New Brunswick; and the Quebec conference decided upon going back to the principle of crown nomination. Ontario has 24 senators, Quebec 24, Nova Scotia 12, New Brunswick 12, British Columbia 3, and Manitoba 2. The whole number cannot exceed 78. A senator must be 30 years of age, a natural born or a naturalized subject of the queen, possessed