Atlantic

[Gr. Atlantikos, from Mount Atlas, the shores of which this ocean washes.] Pertaining to the Atlantic IMG:content-0386.jpg:[blocks in formation] S.E. of Sora. It is principally notable for its Cyclopean remains. This is one of the oldest Italian cities, having been, according to Virgil, a considerable place even in the days of the Trojan war. It was taken from the Samnites, B. C. 313, by the Romans. Pop . (1897) estimated at 6,360. Atitlan, in Central America, a lake, town, and volcano of Guatemala, 80 m. N.W. of Guatemala. The town, Santiago de Atitlan, is on the S. side of the lake, which is 24 m. long by 10 broad. The volcano of A. has an altitude of 12,500 feet. At kins on, in Illinois , a post-village and township of Henry co., 30 m. E. of Rock Island. At kins on, in Maine , a post-township of Piscataquis co., about 80 m. N.E. of August a, At kins on, in New Hampshire , a post-township of Rocking ham county, about 35 miles S. S. E. of the city of Concord. At kins on Depot, in New Hampshire, a post-office of Rocking ham co. At kins on's Mills, in Pennsylvania, a post-office of Mifflin co. Atkinsonville, in Indiana , a post-office of Owen co. Atlanta, n. (Zool.) A genus of gasteropodous mollusca, with a very thin, transparent, fragile shell. The animals swim on the surface of the ocean, and are sometimes found in great abundance far from land. They swim with great rapidity. Atlanta, in Georgia , a fine city of Fulton co., and the cap. of the State, about 7 m. 8.E. of Chattahoochee river, 101 m. N.W. of Macon, and 171 W. of August a. Being the terminus of the principal railroads of the State, A. is a place of active trade, and a depot for the cotton and cereals of the surrounding country. A. was laid out in 1845, and incorporated in 1847, and has now become one of the most important places in the State. A. was strongly fortified by the Confederates during the, campaign of 1864, and was the scene of a great battle, fought on the 22d of July of that year, between the Union army commanded by Sherman, and the Confederates under General J. B. Hood. It was a sanguinary action, the national lo being estimated at 3,722, of whom about 1,000 were prisoners, while Sherman estimated the Confederate lo "at full 8,000 men." Among the Confederates killed was Gen. W. H. T. Walker, of Georgia. A second battle followed on the 28th, in which, after a desperate conflict, the Confederates were worsted with a lo of about 5,000 men. The Union lo did not exceed 600. On the first of September, the Confederates evacuated A. , and on the next day it was entered by Sherman's corps. Pop . in 1890, 65,533; on Jan. 1, 1897 (est.), 100,000. See ATLANTA EXPOSITION. Atlanta, in Illinois , a city and township of Logan co., situated 20 miles southwest of Blooming ton. Atlanta, in low a , a post-village of Buchanan co., near the Waps i pin icon river, about 58 m. W.S.W. from Dubuque. Atlanta, in Louisiana , a post-office of Winn parish. Atlanta, in Mi ouri , a village of Harrison co., about 70 m. N.E. of St. Joseph. -A post-office of Macon co. Atlanta, in Ohio , a post-office of Pick away co. Atlanta City, in Idaho , a village of Alturas co. Atlan'tal, a. ( Anat .) Relating to the vertebra atlas . Atlante'an, a. [Lat. atlanteus ; from Gr. atlas , atlan thos, a giant.] Resembling Atlas; gigantic. Atlantic, in New Jersey, a county in the S.S.E. part of the State. Area , 620 sq. m. It is bounded on the N. by Little Egg Harbor river, S.E. by the Atlantic ocean, and is intersected by Great Egg Harbor river. Its shores are prolific of oysters and other shell-fish. Soil , light and sandy. Pop . (1890), 28,836. Cap . May's Landing. Atlantic City, in New Jersey, a flourishing city and fashionable sea-bathing resort of Atlantic co., 58 m. S. E. of Philadelphia, with which it is connected by 3 railroads. Is the most popular summer resort on the Atlantic coast. Pop. (1897) abt. 20,000; transient pop . (May-Aug.), from 40,000 to 100,000. Atlantic Ocean, n . [Gr. Atlantikos pelagos , the sea beyond Mount Atlas.] One of the great divisions of that watery expanse which covers more than three-fourths of the surface of the globe. It lies between the Old and the New worlds, washing the E. shores of the Americas, and the W. shores of Europe and Africa; extending length wise from the Arctic to the Antarctic seas. Where narrowest, between Green land and Norway, it is about 930 m. acro ; but between N. Africa and Florida, where it attains its maximum breadth, the distance from shore to shore is about 5,000 m. Area , about 25,000,000 sq. m. On one side of the equator the A. is called the N. Atlantic Ocean, and on the other, the S. Atlantic Ocean. Its coasts are of unequal elevation, exhibiting in some places immense banks to within a few fathoms of the surface, and in others sinking to almost immeasurable depths. - An important feature of the North Atlantic is its connection with mediterranean, or close seas of great extent. Such are the Baltic sea and the Mediterranean sea in the Old Continent, and Hudson's Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, with the Caribbean sea, in the New World. These seas doubtle form part of the Atlantic ocean; but they cannot be considered as bays or gulfs, the connection between them and the Atlantic being effected by narrow straits, and not by an open sea; and, besides, they extend so far into the continents, that some of them, as the Mediterranean sea, afford a navigation of 3,000 geographical miles. The greatest depth that has been discovered in the N. Atlantic is about 434 miles. The temperature of the water is greater in the Northern than in the Southern hemisphere. In the seas north of the equatorial current, the thermometer indicates 80° or 81°, and S. of it, 77° and 78°, at the time when the sun approaches the line. This difference may, perhaps, be satisfactorily accounted for by the sun's remaining annually 7 days longer to the N. than to the S. of the equator. According to Capt. Scores by, the spec. grav. of the sea-water near the coasts of Green land varies between 1-0259 and 1-0270. Between the tropics, it has been found 1-0300, and near the equator even 1-0578; but this last statement is, with reason, regarded as doubtful. Winds. The A. is in parts subject to the perpetual or trade winds, q. v.; in others, to the variable winds; and along some of its coasts, between the tropics, the winds are subject to a regular change according to the seasons; or, in other words, monsoons, q. v., are there prevalent. Principal currents. The current cro ing the A. near the line, is called the Equatorial Current , q. v.; it runs from E. to W. The current which, in a direction from W. to E., traverses the North A. between 36° and 44°, bears the name of Gulf Stream , q. v.; and that which runs in the same direction, through the South A. , between 30° and 40° S. Lat., is called the South A. Current. Other currents pa the shores of both continents between 40° N. Lat. and 30° S. Lat. Along the Old Continent they run toward the equator; but on the shores of America, they flow from the line toward the poles. These latter kinds of currents are intimately connected with the equatorial current; but very slightly, if at all, with the gulf stream or the S. current. The trade-wind region is the saltest part of the A. , it having been ascertained that the heaviest water in all this ocean is found between the parallels 17° N. and S. of the equator.- See CALM, CURRENT, DRIFT-CURRENT, GULF-WEED, GULP STREAM, ICE, ICEBERG, SARGASSO SEA, OCEAN, .