Surface.—The mountains form several distinct groups or systems of very different geological dates, the loftiest mountain masses being in the south central region. The Scandinavian mountains in the north-west, to which the great northern peninsula owes its form, extend above 900 miles from the Polar Sea to the south point of Norway. The highest summits are about 8000 feet. The Alps, the highest mountains in Europe (unless Mount Elbruz in the Caucasus is claimed as European), extend from the Mediterranean first in a northerly and then in an easterly direction, and attain their greatest elevation in Mont Blanc (15,780 feet), Monte Rosa, and other summits. Branching off from the Alps, though not geologically connected with them, are the Apennines, which run south-east through Italy, constituting the central ridge of the peninsula. The highest summit is Monte Corno (9541 feet). Mount Vesuvius, the celebrated volcano in the south of the peninsula, is quite distinct from the Apennines. By south-eastern extensions the Alps are connected with the Balkan and the Despoto-Dagh of the south-eastern peninsula of Europe. Among the mountains of South-Western Europe are several massive chains, the loftiest summits being in the Pyrenees, and in the Sierra Nevada in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. The highest point in the former, La Maladetta or Mount Maudit, has an elevation of 11,165 feet; Mulahacen, in the latter, is 11,703 feet, and capped by perpetual snow. West and north-west of the Alps are the Cevennes, Jura, and Vosges; north and north-east, the Harz, the Thüringerwald Mountains, the Fichtelgebirge, the Erzgebirge and Böhmerwaldgebirge. Farther
to the east the Carpathian chain encloses the great plain of Hungary, attaining an elevation of 8000 or 8500 feet. The Ural Mountains between Europe and Asia reach the height of 5540 feet. Besides Vesuvius, other two volcanoes are Etna in Sicily, and Hecla in Iceland. A great part of Northern and Eastern Europe is level. The great plain of North Europe occupies part of France, Western and Northern Belgium, Holland, the northern provinces of Germany, and the greater part of Russia. A large portion of this plain, extending through Holland and North Germany, is a low sandy level not infrequently protected from inroads of the sea only by means of strong dykes. The other great plains of Europe are the Plain of Lombardy (the most fertile district in Europe) and the Plain of Hungary. Part of Southern and South-Eastern Russia consists of steppes.
Rivers and Lakes.—The main European watershed runs in a winding direction from south-west to north-east, at its north-eastern extremity being of very slight elevation. From the Alps descend some of the largest of the European rivers, the Rhine, the Rhône, and the Po, while the Danube, a still greater stream, rises in the Black Forest north of the Alps. The Volga, which enters the Caspian Sea, an inland sheet without outlet, is the longest of European rivers, having a direct length of nearly 1700 miles, including windings 2400 miles. Into the Mediterranean flow the Ebro, the Rhône, and the Po; into the Black Sea, the Danube, Dnieper, Dniester, and Don (through the Sea of Azov); into the Atlantic, the Guadalquivir, the Guadiana, the Tagus, and Loire: into the English Channel, the Seine; into the North Sea, the Rhine, Elbe; into the Baltic, the Oder, the Vistula, and the Duna; into the Arctic Ocean, the Dvina. The lakes of Europe may be divided into two groups, the southern and the northern. The former run along both sides of the Alps, and among them, on the north side, are the lakes of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Thun, Lucerne, Zürich, and Constance; on the south side, Lago Maggiore, and the lakes of Como, Lugano, Iseo, and Garda. The northern lakes extend across Sweden from west to east, and on the east side of the Baltic a number of lakes, stretching in the same direction across Finland on the borders of Russia, mark the continuation of the line of depression. It is in Russia that the largest European lakes are found—Lakes Ladoga and Onega.
Geology.—The geological features of Europe are exceedingly varied. The older formations prevail in the northern part as compared with the southern half and the middle region. North of the latitude of Edinburgh and Moscow there is very little of the surface of more recent origin than the strata of the Upper Jura belonging to
the Mesozoic period, and there are vast tracts occupied either by eruptive rocks or one or other of the older sedimentary formations. Denmark belongs to the Cretaceous period, as does also a large part of Russia between the Volga and the basin of the Dnieper. Middle and Eastern Germany, with Poland and the valley of the Dnieper, present on the surface Eocene formations of the Tertiary period. The remainder of Europe is remarkable for the great diversity of its superficial structure, rocks and deposits belonging to all periods being found within it, and having for the most part no great superficial extent. Europe possesses abundant stores of those minerals which are of most importance to man, such as coal and iron, Britain being particularly favoured in this respect. Coal and iron are also obtained in France, Belgium, and Germany. Gold is found to an unimportant extent, and silver is widely spread in small quantities. The richest silver ores are in Norway, Spain, the Erzgebirge, and the Harz Mountains. Spain is also rich in quicksilver. Copper ores are abundant in the Ural Mountains, Thuringia, Cornwall, and Spain. Tin ores are found in Cornwall, the Erzgebirge, and Brittany.
Climate.—Several circumstances concur to give Europe a climate peculiarly genial, such as its position almost wholly within the temperate zone, and the great extent of its maritime boundaries. Much benefit is also derived from the fact that its shores are exposed to the warm marine currents and warm winds from the south-west, which prevent the formation of ice on most of its northern shores. The eastern portion has a less favourable climate than the western. The extremes of temperature are greater, the summer being hotter and the winter colder, while the lines of equal mean temperature decline south as we go east. The same advantages of mild and genial temperature which western has over eastern Europe, the continent collectively has over the rest of the Old World. The diminution of mean temperature, as well as the intensity of the opposite seasons, increases as we go east. Peking, in lat. 40° N., has as severe a winter as Petrograd in lat. 60° N.
Vegetable Productions.—With respect to the vegetable kingdom, Europe may be divided into four zones. The first, or most northern, is that of fir and birch. The birch reaches almost to North Cape; the fir ceases a degree farther south. The cultivation of grain extends farther north than might be supposed. Barley ripens even under the seventieth parallel of north latitude; wheat ceases at 64° in Norway, 62° in Sweden. Within this zone, the southern limit of which extends from lat. 64° in Norway to lat. 62° in Russia, agriculture has little importance, its inhabitants being chiefly occupied with the care of reindeer or cattle, and in fishing. The next zone, which may be called that of the oak and beech, and cereal produce, extends from the limit above mentioned to the forty-eighth parallel. The Alps, though beyond the limit, by reason of their elevation belong to this zone, in the moister parts of which cattle husbandry has been brought to perfection. Next we find the zone of the chestnut and vine, occupying the space between the forty-eighth parallel and the mountain chains of Southern Europe. Here the oak still flourishes, but the pine species become rarer. Rye, which characterizes the preceding zone on the continent, gives way to wheat, and in the southern portion of it to maize also. The fourth zone, comprehending the southern peninsulas, is that of the olive and evergreen woods. The orange flourishes in the southern portion of it, and rice and even cotton are cultivated in some places in Italy and Spain.
Animals.—As regards animals, the reindeer and polar-bears are peculiar to the north. In the forests of Poland and Lithuania the urus, a species of wild ox, is still occasionally met with. Bears and wolves still inhabit the forests and mountains; but, in general, cultivation and population have expelled wild animals. The domesticated animals are nearly the same throughout. The ass and mule lose their size and beauty north of the Pyrenees and Alps. The Mediterranean Sea has many species of fish, but no great fishery; the northern seas, on the other hand, are annually filled with countless shoals of a few species, chiefly the herring, mackerel, cod, and salmon.