Note BV — LETTER XXI.
T. G. (Thomas Gamaliel) Bradford translation
No one can look at a map of the United States without being struck by the appearance of the right lines, constituting the frontiers of most of the States; this method of bounding a territory by meridians and parallels of latitude is absurd, since it requires an infinite number of geodesic operations, which have not been executed, and cannot be so for a long time. Meridians and parallels do very well for the divisions of the heavens; but for the earth, there are no suitable boundaries but the beds of rivers, or water-sheds in the mountain chains.