Alps

the name applied to the most important mountain chain in Europe. Physically the Alps cannot be separated from the A pennines on the one hand, from the mountains of Istria, ete., on the other. Thus, the limits of the chain itself, os well as its subdivisions, ure rather arbitrary. It may be roughly separated from the A pennines by a line joining Turin with Mentone; from the Julian Alps by the watershed between the Isonzo and the Save. The chain sweeps round the great plain of northern Italy, by the head of the Adriatic, to the plain of Hungary, and it inoscnlates with the mountain region on the eastern shore of the Adriatic; the length measured along the watershed being ronghly 790 miles, with a maximum breadth of about 200 miles. The highest peak is Mont Blanc (15,781 ft.), but many peaks exceed 10,000 ft., even the crest of a range not falling below this for a considerable distance. Thus, there are many large snowfields and glaciers, The Alps occupy part of the territory of the following nationalities: Austria, Bavaria, Switzerland, France, and Italy. SUBDIVISIONS. —-Geographers differ as to the subdivisions of the Alps: the following correspond ) nearly authorities. the Co] here peak (2) the Savoy limited chain structure, is road the is miles composed the Galibier, Durance shoot Col carriage former 11,500 13,462 ture plicated, of the Pa which Pennine highest of (5) the bank part the This the adjacent peaks Up main (8,131 (6) nines Reu . summit of the Keu but Todi, Pennine Pa Spliigen eastern highest to St. way Alps. with those adopted by one of the best (1) The Maritime Alps. These are divided from A pennines, us stated above, and extend to the de Longet, south-east. of the Viso. The chain is single, with ramifying valleys, the highest being the Aiguille de Chambeyron (11,155 ft.). The Cottian Alps. From the Col de Longet to Col del Carro (joining the valley of the Arc ip with that of the Orco in Piedmont), and on the west by the Col de Galibier. The is now becoming more complicated in The highest peak in the Cottian Alps Monte Viso (12,643 ft.). The most important pa es are the Mont Genévre (6,102 ft.), and Mont Cenis (6,772 ft.); near the latter a railway carried through the range by a tunnel eight long. (3) Zhe Dauphine Alps. These are of a great spur extending westward from main range (arbitrarily limited at the Col de connecting the upper waters of the with those of the Arc), and a huge off from it towards the south, linked on by the du Lautarat (6,740 ft.), which is cro ed by the road from Grenoble to Briangon. In the section only one peak just overtops ft., in the latter the Pointe des Ecrins is ft., and several exceed 12,000 ft. The strucof the chain is now becoming yet more com and gives indications of being composed parallel ranges. (4) Zhe @rai an Alps include whole chain as far as the Little St. Bernard (about 7,200 ft.), together with the great spur runs out castward and is cut off from the Alps by the valley of the Dora Baltea. Its peak is the Grand Paradis (13,300 ft.), that the main ma is the Grande Ca e (12,780 ft.). The Pennine Alvs. To these may be a igned district north of the Graians, and on the left of the Rhone, though by some the western of this is distinguished as the Savoy Alps, eastern limit being the Simplon Pa (6,595 ft.). division includes the most elevated part of chain, from Mont Blanc, with its Aiguilles (or peaks) on the west, to the group of great around Monte Rosa (15,217 ft.) on the east. to the Simplon no carriage road cro es the range, but the Great St. Bernard, a mule track ft.), has been made famous by its hospice. The Bernese Alps run parallel with the Pen from the valley of the Rhone to that of the The range is generally lofty, the highest being the Finster Aarhorn (14,026 ft.); one its glaciers, the Gro Aletsch, is the largest in Alps. This range is continued east of the by the (7) North Swi Alps, an extensive le elevated reyion., the highest peak, the only attaining 11,887 ft. In like way the Range is continued east of the Simplon by the (8) Lepontine Alps, of which the Pa (6,945 ft.) may be taken as the boundary. Here the peaks are lower, the point, Monte Leone (11,696 ft.), being close the Simplon road. The range is cro ed by the Gothard Pa (6,936 ft.), and pierced by a rail which pa es through a tunnel 9} miles long. 105 (9) fast railway) limited river by is Stelvio (9,177 northern neighbourhood the the Central right as Gmund Gro Brenner these Tyrol of being by obviously troughs one rather Inn, Southern that Lepontine tinuous Mont is Consist Alps. ( The Riuetian Alps include the district