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GENEVA, LAKE OF

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 593 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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See also:

GENEVA, See also:LAKE OF , the largest lake of which any portion belongs to See also:Switzerland, and indeed in central See also:Europe. It is called Lacus Lemannus by the old Latin and See also:Greek writers, in 4th See also:century A.D. Lacus Lausonius or Losanetes, in the See also:middle ages generally See also:Lac de See also:Lausanne, but from the See also:lath century onwards Lac de Geneve, though from the end of the 18th century the name Lac Leman was revived—according to Prof. Forel Le Leman is the proper See also:form. Its See also:area is estimated at 223 sq.m. (Swiss Topographical See also:Bureau) or 2251 sq. m. (Forel), of which about 140 sq. m. (1341 sq. m. Forel) are politically Swiss (1231 sq. in. belonging to the See also:canton of See also:Vaud, 1 r z sq. m. to that of Geneva, and 5 sq. m. to that of the See also:Valais), the See also:remainder (83 sq. m.) being See also:French since the See also:annexation of See also:Savoy in 186o--the entire lake is included in the territory (Swiss or Savoyard) neutralized by the See also:congress of See also:Vienna in 1815. The French See also:part takes in nearly the whole ofthe See also:south See also:shore, See also:save its western and eastern extremities, which belong respectively to Geneva and to the Valais. The lake is formed by the See also:Rhone, which enters it at its See also:east end, between See also:Villeneuve (E.) and St Gingolph (W.), and quits it at its See also:west end, flowing through the See also:city of Geneva. The only important tributaries are the Drance (S.), the Venoge (N.) and the Veveyse (N.).

The form of the lake is that of a See also:

crescent, of which the east end is broad and rounded, while the west end tapers towards the city of Geneva. The See also:bird's See also:eye length of the whole lake, from Chillon to Geneva, is 391 in., but along its See also:axis 45 m. The See also:coast-See also:line of the See also:north shore is 59 m. in length and that of the south shore 441 m. The maximum See also:depth is 10152 ft., but the mean depth only 500 ft. The See also:surface is 12311 ft. (Swiss Topog. Bureau) or 1220 ft. (Forel) above See also:sea-level. The greatest width (between Morges and See also:Amphion) is 81 in., but the normal width is 5 in. The lake forms two well-marked divisions, separated by the strait of Promenthoux, which is 2161 ft. in depth, as a See also:bar divides the See also:Grand Lac from the See also:Petit Lac. The Grand Lac includes the greater portion of the lake, the Petit Lac (to the west of the strait or bar) being the See also:special Genevese portion of the lake, and having an area of but 302 sq. in. The unusual blueness of the See also:waters has See also:long been remarked, and the transparency increases the farther we get from the point where the Rhone enters it, the deposits which the See also:river brings down from the See also:Alps gradually sinking to the bottom of the lake.

At Geneva we recall See also:

Byron's phrase, " the See also:blue rushing of the arrowy Rhone " (Childe Harold, See also:canto iii. See also:stanza 71). The limit of visibility of a See also:white disk is 33 ft. in See also:winter (in See also:February 1891 Prof. Forel observed an extreme of 702 ft.) and 21; ft. in summer. Apart from the seasonal changes in the level of the lake (which is highest in summer, no doubt because of the melting of the Alpine snows that feed the Rhone), there are also the remarkable temporary disturbances pf level known as the seiches, in which the whole See also:mass of See also:water in the lake rhythmically swings from shore to shore. According to Prof. Forel there are both See also:longitudinal and trans-See also:verse seiches. The effect of the longitudinal seiches at Geneva is four times as See also:great as at Chillon, at the other end of the lake, while the extreme duration of this phenomenon is 73 minutes for the uninodal longitudinal seiches (352 minutes for the binodal) and to minutes for the transverse seiches (5 minutes for the binodal). The maximum height of a recorded See also:seiche at Geneva is rather over 6 ft. (See also:October 1841). The currents in the water itself are irregular. The See also:principal winds that See also:blow over the lake are the bise (from the N.E.), the vaudaire or FShn (from the S.E.), the sudois or vent de pluie (from the S.W.) and the joran (from the N.W.). The See also:storm winds are the molan (from the Arve valley towards Geneva) and the bornan (from the Drance valley towards the central portion of the lake).

The lake is not as See also:

rich in See also:fish as the other Swiss lakes, one See also:reason being the obstacle opposed by the Perte du Rhone to fish seeking to ascend that river. Prof. Forel knows of but twenty indigenous See also:species (of which the Fera, or Coregonus fera, is the principal) and six that have been introduced by See also:man in the 19th century. A number of lake dwellings, of varying See also:dates, have been found on the shores of the lake. The first steamer placed on the lake was the " See also:Guillaume Tell," built in 1823 at Geneva by an Englishman named See also:Church, while in 1873 the See also:present Compagnie generale de See also:navigation sur le lac Leman was formed, and in 1875 constructed the first See also:saloon steamer, the " Mont See also:Blanc." But despite this service and the See also:railways along each shore, the red See also:lateen sails of See also:minor See also:craft still brighten the landscape. The railway along the See also:northern shore runs from Geneva past Nyon, Rolle, Morges, Ouchy (the See also:port of Lausanne), See also:Vevey and See also:Montreux to Villeneuve (562 m.). That on the south shore gains the edge of the lake at Thonon only (221 m. from Geneva), and then runs past Evian and St Gingolph to Le Bouveret (20 m. from Thonon). In the See also:harbour of Geneva two erratic boulders of See also:granite project above the surface of the water, and are named Pierres du Niton (supposed to be altars to See also:Neptune). The See also:lower of the two, which is also the farthest from the shore, has been taken as the basis of the triangulation of Switzer-See also:land : the See also:official height is 376.86 metres, which in 1891 was reduced to 373'54 metres, though 376.6 metres is now said to be the real figure. Of course the heights given on the Swiss See also:Government See also:map vary with these different estimates of the point taken as basis. For all matters See also:relating to the lake, see Prof. F.

A. Forel's monumental See also:

work, Le Leman (3 vols., Lausanne, 1892–1904) ; also (with See also:fine illustrations) G. Fatio and F. Boissonnas, Autour du lac Leman (Geneva, 1902). (W. A. B.

End of Article: GENEVA, LAKE OF

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