Page:1902 Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 25 - A-AUS.pdf/381

This page needs to be proofread.

ALPS tha Unter Grindelwald glacier has been reduced by 115 feet. Its periods of advance during the last two centuries were 1703-20, 1770-1779, 1814-1822, 1840-1855. It is now generally agreed that during the Glacial epoch the Alpine ice more than once advanced and retreated. For instance, the glacier of the Rhone not only welled up against the flank of the Jura, where it dropped the noted Pierre-a-bot and other erratics, but also descended to within a few leagues of Lyons, thus attaining a total length of about 270 miles. As an example of fluctuation we may take the ancient Limmat glacier, which many authorities believe to have exhibited the following phases :—(1) First advance indicated by morainic deposit on the Uetliberg; (2) Retreat and formation of the Deckenschotter (coarse conglomerate); (3) Second advance (extension to Jura) represented by moraines considerably above the level of the Lake of Zurich; (4) Retreat and deposit of the gravels forming the valley plain of the Limmat; (5) Third advance, limited by the moraine near Killwangen. That most of the Swiss lowland was for a time covered by ice (forming a huge “ piedmont ” glacier) is now generally admitted. This would require the mean temperature to be much lower than at present, probably about 18° F. at the time of maximum extension, while the glaciers would practically disappear from the Alps with a rise of 9° F. The hypothesis attributing the greater lake basins in the Alps to the erosive action of glaciers has been declining in favour during the last thirty years, as the subject has been more thoroughly and precisely studied. Many, perhaps the majority of geologists now admit that the action of glaciers is abrasive rather _ than erosive, and that they can excavate only in special circumstances and to a limited extent. Some tarns or lakelets may have been thus formed; in others the water is dammed back by old moraines or berg - falls; in others (though not Lago di Tremorgio) a hollow has been formed by the removal of soluble rock; but the larger Alpine lakes are now more generally attributed (like those of the St Lawrence region) to differential movements in the beds of pre-existing valleys. A few corrections and additions to the article in the ninth edition of this work may he noted here. In regard .to the Addenda Alpine mammals it is now certain that the ibex or bouquetin is restricted to the Eastern Graians. The aa . . brown bear still with occursthein lynx one or the more corrigenda. districts, andtwo wildof cat. The reiIlote

stoat (P. ermineo) ranges up to 10,000 feet. The golden eagle, though rare, and the raven may be added to the birds; one or two of the small raptores are not uncommon ; the black redstart, the siskin, the crested titmouse, the crossbill, and.the nutcracker are not rare ; the wall-creeper (Tichodroma muraria), the Alpine accentor, the Alpine pipit, and the snowfinch occur in the upper region. “ Grouse ” in the list of game birds presumably means the hazel grouse, for of course Tetrao scoticus does, not occur ; the ptarmigan is rather common well above the tree-line, and ranges to a great height. The blackhead and common gull frequent the lakes, with the black and common terns. In the mountain lakes Salmo lacustris has been found at 8626 feet, and Triton alpestris slightly above that elevation. On page 621, col. 1 (Ency. Brit. ninth edition, vol. i.), the Piz Tremoggia (11,322 feet) and Piz Pam brena (11,834 feet) hardly deserve to be called dominant peaks of the Bernina group. The height of the Gross Yenediger is 12,008 feet. Even since 1875 the Alps have been made much more accessible. Railways have been carried over the Brenner, Arlberg, and Briinig passes, and through the Mont Cenis and the St Gothard by the aid of long tunnels. The piercing of the Simplon is now in progress. Several light railways on more than one plan have been constructed, as that from Chur to Thusis, or from Visp to Zermatt, those up the Rigi, Pilatus, over the Wengern Alp, even up the.Gornergrat; the latest attempt being to burrow up to the summit ol the Jungfrau. Carriage roads have replaced mule paths, as at the Lukmanier, Eliiela, Oberalp, and Col de Forclaz passes, also to Chamouni from Vernayaz by Salvan, and in several other places. Club-huts have been erected in many convenient positions among the peaks and glaciers ; hotels have multiplied, not only in the

