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ALSACE-LORRAINE —ALSTON
geography is also very extensive. Of the former the more important have appeared in some of the following publications :— Academie des Sciences de VInstitut de France (Comptes Rendus); Accademia Reale dei Lined (Atti); Annales des Mines, Deutsche geologische Gesellschaft (Zeitschrift); Geological Society, of London (Quarterly Journal); Kaiserliche Akademie der Wissenschaften ( Vienna) (Sitzungsberichte); Konigliche Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Sitzungsberichte); Societd Geologica Italiana (Bollettino); Societe Geologique de France (Bulletin) ; A cue Denkschriften der allgemeinen Schweizerischen Gesellschaft. The lastnamed contains (vol. xxxvii.) an important paper by Dr Zschokke, on the “Fauna of the higher Mountain Lakes,” and one by Dr Baltzer (vol. xxxiii.) on the “ History of the Unter-Grindelwald Glacier. ”—The following more special books may be added:— Baretti, M. Geologia della Provincia di Torino: Atlas, 1895.— Diener, C. Der Gebirgsbau der Westalpen, 1891.—Fraas, E. Scenerie derAlpen, 1892.—Frech, F. DieKarnischenAlpen, 1892.-—Heim, A. Untersuchungen uber den Mechanismus der Gebirgsbildung (2 vols. and atlas), 1878 ; Handbuch der Gletscherkunde, 1885.—Mojsisovics, E. von. Die Doloviitriffe von Siidtirol und Venetiens, 1879.—Suess, E. Die Entstehung der Alpen, 1875. See also Das Antlitz der Erde. Livret-Guide Geologique dans le Jura et les Alps de la Suisse, 1894.—Favre and Schardt. Eclogcc Geological Helvcticce now contains summaries of papers on Alpine geology. The following works are official:—Austria: K. K. Geologische (Abhandlungen and Jahrbuch). France: Bulletin des Services de la Carte Geologique de la France. Italy: Reale Comitato Geologico d' Ralia (Bolletino). Switzerland: Beitrdge zur geologischen Karte der Schweiz. The Alps, at least up to the frontier, are included in the Government maps of the following countries :—Austria: “Special Karte des bsterreichisch-iingarischen Monarchic ” scale TTrVsij) 703 sheets, 1874-1888; a revised edition now appearing.—France: “ Carte de 1’Etat Major” (type 1889), scale -sttwit. 258 sheets. —/tafy; “Carta Topographica del Regno d’ Italia,” scale TT77)J007r, 277 sheets, 188497.—Switzerland: “ Topographischer Atlas der Schweiz ” (Siegfried atlas), scale Binrurro- f°r mountains, 589 sheets, 1870.—Others, with maps of special districts, are enumerated in Hints and Notes for Travellers in the Alps, cli., and a list of geological maps is given (p. xcviii.). The best and most recent geological map of the whole chain is F. Noe, Gcologische Uebersichtskarte der Alpen T.innf.tnnr, 1890. (T< B ^ Alsace-Lorraine, in German Elsass-Lothringen, a German Imperial territory formed out of the former French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, lying between the Rhine on the E., the Bavarian Palatinate, Prussian Rhine province, and grand-duchy of Luxemburg on the K, France on the W., and Switzerland on the S. Maximum length, N. to S., 118 miles; maximum breadth (in the N.), 106 miles; maximum breadth (in the S.), 22 miles. The determining features of its physical conformation are the Vosges Mountains and the Rhine. The foothills of the former and the valley of the latter account for almost the entire area of Alsace; and the greater part of Lorraine belongs to the high-plain which stretches from the Moselle to the Saar, but seldom rises to 1300 feet above the sea-level. The drainage of the Vosges valleys and of the Rhine valley is collected and carried into the Rhine about 10 miles below Strasburg by the 111. The climate is on the whole temperate—warmest in the lowest districts (460 ft. above sea-level) of FT. Alsace, and coldest on the summits of the Vosges, where snow lies six months in the year. The mean annual temperature at Strasburg is 49‘8“ Fahl'> ^ Metz 48‘20; the rainfall at Strasburg 764 inches, and at Metz 27| inches. The Rhine valley is in great part fertile^ yielding good crops of potatoes, cereals (including maize), sugar beet, hops, tobacco, flax, hemp, and products of oleaginous plants. But wine and fruit are amongst the most valuable of the crops. The cereals chiefly grown are wheat, oats, barley, and rye Great quantities of hay are harvested. In 1898 about 3000 acres were planted with tobacco, and the yield when dried, weighed about 3000 tons; and 73,730 acres were planted with vines, the yield being 11,348,000 gallons of wine, valued at £950,000. These statistics embrace also the production of Lorraine, where agriculture is less strenuously carried on, and the fertility of the soil is less.
