ALPS 212 



promptly borrowed. Either directly or through 

 the Latin all the alphabets of modem times 

 are derived from the Greek, which was an 

 improvement upon the Phoenician in that it 

 had letters to represent vowel sounds instead 

 of the dots of which the older language made 

 use. 



Just how the earliest alphabet was made up 

 is by no means certain, though it seems prob- 

 able that in part at least it was an outgrowth 

 of the older picture-writing; that is, each let- 

 ter was probably drawn at first to represent 

 some object, the name of which began with the 

 sound which the letter was to represent. Thus 

 the B, which in Greek was beta, in Phoenician 

 beth, undoubtedly represented a house, for 

 beth was the Phoenician for house. Originally 

 it was drawn in some resemblance to the end of 

 a house (see B), but as it was written more 

 rapidly and more frequently its form changed 

 until it became the capital B of to-day. 



The perfect alphabet has not been invented; 

 if it ever appears it will be found to have just 

 as many letters as the language has sounds. 

 The Spanish language is the most nearly pho- 

 netic of any modern tongue. The English 

 alphabet is imperfect, since, in the first place, 

 it has not a character for every sound, and, 

 in the second place, it has letters which are 

 superfluous, because there are other letters 

 which represent the same sounds. Thus a may 

 stand for any one of eight sounds, while c is 

 unnecessary because its two sounds are repre- 

 sented by k and s. 



An alphabet is not absolutely necessary to 

 the writing of a language, since what is called 

 a syllabary is a possible substitute. That is, 

 every syllable, instead of every sound, has its 

 special character, as in Chinese. It is a much 

 more difficult method of writing, however, for 

 the Chinese child must learn thousands of 

 symbols instead of the twenty-six which suffice 

 for the English child. See CUNEIFORM INSCRIP- 

 TIONS; PHOENICIA. A.MCC. 



Consult Skinner's The Story of the Letters 

 and the Figures, written particularly for boys 

 and girls. 



ALPS , the greatest mountain system and the 

 most important and magnificent physical fea- 

 ture of Europe. Once the Alps marked the 

 northern limit of the civilized world, but even 

 before the Christian Era the Romans knew 

 the way through eight or ten of its passes. 

 Across these passes the Roman legions poured 

 into Gaul, which eventually became a great 

 Roman province. Back over these same Dasses 



ALPS 



came foreign invaders, first Hannibal, with his 

 Carthaginians, a few centuries later the Goths, 

 then the armies of Charlemagne and the Holy 

 Roman Emperors, and finally Napoleon, who 

 built a wonderful road from France into Italy 

 for his invading hosts. 



Except for the few passes known to the Ro- 

 mans, there was little exploration of the moun- 

 tains until comparatively recent times. Tin* 

 Mont Cenjs, from 1400 until the time of Na- 

 poleon the most traveled pass, was unknown 

 until the eighth century, and the Saint Gothard 

 and the Simplon were first used in the middle 

 of the thirteenth century. Yet in the heart 

 of these mountains flourished an independent 

 nation, the Swiss Confederation. Here, too, and 

 in the foot hills, several great families first be- 

 came powerful the Houses of Savoy, Haps- 

 burg and Hohenzollern, later the royal family 

 of Italy and the imperial families of Austria 

 and Germany. 



No other mountain system in the world has 

 now been so thoroughly explored, even to the 

 summits of its highest peaks. Not only has 

 man made paths for himself, but he has built 

 excellent roads, many of which would be a 

 credit to a great city. He has built railroads, 

 so that to-day the roar of the train echoes in 

 the passes which once heard the shouts of the 

 Roman legions. Great tunnels, the Simplon, 

 the Saint Gothard, the Mont Cenis and the 

 Arlberg carry the rails below the crest of the 

 range. A railroad even runs inside a great 

 mountain, the Jungfrau, almost to its summit. 

 Every point of scenic or historic interest now 

 has its inns and hotels, and the pedestrian with 

 a knapsack on his back is cared for in count- 

 less chalets. 



At all seasons the Alps are now a great play- 

 ground, in which nature has done its best to 

 present a beautiful picture on every hand, and 

 the Swiss people have provided for the com- 

 fort of visitors who come to appreciate. No- 

 where else in the world are more magnificent 

 contrasts in scenery. Standing on the shores 

 of a little lake, surrounded by pretty Swiss 

 chalets and farms, the visitor may gaze upward 

 10,000 or 12,000 feet to the snowy summit of 

 the Jungfrau or Mont Blanc. From the sum- 

 mit of such a peak, or even from many lower 

 points, there is an endless vista of mountains, 

 with here and there a green field or a brown 

 village; men and their homes seem minute 

 specks, clinging to the sides of rocky preci- 

 pices or huddled in narrow valleys. 



Of the entire 90,000 square miles covered by 



