Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/673

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ALPS 635 able species those which are either identical with or nearly allied to Pyrenean forms have an asterisk pre fixed : Arabis pcdcmontana, Iluguenina, tanaccti folia, *Diantlius nc- glcdus, Silene cordifolia, *Saponaria lutca, *Hypericum nummu- lariafolium, Astragalus alopccuroidcs, Saxifraga florulenta, S. diapcnsioides, *S. pcdcmontana, *Aspcrula hcxaphylla, Cephalaria alpina, Achillea Jlerbarota, Berardia sutacaulis. Campanula Allionii, C. datincs, Primula marginata, P. Allionii, *Erinus alpinus, Veronica Allionii, TJiyimts piperella, and Alopccurus Gerardi. The Lombard Flora is marked by a considerable number of very distinct species that are limited to the southern declivity of the Alps, between the Lago Maggiore and the lake of Garda. Most of these are absolutely confined within these boundaries, but a few extend some distance east of the lake of Garda. The following deserve to be specified : Viola Comollia, V. hctcropJiylla, Silene Elizabethan, Arcnaria grinccnsis, Cytisus glabrescens, Sanguisorba dodccandra, Saxifraga Vandellii, S. arachnoidca, Lascrpitium nitidum, Tclckia spcciosis- simn, Lcontodon tenuiflorus, Hieracium porrifolium, Campanula Ri incri, C. elatinoidcs, Daphne nqxstris, Euphorbia variabilis, and Cur ex baldensis. The East Alpine Flora, extending through the region cast of the valley of the Adige, is characterised by a large number of peculiar species, and by a perhaps equal number of plants not seen elsewhere in the Alps, but also natives of the Carpathians, or of the region lying between Servia and the Adriatic. In the following list those included in the latter category are marked with an asterisk : Arabis vochincnsis, *A. Seopoliana, *Cardaminc trifolia, Braija alpina, Cochlcariabrcvicaulis, Silcne pumilio, S. aljxstris, D-ianthus olpinus, * Genista scricea, Mcdicago Pironce, * Potent ilia Clusiana, Xaxifraga Burseriana, S. tcnella, *S. pctrcca, *S. hicracifolia,

  • Hacquetia Epipactis, Astrantia carniolica, Hladnikia golaccnsis,

Antlwmis alpina, Achillea Chisiana, *Scnccio abrotanifolius, Gen- tfturea alpina, C. rupestris, * Saussurca pygmcea, Phytcuma comosum, Campanula pulla, *C. alpina, C. morettiana, C. Zoijsii, Rhododen dron chamcedstus, Gcntiana imbricata, *Gf. frigida, G. Frohlichii,

