tion from the North to the Black sea. The Rhône and Rhine canal connects the system of these two rivers by joining the Doubs and the Ill. The Bremervörde canal connects the Oste and Schwinge, tributaries of the Elbe; the Kiel canal connects the North and Baltic seas by the Eider, and the Strecknitz canal furnishes an outlet from the Elbe into the Baltic by the Trave; by the Finow and Müllrose canal the systems of the Elbe and Oder are connected.—The number of lakes in Germany is large, but most of them are inconsiderable. The following deserve to be mentioned: the lake of Constance (Bodensee), the banks of which belong to five different states, Baden, Würtemberg, Bavaria, Austria, and Switzerland; Ammer, Würm, Chiem, and Königs lakes, in Bavaria; Feder lake, Würtemberg; lake of Steinhude (Steinhuder Meer), in Hanover and Lippe; Zwischenahner Meer, in Oldenburg; lake of Plön, in Holstein; lake of Ratzeburg, in Lauenburg and Mecklenburg; the lakes of Schwerin and Müritz, in Mecklenburg; Schwieloch and Scharmütz lakes, in Brandenburg; Damm and Plön, in Pomerania; Zarnowitz lake, in Pomerania and western Prussia; the Salt lake near Eisleben, in the Prussian province of Saxony; and the lake of Laach, in Rhenish Prussia.—The climate of Germany is temperate, and, considering the extent of the country, remarkably uniform, the greater heat of the lower latitudes being tempered by the greater elevation of the country and its Alpine character. On the great plain of northern Germany the districts exposed to the moist west and southwest winds have a more inclement climate than central Germany; while the southern-most districts, though drier, have less heat than more northern latitudes. The average decrease of the mean temperature, going from S. to N., is 1° F. in 52 m., and going from W. to E. 1° in 72 m.; measured by the vertical elevation, it is 1° in 256 ft. The mean annual temperature of Stralsund (lat. 54° 18′ N., lon. 13° 5′ 23″ E.) is 46.4°; the mean temperature in summer 63°, in winter 29.8°. The mean annual temperature of the valley of the Rhine is 52°, of Thuringia 47.5°, of Silesia 47°, of all Germany 48.8°. The extremes of temperature in the country N. of the Alps are 95° above and 31° below zero. In an average of 10 years the Rhine had been frozen over 26 days during each winter, the Weser 30 days, the Elbe 62 days, the Oder 70 days. The atmosphere is pure and wholesome, and unfavorable to the development of endemic or hereditary diseases, except in the high Alpine valleys, where cretinism prevails. Epidemics are generally less destructive in Germany than in the neighboring countries.—Of wild animals, the deer, hare, rabbit, fox, hamster (a kind of marmot peculiar to Germany), marten, badger, weasel, otter (rare), &c., are found nearly everywhere, stringent game laws preventing their destruction. A good breed of horses is raised in Mecklenburg, Holstein, and Hanover; cattle raising is a most important branch of husbandry in Oldenburg, the N. W. part of Hanover, Franconia, and the Alpine country; sheep are raised extensively in Saxony, Silesia, and Brandenburg; Saxony furnishes the finest quality of wool; goats, mules, and asses are reared principally in the mountainous districts of the south; hogs in all states, but chiefly in the west. Large birds of prey (the eagle and vulture) are rarely found beyond the Alpine districts; fowl of all kinds, wild and domestic, are plentiful in all parts of the country. Germany has only a few species of amphibia; there are only two venomous kinds of snakes, vipera berus and V. chersea. Carp and pike are numerous in nearly all rivers and ponds, the salmon only in the larger rivers; sturgeon, cod, and sheatfish in the Elbe, trout in all mountain streams; herring and sardines in the Baltic and North sea. Oysters of good quality are obtained near the shores of Schleswig-Holstein, and pearl mussels in some rivers of the interior. The silkworm is not raised extensively.—Germany is rich in mineral products, and mining has employed there a great number of persons from the remotest times. Gold is found only in a few places in limited quantities (in the Hartz mountains and in the kingdom of Saxony); silver abounds in the Hartz and in southern Westphalia; iron is found in large quantities in nearly all the mountain ranges, the best qualities being those worked in Westphalia, Alsace-Lorraine, and Rhenish Prussia; excellent tin abounds in the Erzgebirge; lead in Saxony and upper Silesia; calamine and zinc in Silesia; cobalt in Saxony. Salt is obtained in quantities more than sufficient for domestic consumption in all the states except Saxony and Anhalt. The production of coal has been enormously increased within the last 40 years. The most extensive coal beds occur in Rhenish Prussia, Westphalia, upper Silesia, Saxony, and Anhalt. The N. W. districts have instead an abundant supply of peat. Sulphur, saltpetre, alum, vitriol, gypsum, chalk, ochre, emery, porcelain clay, graphite, marble, alabaster, and amber (on the shores of the Baltic) are found in different districts. Precious stones are comparatively scarce. Of mineral springs Germany has a great number, and several of them (Pyrmont, Ems, Wiesbaden, Selters, Homburg, Baden-Baden, Kissingen, Schwalbach, Salzbrunn, Warmbrunn, &c.) enjoy a world-wide reputation.—The soil on the whole is only of moderate fertility. Many tracts are exuberantly productive, but many others are almost as barren and sterile as the Russian steppes. The most fertile tracts of land in Germany and in Europe are the marshes on the shore of the North sea. Scientific agriculture has improved the natural condition of the soil in a high degree. All kinds of grain and fruit belonging to the temperate zone are raised: rye, barley, oats, potatoes, peas, and beans, everywhere;
