Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/794

776 MONT BLANC MONTCALM ft. above the sea (according to Bruguiere, 15,- 781 ft. according to Coraboeuf), and its sum- mit for a distance of 7,000 ft. down is clothed with perpetual snow. The higher parts of Mont Blanc are composed of primitive rock, and its outlying flanks consist of calcareous strata turned up against the great central mass. The sides, to the height of 3,000 to 4,000 ft. above Chamouni, are skirted with forests. The surface of its higher parts is diversified and very Mont Blanc from above Merges. irregular; there are numerous jutting rocks, called aiguilles or needles ; large fields of ice, often broken into fissures of unknown .depth ; and grottoes excavated beneath the masses of ice by the warmer temperature below, and hanging with splendid stalactitic formations. Glaciers frequently sweep down its sides. At night the summit shines with a faint light, which is thus accounted for : there is high in the atmosphere a zone of thin vapor which is still lighted by the sun after Mont Blanc has ceased to be within range of its rays, and this vapor reflects a part of the light which it re- ceives upon the summit of the mountain. The first ascent of Mont Blanc was made with great danger and difficulty by Dr. Paccard and Jacques Balmat in August, 1786; but during the preceding ten years several unsuccessful attempts had been made. They found the cold so excessive that they remained on the summit only half an hour. The next year De Saussure accomplished the ascent, and made a variety of scientific observations. Albert Smith's ascent in 1851 and subsequent pictorial and dramatic descriptive entertainment, and his " Story of Mont Blanc " (London, 1854), gave unusual popularity to the subject in Eng- land for several years. A record of two ascents (1858-'9) by Prof. Tyndall is in " The Glaciers of the Alps" (London, 1860). In 1855 Prof. J. D. Forbes published a " Tour of Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa," and subsequently a series of papers on the theory, measurement, and move- ment of the glaciers. There are also numer- ous recent accounts of ascensions by members of the English Alpine club. The achievement is no longer considered either dangerous or difficult. The guides and all matters relating to them are regulated by the French govern- ment, and ascents are frequent. MONTBRISON, a town of France, in the de- partment of Loire, on the Vizezy, an affluent of the Loire, 37 m. S. W. of Lyons ; pop. in 1866, 6,475. The most notable building is the principal church, Notre Dame de 1'Esperance, built from 1223 to 1466. Its industry and trade are of no great importance. It was formerly the capital of the department. MONTCALM, a S. central county of the S. peninsula of Michigan, watered by tributaries of the Muskegon, Chippewa, and Grand rivers; area, 720 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 13,629. It has an undulating surface and a fertile soil. The Detroit, Lansing, and Lake Michigan railroad and the Stanton branch traverse it. The chief productions in 1870 were 136,778 bushels of wheat, 117,163 of Indian corn, 63,925 of oats, 178,010 of potatoes, 49,541 Ibs. of wool, 50,- 755 of maple sugar, 43,346 of butter, and 13,141 tons of hay. There were 1,827 horses, 2,256 milch cows, 2,996 other cattle, 13,485 sheep, and 3,346 swine; 3 manufactories of boots and shoes, 4 of carriages and wagons, 3 of saddlery and harness, 4 of sash, doors, and blinds, 2 flour mills, and 49 saw mills. Capi- tal, Stanton.