Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/140

Rh 128 P Y R P Y R Pyrenees (from 8000 to 10,000 feet), and on the south-east that of the Alberes (from 4000 to 5000 feet), which end in the sea at Cape Cerbera. Deep and sheltered bays in this vicinity are succeeded farther north by flat sandy beaches, along which lie lagoons separated from the sea by belts of sand. The lagoon of St Nazaire is 5400 acres in extent, and that of 'Leucate on the borders of Aude is 20,000 acres. Mont Canigou (9137 feet), though not the highest mountain in the department, is the most remarkable, since it stands out to almost its full height above the plain, and exhibits with great distinctness the succession of zones of vegetation. From the base to a height of 1400 feet are found the orange, the aloe, the oleander, the pomegranate, and the olive ; the vine grows to the height of 1 800 feet ; next come the chestnut (2625 feet), the rhododendron (from 4330 to 8330 feet), pine (6400), and birch (6560) ; while stunted junipers grow quite to the summit. The drainage of the department is shared by the Tet, Tech, and Agly, which flow direct into the Mediterranean. The Aude, the Ariege (an affluent of the Garonne), and the Segre (an afflu- ent of the Ebro) also take their rise within the department and include a small part of it in their respective basins. The Tet rises 9430 feet above the sea and descends rapidly into a very narrow valley before it debouches at Ille (between Prades and Perpignan) upon a large plain, where it flows over a wide pebbly bed and supplies numerous canals for irrigation. It is nowhere navigable, and its supply of water varies much with the seasons, all the more that it is not fed by any glacier. The Agly, which passes Puvesaltes (famous for its wines), rises in the Corbieres, and serves almost exclusively for irrigation, though admit- ting of navigation in the lower part of its course. The Tech, which after the Tet is the most important river of the department, flows through Vallespir ( Vallis (upera), which, notwithstanding its name, is a green valley, clothed with wood and alive with industry; in its course the river passes Prats de Mollo and Amelie-les-Bains, before reaching Aries and Ce"ret. In the lowlands the climate is entirely that of the Mediterranean, and the productions are the same as those of Corsica or Sicily ; Ame"lie-les- Bains is much frequented on account of its mild climate and sheltered position. The thermometer ranges from 85 to 95 Fahr. in summer, and in winter only occasionally falls as low as 26 or 27. The average number of rainy days in the year is 70 ; the mean amount of the rainfall is 27 inches on the coast, but increases towards the hills. The most common wind is the " tramontane " from north- north-west, as violent as the mistral of Provence and extremely parching. The " marinada " blows from the south-south-east. Of a total area of 1,018,632 acres 211,960 are arable, 172,980 under vines, 167,740 under wood, 193,367 pasture-land, 27,305 meadow-land, and 148,270 barren moors (garrigues). In 1881 the live stock numbered 7287 horses, 6261 asses, 4373 mules, 17,768 horned cattle, 121,016 sheep (125 tons of wool in 1878), 12,864 goats, 23, 838 pigs, and fowls and game in abundance ; there were also 6163 beehives, yielding 24 tons of wax and 19 tons of honey known as "miel de Narbonne." Thirty tons of cocoons (silk) were produced in the same year. The main source of wealth to the de- partment is its wine, of which 48,840,000 gallons were produced in 1881 ; some kinds are strongly alcoholic and others are in request as liqueur wines (Rivesaltes, Banyuls). The harvest of 1881 yielded 26,551 quarters of wheat, 3793 of meslin, 37,930 of rye, 6896 of barley, 3448 of buckwheat, 34,480 of oats, 55, 172 of maize, 1,655,168 bushels of potatoes, 67,448 of dried vegetables, 22,640 of chestnuts, 110,336 of beetroot, 39 tons of hemp, 39 of flax, and 23,000 of olives. Market-gardening (artichoke, asparagus, tomatoes, melons) and fruit culture (peaches, apricots, plums, pears, quinces, pomegran- ates, almonds, apples, cherries, walnuts, chestnuts) yield abundant returns. The woods produce timber for the cabinetmaker, cork, and bark for tanning. In iron Pyrenees-Orientales is one of the richest departments in France. The greater part of the ore is transported to Aveyron, Card, or AllierT but 25,000 tons are smelted in blast-furnaces and 1800 in Catalonian forges within the depart- ment. In 1881 12,100 tons of pig-iron were produced. The mineral resources of the