The depth of the sea is very imperfectly known. There are vast spaces where no bottom has been found, and in all probability there are deep valleys in the bed of the ocean equal in depth to the height of the highest mountains.

The water of the sea contains many substances in 'solution, varying in their proportions at different places. Its component parts, in addition to pure water, are commonly muriatic acid (common salt), sulphuric acid (vitriol), fixed mineral alkali, and sulphate of lime. The sea in general contains more salt in proportion, where it is deepest and most remote from land, and its saltness is always diminished in the vicinity of large portions of ice.

LAKES.-A lake is generally defined to be a portion of water surrounded by land, and having consequently no connexion with an ocean or sea; yet those immense bodies of water in America, which have a communication with the ocean by means of the river St. Lawrence, are always called lakes. The principal of these are Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario.

Lakes are formed in deep hollows among the mountains, and fed by springs and torrents, or they are occasioned by the flowing of a river into a level district, where, instead of passing off to the sea it overspreads the land.

CURRENTS.-There are two permanent and general currents in the ocean, that of the tropical waters westward round the globe, and that of the polar waters toward the equator. The latter, or polar currents, imply the existence of a third set, moving in the opposite direction, otherwise the waters at the pole would soon be exhausted, together with the ice from which they are derived. Beside these there are 'local or 'temporary currents, produced by winds, the discharge of rivers, &c. Whirlpools or eddies are also often produced by the meeting of currents which come in different directions.

1. Vide Root. 2. 2,300 miles long, 650 miles broad, and area, 1,000,000 miles. 3. Area, 250,000 square miles.

ENGLAND.

Wars of the Roses.

THE wars of the Roses lasted thirty years. The most celebrated general in these wars was the earl of Warwick. It was chiefly by his means that the soldiers of the white rose gained a decisive victory at Towton, in which thirtysix thousand of the red rose men were killed. The young duke of York was then 'proclaimed king, under the title of Edward the Fourth.

This was in 1461. But, not long afterwards, the earl of Warwick quarrelled with king Edward, and quitted the party of the Yorkists. He took king Henry the Sixth out of prison, and placed him on the throne again, and Edward was compelled to flee over to France.

Henry the Sixth and his son were soon after murdered, and Edward the Fourth then became the undisputed king of England.

He died in 1483. He left two young children, the eldest of whom now became king Edward the Fifth. But these poor children had a wicked uncle for a guardian. He was called Richard Crookback, duke of Gloucester.

He took care that the little king Edward and his brother should lodge in the tower of London. One night, while the two children were sound asleep in each other's arms, some villains came and smothered them with the bolsters of the bed. They were buried at the foot of a staircase. So Richard, the murderer, became king of England. He committed a thousand crimes for the sake of getting the crown, but he did not keep it long.

1. Vide Root.

2. Towton, a field in Yorkshire, near Tadcaster. in the Tower of London, 1471. 4. At Tewkesbury, 1471. Battle of Wakefield, A.D. 1400, in which the Duke of York was slain. Battle of Barnet, A.D. 1471, in which the Earl of Warwick was slain.

3. Henry,

Henry Tudor, the young earl of Richmond, was now the only remaining heir of king Henry the Sixth. The French supplied him with the means of making war against Richard. He landed in England, and gained

a victory at Bosworth.

When the soldiers of Richmond examined the dead bodies that lay in heaps on the battle-field, they found Richard among them. The crown was discovered in a bush. They put it on the head of Richmond, and hailed him king Henry the Seventh.

The new king married a daughter of Henry the Fourth; and at their wedding, they each wore a red rose intertwined with a white one; for the wars of the roses were now

over.

Though the English were much engaged in war during this period, several of the colleges and public schools were founded. Architecture, music, painting, and sculpture were also greatly cultivated, and the language was much improved.

The people must therefore at this time have been distinguished by great mental energy; for while these improvements were making, almost every man was obliged to fight, -many towns were pillaged, and it is asserted that sixty villages were destroyed within twelve miles of Warwick. Most of the old 'feudal castles were destroyed, and on their ruins were built the noble old English mansions which are now so generally to be seen

GEOGRAPHICAL.-Write the names of the principal places in the following counties-

Whence and at what times came the DANES, NORMANS, SAXONS, and ANGLES into England?

Write the names of the lakes of England.

CHRONOLOGICAL.-Edward IV.-Printing by Caxton. First corn law in England. Drowned his brother Clarence in wine.

Richard III.-Statutes first printed in English; till this time in Norman-French, or Latin.

METEOROLOGY.

Meteors, Mists, Clouds, Rain, Snow, Hail, Dew, Winds, Water Spouts, &c.

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WHATEVER is engendered in the air which surrounds us, and which appears below the moon, is a meteor. Meteors are composed of vapours and exhalations. Vapours are particles of water which mingle with the air, and exhalations are particles of earth, or component parts, such as sulphur, salts, bitumen, more or less combustible, solid, or heavy, which rise into the atmosphere.

Mists are those collections of vapours which mostly rise from fenny and moist places, and become more 1 volatile as the light of the day increases.

Clouds are vapours and exhalations from the sea and earth drawn into the atmosphere by the solar heat. The usual height of the clouds is about a quarter of a mile, and the wonderful variety of their colours arises from their situation in relation to the sun. Their different figures result from the effect of winds and various currents of air,

Rain is thick clouds 'condensed by the cold in the upper regions, which through electric action form into drops, and by their own weight fall upon the earth.

In some countries rain falls only during particular periods of the year. In India and in many other countries the fall of rain is confined to certain months, an unclouded sky being presented at all other times of the year. In England the greatest quantity of rain is generally in September, October, and November; but the uncertainty has caused the climate of England to be considered changeable.

Snow and hail are the same drops frozen in their descent towards the earth. In the former the frost catches the 'revolving cloud just as its particles are about to 1 unite

into drops, and in the latter the drops are actually frozen in their descent.

Dew is produced from a quantity of particles of water, extremely subtile, that float about in a calm and serene air, in the form of vapours, which, being condensed by the coldness of the night, lose by degrees their agitation, and uniting together, fall in small 'invisible particles, like an extremely fine and delicate rain.

Hoar-frost is produced by the congelation of the dew. The condensation of vapour in the form of dew, must always precede the formation of hoar-frost.

Wind. When the air is rarefied it naturally ascends into the higher regions, and the circumjacent air, which is thicker and heavier, immediately rushes in to supply its place. This motion of the air we call wind.

Hurricanes are sudden and violent gusts of wind which come on at very irregular periods, and generally continue for a short time. Tornadoes are violent winds attended with particular phenomena, such as droughts, heavy rains, hail, rain, snow, and thunder. A whirlwind is formed when gusts of wind come from different quarters at the same time, and, meeting in a certain place, the air acquires a screw-like or rotatory motion round an axis, which is sometimes stationary, and at others moving on in particular directions.

The water spout is also an extraordinary aqueous meteor, most frequently observed at sea. It commonly begins by a cloud at first very small, which mariners call the squall. This 'augments in a little time into an enormous cloud, either cylindrical or funnel-shaped, and produces a noise like an agitated sea;-sometimes emitting thunder and lightning, and pouring out large quantities of rain or hail, sufficient to 'inundate large vessels; overthrowing trees and houses, and every thing which stands in its way.

1. Vide Root.