Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/660

Rh 622 ALPS use oi the Alpine passes, applied to each of them the term Mans. The samo names, more or less modified in the middle ages, have been preserved in the dialects of Latin origin that prevail throughout the western half of the Alpine chain, and the modern name for the chief passes are still Mont Gencvre, Mont Cenis, Mont Iseran, Petit Mont St Bernard, Grand Mont St Bernard, Monte Moro, and Monte San Gottardo. In more recent times, since geographers have attempted to fix the names and positions of the chief summits of the Alps, they have been con tinually misled by the supposition that a name of high antiquity designating a mountain must belong to some prominent peak. The errors arising from that source have not yet disappeared from geographical works of high repute, but in point of fact each of the names above enumerated belongs solely to the pass, and there is no neighbouring peak entitled to the same designation. The more important passes of the Alps are enumerated in the following description of the chief groups of the Alps ; but it may be here remarked that the direction of the main routes for traffic is not exclusively determined by the position of the lowest and easiest passes over the main chain. The configuration of the mountains is such that a traveller proceeding from Italy to France, Switzerland, or Germany, after crossing a comparatively easy pass over the main chain, may find it necessary to traverse a second and loftier pass over a lateral chain, or else follow a circuitous route that may double the length of his journey. Thus a traveller going from Turin to Lyons, who should take what appears to be the direct course over the pass of Mont Genevre, the easiest in the whole range of the western Alps, will find on descending to Briancon that he must cross the much higher and more difficult pass of the Col de Lautaret, or else descend along the Durance till it emerges into the lower country near Gap, and thus more than double the length of his journey. Including the Semmering Pass, there are now not less than 60 Alpine passes that are traversed by carriage roads j and besides three lines of railway now open for traffic, several others are in course of construction. ncieut From the time of Julius Ccesar downwards, the Romans, in the visions of prosecution of their policy of universal dominion, or for the purpose e Alps. of maintaining communication with their military colonies, had become acquainted with all the easiest and most serviceable passes of the Alps, and were thus naturally led to attach names to the chief groups. As their acquaintance with the entire region was very incomplete, the exact boundaries of these groups were imper fectly understood, and the denominations adopted by them were never accurately defined. As might have been expected, the divisions thus roughly established had reference rather to the aspect of the mountains as presented to one travelling from Italy towards the north or west, than to a general view of the physical conforma tion of the entire region. Hence the ancient divisions are essentially defective, as taking no note of some important groups, or including under a single designation groups entirely distinct. Notwith standing these defects, the ancient divisions have been adhered to by all but a few modern geographers, and it is therefore desirable to record them separately. 1. Maritime Alps (Alpes Maritime). These included the portion of the main chain dividing south-western Piedmont from the coast of the Mediterranean, and extending northward to the neighbour hood of the conspicuous peak of Monte Yiso. 2. Cottian Alps (Alpes Cottiae or Cottianae) included the portion of the main chain dividing Piedmont from Dauphine and Savoy, and extending from Monte Viso to the neighbourhood of the Mont Cenis. The name appears to be derived from Cottius, the king or chief of a powerful tribe who ruled the greater part of this region when the paramount authority of Augustus was established in Cisalpine Gaul. 3. Graian Alps (Alpes Graine). Under tins designation was known the great group of mountains between Turin and the upper Val d Aostu, and the portion of the main chain lying^ between the Mont Cenis and the Little St Bernard. Pliny and other Latin writers derive the name from the legendary passage of a body of Greeks led by Hercules through this region ; but the true derivation is probably from some lost Celtic appellation. 4. Pennine Alps (Alpes Feunince) -was the name applied to the great range including Moiit Blanc and Monte Rosa, which, from the time of Julius C resar, if not earlier, was recognised as the highest portion of the entire chain. The word Pen or Ben is still in use in the living dialects of the Celtic stock as a common designation foi a conspicuous mountain, and was certainly in use in the speech of this part of Cisalpine Gaul, where many other Celtic terms aro preserved in tho local names. The Roman designation Jupiter Pcnninus was undoubtedly taken from the Celtic root, but the asserted use of the name Pen for a divinity by the native tribes is not established by valid evidence. 