ALPS 



213 



ALSACE-LORRAINE 



the Alps (an area larger than Ohio and Penn- 

 sylvania), one-fourth is barren rock, ice, snow 

 and water; another fourth is available for 

 farms and vineyards; and a half is pasture land 

 and forest. In the summer the herds roam 

 high on the mountain-side, and they are often 

 seen only a few hundred feet from the snowy 

 source of some stream. In the lower regions 

 the plant and animal life is not different from 

 that of the rest of Europe, but above the tim- 

 ber-line there are a few animals and plants 

 which belong distinctively to the Alps. There 

 are the chamois and the steinbock, or mountain 

 goat, who haunt the inaccessible rocks of the 

 hinhrr altitudes, and there is the famous 

 flower, the edelweiss (which see). There are 

 also the Alpine rose and violet, known the 

 world over, and no nature-lover can escape a 

 thrill when he first sees a snow-field dotted 

 with the little patches of color which testify 

 to the hardy character of these flowers. 



Detailed Location. The Alps form a some- 

 what irregular crescent in Southern Europe, 

 with its horns near Nice, on the Mediterranean, 

 and Trieste, on the Adriatic. The mountains 

 almost reach to the seashore at both ends, 

 thus shutting off Italy from the rest of Europe. 

 They cover a total area of 90,000 square miles, 

 including almost the whole of Switzerland and 

 parts of Northern Italy, Southeastern France, 

 Southern Germany and Western Austria. The 

 Alps have a length of 700 miles in a general 

 east-and-west direction, and a width of 100 

 to 180 miles. From the principal chains spurs 

 extend to the Apennines, the Vosges, the Harz 

 and the Carpathians. Most of the so-called 

 Alpine region has an average altitude of 6,000 

 to 8,000 feet, but there are hundreds of 

 peaks exceeding 10,000 feet. Mont Blanc, the 

 loftiest, Monte Rosa, the second highest, the 

 Matterhorn, another giant, and the Jungfrau, 

 perhaps the most beautiful of them all, are 

 described in separate articles. The summits of 

 these peaks and many others are covered with 

 an everlasting mantle of snow and ice. From 

 th* in there descends to the valleys below great 

 .(re, enormous masses of partly-melted 

 snow and crushed ice, which acquire a force 

 that not hi nt: can resist (see AVALANCHE). The 

 M er dc Glace, on the northern slope of Mont 

 Blanc, is fifteen miles long and three miles wide, 

 and the Alctsch gl largest in the Alps, 



is sixteen miles lonu. Tin- Rhone glacier, the 

 source of the river Rhone, is one of the most 

 famous. 



Several of the great European rivers rise in 



the Alps, including the Drave, the Po, the 

 Rhine and the Rhone (all of which see). The 

 important lakes in or near the Alps are also 

 described in these volumes; these are Como, 

 Constance, Garda, Geneva, Lugano, Maggiore, 

 Neuchatel and Zurich. W.F.Z. 



Outline on the Alp* 



1. Size 



(a) Area, 90.000 square miles 



(b) Length, 700 miles from east to west 



(c) Breadth. 100 to 180 miles 



(d) Average altitude. 6.000 to 8.000 feet 



(e) Loftiest peaks 



2. Location 



(a) Occupying Switzerland and part of 

 Italy. France. Germany and Austria 



3. Physical features and scenery 



(a) Precipices 



(b) Glaciers 



(c) Farms and chalets 



(d) Lakes and rivers 



(e) Plant and animal life 



4. Exploration and improvements 



(a) Thoroughly explored 



(b) Hotels and railroads 



5. Historic interest 



(a) Early boundary of the civilized world 



(b) Crossed by invaders and conquerors 



(c) Rise of two imperial houses of Eu- 



rope in small Alpine kingdoms 

 Consult Bowney's The Building of the Alps; 

 Coolldge's Alps and Nature in History. 



ALSACE-LORRAINE, al sahs ' - lo rane ' , a 

 former territory of the German Empire, for 

 nearly fifty years a joint possession of all the 

 German states. It was under the direct juris- 

 diction of the imperial government, and the 

 provincial administrator, or staithalter, was ap- 

 pointed by the emperor. Its position was like 

 that of a territory in the United States. In 1918 

 it was returned to France, to the unspeakable 

 delight of the nation, as one of the fruits to that 

 country of the War of the Nations. 



Historic Importance. In France, after 1871, 

 Alsace and Lorraine were called "the lost prov- 

 inces"; for in that year, at the end of the 

 Franco-German War (which see), the German- 

 speaking portion of Lorraine and all of Alsace 

 were ceded by France to the new German 

 Empire. This was not the first time that this 

 >n had changed owners. It was originally 

 the home of .Celtic tribes, but in the fourth and 

 fifth rmturirs was overrun by the Teutonic 

 tribes, who laid the foundations for the empire 

 of Charlemagne. When Charlemagne's empire 

 was divided among his grandsons, it became 

 a part of Germany, and so it remained until 

 the sixteenth century. In 1552 Henry II of 

 France took Meti, Toul and Verdun, and in 

 1648, by the Peace of Westphalia, the Holy 



