The Black Sea, which belongs only partly to Eu rope, is 690 miles long, 360 miles broad, and, in. eluding the sea of Asoph, presents a surface of 170,000 square miles, being almost of the same msg etude as the Baltic. It derives four-fifths of its wa ter from Europe, and is curiously distinguished from the other seas of Europe, by its being almost to. tally without islands.
The White Sea is 450 miles in length, of a very irregular figure,' and occupies a space equal to 85,000 square miles. It receives some considerable rivers, but is frozen during six months of the year.
The lakes of Europe are numerous, and are of two kinds; those which lie in cavities at the foot of high mountains, which are generally deep ; such as the lakes in the Alps ; on the east side of the Nor wegian mountains; and among the mountains of England and Scotland; and those which are formed in level countries from the want of a sufficient de clivity to carry off the water, such as the lakes in Finland, Poland, and Brandenburg. Four-fifths of the lakes of Europe are in the country round the Baltic.
The soil of Europe has neither the extremes of luxuriance nor sterility which belong to the soil of the other great continents. If it does not yield the rich fruits of tropical climates, it is not deformed by the burning sands of Africa, or the pestilent swamps of America. It does not pour forth its riches spontaneously, but, soliciting the care and the labour of man, it requites his industry with what is cultivated over greater part of the Continent of Europe, from Sicily to Sweden. Flax and hemp have as extensive a range as corn, but they are raised in the greatest perfection between the latitudes of 45° and 60°.
We have stated, that the superficial extent of En . rope is about 3,432,000 square miles. if we draw a concave line from a point in the Uralian mountains, about the latitude of 60° or 610, to the west coast of Norway, in the latitude of 69°, passing through the Lake Onega, and a little to the northward of the Gulf of Bothnia, this line will mark the extreme li mits of cultivation, and will cut off a space equal to 550,000 square miles, or nearly one-sixth of Europe. The space cut off, however, is not entirely useless, as a part of it produces pasturage and wood. The cul
tivation of rye, oats, and barley, is confined to there. gion south of this line, and includes more than five sixths of Europe; but in the northern parts of this zone, only a very small proportion of the land will bear corn. The region adapted to the cultivation of wheat comprehends about four-sevenths of Europe, and includes all the densely peopled parts. The re gion of the vine extends over three-sevenths of Eu rope.
Europe, in proportion to its extent, is probably richer in mineral wealth than the other quarters of the globe. It contains all the metals except platina ; and though it affords gold and silver only in limited quantities, iron, copper, lead, with coal and salt, com modities of greater value to society, are abundant and widely distributed. The mountains, consisting of primitive and transition rocks, are the great depo sitaries of these mineral treasures.
Iron is found in all the chains of mountains in Eu rope. The richest mines are in the Dofrines, or Scandinavian Alps. But rich mines are also found in the Alps of Stine, Carinthia, and Bavaria; in the Pyrenees, the Vosges, the Cevennes, the coal dis trict of Britain, the Urals, the Carpathians, the Hartz, and many other places.
C1 is also widely distributed,though less ahem iron. The richest mines are in Hungary, in the Carpathian mountains. It abounds also in the Saxon and Bohemian mountains, in the Dofrines, the Urals, the north of England, and the Alps; and it is found in the Vosges, the Pyrenees, and other mountains of Spain, in the north of Germany, and in Tuscany.
Lead exists in the Alps, Carpathians, Pyrenees, Cevennes, Vosges, the Bridal mountains, and the Urals. • Tin is found only in a few places in Europe. The richest mines are in Cornwall ; next to these are the mines in theErsegelinge. It is also found in Hun• gary and Spanish Gallica.
Mercury, like tin, is confined to a few places. The mine of Idria, in Austria, yields 8000 to 10,000 quintals per annum, is the most productive in Europe. There are also considerable mines at Deux Ponta, in the Palatinate; in the Spanish province of La Mancha, and in Transylvania.