Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/415

AMERBACH AMERICA 387 of the Hyksos, in southern Canaan; subdned the Shasu of the desert east of Egypt ; and made an expedition toward Ethiopia, to extend the southern frontiers of his kingdom, and restore the financial prosperity of the country destroyed by the shepherd kings. He reigned 21 years (1499-1478). II. The son and successor, in 1414, of Thothmes III., and father of Thothmes IV., of whom little is known. His reign was short. III. The son of Thothmes IV., devoted himself during a reign of at least 36 years (about 1400-1364) to the improvement of his kingdom. Ancient Egypt was never so pros- perous nor so extensive as under his adminis- tration. It extended into Syria as far as the .vestern bank of the Euphrates, and south, mbracing a part of Ethiopia. Monuments of he greatness of Amenophis III. exist all over Cgypt, among them the two large colossi, one of which is celebrated as " the vocal Memnon." AMERDACII, Jolianii, a German printer, born in Swabia, died about 1520. He was educated in Paris, and established his press at Basel in 1481, publishing the works of St. Ambrose (1492), and the first collected edition of the writings of St. Augustine (1506), from which the name of St. Augusti le type was given to a variety of large letter used in the book. He proposed to publish the works of Jerome also, and to this end had his three sons thoroughly educated in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. The edition was, some years after his death, issued by Froben. Amerbach was one of the first to substitute the Roman for Gothic and Italic letters. His son BONIF^Z (1495-1562), profes- sor of civil law at Basel, was one of the most intimate friends of Erasmus and his general legatee. He was distinguished as a Latin and Greek scholar and writer. AMERICA, one of the four great recognized con- tinental divisions of the globe. It is bounded N. by the Arctic ocean ; E. by the Atlantic, which separates it from Europe and Africa ; W. by the Pacific, which separates it from Asia ; and S. by the Antarctic ocean. The longer axis of the American continent runs almost due north and south. Measured on its central line, Ion. 70 W., its length from the arctic regions to Patagonia is about 10,500 m. From east to west it presents two shorter axes, each of some- thing more than 3,000 m. : one from Labrador to British Columbia, nearly in lat. 51 N. ; the other between Capes St. Roque in Brazil and Parina in Peru, in about lat. 5 S. The Amer- ican continent is separated into two not very unequal parts by the isthmus of Darien or Pan- ama, less than 30 m. wide at its narrowest point. All north of this isthmus (taken in its more extended sense) is known as North Amer- ica; all south of it as South America; the greater part of the isthmus itself being styled Central America. Estimates of the area of America vary considerably, some authorities making it a little more than 14,000,000 sq. m., others raising it, including Greenland, to more than 17,000,000 sq. m. It may be set down at 15,000,000 sq. m., of which about 8,000,000 are in North America and 7,000,000 in South and Central America. The area is thus about four tunes that of Europe, nearly a third great- er than that of Africa, and about six sevenths that of Asia. Geographically, America lies within the arctic, the northern and southern temperate, and the tropical zones. About one seventh is unavailable for cultivation ; the re- mainder is not surpassed in capacity to sus- tain life by any equal area of the globe. The population, including that of the islands, is about 85,000,000, not far from ^ that of the entire globe. The geology of America is wor- thy of careful study. The oldest strata are a range of crystalline rocks which crop out from the St. Lawrence and the great lakes to the Arctic ocean ; these consist chiefly of gneiss, granite, and trap. In North America this pri- mary range is about 1,500 miles in length, with a breadth of 200, seldom reaching an elevation of 800 feet. It forms the western slope of the Andes and Rocky mountains. It extends over the eastern part of South America, hidden in the valley of the Amazon by alluvial deposits. In the central portion it dips under the Silu- rian strata, but is free from superincumbent deposits, showing that even in the Silurian age it formed dry land, and has suffered less disturbance than is manifested in most other formations. The Silurian rocks, consisting of sandstone, limestone, slate, shale, &c., are di- vided into several periods, and abound in fos- sil remains. The Silurian strata dip under the Devonian, which are in parts overlaid with conglomerate. The latter forms the basis of the carboniferous strata which occupy large portions of Pennsylvania and the valley of the Mississippi. At the close of the carboniferous period the continent, nearly as large as at pres- ent, was scarcely elevated above the ocean. The great mountain ranges are of more recent origin. They were forced through the Silurian, Devonian, and carboniferous strata, dislocating and disturbing the hitherto horizontal layers. It is where the ancient rocks have been pene- trated by masses of igneous rock that the pre- cious metals are usually found. The volcanic fires have long since been extinct in the Appa^ lachian range ; but proofs of their former existr ence are found in the metamorphosed Silurian and carboniferous rocks of New York and Penn- sylvania, which were long supposed to be pri- mary granite. This igneous force still mani- fests itself in the volcanoes of the Andes and Cordilleras. Volcanoes still active, at greater or less intervals, mark the whole of the An- dean range from Chili to Alaska, the most intense action within the historical period be- ing in Ecuador, within two or three degrees of the equator. Here is the volcano of Cotopaxi, one of the two or three in constant eruption. The animals native to America differ in many respects from those of the other hemisphere. This is especially the case with the larger spe- cies. The elephant, hippopotamus, and rhi-