rmudas.
Bernhardt, Sarah.
Bernouilli.
Berthelot.
Berwick (Duke of).
Berwickshire.
Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Beryllium.
Besancon.
Bessemer, Sir Henry.
Bet and Betting.
Betrothal.
Beyle.
Bezique.
Bhagalpur.
Bible Christians.
Bichromates and Chromates.
Bidder.
Bigamy.
Bijapur.
Bikanir.
Bilaspur.
Bilbao.
Billiards.
Binomial.
Birch.
Birkenhead.
Birmingham.
Birney, James G.
Biron, Armand de Gontaut.
Birth.
Biscay (Vizcaya).

[1] A complete list, showing all individual contributors, appears in the
final volume.

* * * * *

[v.03 p.0001]

ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA

ELEVENTH EDITION

VOLUME III

* * * * *

AUSTRIA, LOWER (Ger. _Niederoesterreich_ or _Oesterreich unter der Enns_,
"Austria below the river Enns"), an archduchy and crownland of Austria,
bounded E. by Hungary, N. by Bohemia and Moravia, W. by Bohemia and Upper
Austria, and S. by Styria. It has an area of 7654 sq. m. and is divided
into two parts by the Danube, which enters at its most westerly point, and
leaves it at its eastern extremity, near Pressburg. North of this line is
the low hilly country, known as the _Waldviertel_, which lies at the foot
and forms the continuation of the Bohemian and Moravian plateau. Towards
the W. it attains in the Weinsberger Wald, of which the highest point is
the Peilstein, an altitude of 3478 ft., and descends towards the valley of
the Danube through the Gfoehler Wald (2368 ft.) and the Manhartsgebirge
(1758 ft.). Its most south-easterly offshoots are formed by the Bisamberg
(1180 ft.), near Vienna, just opposite the Kahlenberg. The southern
division of the province is, in the main, mountainous and hilly, and is
occupied by the Lower Austrian Alps and their offshoots. The principal
groups are: the Voralpe (5802 ft.), the Duerrenstein (6156 ft.), the
Oetscher (6205 ft.), the Raxalpe (6589 ft.) and the Schneeberg (6806 ft.),
which is the highest summit in the whole province. To the E. of the famous
ridge of Semmering are the groups of the Wechsel (5700 ft.) and the
Leithagebirge (1674 ft.). The offshoots of the Alpine group are formed by
the Wiener Wald, which attains an altitude of 2929 ft. in the Schoepfl and
ends N.W. of Vienna in the Kahlenberg (1404 ft.) and Leopoldsberg (1380
ft.).

Lower Austria belongs to the watershed of the Danube, which with the
exception of the Lainsitz,