"EDINBURGHSHIRE, or Min-Lo"ritiAN, the metropolitan co. of Scotland, lying on the s. side of the firth of Forth. Its greatest length from e. to w. is 36 m. and its breadth 18 m., with an area of 367 sq. miles. the s. border, the Pentland hills (mean height 1000 ft., and highest point 1839 ft.) and the Moorfoot hills (mean height 800 ft., and highest point 2,136 ft.) run 'Le. through the county. In the n. are fertile plains, varied by gentle slopes, ridges, and hills of trap. The coast, 13 m. long, is partly sandy, and is studded with towns, villages, and piers. The chief rivers are not above 20 in. loop-, and are the Esk, Water orLeith, Almond, and Gala Water. Four great roads and five great railways traverse the county. F. chiefly consists of carboniferous strata, with protrusions of trap. Some lower Silurian rocks occur in the s.e. Coal and iron are chiefly worked in the broad valley of the Esk. Here the bed of coal extends 15 by 8 m., and contains 33 seams f of a foot to 6 ft. thick. The fine sandstone quarries of Craigleith contain large fossil trees, and the limestone of Burdiehouse is famed for fossil fishes. Cold and dry e. winds prevail in spring. Clay soil predomi nates. The county is chiefly agricultural, with large farms. The harvest is a week earlier
on the coast than at the height of 200 ft., and a fortnight earlier than at the height of 600 feet. Near the metropolis are extensive nurseries, vegetable and fruit gardens, and dairy pastures. In 1878, of the total acreage of 234,926 acres, 133,757 acres were in crop. Pop. '71, 328,379. Although not important as a manufacturing county, there are considerable manufactures of various goods in Edinburgh, Leith, and Musselburgh; and there are large paper-mills along the course of the North Esk. Much paraffin oil is made from the rich bituminous shale found within the county. E. returns one member to parliament for the county. It contains 46 parishes. The chief towns are Edinburgh, the metropolis of Scotland; Leith, its seaport; Dalkeith, Musselburgh, and Portobello. In E. have been found cairns, stone circles, Roman coins and utensils, and traces of Roman camps and burying-places. E. was included in the Roman province Valentia, and Cramond is supposed to have been a chief Roman port. It afterwards formed part of the kingdom of Northumbria, 446-1020. The county contains many feudal and ecclesiastical remains, as Borthwick castle, Craigmillar castle, and Roslin chapel.