ALPS, the highest and most extensive system of mountains in Europe, included between lat. 44° and 48° N., and long. 5° and 18° E., covering the greater part of northern Italy, several departments of France, nearly the whole of Switzerland, and a large part of Austria. The culminating peak is Mont Blanc, 15,781 feet high, though the true center is the St. Gothard.
The Alps in their various great divisions receive different names. The Maritime Alps, so called from their proximity to the Mediterranean, extend westward from their junction with the Apennines for a distance of about 100 miles; culminating points, Aiguille de Chambeyron, 11,155 feet, and Grand Rioburent, 11,142 feet; principal pass the Col di Tende, 6,158 feet, which was made practicable for carriages by Napoleon I. Proceeding northward the next group consists of the Cottian Alps, length about 60 miles; principal peaks: Monte Visco, 12,605 feet; Pic des Ecrins, 13,462; Pelvoux, 12,973. Next come the Graian Alps, 50 miles long, with extensive ramifications in Savoy and Piedmont; principal peaks: Aiguille de la Sassière, 12,326 feet; Grand Paradis, 13,300; Grande Casse, 12,780. To this group belongs Mont Cenis, 6,765 feet. The Pennine Alps form the loftiest portion of the whole system, having Mont Blanc (in France) at one extremity, and Mont Rosa at the other (60 miles), and including the Alps of Savoy and the Valais. In the E. the valley of the upper Rhone separates the Pennine Alps from the great chasm of the Bernese Alps. The principal heights of the Pennine Alps are Mont Blanc, 15,781 feet; Monte Rosa, 15,217; Mischabelhörner (Dom), 14,935; Weisshorn, 14,804; Matterhorn, 14,780. In the Bernese Alps, the Finsteraarhorn, 14,026; Aletschhorn, 13,803; Jungfrau, 13,671. The pass of Great St. Bernard is celebrated for its hospice. The easternmost pass is the Simplon, 6,595 feet, with a carriage road made by Napoleon I. Further E. are the Lepontine Alps, divided into several groups. The principal pass is the St. Gothard (6,936 feet). Highest peaks: Tödi, 11,887 feet; Monte Leone, 11,696. The Rhætian Alps, extending E. to about lat. 12° 30´ N., are the most easterly of the central Alps; principal peaks: Piz Bernina, 13,294 feet; Ortlerspitze, 12,814; Monte Adamello, 11,832. The Brenner Pass, 4,588 feet, from Verona to Innsbruck. The eastern Alps form the broadest and lowest portion of the system, and embrace the Noric Alps, the Carnic Alps, the Julian Alps, etc.; highest peak, the Grossglockner, 12,045 feet.
PROFILE MAP SHOWING MAIN PEAKS OF THE ALPS
The Alps are very rich in lakes and streams. Among the chief of the former are Geneva, Constance, Zürich, Thun, Brienz, on the N. side; on the S. Maggiore, Como, Lugano, Garda, etc. The drainage is carried to the North Sea by the Rhine, to the Mediterranean by the Rhone, to the Adriatic by the Po, to the Black Sea by the Danube. in the lower valleys the mean temperature ranges from 50° to 60°. Half way up the Alps it averages about 32°—a height which, in the snowy regions, it never reaches. In respect to vegetation the Alps have been divided into six zones: The first is the olive; the second, the vine; the third, the mountainous; the fourth, the sub-Alpine or coniferous; the fifth, the pasture; and the sixth, the region of perpetual snow. Among the minerals that are obtained are iron and lead, gold, silver, copper, zinc, alum, and coal.
THE ALPS—MONT BLANC AND THE MER DE GLACE
Source: Collier's New Encyclopedia 1. (1921) New York: P.F. Collier & Son Company. 130-131 (text) and after 154 (illustration).