Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/714

Rh EUROPE the Himalayas, is 29,000 feet high, and Chimborazo and Aconcagua, in the Andes, are respectively 20,677 and 23,910. The whole continent is formed on a small scale of relief, though this scale is not so small as has usually been stated on the authority of Humboldt. The mean elevation of Asia, according to his calculations, was 351 metres (1151 E. ft.); of South America, 344 metres (1128 E. ft.); of North America, 227 metres (744 E. ft.) ; and of Europe only 204 metres (669 E. ft.) In 1874 Dr Gustav Leipoldt published the results of a new calculation, which, being carefully conducted and based on a much more extensive collection of data, must replace the estimates of Humboldt. The following is a table of his principal findings, giving an average of 296 &quot;833 metres, or 9737 English feet : Leipoldt s Table of Mean Elevation. Metres. English Feet. Switzerland 1299-91 4264-74 Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) Balkan Peninsula (Turkey and Greece) Austria 700-60 579-50 517-87 2298-52 1901-21 1699-02 Apennine Peninsula (Italy) 517-17 1696-73 Scandinavia 428-10 1404-51 France 393-84 1292-11 lloumania .... 282-28 926-19 Great Britain. .. 217-70 714-22 German Empire 213-66 700-97 Russia 167-09 548-18 Belgium .... 163 36 535-95 Denmark 35-20 115 48 Netherlands, excluding Luxembourg ) and parts below sea-level.. .. 9-61 31-52 If the materials which are employed in producing the relief of the various countries were equally distributed over the surface of the continent, their respective contribu tions would arrange them in the following order : Metres. English Feet. Russia would raise the continent . The Iberian Peninsula... 90-46 43 24 296-7 142&quot;0 Scandinavia 33 9 2 108 &quot;9 Austria 32 87 107 8 The Peninsula of the Balkan France 26-68 21-19 87-5 69 &quot;5 The Peninsula of the Apennines . The German Empire 15-62 11 91 51-2 39 &quot;0 Great Britain 7 -05 23&quot;! Switzerland 5 40 17-7 Denmark and Iceland 5-11 16-7 Roumania 3 - 48 11 &quot;4 Belgium - 49 1 6 Netherlands 0-19 &quot;6 Total 296 &quot;83 079-7 It is noticeable that Russia stands first on the list on account of its immense area, in spite of the fact that its mean elevation is less than that of nearly every other country. The central ridge of Europe is formed by a complex of from thirty to fifty distinct massifs, which from time immemorial have borne the name of the Alps, or, if the usual etymology be correct, the White Mountains. They are closely grouped together over an area of about 74,000 or 75,000 square miles, extending from 5 to 16 E. long., and curving round from the Gulf of Lyons to the neighbour hood of Vienna. According to Dr Leipoldt, if the material of which they are composed were equally distributed over the surface of the continent it would raise the level 2 7 -2 3 metres, or 89 English feet. Mount St Gotthard, situated in 8 36 E. long., is usually considered as the central massif ; but instead of being, as was long supposed, the highest part of the system, and consequently of the European continent, it is really overtopped by a large number of the other groups. The honour of being the loftiest summit is now, as already stated, assigned to Mont Blanc, which, in its terminal peak, named Dufour Spitz, in memory of the great surveyor of Switzerland, reaches a height of 15,781 feet. In general the mountains of the western parts of the range are loftier and more closely ranked, while those towards the east not only diminish in height but spread out over a wider area ; and on the whole the southern sides are steeper than the northern. Full details of the intricate divisions of the Alps are given in a separate article. As the birth-place of its mightiest rivers, the natural barrier between its mightiest peoples, a prime factor in the distribution of its climates, and in modern times the noblest of all international &quot; play grounds,&quot; the Alps act a part of multiform munificence in the economy of the continent. With the exception of the Pyrenees and its dependencies, all the mountains of southern and central Europe may be regarded as secondary portions of the general Alpine system. If it were possible with more than human reach of sight to take an outlook northwards from some commanding peak on the northern skirts of the great chain, the whole country for two hundred miles and more would appear occupied by irregular lines and groupings of mountains and hills ris ing from a kind of table-land, and intersected by the deep- cut valleys of the larger rivers. Towards the north-west the most conspicuous heights are those of the Jura proper, which runs parallel with the Alps, and is only separated from them by the valleys of the Rhone and the Aar, the latter a main tributary of the Rhine. The German Jura trends north-east, the Black Forest north from the eastern extremity of the Jura proper, and fronting the Black Forest on the other side of the Rhine lie the Vosges. Further north the Rhine valley is defined on the west by the Hardt, the Hochwalcl, the Eifel, and the Ardennes ; and on the east by the Odenwald, the Westerwald, and the Taunus. North of the German Jura lie the Franconian heights, which are separated by the valley of the Main from the Spessart, the Rhon, and the Thuringerwald. From the Thuringerwald south-east run the successive clusters of the Frankenwald and the Fichtelgebirge ; arid from this last massif eastward extends the Erzgebirge as far as the valley of the Elbe, and south-eastwards the Bb hmerwald, along the valley of the Danube. Beyond the Elbe, and forming the eastern rim of the upper basin, are the Riesengebirge and the so-called Sudetic chain, which, by its southern extremity, approaches the Carpathian mountains ; and these again, in company with the Transylvanian mountains, curve south and enclose the great Hungarian plain. The Balkan to the south of the Danube is practically on the one hand a continuation of the Transylvanian range, and on the other it is connected by the mountains of Carinthia, Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Servia with the eastern extremity of the Alps. The Apennines are still more closely connected with the western extremity, and the mountains of Auvergne and the Cevennes in France may also be regarded as outliers of the system. Several of the ranges, however, are sufficiently distinct in position and general characteristics to be treated apart. The Apennines form an uninterrupted chain extending south to the Straits of Messina. Their mean hbight varies from 2600 feet in one part to 6400 in another; and among the loftiest peaks are Monte Cimone, 7060; Alpe di Cam- poraghena, 6537 ; Monte Sibilla, 7188 ; Gransasso, 9493 ; La Majella, 9314 ; Monte Pollino, 7441 ; and Aspromonte, 6375. The Carpathians are about 520 miles long, and attain their greatest elevation in Butschetie, which has an altitude of 9528 feet. The declivities of the range are steepest on the southern side. The Balkans, or Hsemus, run 400 miles east and west to the south of the Danube valley,