The avalanches of Switzerland are famous for their destructive propensity, but on their record, year by year, they do not cause any appalling Loss of life or property. The mighty forces of nature, in storms at sea, inundations and cyclones, cause probably a much greater proportionate loss of life and property than do avalanches. Though they fall all the year round in Switzerland, spring is the great time for avalanches. During that period some of them descend with remarkable regularity in particular places and at recognized spots. The snow piled up during the winter on the grass slopes below the (summer) snow-line, gradu ally loses its cohesion as the spring melting ad vances and glides down to its appointed place according to the trend of the ground. In places where huge masses of snow are collected above steep declivities terminating in narrow outlets the avalanches descend with terrific roar and pressure against the lines of defence — the forests. For this reason the forest laws of Switzerland are very strict. Every thing is done to preserve the 'natural rampart afforded by a mass of pines, and no one is allowed to fell a tree on his own ground with government consent. Where avalanches fall regularly every year, stone galleries are built or tunnels are mined out of the solid rock to protect roads. Many protective devices are em ployed to arrest the torrents of ice, snow and slush so that the danger from them has largely diminished. The so-called Staub-Lawine or Dust-Snow avalanche is the most dangerous on account of its suddenness, and the most dif ficult to provide against. This is a collection of loose, freshly-fallen snow which has been caught up in one of those sectional tornados that spring up on the mountain slopes, and is driven down on the wings of the wind to the valley below. The Schlag-Lawine or Stroke Avalanche is the usual spring variety, which pour down the slopes like a swiftly-flowing river. This is the type that can be more suc cessfully regulated. It has a secondary form in the Grund-Lawine or ground avalanche, which carries earth and rubbish with it and performs a beneficial taslc in bringing down soil from the heights to the plains. Whereas the avalanche is snow in quick movement toward the valleys, the glacier is snow (pressed into ice) in slow movetnent. See GL.A.a.m. PERIOD ; GLACIER.
Rivers and Lakes.— Owing to its moun tainous nature Switzerland is naturally a land belonging to many river systems, though none of the rivers acquires such a size within its limits as to become of much navigable impor tance. Its position as the centre of the princi pal watersheds of Europe has been referred to. Great rivers take their origin in Switzerland and attain their chief development in other countries. Both the Rhine and the Rhone rise here, as well as the Po and the Danube. The first three spring from the Saint Gothard mountain mass, but the Rhine is formed by the junction of three distinct head-streams, the Vorder, Mittel and Hinter-Rhine. It flows north into the Lake of Constance, and thence west to Schauffhausen, where it forms the cele brated falls of that name, the largest in Europe in volume. It is navigable for vessels at Coire in the canton of Gri sons for vessels of 150 tons, but its navi gation properly begins below the falls. Its prin cipal affluent in Switzerland is the Aar, which, after traversing the Lakes of Brienz and Thun, winds across the Swiss plateau to join the main stream about midway between Lake Constance and Basel. The Rhone, said to be the most rapid of the larger rivers of the world, rises in the Rhone glacier (Valais), flows northwest into the Lalce of Geneva, issues thence at the town of Geneva under the name of the Arve, and quits Swiss territory about 10 miles below. The waters which the Po receives from Switz erland are carried to it by the Ticino, and thereby to the eastern bay of the Mediter ranean; those which the Danube receives are carried to it by the Inn and taken thence on to the Black Sea. The lakes and mottntains form
a more important hydrographical feature than the rivers. The former are remarkable for their number, size, depth and the grandeur of their scenery. The largest lake, that of Geneva (also lcnown as Lake Leman), has an area of about 2.20 square miles; Lake Constance, in the northeast, has 208 square miles. Both of these, as well as Maggiore on the south side of the Alps, belong partly to other countries; but within the limits of Switzerland, and not far from its centre, are Lake Neuchatel (93 square miles), with Morat and Bienne in its vicinity. Thun with its feeder Brienz, Lucerne or Vierwaldstattersee, Sempach, Baldegg, Zug, Ziirich and Wallenstattersee. All these in ternal lakes belong to the basin of the Rhine. The greatest depth of Lake Geneva is 1,015 feet, placing the bottom at about 200 feet above sea level; the bottoms of the lalces on the southern side of the Alps are below the level of the sea. Rapid mountain torrents feed nearly all the Swiss lakes. entering their upper ends thickly charged with sediment, which is deposited when the rivers enter the lake, to leave it at the lower end as clear streams. Thus the lalces filter and regulate the rivers, thereby protecting nearly all the lower valleys of the country from serious floods. The Aar formerly overflowed its banks., but this has been remedied by the construction of a canal to divert the river into the Lake of Bienne, by which the lower course of the stream is regulated.
Geology and The most remark able feature in the complicated geological structure of Switzerland and of the Alps gen erally is the extent to which the flanks of the Alps have bee_n folded, contorted and inverted b.y the tremendous forces that led to the eleva tion of these mountains. A typical example is presented by the Saint Gothard, where the cen tral core crops out at the summit of the ridge, and the strata on each side of it, north and south, dip inwards toward the base, so that when seen in section they would present the appearance of the ribs of a fan radiating from a single point. All the loftiest Alpine ranges have a nucleus of granite, on which gneiss and mica-slate recline generally at a high angle. On the west of the plateau the Jura give their name (Jurassic) to the rocks of which they are com posed; the mountains on the east are mainly formed of gneiss and mica-schist with various slates in places, especially in the Grisons. The Swiss plateau, stretching from southwest to northeast between the Geneva and Constance lakes, may be described as an area of Tertiary (principally. Miocene) deposits separating the two mountain regions composed chiefly of rocks of more ancient date. Switzerland is not rich in minerals; iron ore is found and worked at various places. Asphalt, sulphur and salt occur in, certain districts, and formerly argentiferous copper and lead ore were extracted in the can ton of Grisons. A profitable source of na tional wealth is provided by an abundance of mineral springs. Thermal and medicinal baths are dotted all over the country. Baden (q.v.), the chief of .the bath centres, enjoys a most salubrious climate and its hot springs have been celebrated since Roman times. Other cele brated health resorts are those of Schinznach in Aargau, Pfeffers in Saint Gall, Leuk or Lpueche and Saxon in Valais, Saint Moritz in the beautiful Engadine, with Bernhardin, Fi deris and Schuls-Tarasp, Alyeneu and, Serneus; Blumenstein, Weissenburg and others in can ton Berne; Weissbad near Appenzell, Stachel berg in Glarus, Seewen in Schwyz, and Sch wendi-Kaltbad in Unterwalden. Altogether there are close on 400 health resorts in Switz erland, many containing luxurious hotels, Kurhiuser, casinos, clubs and theatres, with numerous attractions for devotees of winter sports and tennis lawns. Native industry and initiative have so successfully exploited the gifts of nature that Switzerland has become the °playground of Europe—if not of the world.