12C 



ALI'IM - M.I'S 



d tables which go under his name. I'n- 

 dcr is patronage, the fir-t general history of Spain 

 was coni|>osed, in (lie Caslilian tongue, am! the 



Bible translated. He cootributod much to the re- 

 vival of science, and, with this view, strove to in- 

 crease the privileges and the professorships of the 

 university of Salamanca ; but without firmness and 

 prudence, learning is useless to a ruler. 



Ai.ri.M, Pro-pcro, .in eminent physician and na- 

 turalist, was a native of the Venetian republic, and 

 IHH-II in 1553. He studied medicine at the university 

 of Padua, and afterwards accompanied the Venetian 

 c<ui-nl to Kgypt, where a residence of three years 

 enabled him to extend Ins knowledge of plants, and 

 of vegetable economy. From observations lie made 

 on the management of date palm-trees in that coun- 

 try, it appears that lie deduced the doctrine of the 

 sexual di Hi re nee of plants, which was assumed as 

 the foundation of the Limuean system. He return- 

 ed to Venice in 1586, practised at Genoa, and 

 eventually filled the botanical chair in Padua, where 

 lie died in 1617, leaving various works on medicine 

 in general, on the practice of medicine among the 

 Egyptians, on the Plants of Egypt, on Exotic 

 Plants, &c. 



ALPS ; the highest ridge of mountains in Europe, 

 lying between 5 and 17" E. Ion., and 45 and 48 

 N. lot. ; consequently extending through 11 12 

 of Ion., and 2 4 laL, or 120,000 square miles. 

 Their branches connect them with almost all the 

 other mountain- of Europe. The highest points are 

 in Savoy and Switzerland, and thence branches di- 

 vir<;e in all directions. The Alps are commonly 

 divided into High, Middle, and Low Alps. The first 

 ri-e from 8000 to 15,000 feet alme the level of the 

 sea, and are covered with perpetual ice and snow. 

 Lord Byron has beautifully characterized them, as 



" The palaces of nature, whose vast walls 

 Have pinnacled in clouds their snowy scalps, 

 And throned Ktrmity in icy halls 

 Of cold sublimity, where forms and falls 

 The avalanche the thunderbolt of snow I 

 All that expands the spirit, yet appals, 

 Gather around these summits, as to show 

 How earth may pierce to Leaven, yet leave vaiu man 

 below !" 



The Middle Alps tegki at about 5500 feet above 

 the sea, and rise to the line of perpetual congelation. 

 The Lower Alps commence with an elevation of 

 about 2000 feet, and extend to the Middle Alps. 

 The more scientific division of the Alps are the 

 following: 1. The Maritime Alps, between Nice 

 and Provence, extending from mount Viso to 

 the Mediterranean, and connecting the Apennines, 

 in Italy, with the Alps, in Provence. Their princi- 

 pal summits are the mount Ardente, di Tenda and 

 Camelon. 2. The Cottian Alps, from mount Viso, 

 by mount Genevre, to mount Cenis. They separate 

 Piedmont and Dauphini*. The Pelvoiix de Val- 

 Louise is 13,836 feet high, theOlan, 11,206, and the 

 Viso, 13,820 feet 3. The Grey orGrecian Alps, from 

 mount Cenis to the Col de bon Homme, traversing 

 the department of Jsere. They separate Piedmont 

 from Savoy, but do not equal the height of the Cot- 

 tian Alps. Their highest summit, mount Cenis, is 

 11,460 feet high. 4. The Pennine Alps, from Col 

 de bon Homme, by mount Blanc and the Great St 

 Bernard, to mount Rosa. They separate Piedmont 

 from Savoy and the Valais, and contain the highest 

 summits and most dreadful glaciers of the whole 

 ridge. Mount Blanc, the highest mountain of 

 Europe, which was first ascended in the last part of 

 the 18th century, rises 2,468 French toises, or 

 15,814 English feet ; mount Rosa, 15,205 English | 



feet; mount Velan, the highest point of the Great Si 

 Kernanl, I I, ;>-.'; ; and the pass of the Simplon, 6,5?; 

 feet. 5. The Leponline or I lelvetiau Alps, which 

 co\er Western Switzerland, extending from mount 

 Ko-a, ou both sides of the Rhone, through tlm 

 Valais, by St Cnthard, to the Mii-clielhorn and 

 Bernardino in the (iri-ous, and dividing Lombard? 

