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Rh and the quantity of water which it brings down, is entitled to be considered the main stream. It has a course of 260 miles, and is navigable for 190. The Elbe itself has a course within the Austrian dominions of 185 miles, for about 65 of which it is navigable. It drains an area of upwards of 21,000 square miles. The Rhine, though scarcely to be reckoned a river of the country, flows for about 25 miles of its course between it and Switzerland. The principal river of Austria which falls into the Adriatic is the Adige. It rises in the mountains of Tyrol, flows south, then east, and afterwards south, into the plains of Lombardy. Its principal affluent is the Eisack. Of the streams which have their course entirely within the country, and which fall into the Adriatic, the principal is the Isonzo, 75 miles in length, but navigable only for a short distance from its mouth.

The lakes and marshes of Austria are very numerous, and some of them are of great extent. The lakes lie principally in the valleys among the Alps, and the marshes are frequent along the courses of the rivers. The largest lake of Austria is the Balaton, in Hungary, which is about 46 miles in length by 18 in breadth, and, including the swamps in connection with it, covers an area of 500 square miles. The Neusiedler, also in Hungary, is 18 miles in length, by from 4 to 7 in breadth, and covers an area of 106 square miles. Among the many smaller ones the principal are the Traunsee, Attersee, Worthersee, Mondsee, &c. No other European country equals Austria in the number and value of its mineral springs. No fewer than 1500 of these are reckoned, and they occur princi pally in Bohemia and Hungary. In the former are Karlsbad, Marienbad, Franzensbad, Teplitz, Piillna, and Seidlitz.

The climate of Austria, in consequence of its great extent, and the great differences in the elevation of its surface, is very various. It is usual to divide it into three distinct zones. The most southern extends to 46° N. lat., and includes Dalmatia and the country along the coast, together with the southern portions of Tyrol and Carinthia, Croatia, Slavonia, and the most southern part of Hungary. Here the seasons are mild and equable, the winters are short (snow seldom falling), and the summers last for .five months. The vine and maize are everywhere cultivated, as well as olives and other southern products. In the south of Dalmatia tropical plants flourish in the open air. The central zone lies between 46° and 49° N. lat., and includes Lower and Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Central and Northern Tyrol, Southern Moravia, a part of Bohemia, the main portion of Hungary, and Transylvania. The seasons are more marked here than in the preceding. The winters are longer and more severe, and the summers are hotter. The vine and maize are cultivated in favourable situations, and wheat and other kinds of grain are generally grown. The northern zone embraces the territory lying north of 49° N. lat., comprising Bohemia, Northern Moravia, Silesia, and Gali- cia. The winters are here long and cold; the vine and maize are no longer cultivated, the principal crops being wheat, barley, oats, rye, hemp, and flax. The mean annual temperature ranges from about 59° in the south to 48° in the north. In some parts of the country, however, it is as low as 46° 40' and even 36°. In Vienna the average annual temperature is 50°, the highest temperature being 94°, the lowest 2° Fahr. In general the eastern part of the country receives less rain than the western. In the south the rains prevail chiefly in spring and autumn, and in the north and central parts during summer. Storms are frequent in the region of the South Alps and along the coast. In some parts in the vicinity of the Alps the rain fall is excessive, sometimes exceeding 60 inches. It is

less among the Carpathians, where it usually varies from 30 to 40 inches. In other parts the rainfall usually averages from 20 to 24 inches, but in the plains of Hungary it is as low as 16.

From the varied character of its climate and soil the Flora, vegetable productions of Austria are very various. It has floras of the plains, the hills, and the mountains; an alpine flora, and an arctic flora; a flora of marshes, and a flora of steppes; floras peculiar to the clay, the chalk, the sand stone, and the slate formations. The number of different species is estimated at 12,000, of which one-third are phanerogamous, or flowering plants, and two-thirds cryptogamous, or flowerless. The crown-land of Lower Austria far surpasses in this respect the other divisions of the country, having about four-ninths of the whole, and not less than 1700 species of flowering plants. Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, and Galicia are the principal corn-growing regions of the country; and Tyrol, Salzburg, and Upper Styria are the principal pastoral regions.

The animal kingdom embraces, besides the usual domestic Animals. animals (as horses, cattle, sheep, swine, goats, asses, &c.), wild boars, deer, wild goats, hares, &c.; also bears, wolves, lynxes, foxes, wild cats, jackals, otters, beavers, polecats, martens, weasels, and the like. Eagles and hawks are common, and many kinds of singing birds. The rivers and lakes abound in different kinds of fish, which are also plentiful on the sea-coast. Among insects the bee and the silkworm are the most useful The leech forms an article of trade. In all there are 90 different species of mammals, 248 species of birds, 377 of fishes, and more than 13,000 of insects.

Austria comprises five countries, each bearing the name Divisions, of kingdom—viz., Hungary, Bohemia, Galicia, Illyria, and Dalmatia; one archduchy, Austria; one principality, Transylvania; one duchy, Styria; one margraviate, Mora via; and one county, Tyrol. These are now divided into provinces, which are called crown-lands, and of which at present there are 18, 14 being in Austria Proper, and 4 in Hungary. The following table gives the area and civil population of the different crown-lands in 1857 and at 31st December 1869. The first 14 crown-lands constitute Austria Proper, and the remaining 4 form the kingdom of Hungary. Görtz, Istria, and Trieste are also known as the Maritime District.

The civil population of Austria in 1818 amounted to 29,769,263, in 1830 it had increased to 34,082,469, in 1842 to 35,295,957, in 1857 to 37,339,012, and in 1869 to 35,634,858. Between the two last dates it had lost its Lombardo-Venetian territories, with more than 5,000,000 