Maryland, one of the United States, on the Atlantic, separated from Pennsylvania and Delaware by ' Mason and Dixon's Line,' and from Virginia by the Potomac River. It contains 12,210 sq. m. - very nearly the size of Holland - of which about one-fifth is water. The length from east to west is 196 miles, and the breadth 128 miles. The surface elevation varies greatly, from sea-level to an altitude of 3500 feet. In the west it is mountainous (see Blue Ridge) ; in the middle hilly and rolling; in the east and southeast low and undulating. The mean summer temperature is 75°, the mean winter temperature 34°. The annual rainfall varies from 38 inches in the mountains to 46 near the Atlantic. The minerals include fine bituminous coal; over 200 kinds of marble; copper, chrome, large beds of clay, and soapstone. The soil is well adapted to cultivation. The forest-trees are principally pine, chestnut, and oak. The staple fruit-tree is the peach, which covers many thousands of acres. Tobacco is the principal crop in the peninsula between the Chesapeake and the Potomac. Tomatoes, melons, small fruits, and all kinds of vegetables are cultivated on the eastern shore. Deer, wild ducks (especially the famous canvas-back), wild geese, swans, and turkeys are found, as well as woodcock, grouse, and quail (locally called partridge). The Chesapeake Bay divides Maryland into two unequal portions, the Eastern and the Western Shore. With its estuaries it gives the state a coast-line of more than 500 miles. Shad and herring are caught in large numbers, and the average annual supply of oysters reaches 20 millions of bushels, giving employment to more than 40,000 persons. Besides railways, Maryland has two canals (from Cumberland to Washington, 184 1/2 miles, and between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, 12 1/2 miles). Maryland returns six members to congress. The Legislature is styled the General Assembly, and consists of two houses. The seat of government is at Annapolis. Baltimore is the chief port and commercial centre. Other towns are Cumberland, Hagers-town, Frederick, Westminster, on the western shore; Salisbury, Easton, and Cambridge, on the eastern. Pop. (1830) 447,030; (1860) 687,049; (1880) 934,943; (1900) 1,188,044. Included in Charles I.'s grant to Lord Baltimore (1632), Maryland was named in honour of Henrietta Maria. It was among the first of the colonies to take an active part in the War of Independence. Divided in sentiment in the civil war of 1861-65, it yet remained within the Union. See Scharf's History of Maryland (2 vols. Balt. 1879).