Maryland

MARYLAND (mer'i-land), the "Old Line State," is one of the original thirteen States of the United States of America. It is situated on the Atlantic coast and extends along the Chesa peake bay between lat. 53' and 39° 43' 26.3" N., the northern boundary being the Mason and Dixon line. and between long. 75° 4' and 29' 15" W. It is bounded north by Pennsylvania and Delaware; east by Delaware and the Atlantic ocean; south and west by the Potomac river and its north branch, which separates the State, except on the extreme west border, from Virginia and West Virginia; west by West Virginia. It is one of the small States of the Union—only seven are smaller—its total area being 12,327 sq.m., of which 2,386 sq.m. are water surface. The name Mary land was given to the original county palatine in honour of Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I. of England. The popular name "Old Line State" has been applied to Maryland because of the distinguished service of the Maryland Line during the Revolu tionary War.

Physical Features.

Maryland is crossed from north to south by each of the leading topographical regions of the east section of the United States—the Coastal plain, the Piedmont plateau, and the Appalachian region; hence its great diversity of surface. The portion within the Coastal plain embraces nearly the whole of the south-east half of the State and is commonly known as tide water Maryland. It is marked off from the Piedmont plateau by a "fall line" extending from Washington (D.C.) north-east through Baltimore to a point a little south of the north-east corner of the State, and is divided by the Chesapeake bay into two parts known as the eastern shore and the western shore. The eastern shore is a low, level plain, the least elevated section of the State. Along its entire Atlantic border extends the narrow sandy Sine puxent beach which encloses a shallow lagoon or bay also called Sinepuxent at the north and Chincoteague at the south. On the entire peninsula between the Delaware and the Chesapeake the land is low, rising northward to a height of about ioo ft. near the fall line. A water-parting extending from north-east to south-west and close to the Atlantic border separates the eastern shore into two drainage systems, though that next to the Atlantic is insig nificant. That on the Chesapeake side is drained chiefly by the

Chester, Choptank, Nanticoke and Pocomoke rivers together with their numerous branches, the general direction of all of which is south-west. The branches, as well as the upper parts of the main streams, flow through broad and shallow valleys.

The western shore is somewhat more undulating than the eastern and also more elevated. Its general slope is from north-west to south-east, and along the west border are points 300 ft. or more in height. The principal rivers crossing this section are the Patuxent and the Potomac, the right or southern bank of the latter forming the State's southern boundary. These rivers, lined in most in stances with terraces 3o to 4o ft. high on one or both sides, flow south-east into the Chesapeake bay through valleys bounded by low hills. The fall line, which forms the boundary between the coastal plain and the Piedmont plateau, is a zone in which a descent of about 10o f t. or more is made in many places within a few miles, and in consequence is marked by waterfalls and rapids.

The part of Maryland within the Piedmont plateau extends west from the fall line to the base of Catoctin mountain, or the west border of Frederick county, and has an area of about 2,500 square miles. In general it has a broad rolling surface. It is divided into two sections by an elevated strip known as Parr's ridge, which extends from north-east to south-west a short distance west of the middle. The east section rises from about 45o ft. along the fall line to from 85o to goo ft. along the summit of Parr's ridge. Its principal streams are those that cross the western shore of the Coastal plain and here wind their way from Parr's ridge rapidly toward the south-east in narrow steep-sided gorges and broad limestone valleys. To the west of Parr's ridge the surface for the most part slopes gently down to the east bank of the Monocacy river, and then from the opposite bank rises rapidly toward the Catoctin mountain; but just above the mouth of the Monocacy on the east side of the valley is Sugar Loaf mountain (1,25o feet).