No lofty mountains in the world can boast of being so easily crossed as the European A. Hence we can understand how the plains of upper Italy, accessible from the French, German, and Hungarian sides, have been the theater of bloody strife for ages. The passage of the WEST A. is made by five principal roads : 1. The military road, La Corniche, a coast-road at the foot of the A. from Nice to Genoa, parallel to which a rail way now runs. 2. The causeway over the Col-di-Tenda, between Nice and Coni, made in 1778; highest point, 5S90 ft. 3. The highroad over Mt. Genevre, connecting Provence and Dauphine with Turin; highest point, 6550 ft. 4. The carriage-road made by Napo leon in 1805, over Mt. Cenis, connecting Savoy with Piedmont; highest point, 6770 ft. Near this the chain is pierced by the railway tunnel (see TUNNEL, and CENts). 5. The pass of the Little St. Bernard, connecting Geneva, Savoy, and Piedmont; highest point, 7190 ft. By this pass Hannibal crossed into Italy. It is not much used now. Besides these great roads, there are many smaller ones branching off from them, which form a pretty close net-work of communication. The passage of the Muma: A. is made by eight principal roads: 1. That of the Great St. Bernard, connecting the valley of the Rhone with Piedmont; highest point, 8170 ft. It was crossed by Napoleon in 1800. 2. The magnificent road over the Simplon, constructed by Napoleon, 1801-180 and con necting the Valais with the confines of Piedmont and Lombardy ; highest poi, 6370 ft. 3. Between the Great St. Bernard and monte Rosa is the Col of mont Ccrvin, t e loftiest pass in Europe, being nearly 11,200 ft., connecting Piedmont with the Valais. 4. The pass of St. Gothard, connecting Lucerne with Lago Maggiore; highest point, 6800 ft. It is about to be crossed by a railway. 5. The Bernardin pass, made 1819-23, by the Swiss Grisons and Sardinia ; highest point, 6800 ft. 6. The Splfigen pass, repaired in 1822, connecting the sources of the Rhine with the Adds. This pass was the one used by the Romans in their intercourse with the countries bordering on the Danube and the Rhine, and also by the German armies on their marches into Italy in the middle ages. 7. The Wormser Joch, also called the Orteles pass, or road, opened by Austria in 1824. It is the loftiest carriage-road in Europe, and connects the Tyrol with Lombardy. 8. The Brenner pass, known to the Romans. It also connects the Tyrol with Lombardy ; highest point, 4650 ft. It is now crossed by a railway. , Besides these great roads, lead ing s. into Italy, there are two which lead n. from the valley of the Rhone, and cross the Bemese A., over the Grimsel pass, 6500 ft. high, and the Gemini pass, 7400 ft. high. The roads over the EAST A. are much lower and also much more numerous than those in the MIDDLE or WEST A. The principal are : 1. The road from Venice to Salzburg, crossing the Noric A. at an elevation of rather more than 5100 ft. 2. The road over the Cantle A., which divides into three branches—the first leading to Laybach ; the second, to the valley of the Isonzo ; and the third, to the valley of the Tagliamento. 3. The roads from the Danube at Linz to Laybach.
A. offer a rich field for geological investigations, the results of which hitherto may be thus slammed up: The ,higliest central mass—the primary A., as they are called—that rises from the plain to the s.w. of Turin, and stretches in a mighty curve to the Neusiedlersee, in Hungary, consists chiefly of the crystalline, rocks gneiss and mica-slate, with a much smaller proportion of granite. Inclosed among the- central A. appear representatives of the carboniferous and Jurassic formations ; but so altered and become so crystalline that their age can only be guessed from a few remaining petrefac lions, which are accompanied here and there by garnets. In the Graian, Pennine, and
Rhaetian A. occur great masses of serpentine ; in the n. of Piedmont, and in the upper valley of the Adige, quartz-porphyry. In the e. there are, on the n. and s. sides of the chief range, vast deposits of clay-slate and grauwacke mixed with transition limestone.
Beginning on the Mediterranean coast, and following in general the direction of the central chains, a belt of sedimentary rocks runs along the w. and u. sides to the neighbor hood of Vienna. On the s. side a similar belt runs from lake Maggiore to Agram. The undulating curves and colossal dislocations presented by these regions show that the form of their mountains must have been the result of a mighty force acting northwards and southwards from the central A. In respect of age, these sedimentary or calcareous A. include all the members of the series of formations from magnesian limestone up to the lowest strata of the tertiary group. The south-eastern portion of these calcareous mountains, forming the Julian A., mostly consist of cavernous rocks of the jurassic and chalk groups; and are continued with this character into Dalmatia.
..3finerds.—Precious stones are found in abundance in the trap and primary moun tains, especially in the region of the St. Gothard. The rock-crystal of St. Gothard has a world-wide reputation. 3Iining and smelting become more and more productive as we advance eastward. Switzerland itself is poor in useful ores. Gold and silver are found in Tyrol, Salzburg, and Carinthia ; there are also silver-mines in Styria and Illyria; and one near Grenoble, in Franco. Copper is found in tho French A., In Tyrol, and Styria.
The lead-mines near Villach, in Carinthia, yield yearly about 35,000 cwt. The yield of iron in Switzerland, Savoy, and Salzburg is trifling; Carinthia, on the other hand, pro duces 260,000 cwt., and Styria 450,000 cwt. Quicksilver is extracted at Idria, in Carni ola, to the amount of 1000 to 1500 cwt. The Alpine region is rich in salt, especially at Hall in Tyrol, and Hallein in Salzburg. Coal is found in Switzerland, in Savoy, and in the French A., but in no great quantity; the Austrian A. are, again, richer in this im portant mineral. The mineral springs, hot and cold, that occur in the region of the A. are innumerable. See Aix, Iscim, LEux, BADEN, etc.
Animals.—The Alpine mountains present many peculiarities worthy of notice in the animal as well as in the vegetable kingdom (see ALPINE PLANTs). On the sunny heights the number of insects is very great; the butterflies are especially numerous. There are few fishes, although trouts are sometimes caught in ponds even 6000 ft. above the level of the sea. Although the lofty mountains are inhabited by eagles, hawks, and various species of owls, yet the birds are few in comparison with the numbers in the plains, and those few are mostly confined to the larger valleys. the quadrupeds, the wild goat is sometimes, though rarely, to be met with ; the chamois is more frequently seen, chiefly in the eastern districts. The marmot inhabits the upper Alpine regions. Wolves are seen more frequently in the w. than in the e.; id the latter, on the other hand, bears, lynxes, and wild-cats are found, although constantly diminishing in number. Of the domestic animals, goats and oxen are scattered everywhere in large herds. There are feWer sheep than horses, and these are not of good breeds. Mules and asses are used more frequently •in the s. than in the n., especially as beasts of burden. Swine and dogs are not common ; the latter are used almost solely by the herdsmen, or are kept in the hospices, to assist in searching for the unfortunate wanderers who may be lost in the snow.