The college is a quadrangular building. Each class has a separate and commodious school-room on the ground Boor, so as to occupy the two sides of the quadrangle, and the upper part of the building contains apartments for the use of the principal or general inspector, and for the public library of the city. The public library was founded by Bou nivard, prior of St Victor, who lived in the time of the Re formation, and who was twice imprisoned, for having as serted the independence of Geneva against the Dukes of Savoy. He bequeathed to it his manuscripts, relative chief ly to the history of Geneva, and his books, and left his for tune for the support of the college. It now contains about 50,000 printed volumes, and 200 MSS. of which an account was published in 1779, by M. Senebier the librarian, enti tled, Catalogue raisonnee des Manuscrits conserves dans la Bibliothegue de Geneve. Among these, are 24 volumes of Calvin's sermons, and a large collection of the letters of that celebrated reformer. There are also MS. letters of Beza and Bullinger, the homilies of St Augustine, written upon the papyrus in the sixth century, and a book of the ex pellees of Philip le Bel for 1314. This curious journal consists of six tablets of wood covered with a kind of wax, in which the letters are engraved. One of the chambers of the library contains a collection of optical and mathema tical instruments, anatomical preparations, and antiquities. Among these is a round buckler of silver 34 oz. in weight, with the following inscription : Largitar D. N. Valcntiniani .dugusti. It was found in the bed of the Arve in 1721, and it is the only one of the kind in existence, excepting that which is preserved in the royal library of Paris. The li brary is also adorned with paintings of several eminent men ; and at one end of it is a fine bust of Charles Bonnet, the celebrated naturalist. One of the halls of the college contains several models in gypsum of ancient statues, groups, busts, and bas-reliefs, and also some fine paintings of St Ours and De la Rive. The public hospital is a large and elegant quadrangular building, and along with other four charitable establishments, it has an annual expellee of 80,000 crowns. In these establishments about 4000 per sons are annually relieved, and their benefits are extended even to indigent foreigners. The theatre is a neat edifice, situated at the south gate. The front of the theatre con sists of six Ionic columns, fluted two-thirds of their length from the capital downwards. Geneva is supplied with water by a hydraulic machine, which raises it to the height of 100 feet, and furnishes 500 pints of water in a minute to the pub lic fountains. The principal piece of antiquity at Geneva is the Tour Maitresse, a remnant of the ancient wall, built in 1366 by William de Marcossai.
Among the collections of natural history in Geneva, one of the most celebrated is that of the able. chemist Theodore de Saussure, the Soil of the celebrated Saussure. It con tains a fine collection of minerals, petrilactions, volcanic productions, insects and birds, and a collection of philoso phical instruments and chemical apparatus. The collec tion of Dr Jurine, besides a cabinet of ornithology and ento mology, contains a collection of all the fossils of St Gothard. There are also collections of minerals in the possession of M. M. Pictet, Tollot, Tingly, De Boissy, and De Luc.
Geneva is well supplied with excellent baths, both warm and cold. The baths of Lullin are erected in the very mid dle of the Rhone, where it issues from the lake. The warm baths in the quarter called Le Derriere du Rhone, are much frequented, on account of the fine view which some of the apartments enjoy. A warm mineral spring was some years ago discovered at St Gervais, in Savoy, at a little dis tance from Sallenche. Buildings have been erected on the spot, and have been in use since 1809. The temperature of the water is 33° of Reattmur. Fifty pounds of it contain, It is supposed to have the same medicinal qualities as the baths of Leuk in the Vallais.
There is perhaps no town in the world, which can boast of such an immense variety of splendid and interesting views as Geneva. Within the city, the hikses which form the lofty terrace already mentioned, thoff in the street of Beauregard, and those which are near the cathedral, enjoy, from their elevated situation, very interesting views of the lake of Geneva, the Eastern Alps, the Saleve Mountains, &c. The principal promenades within the city, are the Treille, the Bastions, and the Place de St Antoine, from which there is a fine view of the lake, with the various villas on the side of Cologny as far as Yvoire, where the lake begins rapidly to expand itself. It commands also a view of the opposite side of the lake, including Copet, the seat of Madame de Stael, Nyon, and Morges, which is not far from Lausanne. The Little Languedoc is also a fa vourite promenade, when the wind blows from the north.
The country around Geneva is so extremely grand and beautiful, that it is impossible to walk in any direction with out being gratified with the views and objects which are constantly presented to the eye. The right, or western bank of the lake, is more interesting than the Savoy side. Mont Blanc, in clear weather, is a principal feature in eve ry landscape. About a quarter of a league from the town, on the road to Fernay, the Mole, a hill about 4516 feet above the level of the lake, first presents itself among the Eastern Alps. To the right of this rises the Great and the Little Saleve, 3022 feet high, remarkable for the whiteness of their rocks. On the left, the round mountain of the Voiron (3112 feet high) stretches its enormous and well wooded flanks far to the east, and between it and Saleve, rises the round and beautifully shaped hill of Montoux, 625 feet high. Between the Mole and the Voiron is seen the Aiguille des Argentieres, and at a little greater distance, the rounded summit of Mont Buet. The mountains of Brezon and Vergi (4000 or 5000 feet high) appear between the Mole and the Saleve ; and above them Mont Blanc rises in all its majesty to the height of 13,428 feet. In look ing to the north-east, we can observe from the village call ed Little Sacconez, all the mountains which stretch beyond Montreux and Chinon, (at the eastern extremity of the lake,) as far as Molesson, which is 5047 feet high, and is situated above the Gruyeres, in the canton of Fribourg, about seventeen leagues in a straight line from Geneva. To the west and the north, the grand ridge of Jura stretches its uninterrupted length. Its three highest summits are the Reculet de Thoiry, 4062 feet high ; the Dole, 3943 feet ; and the Montendre, 4036 feet high, and to the north of Reculet.