Philip Lake and Howard Knox and W. A. B. Coolidge

“ On the northern side the Alps (in whichever sense we take this term) are definitely bounded by the course of the Rhine from Basel to the Lake of Constance, the plain of Bavaria, and the low region of foot-hills that extend from Salzburg to the neighbourhood of Vienna. One result of this limit, marked out by Nature herself, is that the waters which flow down the northern slope of the Alps find their way either into the North Sea through the Rhine, or into the Black Sea by means of the Danube, not a drop reaching the Baltic Sea. ”

“ It must suffice to say that the weight of scientific opinion inclines to the view that at least the majority of endemic species are of pre-glacial origin, and are either strictly indigenous or products of the neighbouring lowlands. About 40% of the endemic element in the alpine flora are endemic also in the narrower sense, i.e. they are confined to the Alps. Many of them are restricted to some one small portion of the chain; these occur chiefly in the southern and eastern Alps. It is an interesting fact that the centrally situated Bernese Alps produce hardly a single peculiar species. ”

“ In the 13th century many hitherto unknown passes came into prominence, even some of the easy glacier passes. It should always be borne in mind that in the Western and Central Alps there is but one ridge to cross, to which access is gained by a deep-cut valley, though often it would be shorter to cross a second pass in order to gain the plains, e.g. the Mont Genèvre, that is most directly reached by the Col du Lautaret; and the Simplon, which is best gained by one of the lower passes over the western portion of the Bernese Oberland chain. ”

“ The occurrence of favourable meteorological conditions during several successive seasons may and does increase the extent of the snow-fields, and lower the limit of seemingly permanent snow; while an opposite state of things may cause the limit to rise higher on the flanks of the mountains. Hence all attempts to fix accurately the level of perpetual snow in the Alps are fallacious, and can at the best approach only to local accuracy for a particular district. ”

“ Climate.—It is well known that as we rise from the sea-level into the upper regions of the atmosphere the temperature decreases. The effect of mountain-chains on prevailing winds is to carry warm air belonging to the lower region into an upper zone, where it expands in volume at the cost of a proportionate loss of heat, often accompanied by the precipitation of moisture in the form of snow or rain. ”

“ Yet, as a matter of fact, several important mountain groups are situated on one or other side of the watershed of the Alps, and form almost independent ranges, being only connected with the main chain by a kind of peninsula: such are the Dauphine Alps, the Eastern and Western Graians, the entire Bernese Oberland, the Todi, Albula and Silvretta groups, the Ortler and Adamello ranges, and the Dolomites of south Tirol, not to speak of the lower Alps of the Vorarlberg, Bavaria and Salzburg. ”

“ In the pine forests of the Alps the prevailing species are the common spruce and the silver fir; on siliceous soil the larch flourishes, and surpasses every other European species in height. The Scottish pine is chiefly found at a lower level and rarely forms forests. The Siberian fir is found scattered at intervals throughout the Alps but is not common. The mughus, creeping pine, or Krummholz of the Germans, is common in the Eastern Alps, and sometimes forms on the higher mountains a distinct zone above the level of its congeners. ”

“ It is here that the characteristic vegetation of the Alps is developed in its Alpine region.full beauty and variety. Shrubs are not wanting. Three species of rhododendron vie with each other in the brilliancy of their masses of red or pink flowers; the common juniper rises higher still, along with three species of bilberry; and several dwarf willows attain nearly to the utmost limit of vegetation. The upper limit of this region coincides with the so-called limit of perpetual snow.
On the higher parts of lofty mountains more snow falls in each year than is melted on the spot. ”

“ Only the Muschelkalk, which does not reach so far as England, and the uppermost beds, the Rhaetic, contain fossils in any abundance. The Trias of the Eastern Alps, on the other hand, consists chiefly of great masses of limestone with an abundant fauna, and is clearly of marine origin. The Jurassic and Cretaceous beds also differ, though in a less degree, from those of northern Europe. They consist largely of limestone; but marls and sandstones are by no means rare, and there are considerable gaps in the succession indicating that the region was not continuously beneath the sea. ”

