a town of France, in the department of Indre, seated on the river Creuse, by which it is divided into two parts. The land about it is barren, and full of trees, heath, and lakes. E. Long. 1. 13. N. Lat. 46. 38.

Mont Blanc, a stupendous mountain in Savoy, the highest of the Alps, and encompassed by those wonderful collections of snow and ice called the Glaciers. See ALPS.

Of these glaciers there are five, which extend almost to the plain of the vale of Chamouni, and are separated by wild forests, corn fields, and rich meadows; so that immense tracts of ice are blended with the highest cultivation, and perpetually succeed to each other in the most singular and striking vicissitude. All these several valleys of ice, which lie chiefly in the hollows of the mountains, and are some leagues in length, unite together at the foot of Mont-Blanc; the highest mountain in Europe, and probably of the ancient world.

The summit of this mountain was deemed inaccessible before Dr Paccard, a physician at Chamouni, attempted to reach it in August 1786, and succeeded in the attempt. Soon after, the same undertaking was accomplished by M. de Saufure, who has published a narrative of the journey. He arrived at Chamouni, situated at the foot of the mountain, in the beginning of July 1787; but bad weather prevented him from ascending until the first of August, when he began his expedition, accompanied by a fervent and eighteen guides, who carried his philosophical and other apparatus. His son was left at the Priory in Chamouni, and was employed in making meteorological observations, with which those made on the top of the mountain might be compared. Although it is scarcely fix miles and three quarters in a straight line from the priory of Chamouni to the top of Mont-Blanc, it requires nevertheless 18 hours to gain the summit, owing to the bad roads, the windings, and the great perpendicular height of the mountain. That he might be perfectly at liberty to pass the night on what part of the mountain he pleased, he carried a tent with him; and he and his company slept in it the first night on that eminence which is first met with, and which is on the south of the priory, and about a mile perpendicularly above the village.

Hitherto the journey was free from danger, or even difficulty; the road being either rocky or covered with grass; but thence upwards it was either wholly covered with snow, or consisted of the most slippery ice. But the second day's journey was attended with many difficulties. The ice valley on the side of the hill must be passed, in order to gain the foot of that chain of rocks bordering on the perpetual snows which cover Mont-Blanc. The passage through this valley is extremely dangerous, since it is intersected with numerous wide, deep, and irregular chasms, which can only be crossed by means of bridges naturally formed of snow, and these often very slender, extended as it were over an abyss. One of the guides had almost perished here the evening before, as he with two others went to reconnoitre the road. They had the precaution to tie themselves together with a long rope, and he in the middle had the misfortune to have the snow-bridge, over the wide and deep chasm, break under him, so that he remained suspended between his two comrades. M. de Saussure and his retinue passed very near the opening through which this man had fallen, and shuddered at the danger in which the poor fellow had been involved. The difficulties they had to encounter in this valley, and the winding road they were obliged to take through it, occasioned their being three hours in crossing it, although in a straight line its breadth is not above three quarters of a mile.

After having reached the rocks, they mounted in a serpentine direction to a valley filled with snow, which runs from north to south to the foot of the highest pinnacle. The surface of the snow in this valley has numerous fissures, which penetrate so deep, that their bottom is nowhere to be seen, although they are of considerable breadth. The sides of these fissures, where the snow is broken perpendicularly, afford an opportunity of observing the successive horizontal layers of snow which are annually formed.

The guides were desirous of passing the night near one of the rocks on the side of this valley; but as the loftiest of them is at least 1400 yards perpendicularly lower than the summit of the mountain, M. de Saussure was desirous of ascending higher; in consequence of which it would be necessary to encamp on the snow: but he found it difficult to convince his companions of the practicability of the plan. They imagined that during the night an intolerable cold prevailed in those heights which were eternally covered with snow, and they were seriously afraid of perishing. By proper encouragements, however, he induced them to proceed; and at four in the afternoon they arrived at the second of the three plains of snow which they had to pass. Here they encamped at the height of 3100 yards above the priory of Chamouni, and 4250 yards above the level of the sea, which is about 200 yards higher than the peak of Teneriffe. They did not proceed to the last plain, on account of the day having been far advanced; and they were also apprehensive of exposing themselves to the avalanches which are frequently tumbling from the summit of the mountain. They dug a deep hole in the snow, sufficiently wide to contain the whole company, and covered its top with the tent-cloth.

In making this encampment, they began to experience the effects of the rarity of the atmosphere. Robust men, to whom seven or eight hours walking or rather climbing were an absolute nothing, had scarcely raised five or six shovels full of snow, before they were under the necessity of resting and relieving each other almost incessantly. One of them, who had gone back a small distance to fill a cask with some water which he had seen in one of the crevices of the snow, found himself so much disordered in his way, that he returned without the water, and passed the night in great pain. M. de Saussure, who is so much accustomed to the air of mountains as to say, "That in general I feel myself better in such air than in that of the plains," was exhausted with the fatigue of making his meteorological observations. The principal inconvenience which the thinness of the air produces, is an excessive thirst. They had no means of procuring water but by melting the snow; and the little stove which they had carried with them, afforded but a feeble supply for twenty men.