5. Lcpontine Alps (Alpes Lepontinae). It would appear that this denomination was originally restricted to the parts of the main chain lying on either side of the pass of St Gotthard, including the sources of the river Ticino, with those of its tributaries, of which the most important is the Tosa or Toccia, draining the ran^e between the neighbourhood of the Simplon Pass and that of the Gries. The name is derived from the Lepontii, a tribe of doubtful eztraction (Rhaetian, according to Strabo) who inhabited the main valley of the Tessin or Ticino, the upper part of which is still called Val Leventina. The eastern limit of this group was usually fixed at the pass of San Bernardino. 6. Rhcctian Alps (Alpes Rhseticse) derived their name from the Rhoeti, a powerful tribe or nation holding a large tract of territorv whieh appears to have extended from the sources of the Rhine and the Ticino on the west, to those of the Adige and the Salza on the east. The area included under this vague heading is at least equal in area to that of the five divisions hitherto enumerated. 7. Noric Alps (Alpes Noricoe). Under this name the entire region lying north of the Drave, and extending thence to the valley of the Danube on the north and the plains of Hungary on the cast, was included. 8. Carnie Alps (Alpes Camicie). This name was given to the mountain tract lying between the upper Drave and the low country of Friuli. By some writers it has been limited to the ranges that feed the Tagliamento (Tilaventus) and its tributaries ; by others the range seems to have been held to extend from the sources of the Piave to those of the Save. The name Carnia is still in use in Friuli, but is strictly limited to the basin of the Tagliameuto. 7. Julian Alps (Alpes Julia;). This designation has been still more vaguely used by ancient an-l modern geographers than anv ct&quot; the preceding. The lofty group &amp;lt;.f peaks crowned by the Terglou, and lying between the head water.; of the Isonzo and those of the Save, undoubtedly forms the chief nucleus of the group distinguished by this name ; but it also appears to have inuluded the ranges of eastern Friuli, which province, aj well as the Alps in question, took its name from the Roman Forum Julii, now known as Cividale. By others, and even by contemporary Italian writers, the term Julian Alps is made to extend southward through the district of Karst between Camiola and the shores of the Adriatic, and thence through Croatia to the frontiers of Bosnia. A great part of this district is an undulating plateau, in part not attaining to 2000 fi-et above the sea-level, to which by no stretch of language can the term Alps be properly applied. In addition to the groups above mentioned sonre writers have enume rated the Dinaric A Ips (Alpes Dinaricse), and include under that term the mountain range extending along the western frontier of Bosnia. This is a portion of the extensive mountain system of European. Turkey, which in one direction in eludes the Balkan, and in another is continued through Albania into Greece. The Romans probably applied to these the designation Alps as some of their later writers did to the Pyrenees and the mountains of southern Spain ; but it can merely cause confusion to speak of them as a portion of the great system to which the name Alps specially applies. , For the reasons already mentioned it is impossible to regard the ancient groups above enumerated as affording a satisfactory division of the region under consideration ; but so far as they can be made to correspond with the divisions suggested by a more exact knowledge of its physical configuration, it seems desirable to retain the established nomenclature. Actual observation of the Alpine region through the greater part of its extent, or even the careful study of accurate models, must convince any one who seeks to divide it into groups that it is not possible to do this by adhering rigidly to any single test or rule. In a general way, it is natural and desirable to include under the same name mountain masses that are not divided by a broad nd deep opening; but it is sometimes more convenient to include in one group disjoined masses that have some natural connexion with each other, rather than multiply groups to an inconvenient extent. In some cases the geological structure may supply a rational ground for pre ferring one arrangement to another, when the choice would otherwise be arbitrary; and in a few cases it may be well to yield something to ancient usage, based upon political Modern division the Alps into groups.