144 The American Naturalist. [March, 
understood. In Alguer, an ancient walled city of 1 2000 inhab- 
iitants, the names of the streets are Catalan as are also the 
■speech of the populace and the songs of the children. Since 
the Peace of Utrecht in 1720, the Castilian tongue has given 
way to the Italian, yet even within its capital, Cagliari, the 
Spanish tongue is still used in the nunnery of Santa Clara. 
The Mountain Ranges of Spain. — The highest peaks 
of the Pyrenees, according to the recently issued, " Reseiia 
Geographica y Estadistica de Espaiia, are Nethon, 3404 metres ; 
Pico de Posets, or Landana, 3,367 m. ; Maladetta or Montes 
Malditos, 3,354 m.; and Tres Sorores or Mont Perdu, 3,351 m. 
The northern range of the Iberian peninsula is by D. J. 
Bisco considered as composed of two sections, the one east, 
the other west, of the northern end of the Iberian range, which 
is that which forms the western border of the Ebro valley, and 
which prolongs itself southward sufficiently to form a base 
from which rise the ranges running east and west between the 
various rivers of Castille and Andalucia. The highest peaks 
of the Vasco-Cantabrian or eastern portion of the northern 
Cordillera are : Peria de Cerreda, 2678 m. ; Peiia Vieja, 
2639 m. ; Pefia Prieta, 2520 m. ; and Contes 2373. The 
two highest peaks of the western or Galicio-Asturian part 
of the northern range are: Espiguete 2453 m. ; and Pefia- 
Ubina, 2300. The Iberian, or north and south system, the 
highest portion of which is known as the Mountains of Burgos, 
has no peaks comparable to those of the Pyrenees, its three 
highest summits being Moncayo 2315 m, ; San Lorenzo, 
2303 m. ; and the Picos de Ebibron, which rise to 2246 metres. 
The city of Burgos stands at a height of 856 metres. 
The ranges which run westward from the Iberian are the 
Central, between the basins of the Duero and Tajo (Tagus) ; 
the Toledo Mountains, between the Tajo and the Guardiana, 
the Sierra Morena, and the Sierra Nevada. The highest sum- 
mits of the Central system are: Plaza del Moro Almansor 
2,650 metres; Calvitero 2.401 m. ; Penalara 2,400 m. ; and 
Hierro 2.383. The city of Avila stands at a height of 1,126 
metres, Segovia at 1,000, and the Observatory of Madrid is 
655 metres above sea level. None of the Toledo Mountains 
attain great elevations, the loftiest being Corocho de Roci- 
galgo 1,448 metres and Vicente 1,429 m. Still more insignifi- 
cant is the elevation of the Sierra Morena, which rising but 
slightly above the plains of Castile, may be regarded as little 
more than a huge step from those plains, to the valley of the 
