Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/720

Rh 690 EUROPE Winds. West. Centi metres. Inches. East. Centi metres. Inches. Gahvay Skye 129-5 257 8 50-9 101-4 Dublin Aberdeen. 74-2 74-8 29-2 29-4 Penzance 105-4 42-6 London 62-4 24-5 Bergen 225-8 88-8 Christiania 537 21-1 Gothenburg. 827 32-4 Stockholm 40-1 157 Husum 74-8 29-4 Liibeck 57-0 22 4 The greatest maxima of rainfall are registered at Stye-Pass in the west of England, 189 49 inches or 481-2 centimetres, and at Seathwaite, 152-14 inches or 3867 centimetres. Next comes Glencroe in Argyllshire, with 128-60 inches or 326 4 centimetres. The Venetian and Lombard Alps furnish such maxima as Tolrnezzo 95 9 inches or 243 - 6 centimetres, and Sta Maria 97*7 inches or 248 3 centimetres ; and in general it may be said that the rainfall exceeds 40 inches or 100 centimetres along the whole line of the Alps from Chambery to the neighbourhood of Vienna in the east, and to the sea-coast in the south, down the central ridge of the Apennines to the latitude of Gaeta, along the line of the Balkans, in the Dalmatian, Montenegrine, and Albanian highlands, all round the north and west of Spain and Portugal from Cape Roca to the eastern end of the Pyrenees, in a large proportion of Ireland, Scotland, and Western England, and throughout nearly the whole of Norway. The plateaus are usually well watered, though their maxima are much below the maxima of the mountains; but the great Iberian plateaus are an exception to the rule. The rainfall of Salamanca is only 9 4 inches or 24 centimetres, and that of Albacete 10 3 inches or 26 3 centimetres a fact which is to be ascribed partly to the exhaustion of the rain-clouds by the mountains of. Galicia and Portugal, and partly to the treeless condition of the table-land itself. The average throughout Sweden and the greater part of Russia, in the Hungarian plain, the northern half of Bohemia, and the district of Germany from Halle to Dantzic, ranges from 40 to 55 centimetres or 15 7 to 21 6 inches. The lower part of the basin of the Dnieper, the whole of the basin of the Don, and the country watered by the middle division of the Volga receive no more than from 25 to 40 centimetres or 9 8 to 157 inches ; while the great Arab-Caspian depression, including about 100 miles of the Lower Volga, is an almost rainless region, 1 In western Europe by far the most prevalent wind is the S.W. or W.S.W. It represents 25 per cent, of the annual total ; while the N. is only 6 per cent., the N.E. 8, the E. 9, the S. 13, the W. 17, and the N.W. 11. Of the summer total it represents 22 per cent., while the N. is 9, N.E. 8, E. 7, S.E. 7, W. 21, and N.W. 17. In south eastern Europe, on the other hand, the prevailing winds are from the N. and E.- the E. having the preponderance in winter and autumn. 2 Of local winds the most remark able are the Fohn, in the Alps, distinguished for its warmth and dryness; the Rothenthurm wind of Transylvania, which has similar characteristics; the boro-of the Upper Adriatic, so noticeable for its violence ; the mistral of southern France; the Etesian winds of the Mediterranean; and the sirocco, which proves so destructive to the southern vege tation. Though it is only at comparatively rare intervals that the winds attain the development of a hurricane, the destruction of life and property which they occasion, both by sea and land, is in the aggregate of no small moment. About six or seven storms from the west pass over the every winter, usually appearing later in the continent l See Dr Otto Krummel s papers and map in Ztschr. fur Erdkunde zu -Ljsrlin, 18/8. fe-01 WeSSel VSki ^ quoted b 7 w Jeikof, Die A tmosphHrische Circula- southern districts, such as Switzerland or the Adriatic, than in the northern districts, as Scotland and Denmark. As instances of the exceptional strength which is sometimes displayed, it may be mentioned that in April 1800 men and cattle were actually lifted from the ground by the force of the storm, and in November of the same year about 200,000 trees were blown down in the Harz mountains alone. The snow-line is subject, as is well known, to great local SL variations. In the western and central Alps it lies about 8860 lit feet above the sea, and in the eastern Alps on an average about 330 feet higher. In exceptional instances, of course, the snow disappears at a much greater altitude, and even such summits as the Jungfrau (13,671 feet), the Strahlhorn (13,750), and the Chaberton are occasionally stripped com pletely bare. The whole range of the Pyrenees, where the line usually lies about 8950 feet on the north side and about 10,000 on the south, is sometimes in the same con dition. In Norway, towards the North Cape, the snow-line is 2360 feet, in the island of Seiland about 3200, on Sulitjelma about 3970, on Dovre 5540, on Jotune 4910, on Sululand 5300, and at Folgefouden 4800, a difference of from 400 to 1000 feet being observable between the eastern and western side of the peninsula, mainly due to the more abundant precipitation on the latter. On the western side of the Caucasus the mean elevation is 11,700 feet, on the eastern 14,100. There are no nevados in the Urals, though some of the summits exceed 5000 feet in altitude. The Alps and the Scandinavian mountains are the only ranges that possess a fully developed glacier system, but both the Pyrenees and the Caucasus have individual specimens of considerable extent. The most important of the Pyrenean group are the Maladetta, the Cabrioules, the Mont Perdu, the Breche de Roland, the Vignemale, and the N^ouville glaciers. The principal botanical regions of Europe have already B been indicated in the article DISTRIBUTION. According to Schouw s nomenclature, the Mediterranean countries belong to the region of Labiatae and Caryopbyllacese ; the countries of northern Europe, about as far as the neighbourhood of the Arctic circle, to the region of Umbelliferae and Cruciferse ; and the small remaining portion to the region of the Saxi frages and Mosses. The varying relief of the continent, and the consequent variety of climatic conditions, give rise to many infractions of this general rule, the most remark able being furnished by the Alps, which are high enough to have a large arctic area, and by the steppes of Russia, which, as is well known, also afford a peculiar environment. 3 The Arctic region, whether in the Alps or elsewhere,, is dis tinguished by the shortness of its period of vegetation and the smallnumber of its annual plants; the north-European region has a long period of vegetation and a regular winter rest ; the Mediterranean region has a long period of vernal growth, a protracted summer siesta, a short period of autumnal growth, and a winter rest varying greatly according to 1 jcality ; and the steppe region has a short period of ex uberant vernal growth, limited on the one hand by a severe winter, and on the other by a parching summer. The nearest approach to tropical conditions is made by the south of Spain. In the Vega of Murcia there IB no set time to sow and time to reap ; every month brings it fruit, and spring and autumn keep pleasant fellowship throughout the year. The ground is no sooner cleared of its crop than it is again under the plough, and within a few weeks it is green with another blade. 4 No exact statement can be given in regard to the number 3 Of. Grisebach, &quot;Die Vegetationsgebiete der Erde&quot; (with map), in. Petermanu s Mittheilungen, 1866. 4 Cf. Brehm, &quot; Zur Zoologischen Geographic Spauiens,&quot; in Ztschr. fur Erdkunde zu Berlin, 1858.