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 LOHBAKDT 3i

in the fertility of the mil, which in the m&in liea within the basin of the Po valley. Only on its northem reaches ii it conterroinous with the Alpine chain, where the Bernese Alps keep watch over the Provinces of Sondrio and Bergamo, and advance among the wooded valleys of Ctunonlca, Seriana, Brembsra, and Vallellina. In these mountains many streams have their soureea, the principal ont;8 lieine the Ticino, the Olona, the Adda, the Oslio, and the Mincio, all tribu- taries of the Po onitsleft bank; while the Trebbia, fed from the Appennines, fluH-s in on the right bank. Sev- ml of these rivere during their long course spread out into lakea famous for the oeauty of their shores, rich in V^etation, and bordered by picturetique villages and lovely villas, the favourite summer batmts of the great sod tiie wealthy. Sueb for instance is Lake Klaggiore, or Verbano, formed by the Ticino; Lake Como, or Lftrio, formed by the Adda; Lake Isco formed by the Aglio; Lake Garaa, or Dcnaco, from which the Mincio flows. Other similar lakes like Lake Varcsc and those

Of Italy".

The climate of Lomltardy varies with itji elevation; it i^ cold in the mountain districts, wann in the plains.

At Stilan, the mean annual temperature is US" t . The chief products are grain, maize, rice. The pasture lands are many and the flocks numcroiia. Ever since the fifteenth century the greater part of Iximliardy has been artifically irrigated. Innlunemlile ranalh liranch offfromtheriversandcany their waters over the fields on a gentle slope, so skilfully arranged that a thin ' it of water can be made t« pa.iK lightly over the sur-

e. g,, the Naviglio Grande (known also im the Ticinello, bMause it flows from the Ticino). the Naviglio della Marteaana (so called from the ilistrict it passes through), are navigable by means of locks or phuiea which overcome the differences of level cif the country they pass through. The mean annual crop of rice from 1900 to 1905 was 4,615,000 quintals (a quintal {•about 220 lbs.). Milk is so plentiful that butter and cheese are among the chief exports: about 230,000 quintals of cheese, and 90,000 of butter are produced annual>y. The more famous cheeses are tiic Grana (wrong^ called Parmigiono or Parmesan), Gorgon- ■ola, and Stracchini.

With the introduction of the mulberrj-lrec during the Middle Ages the feeding of silkworms begun anil has gone on prospering, so t^t it now fomiH one of the staple sources of income, the average output per an- num being about 1S,000,000 kilos of cocoons. The ■ilk is woven on tbc spot and givt^i emploj-ment (ac- cording to statistics for 1906) to 126. [MM persons of both sexes who work 1,400,000 spindles for straight ■ad twisted eilk, feeding 16,000 looms that turn out 10,000,000 kilos of grey or unbleached silk. There are moreover in activity 36,000 looms, and 900,000 spm- dies for cotton and 10,000 looms for flux, hemp, jute, etc. Other industries are moulding wood and iron for machinery, carriage-building, railway works, furniture maldng, bleaching works, tailoring establishments, and printing. The country does not lioast of great mineral wealth although there are iron pyrites and capper pyrites in the valleys of Tlcrguino and Brescia; lineolcnde and carbonate of sine in Val Scriana; lig- nite in the some valley; and peat In the Varese valley and along Lake Garda. There arc rich granite ((Uur-

the need of means of rapid communication to l)e felt. and besides the public liighwaj'.'', there are about 850,000 miles of splendid roads in I^mbardy, railways wne aoon opened, that from Jtfilan to Monza in 1840 IX.— 23

17 LOMBARDT

beine the second in Italy. At present a network of 1 ,1 1S,000 miles of railway Ibes and more than 600,000 miles of steam- tramways cover tbc surface of Lom-

Reuoiocs Division. — In its ecclesiastical divisions Lombardy naturally exhibits the influence of its civil history. When the Longohards swarmed down from the Alps the peoples in that region had lon^ been evau' gcliEed and the Church hod a hierarchy m the chief cities. Among tbexe Milan is certainly the moat an- cient of all Xorthem Italy; Aquileia comes next; then Verona and Brescia and the other sees that sprang up rapidly after peace had been given to the Church by Constantine. Milan was the metropolitan see of the region and its bishop took the title of archbishop as early as the middle of the eighth century. Within this jurisdiction Vere Alba, Alessandria, Asti, Turin, Tor-

Brescia, Lodi. It is doubtful whether Pavia belonged

to Milan in ancient times, but from a very remote date mitil the beginning of the nineteenth century it de- t>enil('d directly on the Holy See. In the seventh con- tiiry Como wosscparated front Milan and became sub- ject to Aquileia hut was joined to Milan when the Patriarchate of Aijuileia was supprcs^sed. The juris- diction of Milan was gradually restricted. Genoa be- came iin archdiocese iu 1133withSavona, Ventimiglia, unil Tortonu as suffragan sees. Likewise, in 151S Turin became an archdiocese with Asli, Albi, and Ai-<|ui as suffragans. Finallv, Vcrcelli in 1817 was nioile an archdiocese with Alessandria, Caxule. Vige- vano, and Novara an suffragans. At the present time Loinljardy is divided into nine dioc<'M.-s: Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Pavia. Cremona, Crema, Lodi, Mantua, under Milan as metropolitan. A noteworthv peculiar- ity in the liturgy is the special rite in use tliroughout all the Diocese of Milan with the exception of a few parishes, a rite that goes back to vcrj' primitive times, and known as the Ambrosian Itite (q. v.).

IliSTORT. — When the IjOngoliards arc first men- tioned by I^tin hi^florians they lire dcscrilx^d as the fiercest of the Ciemian barbarians 1 VcUeius Paterculus) while Tacitus praises them for theh intrepidity. It would seem their original name was Winniii, anjngiii.Nird Chroni- cle' that precedes the edict of Kiiip Rotari (630) save "origo gentis nostne Scaiidanan'. i. e., (he .Vortli. Their quarrels with the \'andals were of ancient date; afterwards they took possession of the lands of the Heruli when thesie tnbes jKiurrd into Italy under Odoocer. Empcmr Justinian ^iive them lands in Pannonia and Noricum on condition that they would