Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/375

 ALPHEUS ALPS 351 (probably 500 B. 0.), in part those of the re- cently discovered Moabite inscription of King Mesha (earlier than 800 B. 0.) ; the prefixed names have their Hebrew version, and their correspondence with the Greek is apparent at a glance. The second column gives the forms of the letters as first employed by the Greeks, when writing from right to left. In the third are seen the Greek letters as finally adopted, being made to face in the other direction and somewhat further modified in form. The fourth column is that of the Latin letters ; here some of the earlier forms are added to those with which we are familiar, for the purpose of illus- trating the transition more fully. 1. aleph 2. beth 3. gimel 4. daleth 5. he 6. vav 7. zayin 8. cheth 9- teth 10. yod 12. lamed I 4 - nun ............ *7 15. samech ........ t 16. ain ............ o IT. pe ............ i 18. tsade 19. qoph 20 - 11 A g

u, H / wj M Q n B T A E H

, K A A BFJ D  D E F Z H K L. L vv O w n P Z O r P Q Q. fr R 22. tav -fT ALPHEUS, the ancient name of the Euphia, a river of Peloponnesus, which rises in southern Arcadia, and, flowing through Elis and the Olympian plain, discharges itself into the Ionian sea. The Alpheus, at a little distance from its source, twice disappears under ground, which gave rise to the myth of the god of the river, and the nymph Arethusa, whom Diana essayed to save from his embraces by transforming her into a fountain, and placing her in the Ortygian isle, near Sicily. The god made a passage for his river beneath the intervening sea, and com- mingled its waters with those of the fountain in Ortygia. ALPINE, an E. county of California, bounded N". E. by Nevada; area, 1,000 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 685. The western portion is occupied by the Sierra Nevada range, including Carson's pass and Pyramid peak. It is rich in silver. In 1870 there were 57,165 sheep, producing 281,700 Ibs. of wool. The other productions were small. There were 3 quartz mills, 8 saw mills, and 2 newspapers. Capital, Silver Mountain. ALPS, the highest and most remarkable chain of mountains in Europe, forming the watershed between the rivers which discharge their waters into the Mediterranean, and those which run to the Atlantic ocean, the North sea, and the Black sea. The Alps have a general crescent-like form, and extend through fourteen degrees of longitude and five of latitude. From the prin- cipal chains spurs extend to the Apennines, the Pyrenees, the Vosges, the Hartz, the Sudetes, the Carpathians, and the Balkan. The average height of the different ranges is about 7,700 ft., from which altitude more than 400 peaks rise into the region of perpetual snow. The prin- cipal subdivisions of the Alps are the following : I. The Maritime Alps, consisting of two por- tions, of which the first, distinguished as Ligu- rian Alps, extends in a semicircle from the S. W. extremity of the Alpine chain to the Col de Lauzania in Piedmont, and forms the line of separation between that province and the French department of Alpes-Maritimes (the former circle of Nice) ; the second, distinguish- ed as the Upper Maritime Alps, terminates on the W. frontier of Piedmont in the lofty peak of Monte Viso. The principal altitudes of the Mari- time Alps are : peak to the W. of the village of Mauricio, 13,107 ft.; Monte Viso, 12,582 ft; Monte Pelvo, 9,958 ft. ; Col de Maurin, 9,784ft. II. The Cottian Alps, extending, in a triangular form, from Monte Viso to Mont Cenis, having Piedmont on one side, Savoy on another, and the department of Hautes-Alpes in France on the third. They give rise to the Durance, the Po, and several smaller streams. The principal summits are : Mont Olan, 13,831 ft. ; Mont Pel- voux, 13,440; Mont Galeon, 12,467; Mont Genevre, 11,785. III. The Graian Alps, the Gray Alps of the German geographers, extend- ing from Mont Cenis to the Col du Bonhomme, between Savoy on the W. and Piedmont on the E., giving rise to several tributaries of the Po and the Kh6ne. The most elevated summits in this chain are : Mont Is6ran, 13,274 ft. ; Ai- guille de la Sassi^re, 12,346; Rocca Melone, 11,569 ; Mont Cenis, 11,457. IV. The Pennine Alps, extending from the Col du Bonhomme to Monte Rosa, between upper Savoy and the Swiss canton of Valais on one side, and Pied- mont on the other. This chain includes the three loftiest mountains in Europe, as well as several other peaks of considerable eleva- tion, namely: Mont Blanc, 15,732 ft.; Monte