  • Primula minima; P. glutinosa, Androsace Hausmanni, Pwdcrota

Bonarota, P. Arjcria, Wulfenia carinthiaca, Seslcria spliozroccpliala, and S. microccphala. It is worthy of remark that the central and highest part of the Alpine chain, including the Pennine and Bernese groups, the Lepontine Alps, and those of .North Switzer land, produce scarcely a well-marked species with the doubtful exceptions of Rumex nivalis and of Potentilla grammopetala, which is confined to a small district south cast of Monte Rosa that does not spread throughout the rest of the chain. The phenomena of glaciers have been chiefly studied in the Alps, but they are not especially characteristic of the mountains of central Europe. The investigation of their origin and structure, and the laws of their motion, fall within the province of the physical philosopher, and are discussed elsewhere. See GLACIERS. The geological structure of the Alps is a subject that has OCCU pi e( i the labours of many eminent men of science, especially during the last thirty years, yet it may be safely asserted that it will continue to offer new problems to the researches of at least another generation. There is scarcely a single difficult question regarding the nature and mode of deposition of the strata that make up the earth s crust, the mode of elevation of mountain chains, the causes of the formation of valleys and lake basins, the action of meteoric forces, of rivers and ice-streams, that must not be decided before we can give a rational account of the struc ture of the Alps. Along with these, and scarcely less im portant, is the study of the various agencies involved in the phenomena of metamorphism, and that of the part played by volcanic action in some parts of the chain. The study of the organic remains embedded in the rocks is not so constantly the duty of the geologist in the Alps as it is in most other mountain districts; but of late years this has been actively pursued, and has tended to clear up many difficulties, while much room is left for further investiga tion. The reader is referred to the article GEOLOGY, and, with reference to detailed information as to the structure of the Alps, to the list of works on alpine geology given, below. The number of publications relating to the Alps lias been so- Bibfio largely increased during the last quarter of a century that a bare graphi catalogue would fill a considerable space. The majority of these the Al are of a narrative and descriptive character, and do not add much to our knowledge of the Alps, either topographically or scientifically. It will suffice to give here a brief list of the chief works that may fairly be considered to have achieved that object. Works of exclu sively scientific character, especially those relating to Alpine geology, are separately enumerated. Scheuchzer (J. J.), Itinera Alpina, Leyden, 1723. Griiner, Die Eisgebirge des Sehweizerlandes, Bern, 1760. Saussure (H. B. de), Voyages dans les Alpes, Neuchatel, 1803-6. Hugi (J. J.), Natur- historische Alpenreise, Solothurn, 1830. Agassiz (L.), Etudes sur les Glaciers, Neuchatel, 1840 ; Systeme Glacaire, ou Nouvelles Etudes, &c., Paris, 1847. Forbes (J. D.), Travels through the Alps of Savoy, &c., Edinburgh, 1843. Desor (E.), Excursions et Sejours dans les Glaciers et les Hautes Regions des Alpes ; 2 series, Neuehatel, 1844-5. Saluzzo (A. di), Le Alpi che cingono 1 Italia, l ma - Parte, Torino, 1845. Schlagintweit (H. und A.), Untersu- chungen liber die Physicalische Geographic die Alpen ; 2 series, Leipzig, 1850-4. Tyndall (J.), The Glaciers of the Alps, London, 1860. Berlepsch (H. A.), Die Alpen in Natur- und Lebensbildern dargestellt, Leipzig, 1861. Browne (Kev. G. F. ), Ice-caves of France and Switzerland, London, 1865. Morell, Scientific Guide to Switzerland, London, 1866. Sonklar (Karl von), Die Oetzthaler Gebirgsgruppe, &c., Gotha, 1860 ; Die Gebirgsgruppe der Hohen Tauern, &c., "Vien, 1866. Schaubach Die Deutsche Alpen; 2d edition, Jena, 1865-71. Bonney (Eev. T. G.), The Alpine Regions of Switzerland and the neighbouring countries, Cambridge and London, 1868. Ball (J.), The Alpine Guide; new edition, in ten parts, London, 1873. Considerable additions to our knowledge of the Alps are also to be found in the periodical publi cations of the English, Swiss, Austrian, Italian, ami German Alpine Clubs ; and also in papers that have appeared in Petermaim s Gcographische Mitthcilungcn. No general zoological works of a purely scientific character relat ing exclusively to the fauna of the Alps can be quoted ; but much valuable information, conveyed in a popular form, will be found in Tschudi s Thierleben der Alpen welt, of which translations have appeared in English and French. The want of a compact work containing descriptions of all the plants of the Alps has been much felt by botanists. Those of Switzerland and the Eastern Alps are included in Koch s Synopsis Florae Germanicce et Helvetica;, a work of high authority, written in Latin ; but it does not compre hend the species peculiar to Piedmont and the Western Alps. An illustrated work, by J. C. Weber, Die Alpenpflanzen Dcutschlands und der Schweiz, may also be recommended. Of numerous books and memoirs connected with the geology of the Alps, the following deserve special mention : L. von Buch, Geologische Beobachtung- en auf Reisen, 1802. Sir 11. I. Murchison, On the Geological Structure of the Alps, the Apennines, and the Carpathians, Quart. Journal Geol. Soc. of London, vol. v. ; a translation of this im portant memoir into Italian, with an appendix, by P. Savi and G. Meneghini, Florence, 1851. Sedgwick and Murchison, On the Geology of the Eastern Alps, Trans. Geol. Soc. Lond. 1832. J. de Charpentier, Essai sur les Glaciers et sur Ie Terrain Erratique du Bassin du Rhone, 1841. B. Studer, Geologie der Schweiz, 1853 ; Id. Index der Petrographie und Stratigraphie der Schweiz, &c., Bern, 1872. A. Stoppani, Studii Geologichi e Paleontologichi sulla Lombardia, 1857. C. Lory, Description Geologique du Dauphine, 1860. Giimbel, Geologie cles Konigreichs Bayern, 1861. O. Heer, Die Unvelt der Schweiz, Ziirich, 1865. E. Desor, Der Gebirgsbau der Alpen, &c., Wiesbaden, 1865. A. Favre, Recherches Geo- logiques dans les Parties de la Savoie, &c. ; Voisines du Mont Blanc, Geneve, 1867. L. Riitimeyer, Uebcr Thai- und Seebilding, Basel, 1869. A copious collection of facts and observations bearing on the physics and recent geology of the Alps will be found in a work by M. Dollfuss-Ausset, Materiaux pour 1 Etude des Glaciers, of which nine volumes have appeared. Many important contributions to Alpine geology are scattered through the Proceedings of scientific societies. The Bulletin of the French Geological Society contains valuable papers by Collegno, Dausse, Gras, Huber, Mortillet, Omboni, Rozet, and others. The geology of the Austrian Alps is illustrated by numerous papers in the Jahrbuch der k. k. Reichsan- stalt. The memoirs of A. Sismonda and B. Gastaldi, in the Memorie della R. Academia di Torino, must be consulted by those- who would study the geology of Piedmont. The phenomena of the-

motion and structure of glaciers have been discussed in numerous-