Alpine Physiography

Abstract

THE first of these two works—an elaborate memoir of 306 pages—forms the third volume of the “Handbücher zur Deutschen Landes- und Volkskunde,”issued by the Gentralkommission fiir wissenschaftliche Landeskunde von Deutschland. About one-sixth of the whole is occupied by some preliminary remarks, and a discussion of the snow-line and the methods of estimating it. As the author points out, this expression is a rather vague one, and in a later part of the book he indicates that it may be or has been used in four different senses: (1) the lower limit of the patches of firn or névé, which chiefly depends on the steepness and ruggedness of the mountains; (2) the lower limit of the connected permanent fields of snow and ice, excluding the glaciers which descend from them, which may be called the practical snow-line,—this depends mainly on the nature of a declivity and its aspect; (3) the “climatic' snow-line, a theoretical estimate of the snow-line arrived at by considering climatic factors only; (4) the normal snow-covering, estimated by the line up to which the snow melts away from the mountains. In proportion as the mountains become regular in form, the first, second, and fourth approach one another, and tend to coincide with the third, and all must be considered in arriving at a general estimation of the snow-line for any mountain group.

Die Gletscher der Ostalpen.

Von Dr. Eduard Richter. Mit sieben Karten, zwei Ansichten, und vierundvierzig Profilen im Text. (Stuttgart: J. Engelhorn, 1888.)

The Alps.

By Prof. F. Umlauft Translated by Louisa Brough. With 110 Illustrations. (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co., 1889.)