Eifel

Eifel, a barren plateau of undulating land in Rhenish Prussia between the Rhine, the Moselle, and the Roer. It is hilly and rugged in the W., and in the N.W., where it joins the Ardennes, but slopes down to the Rhine and the Moselle. The height varies from 1,500 to 2,000 feet, and a ridge of mountains crosses the centre. The formation is Lower Devonian Silurian, with Eifel limestone, containing many fossils, and over is a Triassic formation containing metals. Extinct craters, basalt lava, tufa, and pumice bear witness to volcanic action. There is little agriculture, but some wine and spirits are produced.