S. frontier, and their northward ramifications, which cover a large part of the State; and the Riesengebirge, on the S.E. The rugged region known as Saxon Switzerland" lies in the S.E.

66

DRAINAGE. The drainage is carried N.W. into the North Sea by the Elbe (see pp. 20, 89), and its tributaries, the Mulde, and Elster.

CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS.-The Climate is temperate in the N. districts; but the winters are very severe in the mountainous regions. The Productions include the vine, oats, potatoes, fruits timber, coal, iron, lead, building-stones, and precious stones.

ts;

PEOPLE AND LANGUAGE.—In 1875 the Population was 2,760,586, who are all Germans, except a few Wends, and speak German.

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY.

POLITICAL DIVISIONS.-For administrative purposes Saxony is divided into 4 Government Districts, as given in the table following.

NOTES ON THE TOWNS.-The six most populous towns are Dresden (197,295), Leipzig (127,387), Chemnitz (78,209), Zwickau (31,491), Plauen`(28,756), Freiberg (23,559).

Obs. Dresden, the capital of Saxony, the seat of government, and the residence of the royal family, lies on the Elbe, and at the junction of railways from Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, &c. Its picturesque situation and its celebrated art treasures have gained for it the name of the "German Florence." The Picture Gallery is especially famous, and contains the finest collection of paintings and prints in Germany. The famous Dresden china is made at Meissen, 15 m. N.W. of Dresden. The chief industrial centres are Dresden (silks, woollens, musical and mathematical instruments, &c.), Leipzig (book-trade, type-founding, commerce, &c.), Zwickau (mining, woollens, &e.), Plauen (linens, cottons, &c.), Freiberg (mining, smelting, brewing, &c.), Chemnitz (cottons, the "Manchester" of Saxony).

INDUSTRIES AND COMMUNICATIONS.-The chief industries are Agriculture, which is carried on with great skill and vigour ; Manufactures, especially of cotton, woollen, linen, and iron goods and Mining, particularly coal, iron, silver, and tin mining. Turnpike Roads are good, and there are complete networks of Railways and Telegraphic Lines.

Obs. Leipzig is the emporium of the German book trade. Its three fairs-New Year, Easter, and Michaelmas-are attended by buyers and sellers from all parts of Europe and W. Asia.

GOVERNMENT, RELIGION, AND EDUCATION.-The Government is an hereditary constitutional Monarchy. The Religion is Christian, the bulk of the Saxons being Lutherans. Education is compulsory, and has its utmost development in Saxony. The Leipzig University is the largest in Germany, and is attended by 3,000 students.

THE GRAND DUCHY OF BADEN.

GENERAL FACTS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

THE State of Baden lies almost entirely between the kingdom of Würtemberg and the Rhine. Its mean lat. is 48° 40' N., and its area 5,893 sq. m. It is traversed from N. to S. by the Black Forest mountains, and drained by parts of the Danube, Rhine, Neckar, and Lake Constance. The climate is healthy, but the winters are excessively cold in the Black Forest. The productions include grain, fruit, timber, salt, coal, alum, silver, copper, and lead. The population numbers 1,507,179, and consists almost entirely of German speaking people.

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY.

POLITICAL DIVISIONS.-Baden, for administrative purposes, is divided into 4 Districts, which, with their chief towns, are as follows:

NOTES ON THE TOWNS.-The five most populous towns are Mannheim (46,453), Carlsruhe (42,895), Freiburg (30,595), Pforzheim (23,692), Heidelberg (22,334).

Obs. Carlsruhe, the capital, is on the Basle and Frankfort Railway. The town is regularly built, in the shape of a wheel, its principal streets radiating from the palace.

The chief industrial centres are Carlsruhe, and Heidelberg (for machinery), St. Blasien and Ludenburg (metal goods, and arms), Schopfheim, and Constance (cotton goods), Pforzheim (bijouterie).

Obs. Baden is the home of the manufacture of wooden articles, and the Black Forest is the seat of the wooden clockmaking.

Other notable towns are Mannheim (a great commercial centre), Baden (a celebrated watering-place), and Kehl (commerce).

INDUSTRIES, AND COMMUNICATIONS.-The people of Baden are chiefly occupied in Agriculture—which is in a very advanced state, in Grazing, Mining, Manufactures-especially of cotton and silk fabrics, straw-plait, wooden ornaments, jewelry, music boxes, clocks and watches, and in Lumbering. Communications are carried on by good Turnpike Roads, an excellent Railway System, a busy River Navigation, and an efficient Telegraphic System.

GOVERNMENT, RELIGION, AND EDUCATION.-The Government of Baden is a constitutional and hereditary Monarchy. The prevailing form of Religion is Romanism. Education is compulsory, and under the direction of the State.

H

THE REMAINING MINOR STATES.

The remaining 21 States of Germany call for no further description here than may be gathered from the following table and the notes appended to it :

67,480 Sondershausen.. Arnstadt.

NOTES ON THE TOWNS.-The five most populous towns in these states are Hamburg (264,675), Bremen (102,532), ̄ Strasburg (94,306), Brunswick (65,938), Mülhausen (58,463).

Obs. Hamburg, on the Elbe, 70 m. from its mouth, is the principal sea-port of Germany, and one of the chief commercial centres of Europe. It is a handsomely built city, and celebrated for its munificent charitable institutions. It is the birth-place of Mendelssohn.

