(3) The main chain of the Alps and this great north outlier are parallel to each other from Mont Dolent to near Chur; joined for a short space near the Pizzo Rotondo (west of the St Gotthard), they again part near the Oberalp Pass (east of the St Gotthard). Between these two great ranges flow two of the mightiest European rivers, the Rhine towards the east and the Rhone towards the west, their head waters being separated only by the tangled mountain mass between the Pizzo Rotondo and the Oberalp Pass.

(4) To the north of the great north outlier of the main chain of the Alps there arc what may be called the plains of Switzerland, really the huge undulating valley of the Aar (and its affluents), to which must be added the Thur valley between the Aar basin and the Lake of Constance.

Thus, omitting the special cases named above, we may roughly describe Switzerland as consisting of two great trenches traversed by two great rivers, and enclosed by two huge mountain masses, together with the enormous valley of the Aar and the smaller one of the Thur, both these shut in by the great north outlier of the main chain of the Alps, the Rhine, and the Jura,—two deeply cut trenches, and two wide and undulating valleys.

The main chain of the Alps rises in Swiss territory to the height of 15,217 feet in Monte Rosa, and its north outlier to 14,026 feet in the Finsteraarhorn. The mean level of the Aar valley has been estimated at 1378 feet, its lowest point being the low-water mark of the Rhine at Basel (914 feet); the lowest level within the Confederation, however, is on the Lago Maggiore (646 feet).

According to the most recent calculations, the total area of the Confederation is 15,964·2 square miles, of which 71·7 per cent., or 11,443·3 square miles, are classed as “productive,” 3032 square miles being covered by forests, and 132·3 square miles by vines. Of the other 28·3 per cent., or 4520·9 square miles (classed as “unproductive ”),

709∙9 are occupied by glaciers, 520·3 by lakes, 90 by beds of rivers and streams, and 62·4 by towns, villages, and buildings. Of the whole area the three great cantons of the Grisons, Bern, and Valais take up 7439·9 square miles, or nearly one-half, while, if to them be added Vaud, Ticino, and St Gall, the extent is raised to 10,552 square miles, or about two-thirds of the entire Confederation.

The total area of Switzerland (15,964·2 square miles) is distributed over four great river basins (draining to three different seas) in the following proportions :—Rhine 11,166; Rhone, 2717; Po, 1358; and Inn, 721.

The Rhine basin is by far the largest in Switzerland, and drains of course to the North Sea. The Rhine itself is formed of two branches,—Vorder Rhine (valley of Dissentis) and Hinter Rhine (from the Splugen and St Bernardino),—which unite at Reichenau, near Chur. The joint stream receives several mountain torrents, expands into the Lake of Constance, and then turns west, receiving the Thur, and opposite Waldshut the great stream of the Aar, finally leaving Swiss territory at Basel, where it turns north. Its main affluent is the Aar, the basin of which covers no less than 6794 square miles. This stream rises in the glaciers of the Bernese Oberland, expands into the Lakes of Brienz and of Thun, receives from the left the Kander, the Saane, and the Zihl, and from the right the Emme, as well as (near Brugg, that great meeting-place of the waters) the Reuss flowing through the Lake of Lucerne and the united stream of the Linth and the Limmat flowing through the Lakes of Wallenstadt and Zurich. It is interesting historically to note the fact that the. thirteen cantons which till 1798 formed the Confederation are all comprised in the Rhine basin, the ten oldest (i.e., all before 1500) being within that of the Aar, and that it was only after 1798 that certain Romansch-, French-, and. Italian-speaking “allies” and subject lands—with their respective river basins—were tacked on. The Rhone rises in the glacier of the same name and flows west, receiving the mountain torrents of the Visp, the Lonza, and the Dranse, besides others, expands into the Lake of Geneva, and a little way from Geneva quits Swiss territory on its way to the Mediterranean. The main stream flowing from Switzerland to the Po basin is the Ticino (from the St Gotthard), which widens into the Lago Maggiore; another stream expands into the Lake of Lugano; and others run into the Lake of Como,—all finally joining the Po in the Lombard plains, thus draining to the Adriatic. The Ramm, flowing through the Münsterthal, joins the Adige and so drains into the Adriatic. The Inn basin is composed of the upper part of the river (above Martinsbruck) and drains into the Danube and so into the Black Sea.

