Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/669

Rh ALPS 631 been applied in a vague and inconsistent way. in point of fact, the south-eastern portion of the Alps, which includes both the groups above specified, presents three principal groups which are very closely connected together. The first of these the Carnic Alps, properly so called have been defined as including the region between the upper valley of the Drave and the plain of Friuli. But to the orographer the true head of the Drave valley is the Gail- thai, which extends in an almost straight and broad trench from near Innichen to Villach, while the main stream flows through a sinuous and contracted valley. For this reason we have taken the Gailthal as the boundary between the Central Tyrol and the Carnic Alps. Almost continuous with the Carnic Alps is a range, very similar in geological struc ture, which divides the Drave from the northern branch of the Save, and includes the mountains locally known as the Karawankas and the Sulzbacher Alps. Throughout these, which may be called the main range of the South-Eastern Alps, palaeozoic rocks, probably of carboniferous age, extend in a narrow band for a distance of fully 100 miles, giving place at the eastern extremity to the small granitic mass that forms the hills of the Bacher Gebirge near Marburg. On the south side of the main range of the Carnic Alps two mountain masses, mainly formed of triassic rocks and Dachstein limestone, attain a considerable height in the Monte Cavallo on the west, and the Monte Canin on the east side of Friuli. In a similar position as regards the Karawankas is a still loftier mass which is crowned by the Terglou the highest peak of the South-Eastern Alps. This group is referred by geographers to the Julian Alps, which are said to divide the Save and its tributaries from the Adriatic. As has been already said, there is no range to which the term Alps can properly be applied forming such a boundary. The plateau of the Karst, though rising here and there into hills of moderate height, has an average eleva tion of about 2000 feet above the sea, and cannot correctly be spoken of as a mountain chain. The orographer, if seeking an eastern prolongation to the Terglou group, would prefer the hilly region between the Save and the southern Gurk; but the low country through which the railway is carried from Marburg to Laybach, and the road thence to Gorizia, may for all practical purposes be taken as the south-eastern limit of the Alps and of the division here described. Chief Peaks of the South-Eastern Alps. Monte Paralba 9,097 Kellenvand about 9,500 Monte Cridola 8,474 Monte Fremaggiore 8,127 Monte Cavallo 7,377 Monte Crostis 7,384 Jof di Montasio about 9,000 Monte Canin (Prestreleniek) 8,711 Stou 7,326 Kosclmtta 6,895 , Chief Passes of the South-Eastern Alps. Kartischer Joch (Sillian to Tilliach), carriage road Passo di Mauria (Ampezzo to Pieve di Cadore), carriage road Piano di Sappada (San Stefanoto Forno Avoltri), car. road, about Giogo Veranis (Fomo Avoltri to Lorenzen), footpath Wolaver Jor.h (Forno Avoltri to Kotschach), footpath Monte Croce (Tolmezzo to Kotschach), bridle-path Nosfeld Pass (Pontebba to Hermagor), footpath about Baifnitz Pass (Pontebba to Tarvis), carriage road Predil Pass (Tarvis to Flitsch), carriage road Wnrzener Berg (Villach to Wurzen), carriage road Loibl Pass (Neumarktl to Unterbergen), carriage road Seeberg Pass (Krainhnrg to Kappel), carriage road St Leonhard Sattel (Kappel to Sulzbach), bridle-path Schkaria Pass (Sulzbach to Stein), footpath Worsehez Sattel (Flitsch to Kronau), footpath Kerma Pass (Moistrana to Feistritz), footpath Skarbinja Joch (Tolmino to Feistritz), footpath about Ovir ,001 Grintouz 8,386 Oistritza 7,701 Bacher Gebirge (Velka Kappa) 5,041 Mangart 8,776 Terglou 9,371 Krn 7,358 Kuk 6.829 5,363 4,191 4,100 7,521 6,563 4,337 5,000 2,682 3,822 3,497 4,445 3,976 4,666 6,1 98 5,254 6,332 6,000 iimate of It is well known that as we rise from the sea-level into ie Alps. f] 13 U pp er regions of the atmosphere the temperature decrease?. The effect of mountain chains on prevailing winds is to carry warm air belonging to the lower region, into an upper zone, where it expands in volume at the cost of a proportionate loss of heat, often accompanied by the precipitation of moisture in the form of snow or rain. The position of the Alps about the centre of the European continent has profoundly modified the climate of all the surrounding regions. The accumulation of vast masses of snow, which have gradually been converted into permanent glaciers, maintains a gradation of very different climates within the narrow space that intervenes between the foot of the mountains and their upper ridges ; it cools the breezes that are wafted to the plains on either side, but its most important function is to regulate the water supply of that large region which is traversed by the streams of the Alps. Nearly all the moisture that is precipitated during six or seven months is stored up in the form of snow, and gradually diffused in the course of the succeeding summer; and even: in the hottest and driest seasons the reserves accumulated during a long preceding period of years in the form of glaciers are available to maintain the regular flow of the greater streams. Nor is this all; the lakes that fill several of the main valleys on the southern side of the Alps are somewhat above the level of the plains of Lombarcly and Venetia, and afford an inexhaustible supply, which, from a remote period, has been used for that system of irrigation to which they owe their proverbial fertility. Six regions or zones, which are best distinguished by their characteristic vegetation, are found in the Alps. It has been a common error to suppose that these are indicated by absolute height above the sea-level. Local conditions of exposure to the sun, protection from cold winds, or the reverse, are of primary importance in determining the climate and the. corresponding vegetation. 1. Olive Region. The great plain of Upper Italy has a Zones c winter climate colder than that of the British Islands. The &quot;Vegeta olive and the characteristic shrubs of the northern coast* of the Mediterranean do not thrive in the open air, but the former valuable tree ripens its fruit in sheltered places at the foot of the mountains, and penetrates along the- deeper valleys and the shores of the Italian lakes. The evergreen oak is wild on the rocks about the lake of Garda; and lemons are cultivated on a large scale, with partial protection in winter. The olive has been known to survive, severe cold when of short duration, but it cannot be culti vated with success where frosts are prolonged, or where the mean winter temperature falls below 42 Fahr.; and to produce fruit it requires a heat of at least 75 Fahr. during the day, continued through four or five months of the summer and autumn. 2. Vine Region. The vine is far more tolerant of cold* than the olive, but to produce tolerable wine it demands, at the season of ripening, a degree of heat not much less than that needed by the more delicate tree. These con ditions are satisfied in the deeper valleys of the Alps, even- in the interior of the chain, and up to a considerable height on slopes exposed to the sun. The protection afforded by- winter snow enables the plant to resist severe and prolonged frosts, such as would be fatal in more exposed situations. Along with the vine, many wild plants characteristic of the warmer parts of middle Europe are seen to flourish. A mean summer temperature of at least G8 Fahr. is con sidered necessary to produce tolerable wine, but in ordinary seasons this is much exceeded in many of the great valleys of the Alps. 3. Mountain Region, or Region of Deciduous Trees. Many writers take the growth of corn as the characteristic- of this region; but so many varieties of all the common species are in cultivation, and these have such different climatal requirements, that they do not afford a satisfactory criterion. A more natural limit is afforded by the presence