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placed opposite the more delicate triumphs of the modern sculptor's art, as in the case of the Welsh knight's tomb in the Dean's, and the exquisite female figure by Chantry in the Bishop's Chapel. Perhaps the monument by Roubilliac to Bishop Hough in the north transept of the great cross aisle, is the one most generally admired as a wonderful piece of sculpture in detail, but for those who would fain see 'mind enchanted into stone,' the simple figure of Maria Digby would possess the greater power of attraction.

What a charm there is in a cloister walk! and it is felt even in the ruinous quadrangle at Worcester. Very curious rude specimens of sculpture adorn the groined roof; figures of the blessed Mother and Child; the four evangelists; angels and crowned kings, and groups illustrating some familiar Scripture story. On a small stone in the pavement at the north cloister door, is carved the single word 'Miserrimus,' a mournful record of the last resting-place of a clergyman who, upon refusing to acknowledge the supremacy of William of Orange, was deprived of his preferment, and died a pensioner upon Jacobite charity. It was at his own request that the plain slab, with its single word so expressive of sád meaning, should be placed over his grave.

'Miserrimus and neither name nor date,

Prayer, text, or symbol graven upon the stone,
Nought but that word assigned to the unknown,
That solitary word—to separate

From all, and cast a cloud around the fate

Of him who sleeps beneath.'

Glancing into the chapter-house, built in 1372, we may notice the cathedral library founded by that good and true wife of Leofric the Mercian, the Ladye Godiva, and containing several manuscripts of great value; then on to the guesten hall of the monks, used for the entertain

ment of strangers, a beautiful old building, with a finecarved roof well worthy of ample restoration.

No remains of the fine old castle which once covered several acres of ground to the south of the cathedral can now be traced by the antiquary, except that noble entrance to the college green, known as Edgar's Tower, a fine old structure, built by Ethelred the Second, and called by him after his father's name; boasting, too, in its palmier days, of a statue of this monarch, and in niches on either side of him, figures of his two queens. These have long mouldered away, together with a piece of rude sculpture representing Christ crowning His mother; and we can only rejoice that the tower itself has so long weathered the storms of time; the oldest, and one of the very few relics of the good Saxon rule once held in ancient Worcester.

(To be continued.)

THE EARTH AS IT IS.

CHAPTER III.

MOUNTAINS.

THE variations in the Earth's surface not only give pleasure to the eye by the beauties of scenery which they produce, but have far greater purposes to serve; they influence the temperature, fall of rain, drainage, distri bution and growth of animals and plants. Mountain ranges have a very great effect upon the climate of a country, whether they form a screen from the cold blasts of the north, or, running in an opposite direction, shelter it from the rays of the sun, while they leave it exposed to those piercing winds. Again: the winds stopped in their progress by gigantic walls, are diverted from their course, and defying control, burst forth in counter-currents in various directions, helping to clear and freshen the atmosphere. The clouds, arrested by the same ob

stacle, and attracted to the earth, have their vapours condensed by contact with the cold summits of the mountains, and yield their moisture in abundant rains, which supply the springs and streams; while their crags and ravines, under the influence of frost and snow, glaciers and avalanches, furnish the rivers with inexhaustible supplies. According to the direction of the mountains, must be the course of the rivers; if they are near the sea, the rivers which rise amongst them are very short, and their course very rapid; if at a great distance from the sea, they are long, and flow gently. This accounts for the fact, that all the principal rivers are found in continents, and not in islands.

On the nature of the mountains, too, depend the mineral riches of a country; if they are composed of granite or slate, gold and silver, tin and copper, may be found within them; if of limestone, they are likely to contain lead mines; and coal when they are made up of sand or gritstone, while the chalk and clay hills forbid all hope of coal, lead, or any other valuable mineral; and, of course, the commerce and occupation of the inhabitants of a country are very much affected by its natural productions. One might add, but that the consideration belongs more to the geologist than to the geographer, that but for the upheaving of these mountains, the treasures within them would have remained unknown and unprofitable.

The usual arrangement of mountains is in groups, called, from their narrow and elongated form, 'chains.' The extremities of a chain are often of inferior elevation, the greatest heights being attained at intermediate points. Secondary ranges sometimes branch off from a main chain, and follow a different direction, as the Apennines diverge from the Alps nearly at right angles; others run off in a direction almost parallel with the principal ridge, like the Jorat range, which branches off from the central line of the Alps. From these transverse or lateral branches,

smaller branches or spurs again extend, constituting hills, and these generally diminish in height until they are lost in the plains. The direction of some chains is parallel to the equator, that of others to the meridian. The great mountain systems of the two continents follow the prevailing direction of the land in each, and the secondary ranges correspond with the greatest length of their respective peninsulas.

The opposite sides of mountains are often marked by a great difference in their steepness; while on one side the elevation is almost perpendicular, and gives a very bold and magnificent outline, on the other side it slopes gradaally down to the plains. The Alps on the Italian side have sharp and sudden prominences, on the other side they are comparatively sloping and gradual.

Detached or isolated mountains are almost always of volcanic origin; in many instances they contain active volcanoes-they sometimes attain to a great elevation, but the loftiest summits are generally met with in extensive mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas and Andes. Kunchinginga and Dwalagiri, in the Himalayas, the two highest mountains known, are respectively 28,174 feet, and 28,072 feet above the level of the sea. Aconcagua, in the Andes, is 23,910 feet high.

The shape of mountains varies greatly; there are conical, dome-shaped, saddle-backed, pyramidal, serrated, and rounded mountains, and their form is much influenced by the nature of the rocks of which they are composed. Some of the limestone summits among the Apennines are rounded; the slaty Sierras of Spain are serrated or saw-shaped. The crystalline rocks of the Alps rise in peaks, horns, or needles. The square, flat-topped mountains of the Cape are composed chiefly of sand-stone, and the dark wall-like mountains of Greenland of trap and basalt, while volcanoes are indicated by blunt cones and craters. On ascending from the level of the sea to the

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summit of a high mountain, the air becomes less and less dense till we reach the point called 'the snow-line,' where perpetual congelation prevails.

As a general rule, the elevation of this point will be found to be the greatest in those parts of the Earth where the climate at the level of the sea is the hottest, and its elevation decreases with the decrease of the mean temperature of the sea-level; the snow line, therefore, has its greatest elevation within the tropics, and falls to the surface of the Earth at the polar circles. Local causes, however, sometimes affect the snow line; thus a high table-land near a mountain, by radiating and reflecting the sun's rays upon it, will elevate its temperature, and so raise the snow limit. For instance, on the southern side of the Himalayas, the snow line begins at an elevation of about 15,000 feet, while on the northern side, terminating in the plateau of Thibet, it is in some parts as high as 18,500 feet.

Mountains situated within the tropics, whose summits rise far above the snow line, represent the different climates of the Earth, rising one above the other from the equator to the poles. In the Torrid Zone we need only ascend its lofty mountains to a certain height to find the trees, fruits, and flowers of the temperate regions, while still higher are those of the Frigid Zone. Thus the low valleys of the Andes are adorned towards the equator with bananas and palm-trees, while the higher parts of the chain produce oaks and firs. There are similar gradations among the Alps, and chestnuts, beeches, oaks, and pines, occur in succession, the latter becoming gradually stunted till they disappear not far from the border of perpetual snow. The vegetation which covers the sides of mountains is generally divided into distinct zones or bands, each zone having its peculiar tribes.

Barley, which can only be raised near the sea-level of Lapland, is found at an height of 4,200 feet on the Alps,

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