New and Revised Edition.

THE

TREASURY OF KNOWLEDGE

AND

LIBRARY OF REFERENCE.

VOL. III.

CONTAINING

A MILLION OF FACTS,

OR

COMMON PLACE BOOK

OF SUBJECTS OF RESEARCH AND CURIOSITY IN THE ARTS AND SCIENCES, HISTORY,
CHRONOLOGY, AND LITERATURE; EMBRACING SKETCHES OF

JEWISH HISTORY, AMERICAN HISTORY,

SCONSIN.

JARED W. BELL, 178 FULTON STREET,

GENERAL AGENT FOR THE WORK.

Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by

CASPER C. CHILDS,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York.

T78

3

PREFACE TO MILLION
MILLION OF FACTS.

THIS part of the Treasury of Knowledge, called "A MILLION OF FACTS," is based on the English book of that title, from the memoranda of an eminent scholar and publisher of London, but the work has been in a measure remodel led here. The sections relating to Geography, Mythology, and some other sub jects, have been anticipated in the former parts of the Treasury of Knowledge, and other valuable matter has been added, in their place, to this portion of the work.

Among the original contributions now comprised in this part, are the follow ing by the late Samuel L. Knapp, Esq., a distinguished American scholar and writer, viz: a sketch of the Literature of the Jews; a succinct History of Amer. ican Literature, from the earliest times, giving a sketch of some of the most important writers and their works; also, brief annals of American History, with a cursory view of the rise and progress of the Useful Arts among us; and other incidental facts as they came to the mind of the author, which he thought might be acceptable to the reader.

That portion of the work under the head of "Atmospherical and Aerial Phenomena," has been revised by William C. Redfield, Esq., whose writings on scientific subjects have gained him a high reputation in this country and in Europe; and many interesting facts will be found stated here, which do not appear in the Enoyclopedias and other standard works. The articles under the head of "Physical Geography," have been prepared by the same hand.

A volume like this may be taken up as a matter of recreation, when the reader has but a short time to spare, and some valuable facts may be stored in his memory for future contemplation and use. When one becomes acquainted with the memoranda contained in this "Million of Facts," he will be surprised to find many things that he has been years in search of, and could not tell where to lay his hands on them. The fields of knowledge are now so extended and so crowded, that the most industrious in the pursuit of information will be thankful for indices and directories in his course.