“ Moreover, although they interrupt the folding of the zone in which they occur, they do not disturb it: they do not, in fact, rise through the zone, but lie upon it like unconformable masses—in other words, they rest upon a thrust-plane. Whence they have come into their present position is by no means clear; but the character of the beds which form them indicates a distant origin. It is interesting to note, in this connexion, that the pebbles of the Swiss Molasse are not generally such as would be derived from the neighbouring mountains, but resemble the rocks of the Eastern Alps. ”

“ A mean summer temperature of at least 68° F. is considered necessary to produce tolerable wine, but in ordinary seasons this is much exceeded in many of the great valleys of the Alps.
Many writers take the growth of grain as the characteristic of the mountain region; but so many varieties of all the common species are in cultivation, and these have such different climatal requirements, that they do not afford a satisfactory criterion. A more natural limit is afforded by the presence of the chief deciduous trees—oak, beech,Mountain region, or region of deciduous trees. ”

“ There, a sun which never sets sends feeble rays that maintain a low equable temperature, rarely rising more than a few degrees above the freezing-point. Hence the upper region of the Alps sustains a far more varied and brilliant vegetation.
4. Main Chain.—In the case of every mountain system geographers are disposed to regard, as a general rule, the watershed (or boundary dividing the waters flowing towards opposite slopes of the range) as marking the main chain, and this usage is justified in that the highest peaks often rise on or very near the watershed. ”

“ Geology.—The Alps form but a small portion of a great zone of crumpling which stretches, in a series of curves, from the Atlas Mountains to the Himalayas. Within this zone the crust of the earth has been ridged up into a complex system of creases or folds, out of which the great mountain chains of southern Europe and Asia have been carved by atmospheric agencies. ”

“ The Flysch is an extraordinarily thick and uniform mass of sandstones and shales with scarcely any fossils excepting fucoids. It is intensely folded and is constantly separated from the Mesozoic zone by a fault. Throughout the whole extent of the Eastern Alps it is strictly limited to the belt between this fault and the marginal zone of Molasse. Eocene beds, indeed, penetrate farther within the chain, but these are limestones with nummulites or lignite-bearing shales and have nothing in common with the Flysch. ”

“ The olive has been known to survive severe cold when of short duration, but it cannot be cultivated with success where frosts are prolonged, or where the mean winter temperature falls below 42° F.; and to produce fruit it requires a heat of at least 75° F. during the day, continued through four or five months of the summer and autumn.
The vine is far more tolerant of cold than the olive, but to produce tolerable wine it demands, at the season of ripening, a degree of heat not much less than that needed by the more delicate tree. ”

“ Thence for a short way the direction is north to the Col de la Seigne, and then north-east along the crest of the Mont Blanc chain, which culminates in the peak of Mont Blanc (15,782 ft.) , the loftiest in the Alps. A number of high peaks crown our watershed before it attains the Mont Dolent (12,543 ft.) . Thence after a short dip to the south-east, our chain takes near the Great St Bernard Pass the generally eastern direction that it maintains till it reaches Monte Rosa, whence it bends northwards, making one small dip to the east as far as the Simplon Pass. ”

“ In some parts of the Alps the limit may be set at about 8000 ft. above the sea, while in others it cannot be placed much below 9500 ft. As very little snow can rest on rocks that lie at an angle exceeding 60°, and this is soon removed by the wind, some steep masses of rock remain bare even near the summits of the highest peaks, but as almost every spot offering the least hold for vegetation is covered with snow, few flowering plants are seen above 11,000 ft. ”

“ The Subalpine is the region which mainly determines the manner of life of the population of the Alps. On a rough estimate we may reckon that, of the space lying between the summits of the Alps and the low country on either side, one-quarter is available for cultivation, of which about one-half may be vineyards and corn-fields, while Subalpine region, or region of coniferous trees.the remainder produces forage and grass. About another quarter is utterly barren, consisting of snow-fields, glaciers, bare rock, lakes and the beds of streams. ”