Bremen, on the Weser, is, after Hamburg, the most important port of Germany. Strasbourg, a strong frontier fortress on the Rhine, is renowned for its splendid Gothic cathedral, which has the loftiest spire (468 ft.) in the world.

Brunswick, on the Ocker, is famous for its educational and literary institutions. Mülhausen, on the Ill, is celebrated for its cotton, woollen, muslin, and silk goods.

Mayence (pop. 56,421), a strong fortress on the Rhine, is the birthplace of Guttenberg, the cradle of the art of printing, and a busy commercial centre.

Metz, an important fortress on the Moselle, was surrendered to Germany, with a very large army, October, 1870, by Marshal Bazaine. Pop., 45,856.

Lubeck, chief of the three "Free Towns," is an important port, and one of the most picturesque towns of Germany. Pop., 44,799.

Rostock, on the Wornow, is a flourishing seaport with a large ship-building trade. Pop., 34,172.

Colmar, near the foot of the Vosges, is the centre of a manufacturing district of cotton and printed goods. Pop., 23,990.

PEOPLE, LANGUAGE, RELIGION, AND EDUCATION.-The people of these minor States number 5,813,296, and are all Germans, with the exception of the Jews and other foreigners whom business exigences draw into residence. The Language spoken is German; the Religion mostly Protestant; and Education is, in nearly all the States, compulsory for children from 6 to 14 years of age.

AUSTRIA; OR, THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN

EMPIRE.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

Latitude. Between 42° 9′ and 51° 2′ N.

Longitude. Between 9° 35' and 26° 25′ E. Area. 240,262 sq. m.

POSITION AND BOUNDARIES. --The Austro-Hungarian Empire lies towards the E. of Central Europe. It is bounded on the

N. by Prussia. N.E. by Russia. N.W. and W. by Germany (Saxony and Bavaria). S.W. by Switzerland and Italy. S. by Turkey and Servia. S.E. by Roumania.

COASTS.-The only seaboard of Austria lies on the N.E. coast of the Adriatic, and is only 440 m. in extent; and the greater part of it is fringed with islands. Of the

Capes, the chief is the Punta di Promontore, S. of the Istrian Peninsula.
Inlets, the chief are the Gulfs of Trieste, Quarnero, and Cattaro.

ISLANDS.-These are very numerous; the most important are Cherso, Veglia, Pago, Lunga, Brazza, Lesina, Curzola, and Meleda.

SURFACE.-About three-fourths of Austria are mountainous, and these parts lie in the W.; N. W.; N.; and E. In the centre, and S. of the centre, are some extensive plains, and some marshy and malarious districts. The most notable surface features are the

1. Mountains, which belong principally to the three following systems, viz.

a. The Austrian Alps, which lie in the W. and cover a large part of Austria proper. This system embraces the Orteler, Tyrolese, High Tauern, Styrian, Trientine, Carnic, and Julian Sections of the E. part of the Alpine barrier, and culminates in the Orteler Spize (12,814 ft.), in the Tyrolese Alps.

b. The Carpathians, which stretch from W. to E. and S.E. in a semicircle of 800 m. long on the N. and E. frontiers of the empire. The chief divisions of the system are the Little Carpathians on the W.; the Beskiden Range; the Western Carpathians, or Carpathians Proper, including the Mass of Tatra; the Eastern Carpathians; and the Transsylvanian Alps, which include Mt. Negoi (8,346 ft.), the loftiest point in the system.

Obs. A more natural division of the Carpathian system is into-1. A N.W. Mass; 2. An intermediate chain, called the Waldgebirge; and 3. A S. E. Mass. Some geographers divide them into 4 parts, viz.-1. The N.W. Carpathians; 2. The Central Carpathians, including the Tatra Mass; 3. The Waldgebirge or Wooded Carpathians; 4. The Transsylvanian Carpathians.

c. The Bohemian and Moravian Systems, which embrace the Sudeten Mts., the Riesengebirge, the Erzgebirge, and the Böhmer Wald. The loftiest point is Schneekoppe (5,255 ft.), in the Sudeten Mts.

Obs. Among these mountains are embraced a countless number of valleys which, from their general aspect and beauty of site, are reckoned among the most interesting and picturesque places in Europe.

2. Plateaux, which occupy large areas in different parts of the Empire. The chief of them are the

a. Bohemian Plateau, which lies in the N.W., and is completely enclosed by the ramifications of the Sudetic system, and the Böhmer Wald.

b. Hungarian Plateau, which is buttressed on the W. by the Little Carpathians, on the N. by the Beskiden Mountains, and on the S. by a low range called Matra.

c. Transsylvanian Plateau, which lies in the S.E., and is enclosed between the Carpathian Mountains and a W. branch, called the Transsylvanian Erzgebirge.

3. Plains, which are numerous and extensive, but of which the most important are the

a. Plain of Upper Hungary, a well-watered, fertile, and highly productive region, which lies between the Hungarian Plateau, the Bakony Wald, and the high lands of Styria.

b. Plain of Lower Hungary, a flat, extensive, and most prolific tract of territory, almost as large as Ireland, which is enclosed by the Carpathians, the Transsylvanian Plateau, the Danube, and the Bakony Wald. Great sandy wastes mar the centre of this plain, and there are vast marshes in the centre and in the S.; but the marshes are being rapidly reclaimed.

Obs. Both these plains are notable grain and fruit producing regions.

DRAINAGE. The drainage of Austria is carried S. E. into the Black Sea and the Adriatic; and N.W. to the North Sea and the Baltic. The chief draining agents are the