Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/163

to invalidate the election of his opponent Chencviere led to a conflict between the partics, in which some blood was shed ; and the eity was consequently occupied by federal forces, and the matter sub- mitted to the federal council. As the decree was in favour of (‘heiieviere, F azy retired from public life. The “ independents," as the opponents of thc radicals are called, came into power in 1865, and for a number of years they fully maintained their pos1ti0ii, in spite of the difficulties thrown in their way by the Ultramontaiie party. Their principal antagonist was Mcrmillod, the viear of the bishop of Freiburg, who was declared bishop of Geneva. by the pope, and insisted on exercising his episcopal functions without regiu'd to the Government. In February 1873 lllermillod was banished by thc federal council of Switzerland, and iii the samc year the grand coun- (-il of Geneva deprived all Roman Catholic priests who refused to take the oath of allegianec to the state. Fazy’s lull for the sepa- ration of church and state was rejected In June 1876 ; religious cor- porations wcrc abolished on 13d August, and, on the 26th of the sainc month, all public ecclesiastical services outside of the churches were forbidden. The cathedral of Geneva was handed over to the Old Catholics. On the 6th of November 1878 Fazy died, and two days after the “eonservative-democrat” party gained a victory 1n the elections for thc great council. The expelled cures were now allowed to return, and in December the council accepted the prin- ciple of the separation of church and statc.

Besides the elder works of Spun, Bérungcr, Picot, &c., and the .lle'moires et documents rte Ia soc. generoise :l'liist. ct d'arche'ol., sec Senehicr, lli'st. Iitt. dc. (.‘me're (1756): J. A. Guliffe, illate'riaim pour I’lu‘sl. dc (lcnéve (1829-30), and Notices ge'uéalogi'ques (3 vols, 1819—36); Riguud. Rmscignemcnts rel. ('1 la culture (195 beauI-arts it Genére (1849, new cd. 1876); Archinard, Genére eccte's. ou Lirre ties spectabtes pastem's (1861), and Les edifices reliyieiu: dc I‘ancz‘emie Genéi'e (1869); J. B. G. Glliffe. Genera hist. e! (ll'l'hé-II. (1569); Blavignuc. Armorial gene- rois (1819), and Wales sui' (leliéi'e (1872—74): 'l'houreL Hist. dc Genére (1833); Pictct de Sergy, Genéce, orig/inc, (‘70. (1843-47), and Genéi‘e i'cssuscite'e (1869); (‘herbuliez, Genérc, sts institutions, &c. (1868); Roget, Ilist. du peuple (le Gcnérc ([2576); ’l'iiorcns, .ibre'ge' dc I'lu'st. de Genera (1878); Albert dc Montct, Dirt. biogr. (I s Gcnerois ct des l'amloii (1878).

(h. a. w.)

