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686 of central Asia have been crossed in various directions; our knowledge of China has been vastly increased; the newly awakened desire of the Japanese to participate in the advantages of European civilization has broken down much of their ancient prejudice against foreigners, and bids fair to introduce us to an intimate and exact knowledge of their country; Palestine has been explored with wonderful minuteness; the interior of Arabia has been penetrated; the sites of many of the most renowned cities of antiquity have been determined; the Niger and the Benoowe or Tchadda have been traced almost throughout their extent; the Nile has been traced to the great lakes in the equatorial regions of Africa; Madagascar and Australia have been crossed in various directions from sea to sea; the icy continent about the south pole has been discovered; the delineation of the N. shore of the North American continent has been completed; the principal features of the geography of that vast portion of our own territory lying between the Mississippi and the Pacific have been ascertained, and its sublime scenery has been described; and the river systems of South America have been explored. With the exception of the regions about the poles and in the centre of Africa, the general outlines of every part of the earth's surface are known to civilized man.—The literature of geography, to which the school of Carl Ritter has given its highest degree of scientific development, has within a few years undergone a marked change. Instead of the formal, regular descriptions of the earth and its inhabitants, which were once in vogue, gazetteers and geographical dictionaries are now popular. The progress of geography has been much aided during this century by the efforts of zealous geographical societies. Their transactions, issued periodically, contain a vast and constantly increasing mass of information. Among the best works on geography are: Géographie universelle, by Malte-Brun (6 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1810-'29; revised by Th. Lavallée, 6 vols. 8vo, 1856-'62), the English translation of which was revised by J. G. Percival, who added notes (3 vols. 4to, Boston, 1834); Die Geschichte der Erdkunde, by Lüdde (1840); Geschichte der Erdkunde und der Entdeckungen, by Carl Ritter (1861); Geschichte der Erdkunde bis auf Alexander von Humboldt und Carl Ritter, by O. Peschel (1865); and the works of De Rougemont, Von Roon, Berghaus, Volger, Merleker, Meinicke, Klöden (Handbuch der Erdkunde, 1858-'62; 2d ed., 1865 et seq.), Wappäus (Handbuch der Geographie und Statistik, 4 vols., 1855-'7l), and Daniel (Handbuch der Erdkunde, 4 vols., 3d ed., 1869-'72). For ancient geography, see Handbuch der alten Geographie, by Forbiger (3 vols., 1842); Smith's “Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography” (2 vols. 8vo, London, 1854-'7); Buchholz's Homerische Kosmographie und Geographie (1871); and Deutsche ''Alterthumskunde: Stellung des Pytheas. . . in der Geschichte der Erdkunde'', by K. Müllenhoff (1870). The principal geographical gazetteers and dictionaries are: “Encyclopædia of Geography,” by Hugh Murray (London, 1834; Amer. ed. revised, 3 vols. 8vo, Philadelphia, 1843; new ed., 1857); “A Dictionary, Geographical, Statistical, Historical,” &c., by J. R. McCulloch (4 vols. 8vo, London, 1841; new ed., 1866); Fullarton's “Gazetteer of the World” (7 vols. 8vo, Edinburgh, 1850-'57); “The Imperial Gazetteer,” by W. G. Blackie (2 vols., London, 1855; 3d ed., 1873); Ritter's Geographisch-statistisches Lexicon (Leipsic, 1855); Lippincott's “Gazetteer of the World” (Philadelphia, 1855; new ed., 1866); Keith Johnston's “Dictionary of Geography” (revised ed., London, 1867); Dictionnaire de géographie universelle, ancienne et moderne, by L. N. Bescherelle (4 vols. 4to, Paris, 1856-'8 ; new ed., 1865); and Dictionnaire universel d'histoire et de géographie, by M. N. Bouillet (1 vol., Paris, 1842; 22d ed., 1871). Most of the geographical societies publish periodicals, the principal of which are those of Paris (Bulletin, 1822 et seq.), London (“Journal,” 1831 et seq.; “Proceedings,” 1855 et seq.), Berlin (Zeitschrift, 1840 et seq.), St. Petersburg (1848 et seq.), Geneva (Journal, 1861 et seq.), and Florence (Bollettino, 1867 et seq.). Other valuable geographical periodicals are Petermann's Geographische Mittheilungen (Gotha, 1855 et seq.), and its Ergän g zungshefte or supplements; Saint-Martin's L'Année géographique (Paris, 1863 et seq.); and “Ocean Highways” (London, 1871; new series, 1873 et seq.).  GEOLOGY (Gr., the earth, and , discourse), the science which treats of the structure of the earth, and of the methods by which its materials have been arranged. Under this term are confounded two distinct branches of study, the one being that of the chemical, physical, and biological laws which have presided over the development of the globe, and the other the natural history of the earth as displayed in its physical structure, its stratigraphy, mineralogy, and palæontology. The name of geognosy, employed by some authors, may be very appropriately retained for the latter, while that of geogeny may be restricted to the first or theoretical division of geology. A knowledge of physical geography, of the distribution of land and water in past and present times, and of the laws of winds, currents, and climates, is one of the first requisites in the study of geology. Then comes the investigation of the various kinds of rocks, their arrangement and structure, their succession and relative antiquity, their chemical and mineralogical history. The investigation of the chemical agencies which have presided over the formation of the various kinds of rocks and minerals belongs to chemical geology, while the laws which have regulated their deposition, structure, and arrangement constitute dynamical geology. The student finds that organic life in past time played a part in the earth not