 from Switzerland. It is the mo-t visited of all the 

 chains of the Alps, and i- remarkable tor its sublime 

 scenery, and a- giving rise to several of the large-t 

 rivers of Europe. Its most elevatid summits are 

 the Finsleraarhoni, 14,116; the .Mmgfraii, i:5,7:><); 

 Uie Schreckhorn, 13,401; the Fnrka, ll,ui<); the 

 Grimsel, 9,704; and the St. t.oihard, !),!Ki4 feet 

 high. The I urten mountain and the Jura run out 

 from this chain. (i. The Kha-tian Alps, from ller- 

 nardino, through the Grisons and Tyrol, to the 

 Dreiherrnspitz, on the border- of Sail/burg and ( 'a- 

 rinthia, and southwards to the Pcllegrino. They se- 

 parate Lomlwrdy from Germany and the Gri-on-, 

 and are connected, by means of the Arlbcrg, with 

 the Rauhe-Alb or Suabian Alps, and through them 

 with the principal mountains of Germany. The 

 Orteles rises 12,859 feet; the Wetterhorn, 12,470; 

 the Dcedi, 11,818; the Riegleberg, 9,775 ; and the 

 Pilates, 7,496 feet. 7. The Noric Alps, which run 

 from the Dreiherrnspitz, through all Carinthia, 

 Saltzbnrg, Austria, and Styria, and lose themselves 

 in the plains of fEdenburg. The Cetian mountain^ 

 unite them with the Bohemian forest and the Hun- 

 garian mountains. They have very high summit-, 

 above which projects the Great Glockner, 12,982 

 feet high. 8. The Carnic Alps, from Pellegrini), 

 between the Save and the Prave, to the Terglon. 

 One of their highest peaks, the Obis, is 7,038 feet 

 high 9. The Julian Alps reach from the Terglon. 

 between the right bank of the Save, the Kulpa, and 

 the Adriatic, to the rock called Klcck, near Segna. 

 and separate Lomlxmly from lllyria. The Terglon 

 rises to the height of 9,906 feet; the Loibl, 4,2(ir>. 

 To these belong the Karst, the Croatian, and Scla- 

 vonian mountains. 10. The Dinarian Alps, from 

 the Kleck to the vicinity of Sophia, where they 

 unite with the Balkan, and form, by different spurs, 

 the Hellenic and Rumelian mountains.' The popu- 

 lation of all the different branches of the Alps 

 amounts to at least 7,000,000, of which the greater 

 part is of German origin; the rest are Italians and 

 Sclavonians. More than 2,000,000 are herdsmen, 

 who live by breeding cattle. The declivities of the 

 Noric, Carnic, and Rhastian Alps, are rich in metals. 

 particularly in iron, copper, lead, and many kinds of 

 semi-metals. The bouquetin grazes on their sum- 

 mits. It is now, however, become very rare. 

 Half-way up their sides are found chamois, marmots, 

 dormice, eagles, and vultures. Here also are found 

 the beautiful Alpine flowers, which disappear to- 

 wards the summits. (See dips, Roads over the.} 

 As to the geological structure of the Alps, it is, in 

 general, very regular. To the north and south runs a 

 steep and almost perpendicular wall ; a chain of sand- 

 stone hills extend along it, reaching, however, but to 

 an unimportant height, and not belonging, in a geo- 

 gnostical respect, to the proper Alpine formation. 

 This mass of steep mountains is formed by a central 

 chain and two ridges of lime-rocks, which extend from 

 S.S. AV. to E. N. E., and near Turin and Geneva 

 cease to accompany the central ridge. This consists of 

 the oldest mountain formations. Gneiss and granite, 

 occupy the whole middle tract of the Alps, ; nd 

 form, in particular, the Ixxly of the upper range, 

 which is covered with an infinite number of peaks 

 and glaciers, and can be crossed with tolerable con- 

 venience only at a few points. This range forms 

 the division of the Alpine streanw, and here arr 