Most of the great Swiss rivers, being in their origin mere mountain torrents, tend to overflow their banks, and hence much is required and has been done to prevent this by embanking them, and regaining arable land from them. So the Rhine (between Ragatz and the Lake of Constance), the Rhone, the Aar, the Reuss; and in particular we may mention the great work on the Linth (1807 to 1822) carried out by J. Konrad Escher, who earned by his success the surname of “Von der Linth,” and on the Zihl near the Lakes of Neuchâtel and Bienne, while the diversion of the Kander from its junction with the Aar at Uetendorf to a channel by which it flows into the Lake of Thun was effected as early as 1714.

There are very many lakes in Switzerland. The two largest (Geneva and Constance) balance each other at the soutli-west and north-east comers of the Confederation. The following list gives details regarding the fifteen over 4 square miles in extent. It will be noticed that of these twelve are in the Rhine basin (eleven of them being in that of the Aar), two in the Po basin, one in the Rhone basin, and none at all in the Inn basin. It has been estimated that in the Rhine basin there are no fewer than nineteen large and thirty-seven small lakes. Of the smaller Swiss lakes we may mention the Dauben See, and the Oeschinen See, as well as the Märjelen See close to the Gross Aletsch glacier. There are of course an infinite number of Alpine tarns. [table]

Mean Height of Surface above Sea

Level in Feet.

The lakes marked * are only partly in Swiss territory.

There are a great number of waterfalls in Switzerland, the loftiest being that of the Staubbach (1001 feet), in the valley of Lauterbrunnen, or “Clear Springs” (Bernese Oberland). In the Oberland, too, we find the Handeck (200-220 feet), near the source of the Aar, while the Reichenbach descends in seven falls and the Giessbach in thirteen. The falls of the Rhine at Schaffhausen contain an enormous mass of water, though they are only 82 feet in height. In southern Switzerland the Pissevache fall (200 feet), in the Rhone valley, is the best known.

Dr A. Heim reckons up 471 glaciers in Switzerland and 462 in Austria, his figures for France and Italy being untrustworthy and incomplete; but Switzerland has 138 glaciers of the first rank (i.e., over 4¾ miles long) as against 71 in Austria, though Austria has 391 of the second rank (i.e., between 4¾ and 3 miles long) as against 333 in Switzerland. The distribution of the Swiss glaciers deserves notice, for in eleven cantons (that is, half of those in the Confederation) there are no glaciers at all, while in five others (Unterwalden, Vaud, St Gall, Schwyz, and Appenzell) they only cover about 13 square miles out of 709∙9 square miles of ice and snow in the Confederation, according to the official survey. Valais heads the list with 375∙1 square miles, then come the Grisons (138∙6), Bern (111∙3), Uri (44∙3), Glarus (13∙9), and Ticino (13∙1). The longest glacier in the Alps is the Gross Aletsch in the Bernese Oberland, 15 miles long; it has a basin of 49∙8 square miles and a maximum breadth of 1968 yards. In point of length the Unteraar glacier comes next (10∙4 miles), followed by the Gorner and Viescher glaciers (each 9∙4 miles). The lowest point to which a Swiss glacier is known to have descended is 3225 feet, attained by the Lower Grindelwald glacier in 1818. Dr Heim has ascertained that the maximum annual snowfall in the Alps takes place in the lower snow regions, a conclusion which the present writer can confirm from personal experience gained on the ascent of several of the highest Oberland peaks in January 1874 and 1879. Dr Heim states that in the central Alps of Switzerland the limit of perpetual snow varies from 9259 to 9023 feet. See Glacier.

In Switzerland, where the height above sea-level varies from 646 feet (Lago Maggiore) to 15,217 feet (Monte Rosa), we naturally find very many climates, from the regions of olives, vines, oaks and beeches, pines and firs, to those of high mountain pastures, rhododendrons, and of eternal snow (see Alps). As regards the duration of the seasons, there is a corresponding variety. It has been reckoned that, while in Italian Switzerland winter lasts only three months, at Glarus it lasts four, in the Engadine six, on the St Gotthard eight, on the Great St Bernard nine, and on the St Théodule always. A painstaking writer has calculated that, if Switzerland were flattened out into a plain, and reduced to the level of the sea, it would be comprised between the isotherms 51°∙8 and 55°∙4 F. As a matter of fact the mean temperature varies no less than 34½°, for at Bellinzona it is 54½° F., at Geneva 49¼°, at Basel 49 1 / 3 °, at Chur 48¾°, at Interlaken 48°, while on the Great St Bernard it sinks to 30°, and on the St Théodule to 20°. The Alps form the boundary between the region where the rainfall is greatest in summer and that where it is greatest in autumn, the winter and spring rainfall varying but slightly. These are the percentages of the annual rainfall in Switzerland at different seasons :—

Rhine Basin; winter, 18; spring, 25; summer, 33; autumn, 24.

