were supplied them by less original but more plodding men.  The English, though, as Malte Brun observes, they are still without a system of geography which deserves the name, are rich in excellent materials, which have been supplied by the extent of their dominions and their commerce in various parts of the globe; by their laudable and happy union of conquest, commerce, and science; and by the advantage which Dalrymple, Arrowsmith, and other geographers have derived from these circumstances.  The French, Russians, Spaniards, Danes, and indeed most nations of Europe, sensible of the vast importance of accurate maps, especially such as relate to their respective territories, have contributed to render them much more accurate than they formerly were; so that at present there is scarcely any part of the globe, which has been visited by sea or land, of-which we do not possess accurate maps; and no sooner has the labour of any traveller filled up a void, or corrected an error, than the map of the country which he has visited becomes more full and accurate.

The most direct and perfect application of mathematical and astronomical science to the delineation of the surface of the globe, so as to ascertain its exact form, and the exact extent of degrees of latitude in different parts of it, has been made by the English and French; and much to their honour, by them in conjunction.  The first modern measurement of degrees of latitude was made by an Englishman of the name of Norwood:  he ascertained the difference of latitude between London and York in 1635, and then measured their distance:  from these premises he calculated, that the length of a degree was 122,399 English yards.  At this time there was no reason to suppose that the earth was flattened at the Poles.  Shortly afterwards, it having been discovered that the weights of bodies were less at the equator than at Paris, Huygens and Cassini directed their attention, as we have already stated, to the subject of the figure of the earth.  In 1670 Picard measured an arc of the meridian in France; and in 1718, the whole area extending through France was measured by Cassini and other philosophers.  The results of this measurement seemed to disprove Newton’s theory, that the curvature of the earth diminished as we recede from the equator.  To remove all doubts, an arc near the equator was measured in Peru, by some French and Spanish astronomers; and an arc near the arctic circle by some French and Swedish astronomers; the result was a confirmation of Newton’s theory, and that the equatorial diameter exceeded the polar by about 1/204 part of the whole.

Since this period, arcs of the meridian have been measured in several countries.  In 1787 it was determined by the British and French governments to connect the observatories of Greenwich and Paris by a series of triangles, and to compare the differences of latitudes and longitudes, ascertained by astronomical observations, with those ascertained by actual measurement.  The measurement in England was extended to a survey of the whole kingdom; and the accurate maps thus obtained have been since published.  Arcs of the meridian have also been measured lately from Dunkirk to Barcelona,—­in Lapland, by which an error in the former measurement there was corrected;—­and in India.