MONT BLANC, inAN IdliN (Fr., White Moun tain). The highest mountain in Europe outside of the Caucasus. It forms with the bordering heights an independent elongated ridge of the Western Alps, on the boundary between France (Savoy) and Italy (Piedmont) (Slap: France. N 01. it is situated a short distance west of the Pennine Alps and north of the Grainn Alps. about 40 miles south of Lake Geneva. It is composed of crystalline strata which exhibit the fan-shaped arrangement characteristic of Alpine peaks. The highest point (15.781 feet), gener ally known as Mont Blanc, is in France, 7 miles south of the Swiss boundary. It is covered by an immense cap of ice more than 75 feet thick, from which glaciers extend downward in all directions. feeding the tributaries of the Rhone on the north and of the Po on the south. The largest glaciers run northward into the 'Valley of Chamonix —the chief being the Glacier du Giant, which extends almost to the bottom of the valley, and is known in its lower course as the Mer de Glace. The line of perpetual snow is at an altitude of 8600 feet. The summit is surrounded by a series of lower, steep and needle-like crags (aiguillrs).
and the ascent is dangerous and fatiguing, many persons lhaving perished in the attempt. The first ascent was made in 17S6 by the guide Balmat, induced by a prize offered by the scientist Sanssure, himself accomplished the ascent the following year and made some of the earliest scientific observations in high altitudes. The summit is now ascended by large numbers of tourists every year. Two meteorological and astronomical observatories are located on Mont Blanc, one built in 1890 at an altitude of 14.324 feet, the other built in 1893 on the summit. Con sult: Doblhofr, Der ilontblane (Vienna, 1880) ; Giissfeldt, Der Monthlane (Berlin, 1894) : Du pare, Lc Monadane, an point de rue fp'ologique et pelrographiqur (Geneva, 1896) ; Durier, Lc Montblane (4th ed., Paris, 1897) : The Annals of Mont Blanc (London, 1898) ; Whym per, Chamonix and the Range of ilontblane (7th ed., London, 1902) ; and the authorities referred to under CLIMBING.