Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th
Edition,
by Various

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Edition,
Volume 4, Part 4, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone
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Title: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4
"Bulgaria" to "Calgary"
Author: Various
Release Date: November 17, 2006 [EBook #19846]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA ***

Produced by Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland, Keith Edkins and the Online
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Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected:
they are listed at the end of the text. Volume and page numbers have
been incorporated into the text of each page as: v.04 p.0001.
In the article CALCITE, negative Miller Indices, e.g. "1-bar" in the
original are shown as "-1".
In the article CALCULATING MACHINES, [Integral,a:b] indicates a
definite integral between lower limit a and upper limit b. [Integral] by
itself indicates an indefinite integral. [=x] and [=y] indicate x-bar and
y-bar in the original.
[v.04 p.0773] [Illustration]
the mean interval being 60 m.; the summits are, as a rule, rounded, and
the slopes gentle. The culminating points are in the centre of the range:
Yumrukchál (7835 ft.), Maragudúk (7808 ft.), and Kadimlía (7464 ft.).
The Balkans are known to the people of the country as the Stara
Planina or "Old Mountain," the adjective denoting their greater size as
compared with that of the adjacent ranges: "Balkán" is not a distinctive
term, being applied by the Bulgarians, as well as the Turks, to all
mountains. Closely parallel, on the south, are the minor ranges of the
Sredna Gora or "Middle Mountains" (highest summit 5167 ft.) and the
Karaja Dagh, enclosing respectively the sheltered valleys of Karlovo
and Kazanlyk. At its eastern extremity the Balkan chain divides into
three ridges, the central terminating in the Black Sea at Cape Eminé
("Haemus"), the northern forming the watershed between the tributaries
of the Danube and the rivers falling directly into the Black Sea. The
Rhodope, or southern group, is altogether distinct from the Balkans,
with which, however, it is connected by the Malka Planina and the
Ikhtiman hills, respectively west and east of Sofia; it may be regarded
as a continuation of the great Alpine system which traverses the
Peninsula from the Dinaric Alps and the Shar Planina on the west to the
Shabkhana Dagh near the Aegean coast; its sharper outlines and
pine-clad steeps reproduce the scenery of the Alps rather than that of
the Balkans. The imposing summit of Musallá (9631 ft.), next to

Olympus, the highest in the Peninsula, forms the centre-point of the
group; it stands within the Bulgarian frontier at the head of the Mesta
valley, on either side of which the Perin Dagh and the Despoto Dagh
descend south and south-east respectively towards the Aegean. The
chain of Rhodope proper radiates to the east; owing to the retrocession
of territory already mentioned, its central ridge no longer completely
coincides with the Bulgarian boundary, but two of its principal summits,
Sytké (7179 ft.) and Karlyk (6828 ft.), are within the frontier. From
Musallá in a westerly direction extends the majestic range of the Rilska
Planina, enclosing in a picturesque valley the celebrated monastery of
Rila; many summits of this chain attain 7000 ft. Farther west, beyond
the Struma valley, is the Osogovska Planina, culminating in Ruyen
(7392 ft.). To the north of the Rilska Planina the almost isolated mass
of Vitosha (7517 ft.) overhangs Sofia. Snow and ice remain in the
sheltered crevices of Rhodope and the Balkans throughout the summer.
The fertile slope trending northwards from the Balkans to the Danube
is for the most part gradual and broken by hills; the eastern portion
known as the Delí Orman, or "Wild Wood," is covered by forest, and
thinly inhabited. The abrupt and sometimes precipitous character of the
Bulgarian bank of the Danube contrasts with the swampy lowlands and
lagoons of the Rumanian side. Northern Bulgaria is watered by the
Lom, Ogust, Iskr, Vid, Osem, Yantra and Eastern Lom, all, except the
Iskr, rising in the Balkans, and all flowing into the Danube. The
channels of these rivers are deeply furrowed and the fall is rapid;
irrigation is consequently difficult and navigation impossible. The
course of the Iskr is remarkable: rising in the Rilska Planina, the river
descends into the basin of Samakov, passing thence through a
serpentine defile into the plateau of Sofia, where in ancient times it
formed a lake; it now forces its way