so) and widely distributed within the limits of the chain. These are: Festuca pulchella, Carex microstyla, Salix caesia, Rumex nivalis, Alsine aretioides, Aquilegia alpina, Thlaspi rotundifolium, Saxifraga Seguieri, S. aphylla, Astragalus leontinus, Daphne striata, Eryngium alpinum, Bupleurum stellatum, Androsace helvetica, A. glacialis, Gentiana bavarica, Phyteuma humile, Campanula thyrsoidea, C. cenisia, Achillea atrata, Cirsium spinosissimum, Crepis Terglouensis.
Authorities.—Among the voluminous literature on alpine flora, the following works are particularly noteworthy:—Ball, “On the Origin of the Flora of the European Alps,” in Proceed. of the Roy. Geog. Soc., 1879; Bennett, The Flora of the Alps, 2 vols. with 120 coloured plates (1896); Briquet, “Les Colonies végétales xérothermiques des alpes lémaniennes,” in Bull. d. l. Murithienne, soc. valaisienne des sciences nat., xxvii. and xxviii. (1898–1899); Alph. de Candolle, “Sur les causes de l’inégale distribution des plantes rares dans la chaîne des Alpes,” Extr. des Actes du Congrès botan. internat. de Florence (1875); Chodat u. Pampanini, “Sur la distribution des plantes des alpes austro-orientales,” Extr. du Globe, organe de la soc. de géographie de Genève, tome xli. (1902); H. Christ, Das Pflanzenleben der Schweiz (1882)—the chief classic on the subject; Engler, Die Pflanzenformationen und die pflanzengeographische Gliederung der Alpenkette (1901); Heer, Ueber die nivale Flora der Schweiz (1885); Jerosch, Geschichte und Herkunft der schweizerischen Alpenflora; eine Übersicht über den gegenwärtigen Stand der Frage (1903); Schröter, Das Pflanzenleben der Alpen (Zürich, 1908); R. von Wettstein, Die Geschichte unserer Alpenflora (1896). The best book of coloured plates is the Atlas der Alpenflora, in 5 vols., pub. by the Deutscher u. Oesterreichischer Alpenverein (2nd. ed., 1897).
12. Fauna.—The fauna of the lower zones in the Alps is, on the northern side of the chain, practically identical with that of central Europe, and on the southern side with that of the Mediterranean basin. But in the higher regions it presents many features of special interest alike to the zoologist and the traveller. It seems therefore best to treat here principally of the animal inhabitants of the high Alps.
Though among mammalia—as also in the case of the birds—there are but few forms peculiar to the Alps, many interesting animals have found in the high mountains at least a temporary refuge from man. The European bison, the urus, the elk and the wild swine have disappeared since Roman times. But the lynx (Lynx vulgaris) perhaps lingers in remote parts, and the brown bear (Ursus arctos) still survives in the dense forests of the Lower Engadine. The fox (Canis vulpes), the stonemarten (Martes foina) and the stoat or ermine (Putorius erminea) range in summer above the tree-limit. The Ungulata are represented by the chamois (Rupicapra tragus) and the bouquetin or steinbock (Capra ibex). The former—the sole representative, in western Europe, of the antelopes—is found elsewhere only in the Pyrenees, Carpathians, Caucasus and the mountains of eastern Turkey; the latter survives only in the eastern Graian Alps. Of the Rodentia the most interesting and conspicuous is the marmot (Arctomys marmota), which lives in colonies close to the snow-line. The snow-mouse (Arvicola nivalis) is confined to the alpine and snow regions, and is abundant at these levels throughout the whole chain of the Alps. The mountain hare (Lepus variabilis or timidus) replaces the common hare (Lepus europaeus) in the higher regions; though absent from the intervening plains it again appears in the north of Europe and in Scotland. Among the Insectivora, the alpine shrew (Sorex alpinus) is restricted to the Alps. Of the Cheiroptera (bats) only Vesperugo maurus is characteristically alpine.
