District of Massachusetts, TO WIT: DISTRICT CLERK'S OFFICE. BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-fifth day of May. A. D. 1815, and in the thirty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, WM. A. THAYER has deposited in this Office the Title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit:"A Compendium of Geography, being a concise description of the various parts of the World; adapted to the capacities of Children and Youth, by Wm. A. Thayer.” IN conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned ;" and also to an Act, entitled, "An Act Supplementary to an Act, entitled An Act, for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, Engraving and Etching Historical and other Prints." WM. S. SHAW, Clerk of the District 1 of Massachusetts. PREFACE. THE Author of the following work, having been employed several years in the instruction of youth, has seen, with concern, the neglect of Geography in common schools, and the difficulty of instructing children in that important science, arising from the want of a system sufficiently concise and familiar. FROM a conviction of the utility of a cheap, plain, and concise form of Geography, adapted to the capacities of scholars of common shools, he has compiled the following Compendium, which, he flatters himself, unites brevity with perspicuity, and is calculated to facilitate the improvement of the scholar in that useful branch of education. HE submits it to the candor of the public, trusting, that if it is deemed calculated to answer the end for which it is designed, it will meet with a liberal patronage." 75 RECOMMENDATIONS. HAVING been informed by Mr. Wм. A. THAYER, of his plan for publishing a book, entitled, a Compendiump of Geography, and examined the work, we cheerfully approve both of the design and of the manner in which it has been executed; and do accordingly recommend the book, both for the use of families and common schools. HENRY CHAPMAN, Pastor of the Church in Hardwick. Preceptor of Lenox Academy. SAMUEL SHEPARD, Pastor of the Church in Lenox. HAVING looked at the plan of a " Compendium of Geography," prepared by W. A. THAYER, I am porsuaded that such a work would be highly serviceable in common schools, and would recommend its publication. EBENEZER JENNINGS. Dalton, April 24th, 1815. HAVING cursorily examined the plan of a "Compendium of Geography, by WLLIAM A. THAYER, I concur in the above recommendation of the work. Lee, April 26th, 125. ALVAN HYDE I CONCUR in the preceding recommendation of. "The Compendium of Geography." WILLIAM ALLEN. Pittsfield, April 29th, 1815. A Compendium of Geography. ૨. WHAT is GEOGRAPHY ? A. It is a science, which describes the earth, with its parts, limits, situations, &c. Q. What is Astronomy? A. It is a science, which treats of the heavenly bodies, and explains their motions, magnitudes, &c. Q. By whom was astronomy first cultivated? A. Pythagoras, the scholar of Thales, 500 years before Christ; but the knowledge of it was nearly lost, when Copernicus revived it in 1530. It is now called the Copernican System. Q. Explain this system. A. It supposes the Sun to be in the centre, and the well known planets to revolve around him in the following order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Herschel. Q. In what time do the planets revolve around the sun? A. Mercury, the nearest to the sun, revolves around it in 87 days 23 hours-Venus in 224 days 17 hours-The earth in 365 days 6 hours; its distance from the sun is about 95,173,127 miles-Mars in 686 days 17 hours-Jupiter, the largest of all the planets, performs its revolution in 4,322 days--Saturn in 10,759 days-Herschel, the farthercst planet from the Sun, revolves around it in 83 years, 140 days, 8 hours. Q. What is the Sun ? A. It is supposed to be a vast globe of fire, whose diameter is 890,000 miles, and whose body is more than a million times larger than the earth. Q. What is the Moon? A. It is an opaque body, like all the planets, and shines only by reflecting the light of the sun. Q. How is an eclipse of the sun caused? A. By the interposition of the moon between the earth and sun. Q. What causes an eclipse of the moon?: A. It is caused by the earth passing between it and the sun. Q. What are Comets ? A. They are opaque bodies, descending from the remote parts of the system, with inconceivable velocity, appearing sometimes bright and round, sometimes with a transparent fiery tail, and sometimes emitting beams on all sides. Q. What are the fixed stars? A. They are those heavenly bodies, which at all times preserve the same situation with regard to each other. Q. What is the Galaxy? A. It is a broad circle, encompassing the heavens, which appears to consist of innumerable stars, and by their blendid rays, diffusing a whiteness on that part of the firmament. Q. What is the figure of the earth? |