Dr. Irving's catechism of general knowledge, by a Cambridge M.A.

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Page 65 - But (as in the case of the polar currents in the ocean) these north and south winds pass from regions where the rotatory motion of the earth's surface is less, to those where it is greater. Unable at once to acquire this new velocity, they are left behind, and, instead of being north and south winds, as they would be if the earth's surface did not turn round, they become northeast and south-east winds. The...
Page 49 - That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of parliament, is against law.
Page 76 - Ocean, the first thing which strikes us is, that, the north-east and south-east monsoons, which are found the one on the north and the other on...
Page 66 - It is a curious fact, that towards the close of the 1 5th century, before Europeans were acquainted with the existence of America, two bodies belonging to an unknown race of men were cast by the Gulf- stream on the coasts of the Azores, and pieces of bamboo were brought by the same current to the shore of the small island of Porto Santo ; by these circumstances, Columbus is said to have been strengthened in his conjectures with respect to the existence of a western continent. An arm of the...
Page 67 - The fruit of trees which belong to the American torrid zone is every year deposited on the western coasts of Ireland and Norway ; and on the shores of the Hebrides are collected seeds of several plants, the growth of Jamaica, Cuba, and the neighbouring continent. The most striking circumstance, perhaps, is that of the wreck of an English vessel, burnt near Jamaica, having been found on the coast of Scotland.
Page 47 - ... To avoid all confusion, therefore, it seems expedient to use the term democracy rather than republic for the government which is in the hands of the people. Republic does not really express this idea correctly ; it means commonwealth. Many writers have used it to designate a popular government, a government in which the supreme power is exercised by any portion of the people, as contradistinguished from monarchy. Thus, they divide republics into two classes — Aristocratic and Democratic, according...
Page 99 - ... the moon ; and it is also, at the distance of the moon, three times as broad as the moon itself. An eclipse of the sun can take place only at new moon, when the sun and moon meet in the same part of the heavens, for then only can the moon come between us and the sun ; and an eclipse of the moon can occur only when the sun and moon are in opposite parts of the heavens, or at full moon ; for then only can the moon fall into the shadow of the earth. The nature...
Page 75 - The land and sea-breezes, which are common on the coasts and islands situated between the tropics, are another kind of periodical winds During the day the air, over the land, is strongly heated by the sun, and a cool breeze sets in from the sea; but, in the night, the atmosphere over the land...
Page 87 - Another remarkable region in the heavens is the zodiac, not from any thing peculiar in its own constitution, but from its being the area within which the apparent motions of the sun, moon, and all the greater planets are confined.
Page 73 - But these north and south winds pass from regions, where the rotatory motion of the earth's surface is less, to those where it is greater. Unable at once to acquire this new velocity, they are left behind, and instead of being north and south winds as they would be if the earth's surface did not turn round, they become north-east and south-east winds, The monsoons belong to the class of periodical winds.

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