The birds of the Alps are proportionately very numerous. The lammergeyer (Gypaetus barbatus), once common, is now extremely rare, even if it has not already become extinct in the Alps; but the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) still holds its own. Some of the smaller birds of prey are not uncommon, but there is none that can be regarded as specially characteristic either of the Alps as a whole or of the alpine region. As characteristic birds of the snow-region may be mentioned the alpine chough (Pyrrhocorax alpinus), which is frequently seen at the summits even of the loftiest mountains, the alpine swift (Cypselus melba), the wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria), snow-finch (Montifringilla nivalis) and ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus); the geographical distribution of this last being similar to that of the mountain hare. The black redstart (Ruticilla titys), though common in the lower regions, is also met with in fair numbers almost up to the snow-line. The raven (Corvus corax) is fairly common in the alpine and sub-alpine regions. On the highest pastures we find, further, the alpine accentor (Accentor collaris) and the alpine pipit (Anthus spipoletta). The crag-martin (Cotyle rupestris) haunts lofty cliffs in the alpine region. On the upper verge of the pine forests, or in the scrubby vegetation just beyond, the following are not uncommon—black woodpecker (Picus martius), ring-ousel (Turdus torquatus), Bonelli’s warbler (Phylloscopus Bonellii), crested tit (Parus cristatus), citril finch (Citrinella alpina), siskin (Chrysomitris spinus), crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes), blackcock (Tetrao tetrix), and the alpine varieties of the marsh-tit (Parus palustris, borealis) and tree-creeper (Certhia familiaris, costae).
The remaining classes of Vertebrata are very sparsely represented in the high Alps; and what few species occur are mostly common to the plains as well. In fact, among the remaining land vertebrates, only the black salamander (Salamandra atra) is exclusively alpine. This interesting animal, though a member of the Amphibia, is terrestrial and viviparous.
The former connexion between the Arctic and the Alps, which has left such unmistakable traces in the present alpine flora, affords, as regards the fauna also, the only possible explanation of the present geographical distribution of many alpine forms; but it is chiefly among the Invertebrata that we find this collateral testimony to the influence of the glacial period. In this respect we may note that two small crustaceans, Diaptomus bacillifer and D. denticornis, swarm in the ice-cold waters of the highest alpine tarns throughout the entire chain; and the former of these is also a characteristic inhabitant of pools formed from melting snow in the extreme north. Among the remaining divisions of Invertebrata special mention may be made of the air-breathing Arthropoda—on the whole the most important and interesting group. About one-third of the animals belonging thereto that occur in the higher regions are exclusively alpine (or alpine and northern); these characteristically alpine forms being furnished chiefly by the spiders, beetles and butterflies. 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. 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.
The classic of alpine zoology is F. von Tschudi’s Das Tierleben der Alpenwelt (11th ed., 1890). See also zoological section, by K. W. v. Dalla Torre, of Anleitung zu wissenschaftlichen Beobachtungen auf Alpenreisen. For the Vertebrata, see V. Fatio’s Faune des vertébrés de la Suisse (5 vols., 1869–1904). Die Tierwelt der Hochgebirgsseen, by F. Zschokke (1900) is an important treatise on an interesting department of alpine natural history. C. Zeller’s Alpentiere im Wechsel der Zeit (1892) gives a reliable account of the gradual disappearance of some of the larger forms of life from the Alps. For the inter-relations of alpine insects and flowers, see H. Müller’s Alpenblumen, ihre Befruchtung durch Insekten, und ihre Anpassung an dieselben (1881). (H. V. K.)
ALPUJARRAS, or Alpuxarras, THE (Moorish al Busherat, “the grass-land”), a mountainous district of southern Spain, in the province of Granada, consisting principally of valleys which descend at right angles from the crest of the Sierra Nevada on the north, to the Sierras Almijara, Contraviesa and Gádor, which sever it from the Mediterranean Sea, on the south. These valleys are among the most beautiful and fertile in Spain. They contain a rich abundance of fruit trees, especially vines, oranges, lemons and figs, and in some parts present scenes of almost Alpine grandeur. The inhabitants are the descendants of the Moors, who, after the Spanish conquest of Granada in 1492, vainly sought to preserve the last relics of their independence in their mountain fastnesses. Many of the names of places in the