This region of the mountain presents to the view nothing but snow of the purest and most dazzling whiteness, forming a very singular contrast with the sky, which appears remarkably black.

"No living creature (says M. de Saussure) is to be seen in these desolate regions, nor is the least trace of vegetation to be discovered. It is the habitation of cold and silence! When I reflected that Dr Paccard, and his guide Jacques Balmat, who first visited these deserts, arrived here at the decline of the day, without shelter, without assistance, and wholly ignorant where or how they were to pass the night, without even the certainty that it was possible for men to exist in the places they had undertaken to visit; and yet that they were able to pursue their journey with unremitted intrepidity, I could not but admire their strength and courage. My guides were so firmly propoflested with the fear of cold, that they shut up every aperture of the tent with the utmost exactness; so that I suffered very considerably from the heat and the vitiated air, which had become highly noxious from the breaths of so many people in a small room. I was frequently obliged, in the course of the night, to go out of the tent, in order to relieve my breathing. The moon shone with the brightest splendour, in the midst of a sky as black as ebony. Jupiter, rayed like the sun, arose from behind the mountain in the east. The light of these luminaries was reflected from the white plain or rather basin in which we were situated; and dazzling eclipsed every star except those of the first and second magnitude. At length we composed ourselves to sleep. We were, however, soon awakened by the noise of an immense mass of snow (avalanche) which had fallen down from the top of the mountain, and covered part of the slope over which we were to climb the next day."

As they were obliged to melt a great quantity of snow, and prepare many necessaries for their farther progress in their journey, it was late the next morning before they took their departure.

"We began our ascent (continues M. de Saussure) to the third and last plain, and then turned to the left, in our way to the highest rock, which is on the east part of the summit. The ascent is here very steep, being about 39 degrees inclined to the horizon, and bounded on each side by precipices. The surface of the snow was so hard and slippery, that our pioneers were obliged to hew out their footsteps with hatchets. Thus we were two hours in climbing a hill of about 530 yards high. Having arrived at this last rock, we turned to the westward, and climbed the last ascent, whose height is about 300 yards, and its inclination about 28 or 29 degrees. On this peak the atmosphere is so rare, that a man's strength is exhausted with the least fatigue. When we came near the top, I could not walk fifteen or sixteen steps without stopping to take breath; and I frequently perceived myself so faint, that I was under the necessity of sitting down from time to time; and in proportion as I recovered my breath, I felt my strength renewed. All my guides experienced similar sensations, in proportion to their respective constitutions. We arrived at the summit of Mont Blanc at 11 o'clock in the forenoon.

"I now enjoyed the grand spectacle which was under my eyes. A thin vapour, fufused in the inferior regions of the air, deprived me of the distinct view of the lowest and most remote objects, such as the plains of France and Lombardy; but I did not so much regret this loss, since I saw, with remarkable clearness, what I principally wished to see, viz. the assemblage of those high ridges, with the true form and situations of which I had long been desirous of becoming thoroughly acquainted. I could scarcely believe my eyes. I thought myself in a dream when I saw below my feet so many majestic peaks, especially the Needles, the Midi-Argentière, and Géant, whose bases had proved so difficult and dangerous of access. I obtained a perfect knowledge of their proportion to, and connexion with, each other; of their form and structure; and a single view removed more doubts, and afforded more information, than whole years of study.

"While I was thus employed, my guides pitched my tent, and were fixing the apparatus for the experiments I had proposed to make on boiling water; but when I came to dispose my instruments for that purpose, I was obliged, almost at every instant, to desist from my labours, and turn all my thoughts to the means of respiration. When it is considered that the mercury in the barometer was no higher than 16 inches and a line (17.145 inches English), and that this air had consequently little more than half the density of that on the plains, the breathing must necessarily be increased, in order to cause, in a given time, the passage of a sufficient quantity of air through the lungs. The frequency of respiration increased the circulation of the blood, more especially as the arteries on the surface of the body had not the pressure they were usually accustomed to. We were all in a feverish state, as will be seen in the sequel.

