Description
"The Earth, whose diameter is 7,912 miles, is represented by the globe, or sphere. The straight line passing through its center, and about which it turns, is called its axis, and the two extremities of the axis are the poles of the Earth, A being the north pole, and B the south pole. The line C D, crossing the axis, passes quite round the Earth, and divides it into two equal parts. This is called the equinoctial line, or the equator. That part of the Earth situated north of this line, is caled the northern hemisphere, and that part south of it, the southern hemisphere. The small circles E F and G H, surrounding or including the poles, are called the polar circles." —Comstock, 1850