But Lorraine possesses, in compensation, greater riches in the earth, in her coal and iron and salt mines, the output of which in 1897 was 1,057,550 tons of coal, valued at £441,970 ; 5,360,840 tons of iron ore, valued at £615,880; and 70,578 tons of salt, valued at £39,860. The total mineral output of Alsace-Lorraine in 1898 was valued at £1,276,340. In 1897 the live stock of the territory numbered 138,689 horses, 512,329 head of cattle, 375,635 pigs, and 93,204 sheep. Cows are grazed on the S. Vosges in summer, and large quantities of cheese (Munster cheese) are made and exported. Total population (1901), 1,717,451. The farms in Alsace are mostly small, and are held partly as a private possession, partly on the communal system ; in Lorraine there are some larger occupations. The distribution and classification of the holdings was as follows in 1895 :— Under 212J to 25 25 to 250 Above 250 Total farms. acres. acres. acres. acres. 98,666 119,955 12,919 407 231,947 The total area of these 232,000 farms was 2,230,368 acres, the rest of the territory being covered by forests, barren lands, lakes, roads, &c. Agriculture and wine-growing are general industries ; but coal and iron mining are special to Lorraine, as the manufacture of cottons, and on a smaller scale of woollens, is special to Alsace, the chief centres of the industry being Miilhausen, Colmar, and the valleys of the Vosges. The territory has always been the centre of an active commerce, owing to its situation on the confines of Germany, France, and Switzerland, and alongside the great highway of the Rhine. The communications embrace some 1090 miles of railway (1898 : of which about 1000 miles belonged to the state), a good system of roads, and several canals, in addition to the rivers. Administratively the territory is divided into the following three districts :— Population. Density per sq. 1875. 1885. mile, 1895. Upper Alsace 1354 453,374 462,549 477,477 352-6 Lower Alsace 1845 598,180 612,077 638,624 346-1 Lorraine . . 2402 480,250 489,729 524,885 218-5 Total . . 1,531,804 1,504,355 1,640,986 292-9 On the sex division, 833,173 were in 1895 males, and 807,813 females. The percentage of illegitimacy in the same year was 8-3, also in 1898.' The rural population embraced 54-8 per cent, of the whole, the urban population 45 -2 per cent. The largest towns are Strasburg (the capital of the territory), Miilhausen, Metz, Colmar, Hagenau° Saargemiind, Gebweiler, and Markirch, all above 10,000 inhabitants each. Classified according to religion there were, in 1895, 356,458 Protestants, 1,246,791 Roman Catholics, and 32,859 Jews. Education is provided for (1898) at the university of Strasburg, in 23 classical and pro-classical schools, in 13 modern schools,&and in nearly 3500 schools of a more elementary character. Over 80 per cent, of the people speak German as their mother-tongue, the rest French, or a patois of French. The supreme executive officer of the territory is a governor - general, who is appointed by the German emperor ; but he is assisted by a ministry of four members, under the chairmanship of a secretary of state, and by a council of state numbering 58 members, and consisting of the governor-general, secretary of state, chief provincial officials, and 8 to 12 nominees of the emperor. In 1900 the revenue was estimated at £3,020,242, and the expenditure at £3,002,733. There was^ also an extraordinary budget of £199,822 revenue and £217,362 expenditure. Customs and indirect taxes yield more than three-fifths of the total revenue, and direct taxes less than one-fourth. The state forests give about one-ninth of the whole. The public debt, capitalized, amounted in 1900 to £1,192,150, and the territory's contribution to the imperial exchequer to £830,425 in 1900. The higher administration of justice is devolved upon six provincial courts and a supreme court, sitting at Colmar. Moreover, there are purely industrial tribunals at Miilhausen,' Thann, Markirch, Strasburg, and Metz. The fish-breeding establishment at Hiiningen in Upper Alsace should be mentioned. (j. T. Be.) Alston, or Aldstone, a market-town and railway station in the Penrith parliamentary division of Cumberland, England, 29 miles by road E.S.E. of Carlisle. The preparation of umber for colours and paint is carried on. There are limestone quarries, and argentiferous lead, copper, and blende are found in the neighbourhood. Coal Districts.
Area in sq. miles.