"While I remained perfectly still, I experienced but little uneasiness more than a slight oppression about my heart; but, on the smallest bodily exertion, or when I fixed my attention on any object for some moments together, and particularly when I pressed my chest in the act of stooping, I was obliged to rest and pant for two or three minutes. My guides were in a similar condition. We had no appetite; and our provisions, which were all frozen, were not well calculated to excite it: nor had we any inclination for wine or brandy, which increased our indifposition, most probably by accelerating the circulation of the blood. Nothing but fresh water relieved us; and much time and trouble were necessary to procure this article, as we could have no other than melted snow. I remained on the summit till half past three; and though I did not lose a single moment, I was not able to make all these experiments in four hours and a half, which I have frequently done in less than three on the sea-side. However, I made with great exactness those which were most essential.

"We returned much easier than I could have expected; since, in descending, we did not experience any bad effects from the compression of the thorax; our respiration was not impeded, and we were not under the necessity of resting, in order to recover our breath and strength. The road down to the first plain was nevertheless by no means agreeable, on account of the great declivity; and the sun, shining so bright on the tops of the precipices below us, made so dazzling an appearance, that it required a good head to avoid growing giddy from the prospect. We pitched our tent again on the snow, though we were more than 400 yards below our last night's encampment. I was here convinced that it was the rarity of the air, and not the fatigue of the journey, that had incommodeed us on the summit of the mountain, otherwise we should not have found ourselves so well, and so able to attack our supper with a good appetite. I could now also make my meteorological observations without any inconvenience. I am persuaded that the indifposition in consequence of the rarity of the atmosphere is different in different people. For my own part, I felt no inconvenience at the height of 4000 yards, or nearly two miles and a quarter; but I began to be much affected when I was higher in the atmosphere.

"The next day we found that the ice valley which we had passed on our first day's journey had undergone a considerable change from the heat of the two preceding days, and that it was much more difficult to pass than it had been in our ascent. We were obliged to go down a declivity of snow of no less than 50 degrees of inclination, in order to avoid a chasm which had happened during our expedition. We at length got down as low as the first eminence on the side about half after nine, and were perfectly happy to find ourselves on a foundation which we were sure would not give way under our feet."

From the narrative, we learn, that the summit of the mountain is a ridge nearly horizontal, lying east and west: the slope at each extremity is inclined from 28 to 30 degrees, the south side between 15 and 20, and the north about 45 or 50. This ridge is so narrow as scarcely to allow two people to walk abreast, especially at the west end, where it resembles the roof of a house. It is wholly covered with snow; nor is any bare rock to be seen within 150 yards of the top. The surface of the snow is scaly, and in some places covered with an icy crust, under which the snow is dusty, and without consistence. The highest rocks are all granites; those on the east side are mixed with slate; those on the south and the west contain a large quantity of schorrl, and a little lapis cornues. Some of them, especially those on the east, which are about 150 yards be- low the summit, seem to have been lately shivered with lightning.

M. de Sauffure saw no animals on the mountain, except two butterflies, which he supposes must have been driven thither by the wind. Lichens are the only vegetables which are found on the more elevated parts of these mountains; the filene acutus, which grows in great quantities on the lower parts, disappears at the height of about two miles above the level of the sea.

M. de Sauffure has given us the height of the barometer on the top of Mont-Blanc, August 3, at noon, 16 inches, 9 lines, and \( \frac{4}{8} \) of a line, French measure (i.e. 16.181 English); and Reaumur's thermometer was 2.3 below the freezing point. M. Sennebier, at the same time, observed at Geneva the barometer 27.21\( \frac{8}{8} \) (29.020 inches English); and the thermometer 22.6 above freezing. From these data he makes the height of Mont-Blanc 2218 toises, or 14180 English feet (about 2\( \frac{1}{2} \) miles), according to M. de Luc's rule; and 2272 toises, or 14525 English feet, according to M. Trembley's. To these heights 13 toises, or 83 feet, the height of M. Sennebier's room above the lake of Geneva must be added, to give the height of the mountain above the level of the lake, 14263 feet according to M. de Luc, and 14608 feet according to M. Trembley. Sir George Shuckburgh made the height of Mont Blanc, by trigonometrical measurement, 14429 feet above the lake, which is almost the mean between the other two. The result of the observations made at Chamouni, contemporary with those on Mont-Blanc, agrees still nearer with Sir George's measurement. The general mean result makes the summit of Mont-Blanc 2450 toises, 14973 English feet, or three miles nearly, above the level of the sea.

M. de Sauffure found by his electrometer, that the electricity of the air on the summit of the mountain was positive. Water boiled at 68.993 degrees of a thermometer, which rises to 80 with the barometer 27 French inches high. The wind was north, and extremely piercing on the summit; but, southward of the ridge, the temperature of the air was agreeable. The experiments with lime-water, and with the caustic alkali, show that the air was mixed with carbonic acid or fixed air. See ATMOSPHERE.

BLANC Manger, Fr. q. d. white food, is a preparation of diffused infinglats, milk, sugar, cinnamon, &c. boiled into a thick consistence, and garnished for the table with blanched almonds. It is cooling and strengthening.