east of the up to the Vorarlberg Pa (now cro ed by a on the north; on the eastern side they are by the Inn as far as a line joining that with the head waters of the Adige, and then the right bank of that river. The highest peak the Bernina (13,294 ft.), In this division is the Pa , the highest carriage road in the Alps ft.) (10) Zhe Vin deli can Alps include the range from the Lake of Con stance to the of Vienna, the highest. peak being Zug Spitz (9,716 ft.). By some the part east of Inn is called the North Noric Alps. (11) The Tyrol Alps. Yhese are limited by the bank of the upper Inn, and extend castward THE BERNESE ALPS FROM tar asa rather irregular line pa ing through and Villach, the highest peak being the Glockner, 12,455 ft. They are cro ed by the Pa (4,588 ft.) road and railway; cast. of are (12) The Styrian Alps. (13) The South and Venetian Alps extend from the east bank the Adige to the Sexten Thal, the highest peak the Marmolata (11,020 ft.), and are followed (14) The South-eastern Alps. In the eastern part of the Afps the chain is composed of three ranges, parted by long occupied by important rivers, the central being the watershed. This structure becomes le distinct near the head waters of the and the watershed appears to cro to the range. It is, however, more probable the latter disappears by denudation, and the and Pennine Alps are orographically con with the Central Tyrol Alps. Sonth of Blanc the above-named structure exists, but difficult to trace. Geology.—The “foundation stones” of the Alps of crystalline rocks—granites, gnei es, 7 97) schists, age, and Alps, Rocks and that PERMIAN South and In the became ment Then THE The the cursors sand or MIOCENE another Switzerland, the Rn ee ee ee chain of interval, known of occupied Italian and height chatel. mark (q.v.) have take ete., of unknown The oldest fo iliferous DEVONIAN age: between the of CARBONIFEROUS there in many a region hilly, times saw Tyrol region. here extensive some districts end of the Trias, submerged, till near the began a great WENGERN ALP. crust of the dominant features of those and gravel and into the sea on period, roughly epoch of raised Speer some 6,000 much as it is rock have been the climate causes, became the Alps increased the mountain plain, covered welled up on of about 2,000 Here blocks their limit. On are like ranges credited glaciers basins; these, Alps. but very great geological rocks are of SILURIAN they occur in the Eastern Northern and Central range. age are recognised here parts of the Alps. ‘These prove if not mountainous, then existed. great volcanic activity in the After this came subsidence, ma es of dolomite were formed. land remained above water till but at last the whole ares and continued to receive sediend of the Eocknge period epoch of mountain-making, REE RROS earth was folded, outlining of the chain. Rivers, pre still running, brought down poured it over the lowlands either side of the chain. The speaking, was closed by mountain-making. This, in the pebble-beds in the Rigi and ft. above the sea. It left the at present, though vast ma es since removed. After a long of Europe, from some unmuch colder, the glaciers enormously in size; they valleys, debouched on the the lowland of Switzerland, the flanks of the Jura to a ft. above the lake of Neuf: of Alpine rocks remain to the Italian plain the moraines of hills. Some geologists with the excavation of the however, are regarded by others 106 Alps. (98) as due to differential movements in the beds of pre-existing valleys. The earth-movements have left their mark in extraordinary flexures of the rocks, beds being bent into S-like curves or even folded back. Sometimes these folds are fractured and one part is thrust over another; thus the order of succe ion is locally inverted. By pre ure, clays have been converted into slates, ma ive crystalline rocks have become foliated, while ancient foliated rocks have received! a new structure. Hydrography.