THE RACIAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. 



293 



from Savoy by the narrow strip of the Rhone Valley. Much of 

 it is a plateau elevated above two thousand feet, rising into 

 mountains which touch three thousand feet in altitude. Its cli- 

 mate is unpropitious ; its soil is sterile ; impossible for the vine, 

 and in general even for wheat. Rye or barley alone can be here 

 successfully raised. At the present time this region is almost 

 entirely given over to grazing. It has vast possibilities for the 

 extractive arts ; but those meant nothing until the present cen- 

 tury. For all these reasons Auvergne presents a second degree 



Cephalic Index 

 France 



AND BeLCIVM 





87 and 88 



'roundheads 



After Collionon and tlouzE 



16650 OBSERVATIONS 



of isolation. It lacks all economic attractiveness; but it is not 

 rugged enough in general to be inaccessible or completely de- 

 fensible as is Savoy. 



Brittany, or Armorica, the third area of isolation, is perhaps 

 somewhat less unattractive economically than Auvergne. It is 

 certainly less rugged. Extending in as far as the cities of An- 

 glers and Alengon, it is saved from the extreme infertility of its 

 primitive rock formation by the moisture of its climate. Neither 

 volcanic, as are many parts of Auvergne, nor elevated seldom 

 rising above fourteen hundred feet it corresponds to our own 