Rhone Basin·. ,, 21; ,, 26; ,, 26; ,, 27.

Ticino Basin; ,, 12; ,, 26; ,, 27; ,, 35.

It has been shown by careful observations that the rain (or snow) fall is greatest as we approach the Alps, whether from the north or south, the flanks of the great ranges and the valleys opening out towards the plains receiving much more rain than the high Alpine valleys enclosed on all sides by lofty ridges. Thus the annual rainfall is 35 inches at Basel but 64½ at Beatenberg (above Interlaken) and 69 at Schwyz, rising to 88 on the Grimsel and 102 on the St Bernardino, and falling again at Lugano to 63. Dr Heim calculates that the percentage of snow in the total annual rainfall in Switzerland varies from 63 on the Great St Bernard to 6 at Geneva, the mean fall of 34 being at Platta in the Grisons. Thunderstorms generally vary in frequency with the amount of rainfall, being most common near the great ranges, and often very local. The floods caused by excessive rainfall are sometimes very destructive, as in 1839, 1852, and 1868, while the same cause leads to landslips, of which the most remarkable have been those on the Rossberg above Goldau (1806), at Evionnaz (1835), and at Elm (1881).

As regards the larger cyclones or storms of Europe, a south wind in the Alps indicates that the barometrical minimum is in the English Channel, a west wind that it is in the North Sea, a north wind that it is in the Eastern Alps, and an east wind that the depression is in the Mediterranean, about Corsica. When the barometrical minimum shifts from the Atlantic over Scandinavia to Russia, a soutli-west wind in the Alps is followed by west and then north winds. The “föhn” is the most remarkable of the local winds in Switzerland,—a strong soutli-west or south wind, very hot and very dry. It was formerly supposed to come from the Sahara, but is now held to be a south-west or south wind which, saturated with moisture, crosses the Alps, precipitating a copious rainfall in its course; commencing its descent in the northern valleys with a high temperature for these great heights, it necessarily increases in temperature and dryness as it passes into the high pressure of lower levels. Dr Hann concludes from observation that, assuming the air to cool at the rate of 1° C. in every 100 metres of ascent, and the ridge crossed by the fohn to be 2000 metres in height, the heat lost on the ascent is only 0°·5 C., so that when the föhn reaches the north side it will have a heat, not of 10°, but of 20°. The fohn occurs most frequently in spring. Other local winds in the Alps are those which blow up a valley in the morning and down it in. the evening, due to the heating of the air in the valleys by the sun during the day and its cooling by terrestrial radiation at night. The cloud streamers from great Alpine peaks are due to the condensing of the moisture in a layer of air, and, as the moisture is carried away by the wind, so the streamer is dissolved.

For all these reasons Switzerland has many varieties of climate; and, while, owing to the distribution of the rainfall, the Ticino and Aar valleys are very fertile, the two great trenches between the main chain and its north outlier, though warm, are less productive, as the water comes from the rivers and not from the skies.

Asphalt is the only raw mineral product the export of which exceeds the import; and it is obtained only in the canton of Neuchâtel, where the output of the Val de Travers deposit in 1883 reached 28,000 tons. Though iron ores are known (according to Weber and Brosi’s map) to exist in 13 localities, gold in 3, silver in 22, copper in 29, lead in 27, nickel and cobalt in 2, tin in 1, sulphur in 3, Switzerland is practically dependent for all its metals on foreign supply. While 35,161 tons of iron were obtained in 1870 (mostly from mines in the Jura), only 19,045 were obtained in 1881. True coal is wholly absent; lignites, however, occur both in the Tertiary and the Quaternary formations, the most important workings being those of Käpfnach, Utznach, Mörschwyl, Dümten, Lutry, Conversion, and Oron. In 1870 the output was 33,364 tons, in 1881 only 6184. Anthracite occurs in Valais. Peat is common in many parts. Salt (42,000 tons) is procured from wells in Aargau, Basel, and Vaud. The first salt-deposit was discovered in 1836 at Rothenhaus (Basel canton), that of Rheinfelden in 1844, of Ryburg in 1845, and of Kaiseraugst in 1865. The wells at Bex have been worked since 1554.

