Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/770

* NOVARA. 656 NOVA SCOTIA. jiio. surmounted by a high dome. The city has a lycfum, museum, and bishop's seminary, with a" library of 30,000 volumes. The principal indus- tries are the spinning of silk, cotton, and linen cloths, weaving, and dyeing. The town is the centre of a fertile district, producing grapes, rice, and corn. Population (commune), in 1S81, 33,- 077; in 1901, 4r),248. Xovara is thi' ancient Novaria. The town passed successively into the possession of Milan, Spain, Austria, and Sardinia. It was the scene of a battle March 23, 1840. be- tween the Sardinians and the Austriaiis. which resulted in the eomidcte defeat of the Sardinians, and led to the abdication of Charles Albert in favor of his son, 'ietor Kmmanuel. NOVA SCOTIA, nf/vu sko'sha. A province of the Doiiiiniiin of Canada, bounded on the northwest by New Brunswick and the Bay of Fundy, on the north by the Strait of Northum- berland (separating it from Prince Edward Island) and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and on the other sides by the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two portions. Nova Scotia proper (a large peninsula connected with New Brunswick by an isthmus about 15 miles in width) and the island of Cape Breton (q.v.). The peninsula, about 280 miles in length, and from 50 to 100 miles broad, extends in a northeast and south- west direction. Cape Breton lies northeast of Nova Scotia proper, and is separated from it by a narrow strait called the Cut of Canso. l(i miles long and from half a mile to two miles wide. Sable Island (q.v.) is a dependency of the prov- ince. The area of the province is 20,000 square miles. TopoGRAi'HY. The surface of Nova Scotia is undulating, and traversed by broken ranges of hills, whose direction is in general that of the long axis of the province. The direction of these uplifts, together with their rock-formatiim. iden- tifies the region as a part of the Appalachian system. The highlands of the province may roughly be grou])cd into three sections: first, those running along the Atlantic coast, consti- tuting the backlxme of the peninsula, and form- ing a wide plateai narrowing to the northeast, where they represent the projection of Cape Canso; second, the Cobequid Hills, which form the isthmian projection into the Bay of Fundy, and run thence southeast, until, in the eastern end of the peninsula, they meet the first named range; third, a very narrow and detached range of trap rock on the coast of the Bay of Fundy, separated from the main plateau by Saint Mary's Bay and the valley of the Annapolis Kiver. The great plateau of the peninsula seems to have been originally a vast u|)heaval of Devo- nian age, probably as high as 10.000 feet. This has been denuded by the action of wind and water to its present con<lition of a peneplain not more than (iOO to 1000 feet high. Some residual hills of bard rock have l)een left, anil in many places the igneoiis granite core of the former mountain has been laid bare. The remain- ing rocks covering the core on either side U'long chiefly to the Cambrian system, especial- ly along the eastern coast. There are some out- croppings of the .Mgonkian group, and along the northern and westiTn edge of the plateau there are remnants of highly fossiliferous T)p- vnnian and I'pper Silurian strata. The triassic liiwlands to the north and west of the plateau around the Basin of Minas were jjrobably formed by submarine deiuulation. They are underlaid by very thick strata of Carboniferous rock. The Cobequid plateau, which rises from the midst of these lowlands, has lately been shown to be of late Devonian origin. The greater portion of the jirovince drains to the southward, through numerois short rivers. SnuiU lakes are also numerous, hake Rossignol in the south being the largest on the peninsula. The large boily of water in Cape Breton Island, called l^ras il'Cr hake, is more properly an inland sea. Climate. The insular position of Nova Scotia renders its climate ditl'erent from that of the other Canadian jjrovinces. For in.stance, it ia not subject to great extremes of heat and cold, but has, on the other hand, a larger amount of cloudy and foggj' weather. The jjresence of the gulf "current off the south coast lessens the severity of the winters, and the interior portions of the" province are greatly protected by the ranges of hills which border the coasts. The northern bills are especially useful in warding olT the north winds, and the range which borders the Bay of Fundy protects the Annapolis Valley from the winds iind fogs, which are connuon to the bay region. The temperature seldom falls below zero, and the summer maximum in the region of Halifax (latitude 44° 38' N.) is .about 8(>°, being somewhat higher than this in the interior. The annual precipitation averages about 45 inches. MiXEK.LS. Tlic province is rich in mineral resources, and mining is a growing industry. The Carboniferous rocks of Northern Nnva Scotia and Cai)e Breton Island contain coal seams of great thickness, the coal being a superior quality of the bituminous variety, and well adapted for coking. From 18!I0 to" 1898 the annual produc- tion fluctuated between two and three million tons, but exceeded the latter figure in 1899 and 1900. This exceeds the combined production for all the rest of Canada, and lonstitutcs the main source of supply for the Maritime Provinces, (iold is found in the quartzitcs and slates of the Cambrian .ge that parallel the .tlantic coast of the peninsila. The vein ores (they have been worked since 1800) were formerly very rich, but have now become nearly exhausted. However, conditions favor a minimum cost of mining and milling the coarser gold ores, and they are being rapidly exploited. Prior to 1807 the product had niictuated under ,$500,0(10 in annual value, but rose to over $(100,000 in 1899 and 1900. Rich deposits of iron ore. are foinid. Only small quantities of iron ore are now being mined, but the possibilities are great. Small ipiantities of g>l)sum and manganese are rained in Cape Breton Islanil. and antimony is exported from the region north of Halifax. Fi.siiERiE.s. Fishing is one of the leading in- dustries. The province surpasses all other ]irov- inces and States of the continent in the annual value of its fish output. For a long period the value of this output has run from $fi.000.000 to .$8,000,000. The catch includes deep sea. inshore, and river varieties. The first two, however, are most important. Sea-fishing is encouraged by a bounty offered since 1882 by the Dominion Cov- ernment. About two-thirds of it— $100,000— has gone annually to tin- 18.000 Nova Scotia fish- ermen. The cod and lobster fisheries surpass in I