Alps
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Alps. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the highest and most extensive system of mountains in Europe, included between lat. 44° and 48° N., and long. 5° and 18° E., covering the greater part of northern Italy, several departments of France, nearly the whole of Switzerland, and a large part of Austria. The culminating peak is Mont Blanc, 15,781 feet high, though the true center is the St. Gothard. The Alps in their various great divisions receive different names. The Maritime Alps, so called from their proximity to the Mediterranean, extend westward from their junction with the Apennines for a distance of about 100 miles; culminating points, Aiguille de Chambeyron, 11,155 feet, and Grand Rioburent, 11,142 feet; principal pass the Col di Tende, 6,158 feet, which was made practicable for carriages by Napoleon I. Proceeding northward the next group consists of the Cottian Alps, length about 60 miles; principal peaks: Monte Visco, 12,605 feet; Pic des Ecrins, 13,462; Pelvoux, 12,973. Next come the Graian Alps, 50 miles long, with extensive ramifications in Savoy and Piedmont; principal peaks: guille de Aiguille la Sassière, 12,326 feet; Grand Paradis, 13,300; Grande Casse, 12,780. To this group belongs Mont Cenis, 6,765 feet. MATTERHORN MONTE ROSA MT BLANC ZUFALL SPITZE MISCHABEL PBERNINA 111 JUNGFRAU WEISSKUGEL HEIGHT ORİLER FEET WILD'SA 1 11 15,000 VIDLA MT POURI PELVOUX ADAMELLE 10,000 PELAT SIMPLON- PILATUS PENNA 5,000 ST GOTTHARD -EBRO- BAYARD 1.000 PROFILE MAP SHOWING MAIN PEAKS OF THE ALPS The Pennine Alps form the loftiest portion of the whole system, having Mont Blanc (in France) at one extremity, and Mont Rosa at the other (60 miles), and including the Alps of Savoy and the Valais. In the E. the valley of the upper Rhone separates the Pennine Alps from the great chasm of the Bernese Alps. The principal heights of the Pennine Alps are Mont Blanc, 15,781 feet; Monte Rosa, 15,217; Mischabel- A naturally rich and historically interhörner (Dom), 14,935; Weisshorn, 14,804; Matterhorn, 14,780. In the Bernese Alps, the Finsteraarhorn, 14,026; Aletschhorn, 13,803; Jungfrau, 13,671. The pass of Great St. Bernard is celebrated for its hospice. The easternmost pass is the Simplon, 6,595 feet, with a carriage road made by Napoleon I. Further E. are the Lepontine Alps, divided into several groups. The principal pass is the St. Gothard (6,936 feet). Highest peaks: Tödi, 11,887 feet; Monte Leone, 11,696. The Rhætian Alps, extending E. to about lat. 12° 30′ N., are the most easterly of the central Alps; principal pal peaks: Piz Bernina, 13,294 feet; Ortlerspitze, 12,814; Monte Adamello, 11,832. The Brenner Pass, 4,588 feet, from Verona to Innsbruck. The eastern Alps form the broadest and lowest portion on of the system, and embrace the Noric Alps, the Carnic Alps, the Julian Alps, etc.; highest peak, the Grossglockner, 12,045 feet. The Alps are very rich in lakes and streams. Among the chief of the former are Geneva, Constance, Zürich, Thun, Brienz, on the N. side; on the S. Maggiore, Como, Lugano, Garda, etc. The drainage is carried to the North Sea by the Rhine, to the Mediterranean by the Rhone, to the Adriatic by the Po, 10-Vol. I-Cyc to the Black Sea by the Danube. In the lower valleys the mean temperature ranges from 50° to 60°. Half way up the Alps it averages about 32°-a height which, in the snowy regions, it never reaches. In respect to vegetation the Alps have been divided into six zones: DREI HERREN SP. 11 HOCHALPEN SP. ANKOGL ZUCKER HUTL VENEDIGER GLOCKNER HOCHFEILER HOCHGALL GROSS PREDIGT STUHL WART HOCHGOLLING TERGLAU HOCHKÖNIG DACHSTEIN GROSS 11 HOHEN ! 11 ۱ 1 1 i LANGLOFT DIMA DEL PRA- GERLITZEN MTPREMAGGIORE- PREDIL The first is the olive; the second, the vine; the third, the mountainous; the fourth, coniferous: the the sub-Alpine or fifth, the pasture; and the sixth, the region of perpetual snow. Among the minerals that are obtained are iron and lead, gold, silver, copper, zinc, alum, and coal. ALSACE-LORRAINE (äl-säs-lō-rān') esti sting region, with fertile soil and active industries. It was ceded by France to Germany in 1871, and awarded to France by the Treaty of Versailles, 1919. Its utmost length from N. to S. is 123 miles; its breadth varies between 22 and 105 miles; and its area is 5,580 square miles, of which 1,353 belong to Upper Alsace (in the S.), 1,844 to Lower Alsace (N. E.), and 2,383 to Lorraine (N. W.). Pop. about 2,000,000. The French speaking population is mainly in the larger towns and in Lorraine. The Rhine flows 115 