The greatest quantity of rain falls on the southern declivity, where it annually amounts to 57'83 inches, whilst on the western side it is only 47.17 inches, and on the northern not more than 36.13 inches. In some parts a great quantity of snow falls, especially on the Jura Mountains, where in parts it accumulates to a depth of 30 feet.
Divisions.—The Swiss confederation consists of 22 cantons, which, with the area, population, and representatives of each in the National Council, are aa follows About three-fourths of the Swiss speak dialects of the German, which is the language used by the authorities. French is the written as well as the spoken language of the educated classes of Geneva, Vend, and Neufchatel, and a part of Bern, Freyburg, and the The Inhabitants of the canton Ticino, and of some valleys of the Grisons, on the youth side of the Alps, speak a dialect of Italian; and one-half of the population of the Orisons speak the ltomauntch and Ladin, which are peculiar dialects, apparently of old Italian origin.
With regard to religion, the majority of the population beloog to the Calvinist or Helvetia Confession of Faith. There is however no obligatory uniformity among the Swiss congregations : there Is no Swiss church, In the common sense of the word : in each of the Reformed cantons the ecclesiastical affairs are regulated by a synod. There are Roman Catholics In all the cantons, but these and all Dissenters or 'separatists' from Calvinism enjoy liberty of conscience and freedom of worship. But the religious houses of the Catholics have been suppressed since the revolution of 1947. Tho more exclusively Protestant cantons are Aargau, Appenzell, Bern, Basel, Geneva, Glarus, Omubtindten, Neufchatel, Schaffhauseu, Thurgau, Vaud, and Zurich. But in Geneva the Catholics are fast approaching to an equality in numbers with the Protestants, having increased since 1837 from 17,000 to 29,764, while the latter had decreased from 41,666 to 34,212 In 1850. . The Catholics have increased also in Zurich, Basel, Schaffhausen, Vaud, Neufchatel, and Orisons. Bet Protestants have spread into the once exclusively Catholic cantons of Luzern, Zug, Schwyz, Uri, Unterwaldeu, the Valais, and Ticino, and the ratio of Catholics to the whole popu lation of Switzerland remains nearly unaltered, being 40.6 per cent, while the Proteatante make 59.4 per cent. The number of Jews in Switzerland Is not stated. The number of foreigners resident in Switzerland is more than balanced by the number of Swiss resident in foreign countries. The sexes approach very nearly to
equality on the whole population, the ratio being 102 females to 100 males.
Natural Productions.—These are wheat, buckwheat, maize, barley, rye, oats, potatoes, flax, and hemp ; fruits including grapes, pears, apples, cherries, and plums; peas, beans, and other common vege tables; chestnuts, walnuts, filberts, ttc. The localities of these pro ducts are mentioned in the preceding part of this article. The mulberry is grown In the Italian cantons for feeding silkworms. Two thirds of Switzerland do not produce corn enough for the consumption : this is particularly the case in the central and eastern cantons which lie in the highlands of the Alps. The cantons which produce moat corn are Soleure, Bern, Freyburg, Aargan, Schaffhausen, Luzern, and Vaud. There is nearly a million of head of horned-cattle in summer, oar-fourth of which consists of milch cows ; and the produce of the dairy is reckoned annually between one and two millions sterling.
The finest races of horned-cattle are those of the Emmenthal and tiimmenthal, In the canton of Bern, of Clruyeres in Freyburg, of Schwyz, of Zug, of the Fricathal in the canton of Aargau, and of AppenzelL The sheep are mostly of inferior breed, and the wool is short and coarse. Goats are very numerous in the highlands ; pigs are plentiful and fine.
Kirschwasser is distilled from cherries, and is commonly used all over Switzerland. WaInntsoil is the common substitute for olive-oil north of the Alps.
The highlands of Switzerland abound with timber-trees, especially firs of various kinds, maple, beech, larch, birch, and oak-trees. There are certain forests on the declivities of the high Alps which protect the valleys beneath from the avalanches, and are therefore carefully preserved ; but the rest, which for the most part are communal property, are subject to great waste, through injudicious cutting, the inroads of cattle, and especially of goats, and the ravages of storms. )lost of the cottages and farm-houses are built of wood, and the same material is used for fuel, the annual consumption of which is enormous : a great quantity of timber is also exported to France and other countries. Coal-mines are worked in the cantons of Freyburg, Vaud, Basel, and Thurgau, but the coal is mostly of inferior quality. Turf is used in Aargau and other cantons.