“ But if we confine the meaning of the term Alps to those parts of the chain that are what is commonly called “Alpine,” where the height is sufficient to support a considerable mass of perpetual snow, our boundaries to the west and to the east must be placed at spots other than those mentioned above. To the west the limit will then be the Col de Tenda (6145 ft.) ”

“ A portion of this is carried away by the wind before it is consolidated; a larger portion accumulates in hollows and depressions of the surface, and is gradually converted into glacier-ice, which descends by a slow secular motion into the deeper valleys, Glacial region.where it goes to swell perennial streams. As on a mountain the snow does not lie in beds of uniform thickness, and some parts are more exposed to the sun and warm winds than others, we commonly find beds of snow alternating with exposed slopes covered with brilliant vegetation ”

“ Most numerous are the beetles. Those of the highest zone are remarkable for the great predominance of predaceous species and of wingless forms. In this last respect they present a striking analogy with the endemic coleopterous fauna of oceanic islands. As for the butterflies, not more than one-third of the species found in the alpine region occur in the neighbouring lowlands. The relations between alpine butterflies and plants are especially interesting, as regards not only their bionomic interdependence but also the analogies of their geographical distribution. ”

“ Divisions.—The Alps, within the limits indicated under (2) above, form a great range, consisting of a main chain, with ramifications, and of several parallel minor chains. They thus form a single connected whole as contrasted with the plains at their base, and nature has made no breaks therein, save at the spots where they sink to comparatively low depressions or passes. ”

“ In any case, however, the migration of these plants to the Alps must for the most part have taken place via the Arctic. The possibility of any extensive east to west migration having taken place direct from the Altai to the Alps seems excluded by the fact that 50% of the arctico-altaic alpine plants are absent from the Caucasus. A score of species, it is true—not such a number, be it observed, as was formerly supposed—are common to the Alps and Altai, but absent from the Arctic. ”

“ The most characteristic feature of this region is the prevalence of coniferous trees, which, where they have not been artificially kept down, form vast forests that cover a large part of the surface. These play a most important part in the natural economy of the country. They protect the valleys from destructive avalanches, and, retaining the superficial soil by their roots, they mitigate the destructive effects of heavy rains. ”

“ Nearly all the moisture that is precipitated during six or seven months is stored up in the form of snow, and is gradually diffused in the course of the succeeding summer; even in the hottest and driest seasons the reserves accumulated during a long preceding period of years in the form of glaciers are available to maintain the regular flow of the greater streams. ”

“ The stronghold of this last, the distinctively “Alpine” flora, is the region above the tree-limit. Its closest relationship is with the flora of the Pyrenees; but an alpine flora is characteristic of all the lofty mountains of central Europe. According to J. Ball, 2010 well-marked species of flowering plants occur within the limits of the Alps. ”

“ It should be noted that butterflies are the chief agents in securing the continued existence of such alpine flowers as depend on insect fertilization, the other insect fertilizers being mostly wanting at great heights. ”

“ These conditions are satisfied in the deeper valleys of the Alps, even in the interior of the chain, and up to a considerable height on slopes exposed Vine region.to the sun. The protection afforded by winter snow enables the plant to resist severe and prolonged frosts, such as would be fatal in more exposed situations. Many wild plants characteristic of the warmer parts of middle Europe are seen to flourish along with the vine. ”

“ This relation of the arctic to the alpine flora is all the more remarkable in view of the very important differences between the arctic and alpine climates. The following circumpolar species are common, and widely diffused throughout the whole of the Alps: Silene acaulis, Dryas octopetala, Saxifraga oppositifolia, S. aizoides, S. stellaris, Erigeron alpinus, Azalea procumbens, Myosotis alpestris, Polygonum viviparum, Salix retusa, S. herbacea, Phleum alpinum, Juniperus nana. The proportion of northern forms, as regards both species and individuals, increases as we ascend to the higher regions. ”