miles north-by-eastward along all the eastern boundary, and re ceives, below Strasbourg, the Ill from Alsace, 127 miles long. Other rivers are the Moselle, flowing through Lorraine past Metz, and its affluent, the Saar. About 48.5 per cent. of the entire area is arable, 11.6 meadow and pasture, and 30.8 under wood. Alsace-Lorraine produces much wine, grain, and tobacco; it is rich in mines, iron and coal; and manufactures iron, cotton, wool, silks. chemicals, glass, and paper. It contains the important cities of Strasbourg (pop. about 200,000); Mulhouse (pop. about Mulhou 115,000); Metz (pop. about 85,000). As a French province, Alsace was divided into the departments of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin. Lorraine fell into the departments of Meuse, Moselle, Meurthe, and Vosges. In Cæsar's time Alsace-Lorraine was occupied by Celtic tribes, and formed part of ancient Gaul; but during the decline of the empire the Alemanni and other tribes from beyond the Rhine occupied and largely Germanized it. From the 10th century it formed part of the German empire, under various sovereign dukes and princes, latterly of the house of Hapsburg; till a part of it was ceded to France at the Peace of Westphalia (1648), and the rest fell a prey to the aggressions of Louis XIV., who seized Strasbourg (1681) by surprise in time of peace. By the Peace of Ryswick (1697), the cession of the whole was ratified. In 1814-1815 Russia would not hear of the restitution of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany; and not till 1871, after the Franco-Prussian war, were Alsace and German Lorraine, by the treaty of Frankfort, incorporated in the new German Empire. The great mass of the population were strongly against the change, and 160,000 elected to be French, though only 50,000 went into actual exile, refusing to become German subjects. For, at least since the era of the Revolution, Alsace in sentiment was wholly French. To France she gave the bravest of her sons-Kellermann, Kléber, and many another hero. Strasbourg first heard the "Marseillaise"; and MM. Erckmann-Chatrian, Lorrainers both, have faithfully represented their countrymen's love of La Patrie in the days of the third as of the first Napoleon. France long cherished the hope of regaining the lost territories, but had resigned herself to the inevitable when the war of 1914-1918 suddenly thrust on her by Germany enabled her, through the victory of the Allies, to realize her dream. See FRANCE; WORLD WAR.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the central mountain mass of Europe. The Alps are a mass of mountains, rather than a chain. Their limits, counting spurs and valleys, are hard to define. There are two general divisions--the Swiss Alps and the Tyrolese Alps. The latter occupy that portion of Austria known as the Tyrol. Geologically the Alps occupy Switzerland and the Tyrol, as well as portions of Germany, Austria, Italy, and France. There are over three hundred peaks, having a height of from 5,000 to 16,000 feet. St. Gothard is considered the geological center of the system. Mt. Blanc, 15,781 feet, is the highest peak. Owing to its accessibility, no other system of mountains has been studied so thoroughly as that of the Alps. The effect of altitude on animal life and vegetation, barometric pressure, the precipitation of snow and rain by the influence of cool summits on moisture-laden air, the flow of glaciers, the effect of mountains on the freedom-loving spirit of their inhabitants, the building of rack and pinion railways, railway tunnels, the effect of heights on breathing, and on the temperature requisite for boiling water, are only a few of the problems that have been studied in the Alps. No other mountains of equal height and extent are penetrated by so many valleys and gaps, allowing not only the passage of men, plants, and animals in their migrations, but the passage of winds as well. The Alps shelter no desert region cut off from rain. Geologically the Alps have been described as a kernel of granite and gneiss wrapped in a covering of limestone. A very interesting summary of climatic conditions may be made by a division of the Alps into six regions, largely according to elevation: 1. The olive region. The olive, lemon, and evergreen oak flourish in protected valleys at the southern foot of the mountains and about the Italian lakes. 2. The vine region. Grapes are produced in deep sunny valleys throughout. 