In geography, a basin is the whole tract of country drained by a river and its tributaries. The line dividing one river basin from another is the water-shed, and by tracing the various water-sheds we divide each country into its constituent basins The basin of a loch or sea consists of the basins of all the rivers which run into it.
Forest is a term properly applied to an extensive woodland or to a large tract of mingland woodland and open uncultivated land. In English law, a forest was a territory privileged for game generally belonging to the sovereign and set aside for his recreation. Research Forest
The term fur is sometimes distinctively applied to hairy animal skins when prepared for being made into articles of dress, etc, while the name of peltry is given to them in an unprepared state or when merely dried. The animals chiefly sought after for the sake of their furs were the beaver, raccoon, musk-rat, squirrel, hare, rabbit, the chinchilla, bear (black, grey, and brown), otter, sea-otter, seal, wolf, wolverine or glutton, marten, ermine, lynx, coypou (nutria), polecat (fitch), opossum, fox, etc. All the preparation that skins require before being sent to the market is to make them perfectly dry, so as to prevent them from putrefying. This is done by exposing them to the heat of the sun or a fire. The small skins are sometimes previously steeped in a solution of alum. When stored in large quantities they must be carefully preserved from dampness, as well as from moths. The fur-dresser, on receiving the skins, first subjects them to a softening process. He next cleans them from loose pieces of the integument by scraping them with a metalblade. Finally, the fur is cleaned and combed, after which it is handed over to the cutter, who cuts the furs out into the various shapes required to make different articles.
In Europe the furtrade was fed chiefly by Russia, which yielded great quantities of furs, especially in the Asiatic portion of her dominions. Austria, Turkey, Scandinavia, etc, also yielded a certain quantity.
The furtrade of America has long been highly important, and several great trading companies were engaged in it, of which the Dutch East India Company was first. The French early took up the furtrade in Canada, and their chain of forts and trading posts at one time extended from Hudson's Bay to New Orleans. Quebec and Montreal were at first trading posts. In 1670 Charles II granted to Prince Rupert and others a charter empowering them to trade exclusively with the aborigines of the Hudson's Bay region. A company, then and after called the Hudson's Bay Company, was formed, which for a period of nearly two centuries possessed a monopoly of the furtrade in the vast tract of country known as the Hudson's Bay Territory. In the winter of 1783-1784 another company was formed at Montreal, called, the North-west fur Company, which disputed the right of the Hudson's Bay Company, and actively opposed it. After a long and bitter rivalry the two companies united in 1821, retaining the name of Hudson's Bay Company. The monopoly which had hitherto been enjoyed by the original company about Hudson's Bay was much extended; but in 1868 an act of parliament was passed to make provision for the surrender, upon certain terms, of all the territories belonging to the company, and for their incorporation with the Dominion of Canada. In 1869 the surrender was carried out, Canada paying 300,000 pounds to the company by way of compensation. The company still possessed large stretches of valuable land, and many houses, forts, and posts in the region formerly belonging to it. Its operations even extended beyond British America into the United States and to the Sandwich Islands and Alaska. It employed a large staff of agents, traders, Indian hunters, etc. Some of its posts were situated far north, almost approaching the Arctic Ocean.
In the United States, the fur-trade, especially that trade in beaverfur, was an important element in the economic life of all the colonies in the seventeenth century, and in the struggle between England and France for the possession of North America, also in all negotiations respecting the northwest boundary of the United States. In 1809 John Jacob Astor secured the incorporation of the American Fur Company. He founded Astoria in Oregon, and attempted to connect it with Mackinaw by a line of posts and consolidate the whole north-western fur-trade. After the War of 1812 he renewed his attempt. In 1816 the American Congress passed an act excluding foreign fur-traders. Research Fur-Trade
The Moral and Physical Thermometer was a chart produced by a Dr Lettsom, author of the once popular tract 'The Bad Effects of a Little Drop' and a fervent temperance campaigner. The chart showed a scale of the progression between temperance to intemperance of liquors with their effects in terms of well being or vices, diseases and punishments.
The scale ranged from -70 (gin, brandy, rum, whisky consumed both during the day and night) through to +70 (water) through strong beer (+10), porter (+20), wine (+30) and cider and perry (+40) offering cheerfulness, strength and nourishment when taken only at mealtimes and in moderation. Research Moral and Physical Thermometer
The Religious Tract Society was founded in 1799 by the reverend George Burder with the object of distributing religious tracts. In 1804 it spawned another organisation; the British and Foreign Bible Society. Research Religious Tract Society
The Susquehannah Company was a land company formed in 1754, chiefly of Connecticut farmers, for the colonization of the Wyoming country. By a treaty with the Five Nations, July 11th 1754, an enormous tract of country was purchased for 2000 pounds sterling. It began at the southern boundary of Connecticut and followed in a northerly direction the course of the Susquehannah to northern Pennsylvania. In 1785-1786 many disputes arose between the Susquehannah Company and the Pennsylvania claimants of the territory. This was called the Pennamite War. Research Susquehannah Company
The Toledo War was a boundary controversy between Ohio and Michigan, USA, which came to a head in 1835, just previous to Michigan's application for admission to the Union. The controversy was over that territory which contained the city of Toledo, and its history may be traced back to the ordinance of 1787 respecting the division of the Northwest Territory. In 1835 Ohio proposed to assume control of the disputed tract. Michigan responded by making such action highly penal, and appealed to the Federal Government. An armed collision seemed imminent. Finally it was agreed that Michigan should be admitted to the Union and awarded certain territory in the north, provided she would give up her clearly rightful claim to the Toledo country. Research Toledo War
Abbreviations
Research Forest
