Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889

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30 minutes, with the thermometer at 14 degrees below the freezing point. The provisions froze in their pockets; their faces were frost-bitten, lips swollen, and their sight much weakened, but they soon recovered on their descent. De Saussure records in his ascent August 2, 1760, that the color of the sky was deep blue; the stars were visible in the shade; the barometer sunk to 16.08 inches (being 27.08 in Geneva) the thermometer was 26-1/2 degrees, in the sun 29 degrees (being 87 degrees at Geneva). The thin air works the blood into a high fever, you feel as if you hardly touched the ground, and you scarcely make yourself heard. A French woman, Mademoiselle d'Angeville, ascended in September, 1840, being dragged up the last 1,200 feet by guides, and crying out: "If I die, carry me to the top." When there, she made them lift her up, that she might boast she had been higher than any man in Europe. The ascent of these awful solitudes is most perilous, owing to the narrow paths, tremendous ravines, icy barriers, precipices, etc. In many places every step has to be cut in the ice, the party being tied to each other by ropes, so that if one slips he may be held up by the rest, and silence is enforced, lest the noise of talking should dislodge the avalanches of the Aiguille du Midi. The view from the mountain is inexpressibly grand. On the Alps the limit of the vine is an elevation of 1,600 feet; below 1,000 feet, figs, oranges and olives are produced. The limit of the oak is 3,800 feet, of the [Transcriber's Note: The original text reads 'chesnut'] chestnut 2,800 feet,of the pine 6,500 feet, of heaths and furze to 8,700 and 9,700 feet; and perpetual snow exists at an elevation of 8,200 feet.

On the Andes, in lat. 2 degrees, the limit of perpetual snow is 14,760 feet; in Mexico, lat. 19 degrees, the limit is 13,800 feet; on the peak of Teneriffe, 11,454 feet; on Mount Etna, 9,000 feet; on the Caucasus, 9,900 feet; in the Pyrenees, 8,400 feet; in Lapland, 3,100 feet; in Iceland, 2,890 feet. The walnut ceases to grow at an elevation of 3,600 feet; the yellow pine at 6,200 feet; the ash at 4,800 feet, and the fir at 6,700 feet. The loftiest inhabited spot on the globe is the Port House of Ancomarca, on the Andes, in Peru, 16,000 feet above the level of the sea. The 14th peak of the Himalayas, in Asia, 25,659 feet high, is the loftiest mountain in the world.

Lauterbrunnen is a deep part of an Alpine pass, where the sun hardly shines in winter. It abounds with falls, the most remarkable of which is the Staubbach, which falls over the Balm precipice in a drizzling spray from a height of 925 feet; best viewed in the morning sun or by moonlight. In general, it is like a gauze veil, with rainbows dancing up and down it, and when clouds hide the top of the mountain, it seems as poured out of the sky.

In Canada, the falls of Montmorenci are 250 feet high, the falls of Niagara (the Horse Shoe Falls) are 158 feet high and 2,000 feet wide, the American Falls arc 164 feet high and 900 feet wide. The Yosemite Valley Falls are 2,600 feet high, and the Ribbon Falls of the Yosemite are 3,300 feet high. The waterfall of the Arve, in Bavaria, is 2,000 feet.

THE PERIODS OF GESTATION are the same in the horse and ass or eleven months each, camel 12 months, elephant 2 years, lion 5 months, buffalo 12 months, in the human female 9 months, cow 9 months, sheep 5 months, dog 9 weeks, cat 8 weeks, sow 16 weeks, she wolf from 90 to 95 days. The goose sits 30 days, swans 42, hens 21, ducks 30, peahens and turkeys 28, canaries 14, pigeons 14, parrots 40 days.

AGES OF ANIMALS, ETC.--Elephant 100 years and upward, Rhinoceros 20, Camel 100, Lion 25 to 70, Tigers, Leopards, Jaguars and Hyenas (in confinement) about 25 years, Beaver 50, deer 20, wolf 20, Fox 14 to 16, Llamas 15, Chamois 25, Monkeys and Baboons 16 to 18 years, Hare 8, Squirrel 7, Rabbit 7, Swine 25, Stag under 50, Horse 30, Ass 30, Sheep under 10, Cow 20, Ox 30, Swans, Parrots and Ravens 200, Eagle 100, Geese 80, Hens and Pigeons 10 to 16, Hawks 36 to 40, Cranes 24, Blackbird 10 to 12, Peacock 20, Pelican 40 to 50, Thrush 8 to 10, Wren 2 to 3, Nightingale 15, Blackcap 15, Linnet 14 to 23, Goldfinch 20 to 24, Redbreast 10 to 12, Skylark 10 to 30, Titlark 5 to 6, Chaffinch 20 to 24, Starling 10 to 12, Carp 70 to 150, Pike 30 to 40, Salmon 16, Codfish 14 to 17, Eel 10, Crocodile 100, Tortoise 100 to 200, Whale estimated 1,000, Queen Bees live 4 years, Drones 4 months, Working Bees 6 months.

The melody of singing birds ranks as follows: The nightingale first, then the linnet, titlark, sky lark and wood lark. The mocking bird has the greatest powers of imitation, the robin and goldfinch are