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Ferro, meridian of.

A line drawn due north and south through the poles, from which longitudes are reckoned, is a meridian. Ferro, the most western Canary isle, known to the ancients and rediscovered in 1402, was taken as the prime meridian by the geographers of Columbus's time. In 1493 Pope Alexander VI. drew a line 100 marine leagues westward of the meridian of Ferro, and granted Spain all new lands west of the line, and Portugal all new lands east of the line. This enabled Spain to claim the entire American continent excepting Brazil.

Harper and Brothers Publishers. . New York. 1902.

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