department also include a bed of bismuth and mines of copper and stiver, while both the Tet and the Tech are to some extent auriferous. A small amount of lignite is ob- tained (1639 tons), and various fine marbles are abundant. Granite, slate, gypsum, and limestone are quarried. The mineral waters are much resorted to. Amelie-les-Bains has twelve hot springs, chalybeate or sulphurous. In the arrondissement of Ceret there are also the establishments of La-Preste-les-Bains, near Prats de Mollo, with hot sulphurous springs, and of Boulou, the Vichy of the Pyrenees. Near Prades are the hot sulphurous springs of Molitz, and a little north of Mont Canigou are the hot springs of Vernet, containing sodium and sulphur. In the valley of the Tet the sulphuros and alkaline springs of Olette reach a temperature of 172 Fahr. The baths of Escaldas near Montlouis are hot, sulphurous, and alkaline. There are numerous tanneries, oil- works, distilleries, and saw-mills, and the manufactures of the department include the making of corks, cigarette-paper, barrels, bricks, woollen and other cloths, and " espadrilles " (a land of shoe made of coarse cloth with esparto soles). The ports of the department are Collioure, Port Vendres, and Banyuls, with 371 vessels and a total tonnage of 3638 in 1882. Port Vendres alone has any importance ; in 1882 the ships entered numbered 380 (104,572 tons), those which cleared 368 (95,931 tons). There are 67 miles of railway, consisting of a portion of the line from Narbonne to Barcelona (Spain) by Per- pignan, with its branches from Perpignan to Prades ; there are 208 miles of Government roads and 2107 miles of other roads. The chief routes across the Pyrenees are from Perpignan and Montlouis to Puycerda (Puigcerda) in the Spanish province of Gerona, through the pass of La Perche, skirting in the French department an enclave of Spanish territory. Three other roads run from Perpignan to Figueiras (Figueras) through the passes of Perthus, Banyuls, and Balistres. In 1881 the population of Pyrenees - Orientales amounted to 208,855, the majority of whom were Catalans in speech and the rest Provengal. The chief towns of the three arrondissements are PERPIGNAN (q.v.), Ceret (3104 inhabitants), and Prades (3687) ; there are 17 cantons and 231 communes. The department constitutes the diocese of Perpignan and is attached to the superior court and army corps of Montpellier. (G. ME.) PYRITES (from -n-vp, fire), a name applied to the native bisulphide of iron, which occurs as a yellow metallic mineral, sufficiently hard to emit sparks when struck with either flint or steel. Nodules of pyrites are common in the lower beds of Chalk, and fragments of these nodules have occasionally been found on prehistoric sites under circumstances which suggest that the mineral was used as a fire-producing medium at a very early period of human culture. Even in late historic time it was often employed instead of flint, as in some of the old wheel-lock guns, whence it came to be known in France as "pierre d'arque- buse." It was afterwards found that pyrites might be made available as a source of sulphur, oil of vitriol, and other chemical products ; and the mineral thus acquired such importance that in 1725 it was made the subject of a special treatise by Dr J. F. Henckel, of Freiberg in Saxony. In 1757 an English translation of this work appeared under the title of Pyritologia ; or a History of the Pyrites, the Principal Body in the Mineral Kingdom. By modern mineralogists the term " pyrites " has been extended to a number of metallic sulphides, and it is there- fore now used rather as a group-name than as the specific designation of a mineral. Hence the typical pyrites is often distinguished as " iron pyrites," while other members of the group are known as "copper pyrites," "cobalt pyrites," "arsenical pyrites," &c. When, however, the term " pyrites " is used without any qualifying prefix it invariably denotes the original iron pyrites, a mineral which is often known to miners as "mundic," and to mineralogists as "pyrite," the final letter of the original word being omitted to bring the spelling into harmony with that of the names of many other minerals. Iron pyrites, though containing nearly half its weight of iron, is of no importance as an ore of that metal ; but the mineral is extensively worked for the sake of the sulphur which it contains, whence it is sometimes known as "sulphur ore." Large quantities of this ore have been worked in the vale of Avoca, in county Wicklow, Ireland. But by far the