river varies from 36 to 60 inches, being generally from 40 to 50 inches; in the greater part of Texas and in the Mississippi valley it is from 24 to 50 inches, diminishing toward the north and west. The greatest precipitation occurs in Oregon and Washington territory, between the Coast mountains and the Pacific, varying from 80 inches in the N. part of the latter to 68 in the former. Between the Coast and Cascade mountains it is from 24 to 44 inches, and in N. California from 20 to 36, diminishing in the S. portion of that state. In the region bounded W. by the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains and E. by an irregular line commencing at the 95th meridian in N. Minnesota, and intersecting the 101st meridian in N. W. Texas, it does not exceed 20 inches, and is generally much less than that. Very little of this fall occurs in summer, and irrigation is a necessary adjunct to agriculture. In the mountains of this region snow falls to a great depth in winter.—The most fatal diseases of the New England and middle states are affections of the lungs; of the southern states, bilious fevers, with occasional severe visitations of yellow fever along the gulf; and of the western states, intermittent and bilious fevers and dysentery. The fever and ague so prevalent in the west is attributed to the miasmatic exhalations incident to the breaking up of new lands, and rapidly disappears as the country becomes settled. The cholera has generally been more fatal in the valley of the Mississippi than in any other part of the country.—The soil presents almost every variety, from the dry sterile plains in the region of the Great Salt lake to the rich alluviums of the Mississippi valley. It can most conveniently be described by following the seven great divisions indicated by the river systems of the country, viz.: the St. Lawrence basin, the Atlantic slope, the Mississippi valley, the Texas slope, the Pacific slope, the inland basin of Utah, commonly called the Great Basin, and the basin of the Red river of the North. 1. The St. Lawrence basin embraces parts of Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and all of Michigan; it is an elevated and fertile plain, generally well wooded. 2. The Atlantic slope includes all New England except a part of Vermont; all of New Jersey, Delaware, the District of Columbia, South Carolina, and Florida; and portions of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. It may be subdivided into two regions, a N. E. section and a S. W. section, separated by the Hudson river. The former is hilly, and generally better adapted to grazing than tillage, though some parts of it are naturally fertile, and a large proportion is carefully cultivated. The S. W. section may be again divided into a coast belt from 30 to 150 m. in width, running from Long Island sound to the mouth of the Mississippi, and including the whole peninsula of Florida; and an inland slope from the mountains toward this coast belt. The former as far S. as the Roanoke river is sandy and not naturally fertile, though capable of being made highly productive; from the Roanoke to the Mississippi it is generally swampy, with sandy tracts here and there, and a considerable proportion of rich alluvial soil. The inland slope is one of the finest districts in the United States, the soil consisting for the most part of alluvium from the mountains and the decomposed primitive rocks which underlie the surface. 3. The Mississippi valley occupies more than two fifths of the area of the republic, and extends from the Allegheny to the Rocky mountains, and from the gulf of Mexico to British North America, thus including parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Dakota, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and all of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Indian territory, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. It is for the most part a prairie country, of fertility unsurpassed by any region on the globe, except perhaps the valley of the Amazon. The ground in many places is covered with mould to the depth of several feet, in some instances 25 ft. But the N. W. part of the valley offers a strong contrast to the remainder. There is a plateau from 200 to 400 m. wide lying at the base of the Rocky mountains, part of it incapable of cultivation on account of the deficiency of rain and lack of means of irrigation, and part naturally sterile. 4. The Texas slope includes the country S. W. of the Mississippi valley, drained by rivers which flow into the gulf of Mexico, and embracing nearly all of Texas and portions of Louisiana and New Mexico. (See Texas.) 5. The Pacific slope, embracing the greater part of California, Oregon, and Idaho, with Washington territory and Arizona, and parts of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, is generally sterile. That part however between the Coast range and the ocean, and the valleys between the Coast range and the Cascade range and Sierra Nevada are very fertile; and the same may be said of a few other valleys and mountain slopes, though these are commonly better adapted to pasturage than to agriculture. 6. The great inland basin of Utah, which besides Utah includes Nevada and parts of California, Oregon, and Idaho, is probably the most desolate portion of the United States, though in parts the soil with irrigation yields good crops, and grazing may be more extensively pursued. It abounds in salt lakes. 7. That portion of the basin of the Red river of the North which belongs to the United States is confined to the small tract in the N. part of Dakota and Minnesota; it contains some very productive lands, especially in the river bottoms.—The varied physical aspects of the country indicate a correspondingly varied ve-