3. The region of deciduous trees. The lower slopes of the mountains are every-where covered with a growth of trees, up to a height of from 4,000 to 5,500 feet above the sea according to exposure. The more heat, the higher these forests. The roads and footpaths wind delightfully through groves of oak, ash, elm, beech, hazel, walnut, and sycamore. 4. The region of coniferous trees. Above the beech line the mountain highways and paths begin to climb more rapidly through spruce, pine, and fir forests. Lofty fir trees rise from the mountain sides and spring from heaps of boulders with apparently no footing beyond the loose rocks which they clutch with their roots, like the talons of an eagle. The roadside inns, farmhouses, and mountain chalets, constructed of hewed fir, turn to a rich brown, harmonizing wonderfully with the scenery. 5. The region of pasture. From 6,000 to 7,000 feet above the sea-level the firs come to an end, and the grassy pastures for which alpine regions are noted begin. Cattle and goats are driven up to the pastures in the summer season and down into the shelter of the valleys and forests for winter. The celebrated Swiss dairy cow is from this region. 6. The region of perpetual snow. Above the pastures comes the snow line from 8,000 to 9,500 feet above the sea. Heavy snows fall even in midsummer, and are packed into glaciers that run down through the pasturage belt, often far into the forest below. The profusion and ever-changing variety of flowers to be found in the valleys as they rise higher and higher have long made the Alps a botanist's paradise. The grassy heights below the snow line are noticeable for bright flowers found only in similar localities in the Pyrenees, the Carpathians, or on distant Ararat. This alpine flora, as it is called, includes rare species of the pink, saxifrage, cress, hawkweed, thyme, harebell, primula, violet, and gentian. Many of these, and especially an everlasting known as the edelweiss, grow beyond the range of grass or shrubs, wherever a bit of soil shows among the snow banks. The valleys of the Alps contain many snow-fed lakes of marvelous clearness. They are well stocked with fish, especially those of the trout and salmon kind that prefer cool water. The Alps have been the last refuge of many wild animals. The ancient urus, or wild bull of the Canton of Uri, has disappeared within historic times. The elk, the wild boar, and the beaver have gone too; but the brown bear of Berne, the wolf, the lynx, and the wildcat still survive. Deer,--red, fallow, and roe,--still roam the forest regions, the shy chamois still climbs the rocks, and the ibex, wilder still, with curved horns haunts the very snow line. A marmot allied to the woodchuck thrives in the stony pastures. Birds find the Alps a place of shelter for their summer nests. In the forests and uplands are found several species of grouse, including the cock of the woods, ptarmigan, blackcock, and rock partridge. The rock chough, a crow-like bird with a yellow bill and legs, builds on glacial cliffs 10,000 feet above the sea. The snow bird and the snow finch ascend still higher. The lammergeier or lamb-stealer, the alpine eagle, still circles the mountains with long sweep of wing. Animal life extends higher than plant life. Animals are found at some distance above the line of plants. Beetles and similar species shelter under stones. Naturalists have observed that, while alpine flowers are brilliant, the insects lose color, and many species have been so long afraid to trust themselves in the gusty air, lest they be swept away from their homes, that they have lost their wings altogether. Highest of all are snow fleas. Even spiders are found on rocks 14,000 feet above the sea. Curiously enough, an alpine frog climbs as high as grass grows, and a toad follows closely after. While there is much similarity between the flora and fauna of the higher Alps and those of arctic regions , the climate of the Alps is much more favorable. Day and night, summer and winter, follow in regular succession. In midsummer the alpine day is hot even on an ice sheet. The sun of a midwinter day mitigates the severity of the weather. At night life may seek shelter; but within the Arctic Circle a long, bitter, cold winter night lasts for months without a ray of light or heat. See Switzerland ; Tyrol ; Berne ; Geneva ; Lucerne ; Blanc ; St. Gothard; Bernard 2026 Editor's Note: The Alps' glaciers, vast in this entry's day, are now in rapid retreat — and as the ice melts it gives up secrets, most famously Ötzi the Iceman in 1991, a 5,300-year-old body preserved in a glacier. The range is also the world's most-visited mountains, threaded with ski resorts. (Ed: BR 2026-07-04)