—The main rivers, the Mur, the Save and the Drive, draining the eastern part of the chain, run east towards the Danube, but the Salza, also its tributary, turns to the north and cuts through the northern range. The south face of the southern range is drained by minor rivers flowing to the head of the Adriatic, the most important being the Piave, Farther west the drainage of the south side of the central range is carried through the southern range by the Adige or Etsch, its principal affuents being parted from the Drave on the east and the Inn on the west by comparatively low watersheds, The lust river rises in the southern range on the Maloya Pa (5,942 ft.), seemingly cuts the central range; then, after flowing eastward between this and the northern range, severs the latter and debouches on the Bavarian plain on its way to the Danube. he central portion of the Alps is drained by the Rhine, the Reu (its tributary), and the Rhone. These rise iu the northern face of the Lepontine Alps; the flyst runs for a considerable distance eastward, the third in like manner westward, till they turn northward, and run roughly parallel with the second. Hence the head waters of these three rivers lie in a kind of trough interrupted by the Oberalp Pa bet ween the Rhine and the Reu , and the Furka Pa between the Reu and the Rhone. The Aur is fed by the glaciers of the Bernese Alps, the Linmat i ues from the North Swi Alps. South of Mont Blanc the Isére, Are, and Romanche carry the drainage of the western portion of the chain, by zigzagging courses, to the Rhone; but parts of the Dauphinég and the Cottian Alps are drained by the Durance, which also ultimately reaches the Rhone. Parts of the Maritime Alps discharge their waters direct. to the Gulf of Lyons by le important strenins, West of the Adige, all the water from the inner side of the great loop of the:Alpine chain makes its way to the Po. Avhes.-—-The lakes of the Alps are numerous. The most important are those of the Salzkammergut and the Konigsee in the North Noric Alps, the Lakes of Con stance, Zurich, Lucerne, ‘Thun, Brienz, and Geneva, wholly or in part, in Switzerland; of Garda, Iseo, Como, Lugano, Maggiore, mainly in Italy, with those of Annecy and Bourget in France. Climate.—As the Alps extend over about four dogrees of latitude and the summits vary so much in elevation, no general statement can be made. Tho mean temperature of the Swi Lowland differs but little from that of England, the summer being rather warmer, the winter rather colder. The mean at Berne is 49°9° F., Lucerne 47°5°, Geneva 49°56", Montreux 50°9°, the summer temperature at Berne temperature fall according arough the slopes which also The In woodlands the by turrents, Italian outlooks obtained about In Dauphiné are of This so of trodden, traversed on Central bear variabilis); of among fber) the birds the and high, and than tu seldom pastures 7,000 These cattle, attendants called Sierra Spain. and the years vince French the the Frankish porated and Alsace. being 72° and the winter 31°8°. The mean at the St. Bernard is 24°12", The rain here is 66 ft. per annum. The snow-line varies to locality; 8,000 feet may be taken as average. Much snow falls everywhere in winter months. This slips from the great of the mountains in the form of avalanches, often are very destructive. Occasionally portions of the steeper glaciers break away. scenery of the Alps is varied and beautiful. the more of It Rhin. and and territory, The came whom times the duchies. Haute centuries a powers Stan is las, decease tions Meuse, the the province wholly tai no us in regions valuable ment the Miilhausegg weaving strong Meziéres century debtors’ abode Scott's adjacent belonged War Schleswig-Holstein. in capital, the forms Alster the Mountains), of the Empire cover The the consist jagged wealth Sapper, in them. siopes, Alsatia. ( 99 Nimeguen, Ratisbon, and Ryswick (1697). then formed the departments of Haut and Bas The inhabitants, though Teutonic by blood speech, became more French than the French, in 1871, when the Germans reoccupied the 45,000 of them pa ed over into France. chief town is Strasburg. Lorraine first bea kingdom about 855 under Lothair, from the name is derived. After it had several changed hands between France and Germany, Emperor Otho, in 959, divided it into two Ba e Lorraine pa ed into Brabant, but Lorraine, the larger portion, was for seven governed by hereditary dukes, and proved perpetual bone of contention between the greater until in 1737 it was bestowed for life on the dethroned King of Poland. On his it became part of France, and with add i made up four departments—Moselle, Meurthe, and Vosges. Nancy is the chief town of section retained by France in 1871, and Metz is capital of the ceded moiety. ‘The united German has an area of 5,580 square miles, It lies to the west of the Khine, and, though mouncertain districts, is one of the most fertile in Central Europe, besides po e ing industries and rich mines. The govern is conducted by a Statthalter appointed by Emperor, Strasburg being his residence. the seat of the great spinning and ti@bfactures. Metz and Thionviile are fortre es. Altkirch, Colmar, Saarburg, and are towns of importance. Ca ell's Encyclopedia of General Information Vol. 1