GENEVA, The Lake of (the Latin Laws Lcmanus or Lake Leman, also known in the Middle Ages as Lac Losaimete or Lake of Lausanne, and as Mer du RhOne or Sea of the Rhone), is the largest of the Swiss lakes, having an area of 578 sq. kil. or 223 sq. miles. Its general form is that of a crescent, the northern shore being almost the arc of a circle, with a radius of 21% miles. The eastern end of the crescent is broad and rounded, while the western tapers towards Geneva. Its maximum breadth, between Merges and Aiiiphion, is 8:1,» miles. It is divided into two portions, the Great and Little Lake, by the strait of Promonthoux, which is not much more than 2 miles across. The Great Lake is 39 miles long, with a mean breadth of 6 miles, and the Little or Western Lake is 11 miles long, with a mean breadth of rather more than 2 miles. The bottom of the larger basin forms a wide valley, which gradually deepens from 200 to 325 feet at the foot of the slopes to a maximum of 1095 feet, which it attains between Oncliy and Evian. The mean level of the surface of the lake is 1230 feet abOVe the level of the sea. According to the elaborate soundings made in 1873 by M. Gosset, engineer of the Federal Topographic Depart- ment, the bottom is remarkably free from inequalities, almost all traces of rocks, erratic blocks, or moraines, having been covered over by a regular bed of extremely fine argillocalcareous mud, which can be moulded and baked like potter’s clay. Between the basin of the Great Lake and that of the Little Lake there runs a ridge or bar not very strongly marked, 200 feet from the surface. The maximum depth of the lesser basin is only 71 metres or 233 feet. The bottom is apparently level, but it presents numerous erratic blocks, and in one place rises to a con- siderable eminence, known to the Genevese fishers as the Hauts Monts.^[1] The unusual bluencss of the waters of the Leman has long been remarked. According to M. Forel,^[2] the transparency is very much greater in winter than summer, the extreme limit of visibility of a white disk on an average for the seven winter months from October to April being 41 feet, and for the five summer months 21'6. This arises from the thermal stratification of the water keeping in suspension a greater quantity of dust and organic particles during summer. It is generally in August that the level of the lake reaches its highest limit, between 4 and 5 feet on an average above its lowest- limit, which is usually reached in March. Besides this seasonal change, due to differences of influx and removal of water, several disturbances of level of a less obvious kind have attracted the attention of the Swiss physicists. Most remarkable are the sole/res, or “ movements of steady uninodal oscillation,” in which the whole mass of water in the lake rhythmically swings from shore to shore. According to M. Forel,^[3] there are both longitudinal and transverse seiclies. Their effect is most distinctly seen at Geneva, where they sometimes raise the level of the water from 4 to 5 feet. They are not improbany due to several distinct causes, but the most efficient would appear to be a difference of barometric pressure in different parts of the lake. In the eastern portion of the lake there is an irregular but violent current during spring and autumn, called Lardeyre or La Dicre, which is supposed to be due to subterranean affluents. The principal winds are the Bise from the north-east, the stormy Bornand that rushes from the ravines of Savoy, and the dry south wind, known as the Séchard. Less use is made of the lake as a means of communication since the opening of the railway along the Swiss shore, but the lateen sails of the minor craft still brighten the landscape, and an excellent steam service is maintained by a company formed in 1873. The first steamboat, the “ William Tell,” was introduced on the lake in 1823 ; and the first saloon steamboat, the “Mont Blanc,” dates only from 1876.

Lake of Geneva.

The Lake of Geneva is not so rich in fish as many of

the smaller lakes of Switzerland.^[4] Comparativer small success has attended the attempts of Professor Chavannes of Lausanne to introduce the salmon, which, like many

other fishes, finds the Pertc du Rhone a barrier between

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1. Further details on the conformation of the lake will be found in De la Beche’s letter to Professor I’ictet, published in Bibliotlaéquc I 'niverscllc .- Sciences ct Arts, t. xii., 1817 ; in M. Gosset’s Carts Ilytlroyr. du Lac Léman, issued as part of the Topog. A llas dcr .S'chu'ciz, and described in Bibl. L'n. (Sci. ct Arts), t. 1ii., 1875, and in a Able sar la (,"(Ll'lfl (lu Lac, by Ed. Pictet, in the same number.
2. “Et-:des sur les variations de la transparence des eaux du lac Léman,” in Bibl. ('12. (SC. et Arts), 1877.
3. M. Forel’s numerous studies on the subject will be found in the Bibliotliéquc Fm’rersclle, and the Bulletin (lc la s c. mud. (Lausanne).
4. According to G. Lune], whose 111'stnirc natzrrcllc (7cs poissons du bassz'n du Léman, (Geneva, 1 874) has superseded the valuable memoir of Professor J urine in the JIcmoircs de la Sociétié (l6 physique, tome iii. (1525), there are 21 speciesz—Pcrca jlzlrialz'lls, L. ; Callus gable, L.; Lnta culgm'is, Cuv.; ('yprinus crnyn'o, L.; Clair-riizopsz's (rm-alas, L.; Tinca calmly-is, Cuv.; Gobio fluz'z'atilz's, C‘uv.; Albumus lucz’dus, Hcckel; Alb. bz'pimclatus, L.; Scarrli'ni-us erg/titrophtlzalmus, Bouap.; Lcuciscus rutilus, L.; Squalius ccphalus, Bonap.; Phoximw la‘rzs, Ag; C'obitis barbatula, Lin. ; Corcgmzus fem, Jurine ; C'oregonus hicmalis, Jurine; T hymall-us culgaris, Nilsson; Salmo :mnbla, IL.; Trutla t'ariabz'lis, G.L.; Esox lucius, L. ; Anguilla 'culga-r-zs, Fleming.