LIBER my, including WyMad matematyTci (" Course of Mathematics," 2 vols., Posen, 1844) ; Filo- zofia i krytyka (5 vols., 1845-'50) ; Dziewica orleanska ( u The Maid of Orleans," 1847) ; a work on ethics entitled Umnictwo (1849) ; and Estetylca ("^Esthetics," 3 vols., 1851). LIBER. See BACCHUS. LIBERIA, a republic on the W. coast of Af- rica, between lat. 4 20' and 7 20 ; K, extend- ing from the Sherbro river on the northwest, near the S. boundary of the British colony of Sierra Leone, to the Pedro river on the south- east, a distance along the coast of nearly 600 m. All the territory between these two points has been purchased from the original proprie- tors. The interior boundaries of the pur- chased tracts extend from about 10 to 40 m. from the coast, and are gradually enlarged, as the interior tribes are generally very willing, and some of them anxious, to sell their ter- ritories. In 1873 the area over which the political jurisdiction of the republic actually extended was estimated at 9,700 sq. m. It is divided into four counties, Mesurado, Grand Bassa, Sinou, and Maryland. The capital and largest town is Monrovia, a seaport on Cape Mesurado, with about 13,000 inhabitants. The most important among the other settlements are New Georgia, Caldwell, Virginia, Ken- tucky, Millsburg, Marshall, Edina, Buchanan, Bexley, Greenville, Readsville, Lexington, and Louisiana. The principal towns of Maryland are Harper and East Harper. The general line of the coast is from N. W. to S. E. There are several inlets and harbors at Cape Mount, Cape Mesurado, Cape Palmas, and Bassa Cove. There are many rivers, none of which are navigable more than 20 m. from their mouths. The most important is the St. Paul, which enters the ocean at Cape Mesurado. It is about half a mile wide, and at low tide has 7 ft. of water on the bar at its mouth. It is navigable only about 18 m. from the sea. The other largest rivers are the St. John, which empties at Bassa Cove; the Junk river, which runs between the St. Paul and the St. John ; Cape Mount river, which flows into the sea at Cape Mount ; and the Grand Sesters, E. of the St. John, which has 14 ft. of water over the bar at its mouth. The land on the coast is generally low and sandy, except near the capes, which are elevated, and in the southeast, where the shore is bold and rocky. From the coast the land gradually rises, until at the distance of 30 m. inland it swells into for- est-covered hills, and in the remoter interior into mountain ridges divided by fertile valleys. The soil is generally good, though there is some poor land. It is of a yellowish color, and tinges the rivers which flow through it. There is little swamp land, the country being almost universally broken and rocky or grav- elly. The climate is that common to regions near the equator. There are two seasons, the wet and the dry, the former beginning with June and ending with October. Rain falls LIBERIA 397 during the greater part of this season, though not without intervals of clear skies and succes- sive days of fine weather, especially in July and August. In the dry season rain is rare, though there are occasional showers. The average heat of the year in Monrovia is 80 F., that of the rainy season being 7-6 and of the dry 84. The mercury seldom rises above 90 in the shade, and never falls below 60 U ; the daily variation seldom exceeds 10. June is the coolest month, and January the hottest. During the hottest months, January, February, and March, the heat is mitigated by the con- stant winds, the land breeze blowing from midnight until near midday, and the sea breeze from midday until near midnight. The cli- mate both on the coast and in the interior is deadly to the white man, and though less fatal is still formidable to the black man born and reared in temperate regions. Strangers soon after their arrival are attacked with a fever called acclimating, which seems to be caused not by the heat, but by miasmata of the origin and character of which little is known. This sickness indicates its approach by headache, pains in the back, loss of appetite, and more or less gastric derangement, and rapidly develops into bilious remittent fever. This sometimes yields to mild medical treatment, and the pa- tient is then prepared to endure ordinary ex- posure to the climate. Generally, however, the disease assumes the tertiary or other form of intermittent fever, accompanied by bilious vomiting, a dull expression of the eye, and in the febrile paroxysms intense headache and delirium. This is the African fever, and is frequently fatal. To the white man there is no acclimation in Liberia ; the first attack of the fever does not secure him from subsequent attacks. To the natives the climate is not un- favorable ; they are robust and have few dis- eases, and many of them live to a great age. Iron ore abounds in Liberia, and it is said that copper and other metals exist in the interior of the country. The vegetables are almost endless in their variety. The most important of the native trees are rosewood, teak, mahog- any, hickory, poplar, brimstone wood (so called from its yellow color), sassa wood, and many others valuable in ship building and cabinet work. Camwood and other dyewoods, ebony, the acacia which yields gum arabic, and the copal tree are found. There are several varie- ties of palm, all highly useful, especially the nut-bearing palm from which palm oil is made. Medicinal plants abound ; among them are the copaiba tree, the croton tiglium, which yields the croton oil, the castor oil plant, and the ricinus major, whose seeds produce a highly purgative oil, and whose wood is much used for hedges and fences. Several varieties of maize and rice of excellent quality are culti- vated, and on the highlands of the interior good crops of wheat, barley, and oats have been raised. Cotton flourishes, and sugar cane and excellent coffee are easily produced. The