Game is not abundant in any part of Switzerland; and rigorous game laws and other devices have been adopted in order to increase the number of wild animals. In 1875 a law was passed in accordance with which a commission marked out certain reservations or “districts francs pour la chasse au gibier de montagne”; and in 1881 their limits were revised for another term of five years, including an area of 5268 square kilometres in 1885. There were then within this area 8487 chamois and about 106 roebuck. The· chamois were most abundant in the Grisons, Bern, Glarus, and Freiburg. In the Alpine regions the marmot and Alpine hare are still common, and their numbers have increased under the protective system. Grouse, partridge, wild duck, and snipe are the chief game birds. A close time protects birds not considered game, and the federal council in 1885 appointed a commission to draw up a catalogue of all birds found in Switzerland, and to establish stations for collecting facts of ornithological interest.

Attention has recently been directed to the diminution of the supply of freshwater fish, due in part to over-fishing and in part to pollution of the streams. It is estimated that the fish-bearing waters in the whole country cover an aggregate area of 1581 square kilometres (1348 belonging to lakes and 233 to rivers and streams), the cantons with the greatest areas being Vaud (443 square kilometres), Bern (161), Thurgau (139), aud Neuchâtel (98). Close seasons, and in certain places close years, have been established, and numerous fish-hatcheries are also in operation (57 in 1885), the species treated being mainly salmon, lake trout, river trout, grayling (ombre), red trout or Röthel, the Swiss Coregonus, American Coregonus (C. albus), Salmo fontinalis, and the “mäder.” No fewer than 5,709,432 fish were introduced into the lakes and rivers in 1885. By a law of 1884 the federal council is allowed to defray one-third of the expense of the construction of fish-ladders. In 1882 a Swiss fisheries society was founded. Conventions in regard to the fisheries have been signed with Italy, France, and Germany.

Great importance attaches to the domestic animals of Switzerland. In 1876 there were 284,478 owners of live-stock, in 1886 289,610. The following are the numbers for those two years :— horses, 100,935 and 98,333; cattle, 1,035,930, 1,211,713; sheep, 367,549, 341,632; goats, 396,055, 415,916; pigs, 334,515, 394,451; mules, 3145, 2741; asses, 2113, 2042; and beehives, 177,825, 207,180. See Z. f. schw. Statistik, 1886.

The following table gives a variety of details regarding the twenty-two Swiss cantons, arranged in the order of their extent. In the first column the languages principally spoken in the different cantons are indicated by letters, as described in the appended footnote, and the percentages of population speaking them in 1880 are given. In every case the official language is that of the majority, with the exception of Freiburg, where it is German. The same column also shows the various executive and legislative authorities. [table]

* Languages.— G, German; F, French; I, Italian; R, Romansch. Executive Authority.— A, Regierungsrath; B, Conseil d’état; C, Consiglio di stato; D, Staatsrath; E, Standeskoinmission; H, Rath u. Standeskommission; K, Kleiner Rath u. Standeskommission. Legislative Authority.— L, Grosser Rath; M, Grand conseil; N, Gran consiglio; 0, Kantonsrath; P, Landsgemeinde; Q, Landrath. For details regarding the Stände Rath, of 44 members, and the National Rath, of 145 (made up as shown in column 8 above), see p. 795; and for information regarding the referendum in the cantons, see p. 796.

The first federal census of which the results were published was neither quite synchronous (April 1836 to February 1838) nor quite systematic. That of 1850 took account only of the population with right of residence (population domiciliée), and not of the population actually present at the date of the census. In 1860 the census was declared decennial. The following are the numbers returned:— March, 18-23, 1850, 2,392,740; December, 10, 1860, 2,507,170; December 1, 1870, 2,669,147; December 1, 1880, 2,846,102.

As regards density of population, Switzerland, with 198·5 persons to the square mile, stands considerably above Scotland (125) and a long way below England and Wales (446). The Alpine region is the sparsest generally, though certain districts, like Appenzell...