The leading rivers that have navigable tributaries are: the Danube (q.v.), which has a course of 849 in. within the Austrian dominions, from Passau, at the mouth of the Inn, to Orsova, on the frontier of Walachia, and receives, on the right, the Inn, Traun, Ens, Leitlia, Raab, Drau, and Save; and, on the left, the March, Wang, Neutra, Gran, Theiss. Bega, and Temes: the Vistula (q.v.), with its tributary the Bug: the Elbe (q.v.), with the Moldau and Eger: the Dniester and Adige (q.v.) have no navigable tributaries; this last, which rises in the lthmtian Alps, and flows past the famous city of Trent, enters Lombardy above Verona, and confers on that country the benefits of what commercial importance it possesses—being navigable only up to a point below Legnagn. The Rhine only bounds the empire for about 14 m. above lake Constance. The Isonzo, Zer magna, and Narenta flow into the Adriatic.
The canal .system of Austria is in general not extensive. Canal construction is recent. The Vienna and Neustadt canal, in lower Austria, has a length of 40 in.; the Bacser or Franz canal, between the Danube and Theiss in Hungary, 69 m.; and the Bega canal, constructed by the Romans, between the Bega. and Temes, 83 miles: Extensive lines are still capable of being opened up, affording the only possible communication with many places now inaccessible, and, at the same time, the means of rescuing tracts of arable land from inundations.
The climate of A. is on the whole very favorable; but from the extent and diversity of surface, it presents great varieties. In the warmest southern region between 42° to 46' lat., rice, olives, oranges, and lemons ripen in the. better localities; and wine and maize are produced everywhere. In the middle, temperate region from 46° to 49°, which has the greatest extent and diversity of surface, wine and maize still thrive in perfection. In the northern region, beyond 49!, except .in favored spots, neither wine nor maize succeeds; but grain, fruit. flax, and hemp thrive excellently. The mean temperature of the year is, at Triest. 58° F.; at Vienna, 51°; at Lemberg, in Galicia, 44°.
The raw products of A. are abundant and various; and in .this respect it is one of the most favored countries in Europe. What one province lacks, another supplies. Its mineral wealth is not surpassed in any European country; it is only lately that Russia has exceeded it in the production of gold and silver. Mining has been a favorite pur suit in A. for centuries, and has been encouraged .and promoted by the government. Bohemia, Hungary, Styria, Carinthia, Salzburg, and Tyrol take the first place in respect Of mineral produce. Except platina, none of the useful metals is wanting, The mines are partly state property, and partly owned by private individuals. The value of their yearly produce is estimated at about 19,090,000. Of this sum coal yields about a half. iron a fifth, salt a tenth, and gold and silver together one fourteenth. The number of
persons employed in mines and smelting-works is about 150,000; a third of whom are in Hungary. Gold is found chiefly in Hungary and Transylvania, and in smaller quantity in Salzburg and Tyrol. The same countries, along with Bohemia, yield silver. The dis covery of quicksilver at Idria (q.v.) first brought this branch of mining industry into importance. This metal is now also found in. Hungary, Transylvania, Styria, and Carinthia. Copper is found in many districts—tin, in Bohemia alone. Zinc is got chiefly in Cracow and Carinthia. The most productive lead-mines are in Carinthia. Iron is found in almost every province of the monarchy, though Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola are chief seats. The production, th.ough. great, is not yet equal to the con sumption. Antimony is confined to Hunzary; arsenic is found in Salzburg and Bohemia. cobalt in Hungary, Styria. and Bohemia; sulphur in Galicia, Bohemia, Hungary, Salz burg, etc.. though not enough to supply home consumption. Graphite is found abund. antly in Bohemia, Moravia, Carinthia. etc.
The useful earths and building stones are to be had in great profusion; all sorts of clay up to the finest porcelain earth (in Moravia, Bohemia, and Hungary), and likewise marble, gypsum, chalk. etc. Of precious and semi-precious stones are the Hungarian 1 opal (which passes in commerce as oriental), Bohemian garnets (the finest in Europe), cornelians. agates, beryl, amethyst, jasper, ruby, sapphire, topaz, etc.
The following table shows the principal metals and minerals produced iu A. in 1872, and their value In florins: A. is peculiarly rich in salt. Rock-salt exists in immense beds on both sides of the Carpathians, chiefly at Wieliczka (q.v.) and Bochnia in Galicia, and in the co. of Marmaros in Hungary, and in Transylvania. The annual produce of rock-salt is greatly above 3,000,000 cwt. Salt is also made at state salt-works by evaporating the water of salt-springs. The chief works are those at Ebensee, Aussee, Hallstadt, lschl, Hallein, and Hall in Tyrol. From two to three million cwt. are thus produced annu ally. A considerable quantity is also made from sea-water on the coasts of the Adriatic. The sale of salt is in A. a government monopoly. Of other salts, alum, sulphate of iron, and sulphate of copper are the chief. There are inexhaustible deposits of coal in the monarchy; but they have not yet been rightly explored, nor are nearly all that are known yet worked. They are spread over all the provinces; but the richest are in the mountain-systems of Moravia and Bohemia. Of recent years, however, a great deal has been done to develop this particular branch of mining. A. has abundance of min eral springs, frequented for their salubrity; 1600 are enumerated, some of them of Euro reputation, as the sulphurous baths of Baden, in lower A., the saline waters of "arlsbad, Marienbad, and Ofen, etc.