Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/512

480 Towards its western extremity this chain bifurcates to form the Montagnes Noires, to the south-west of the department, and the Montagnes d Ares in Finistere. The rivers of the Channel slope are the Ranee, Arguenon, Gouessan, Gouet, Trieux, Tre&amp;gt;uier, and Leguer, while the Blavet, Meu, Oust, and Aulne belong to the southern slope. Off the coast, which is steep, rocky, and much indented, are the Sept-lies, Bre&quot;hat, and other small islands. The principal bays are those of St Malo and St Brieuc. The rocks of the district are granite, porphyry, gneiss, schist, and allied rocks, and workable slate and marble. Many of the plains on both sides of the chain of hills are sandy and sterile, and much of the soil is stony. The more important products are hemp, flax, cereals, wax, honey, lead, and iron ; the chief industries are the rearing of horses, sheep, goats, and cattle ; sea-fishing ; the manufacture of sail-cloth, linen, spun-wool, sugar, and paper ; and smelting and forging. The depart ment is divided into the five arrondissements of St Brieuc, Dinan, Guingamp, Lannion, and Loude&quot;ac, which contain 48 cantons and 384 communes. The chief town is St Brieuc. Corseul, or Corseult, a small town of some 3000 inhabitants, six miles to the north-west of Dinan, is in teresting for the Roman remains discovered there, and for its preservation of the name of the ancient Celtic tribe of the Curiosolitoe. The total area of Cotes-du-Nord is 2658| square miles, and the population in 1872 was 622,295. Bas Breton is spoken in the arrondissements of Guingamp and Lannion, and in part of those of Loudeac and St Brieuc.  COTOPAXI, a volcano of the, in Ecuador, 35 miles S.S.E. of Quito, remarkable as the loftiest in the world. The earliest outbursts on record took place in 1532 and 1533 ; and since then the eruptions have been both numerous and destructive. Among the most important are those of 1744, 1746, 1766, 1768, and 1803. In 1744 the thunderinga of the volcano were heard at Honda on the Rio Magdalena, about 500 miles distant; in 1768 tha quantity of ashes ejected was so great that it covered all the lesser vegetation as far as Riobamba ; and in 1803 Humboldfe reports that at the port of Guayaquil, 160 miles from the crater, he heard the noise day and night like continued discharges of a battery. There were consi derable outbursts in 1850, 1854, 1356 and 1864; and the escape of steam and smoke still continues. The appear ance of the mountain is in the highest degree sublime, its summit presenting the aspect of a perfect cone, which stands out against the sky in bold relief and splendour of snow. In 1802 Humboldt made a vain attempt to sca^.e the cone, and pronounced the enterprize impossible ; and the failure of Boussingault in 1831, and the double failure of Wagner in 1858, seemed to confirm his opinion. In 1872, however, Dr Wilhelm Reiss succeeded on the 27th and 28th of November in reaching the top, and in the .May of ths following year the same feat was accomplished by Dr A. Stiibel. According to Dr Reiss the height of tlie north-west peak of Cotopaxi is 19,498 feet above the .evel of the sea, and that of tha south-west peak 19,429, while the snow-line on the western side is at a height of 15480 feet, and on the southern at 15,174.

1em  COTRONE, a town of Italy. See.  COTTA, a family intimately connected with the history of German literature.

was the founder of the illustrious Cotta publishing-house. At the time of the Reformation the family (originally of noble Italian blood) lived in Eisenach ; and we hear of them later as being settled in Dresden. Juhann Gcorg started business at Tubingen in 1G40

His son, (1701-1779), born March 12, 1701, devoted himself to theological study, and began his public career as lecturer in Jena University. He then travelled in Germany, France, and Holland, and, after a stay of several years in London, became professor at Tubingen in 1733. In 1736 he removed to the chair of theology in the university of Gottingen, which had been instituted as a seat of learning, two years before, by George II. of England, in his capacity as elector of Hanover. In 1739, however, he returned, as extraordinary professor of theology, to his Alma Mater, and, after succes sively filling the chairs of history, poetry, and oratory, was appointed ordinary professor of theology in 1741. Finally he died, as chancellor of the university, on the 31st of December 1779. His learning was at once wide and accu rate ; his theological views were orthodox, although he did not believe in strict verbal inspiration. He was a volu minous writer. His chief works are his edition of Johann Gerard s Loci Theologici, and the Kirchen Historic des Neuen Testaments.

The most famous member of the family was (1764- 1832), a grandson of the theologian, who was born at Stuttgart April 27, 1764. He attended the gymnasium of his native place, and originally meant to study theology, but became greatly interested in the science of war. In 1782 he entered, as a student of mathematics, in the uni versity of Tubingen, and on the recommendation of Profes sor Pfleiderer, was elected tutor of Prince Lubomirski in Warsaw. While engaged in tuition, he continued his own studies with great enthusiasm ; and, in his zeal for self-cul ture, he spent a considerable time in Paris, studying French and natural science, and mixing with distinguished literary men. After practising as an advocate in one of the higher courts, Cotta, in compliance with his father s earnest desire, undertook to conduct the publishing business at Tubingen, which, in the hands of subordinates, had very much declined. He started in December 1787, and laboured incessantly to acquire familiarity with all the details. The house connections rapidly extended; and, in 1793, the Allgemeine Zeitung, of which Schiller was to be editor, was planned. Schiller was compelled to withdraw on account of his health ; but his friendship with Cotta deepened every year, and was a great advantage to the poet and his family. Cotta awakened in Schiller so warm an attachment that, as Doering tells us, when a bookseller offered him a higher price than Cotta for the copyright of Wallenstein, the poet firmly declined it, replying, &quot; Cotta deals steadily with me, and I with him.&quot; In 1795 Schiller and Cotta founded the Horen, a periodical very important to the student of German literature. The poet intended, by means of this work, to infuse higher ideas into the com mon lives of men, by giving them a nobler human culture, and &quot; to reunite the divided political world under the banner of truth and beauty.&quot; The Horen brought Goethe and Schiller into most intimate relations with each other and with Cotta ; and Goethe, while regretting that he had already promised Wilhelm Meister to another publisher, contributed the Unterhaltung Deutsclier Aiisgeivanderten. the Roman Elegies, and a paper on Literary Sansculottism, Fichte sent essays from the first ; and tha other brilliant German authors of the time were also represented. In 1798 the Allgemeine Zeitung, which is still the leading daily paper in Germany, appeared at Tiibingen, being edited first by Posselt and then by Huber. It soon wielded a mighty influence, and must prove a valuable storehouse to the historian. In 1798 the editorial office was transferred to Stuttgart, and in 1803 to Augsburg. In 1799 Cotta entered on his political career, and was sent to Paris by the Wurtemburg states as their representative. 