335

villages but also on commanding situations. One has even been built° on the Gornergrat, thus ruining the grandest readily accessible point of view in the Alps. The result has been to flood many parts of the Alps with tourists, to whom their beauties make no real appeal, and thus to take away much of their charm. In several instances new surveys have slightly altered the altitudes of peaks or passes given in Mr Ball’s list; but it has been thought sufficient to substitute exact figures for those which he was obliged to leave as approximations, except in two or three cases where the writer has failed to obtain more precise information. Feet. 8823 ( Col de Sautron Passes of the Maritime Alps I Col de Lauzanier . 8714 (Pointe de St Anna; the J higher summit is called Peaks of the Cottian Alps 'I P. de la Ponte Sancta, 11,057 I and is 7835 . Col d’Izouard Passes of the Cottian Alps 12,878 Peaks of the Dauphine Alps , Pic d’Ailefroide 12,018 ( Grande Motte Peaks of the Graian Alps 11,838 ■ I Bee de ITnvergnan 10,831 . Col de Lauzon Passes of the Graian Alps 8183 . Pointe de Salles Peaks of the Pennine Alps 9167 , Col de Yessona Passes of the Pennine Alps 11,385 ( Mbnch Joch 10,170 J Triftlimmi Passes in the Bernese Alps ■ | Geschenenlimmi (? Susten10,180 ^ limmi) . . 9317 . .. f Sardona Pass Passes in the North Swiss Alps i xamor pass ? 5900 8070 ( Passo di Yal Yiola 8465 Passes of the PJwetian Alps . -j Gavia Pass . 6630 (BielerJoch . 11,020 J Pizzo dei Tre Signori Peaks of the Lombard Alps 9735

Brenta Alta .

5060 f Gampen Pass 6215 -j Croce Domini Pass Passes of the Lombard Alps 9080 ( Passo di S. Yalentino 6665 Passes in the Vindelician Alps . -f pfi^joch 7560 10,640 Passes in the Central Tyrol Alps Gebatsch Joch 4150 ( Rottenmanner Tauern ? 5930 -j Pladnitz Pass Passes in the Styrian Alps 5210 ( Gleinalp Pass 11,020 f Marmolata 9850 Drei Zinnen (highest) 10,450 della Pala . Peaks of the South Tyrol and Cimon 9830 Palle di S. Martino Venetian Alps (Perhaps Cima di Yezzana 10,465 intended) 9620 Marmarolo . . . 5000 Passes in the South Tyrol and Peuschelstein Pass Venetian Alps 9104 Peaks of the South-eastern Alps { Jof di Montasio 9030 4275 Passes of the South-eastern Alps^y gparbinj;f J oeh^a 6240 For topographical information, see the publications of the English, French, Italian, Swiss, German, and Austrian Alpine clubs ; the well-known guide books of Murray, Baedeker, and Joanne, the Climbers’ Guides, the Guide du Haut Dauphind; Ball’s Alpine Guide (new edition, vol. i. “Western Alps,” edited by W. A. B. Coolidge, 1898, alone published) ; and Notes for Travellers in the Alps (1899), by the same editor (being the “General Introduction” to Ball’s Guide, revised and rewritten). This last contains a list of all the more important books and maps on the Alps, with articles on their geology and physical geography, natural history, social life, &c. Among the more important books published of late years may be mentioned the following:— Baillie-Grohman, W. A. Sport in the Alps, 1896.—Conway, Sir Martin. The Alps from end to end, 1895.—Dent, Clinton T. Mountaineering (Badminton Library), 1892.—Forbes, J. D. Travels through the Alps (revised and annotated by W. A. B. Coolidge, 1900).—Freshfield, D. W. The Italian Alps, 1875.— Gussfeld, Paul. In den Hochalpen, 1886.—Lendenfeld, R. von. Aus den Alpen, 2 vols., 1896.—Lubbock, Sir John. The Scenery of Switzerland, 1896.—Main (Burnaby), Mrs. The High Alps in Winter, 1883.—Mathews, C. E. The Annals of Mont Blanc, 1898.—Roman, J. Didionnaire Topographique du Department dcs Hautes Alpes, 1888.—Sinigaglia, L. Climbing Reminiscences of the Dolomites (trans.), 1896.—Sowerby, J. The Forest Cantons of Switzerland, 1892.—Umlauft, F. Die Alpen, 1887 (The Alps, 1889).—Whymper, E. Chamonix and the Range of Mont Blanc, 1897 ; The Valley of Zermatt and the Matterhorn, 1897. . The list of papers and books on Alpine geology and physical