industries, chiefly connected with the timber trade, such as paper from wood-pulp, two large excelsior mills, two stave and heading factories, two veneer mills, etc. The city has admirable public schools, a public library, churches, a water works system, and is lighted at night both by gas and by electricity. The number of inhabitants has not increased much in the past decade. Its present population is 19,945.
Alps, the largest and highest mountains in Europe. The average height of the central chain is 7,700 feet, a region where snow never melts, while several hundred peaks rise still higher. From these snow-capped mountains the avalanches rush down, sweeping along snow, rocks, forests and even villages. Here, also, in the valleys between the peaks, gather the huge masses of snow which form the long streams of ice called glaciers (see Glaciers). The most beautiful of these glaciers is the Mer de Glace. The highest peak is Mt. Blanc, 15,732 feet in height; though Monte Rosa, the Matterhorn and several others are almost as high. There are some sixteen great passes over the Alps. Famous marches have been made over them by large armies: Hannibal's march was through the Little St. Bernard Pass and Napoleon's through the Great St. Bernard. Bridges terraces and long galleries have been built of stone to give protection against avalanches and whirlwinds, Places of shelter from storms, called hospices, have also been erected, where huge St. Bernard dogs are kept to help in searching for unfortunate wanderers who may be lost in the snow. The Alps are now pierced by four railroad tunnels, the Arlberg, Mt. Cenis, Mt. St. Gothard and Simplon. The scenery of the Alps is famous for its grandeur, and every season the mountains are so crowded with tourists that the Alps have been called "the play-ground of Europe." Of the many objects of grandeur or beauty, the most famous are Mt. Blanc and the Valley of the Chamouni. Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France and Bavaria share in the possession of the Alps.
Al'sace=Lorraine' (dl-sds'lor-rdn' ), an imperial territory of the German empire, composed of Alsace and those parts of Lorraine conquered from France in the war of 1870. It does not belong to any state of Germany, but is subject to the emperor directly, who appoints the governor or statthalter. The language spoken is generally German in Alsace and French in Lorraine. The country is a great wine-producing one, and is also engaged in the mining of ores and the manufacture of cotton. The principal city is Strassburg (population 167,678). Area 5,604 square miles; population of Alsace-Lorraine 1,871,702. In 1911 there were in the Reichsland 1303 miles of railway.
Altai (al-tlf) Mountains, a group of mountains in Central Asia separating the tablelands of Mongolia from Siberia. The great Siberian rivers, the Obi, the Irtish and Yenisei, have their sources in these mountains. The highest peaks are over 12,000 feet above the level of the sea.
Alterna'tion of Genera'tions. In all plant groups above the Thallophytes, the life history of every plant is made up of two phases. One phase bears the sex organs, and is called the gametophyte; the other bears no sex organs, but produces asexual spores, and is called the sporophyte. These two phases or generations regularly alternate with each other, the gametophyte by means of its sex organs producing the sporophyte, and the sporophyte by means of its asexual spores producing the gametophyte. For example, in the mosses the ordinary leafy plant is the gametophyte, and the so-called fruit is the sporophyte. In the ferns the leafy plant is the sporophyte, while the gametophyte is a very small but independent body, which is never observed except by those who know of its presence. In the flowering plants the whole visible body is the sporophyte; while the gametophyte is so minute that it is effectually concealed from ordinary observation. For a further account see Gametophyte and Sporophyte.
Alton, a thriving city, railroad center and port of entry in Madison County, Illinois. It is situated on the Mississippi, 25 miles above St. Louis and about 14 miles above the mouth of the Missouri. It is built on high limestone bluffs. The Mississippi is here bridged by the Burlington railroad. An electric railway connects Alton with St. Louis and with Upper Alton, the seat of the Baptist Shurtleff College. The town has a Roman Catholic cathedral, many other churches and schools and a number of important manufactories, the most important being the Illinois Glass Works. Population, 17,528.
Altoo'na is in Blair County, Pennsylvania, and is situated at the eastern base of the Allegheny Mountains, 1,168 feet above the level of the sea The surrounding country is noted for its scenic beauty. A few miles west is the famous Horseshoe Bend; several miles north is Wopsononoc Mountain, from whose summit there is spread before the eye a panoramic view of the Blue Juniata; and to the east is Sinking Valley, with its interesting natural curiosities.
In the year 1849, the time at which it may be said Altoona was founded, the officers of the Pennsylvania Railroad company selected the site of the city for the location of their principal workshops. Later the testing department, laboratories and offices were removed to the city, and at present the car and engine manufactories are the most extensive of the kind in the world. Other prominent industries are silk mills and glass works. Altoona is the terminus of a division
