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Bible Encyclopedias
Lake of Geneva
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or The largest lake of which any portion belongs to Switzerland, and indeed in central Europe. It is called Lacus Lemannus by the old Latin and Greek writers, in 4th century A.D. Lacus Lausonius or Losanetes, in the middle ages generally Lac de Lausanne, but from the 16th 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 form. Its area is estimated at 223 sq.m. (Swiss Topographical Bureau) or 2252 sq. m. (Forel), of which about 140 sq. m. (1342 sq. m. Forel) are politically Swiss (1231 sq. m. belonging to the canton of Vaud, r 11 sq. m. to that of Geneva, and 5 sq. m. to that of the Valais), the remainder (83 sq. m.) being French since the annexation of Savoy in 1860 - the entire lake is included in the territory (Swiss or Savoyard) neutralized by the congress of Vienna in 1815. The French part takes in nearly the whole of the south shore, save its western and eastern extremities, which belong respectively to Geneva and to the Valais.
The lake is formed b y the Rhone, which enters it at its east end, between Villeneuve (E.) and St Gingolph (W.), and quits it at its west end, flowing through the 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 crescent, of which the east end is broad and rounded, while the west end tapers towards the city of Geneva. The bird's eye length of the whole lake, from Chillon to Geneva, is 391 m., but along its axis 45 m. The coast-line of the north shore is 59 m. in length and that of the south shore 444 m. The maximum depth is 10151 ft., but the mean depth only 500 ft. The surface is 12311 ft. (Swiss Topog. Bureau) or 1220 ft. (Forel) above sea-level. The greatest width (between Morges and Amphion) is 82 m., but the normal width is 5 m. The lake forms two well-marked divisions, separated by the strait of Promenthoux, which is 2162 ft. in depth, as a bar divides the Grand Lac from the 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 special Genevese portion of the lake, and having an area of but 301 sq. m. The unusual blueness of the waters has long been remarked, and the transparency increases the farther we get from the point where the Rhone enters it, the deposits which the river brings down from the Alps gradually sinking to the bottom of the lake. At Geneva we recall Byron's phrase, "the blue rushing of the arrowy Rhone" ( Childe Harold, canto iii. stanza 71). The limit of visibility of a white disk is 33 ft. in winter (in 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 of level known as the seiches, in which the whole mass of water in the lake rhythmically swings from shore to shore. According to Prof. Forel there are both longitudinal and transverse seiches. The effect of the longitudinal seiches at Geneva is four times as 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 Jo minutes for the transverse seiches (5 minutes for the binodal). The maximum height of a recorded seiche at Geneva is rather over 6 ft. (October 1841). The currents in the water itself are irregular. The principal winds that blow over the lake are the bise (from the N.E.), the vaudaire or Fan (from the S.E.), the sudois or vent de pluie (from the S.W.) and the joran (from the N.W.). The 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 rich in fish as the other Swiss lakes, one reason being the obstacle opposed by the Perte du Rhone to fish seeking to ascend that river. Prof. Forel knows of but twenty indigenous species (of which the Fera, or Coregonus fera, is the principal) and six that have been introduced by man in the 19th century. A number of lake dwellings, of varying dates, have been found on the shores of the lake. The first steamer placed on the lake was the "Guillaume Tell," built in 1823 at Geneva by an Englishman named Church, while in 1873 the present Compagnie generale de navigation sur le lac Leman was formed, and in 1875 constructed the first saloon steamer, the "Mont Blanc." But despite this service and the railways along each shore, the red lateen sails of minor craft still brighten the landscape. The railway along the northern shore runs from Geneva past Nyon, Rolle, Morges, Ouchy (the port of Lausanne), Vevey and Montreux to Villeneuve (562 m.). That on the south shore gains the edge of the lake at Thonon only (22± m. from Geneva), and then runs past Evian and St Gingolph to Le Bouveret (20 m. from Thonon). In the harbour of Geneva two erratic boulders of granite project above the surface of the water, and are named Pierres du Niton (supposed to be altars to Neptune). The lower of the two, which is also the farthest from the shore, has been taken as the basis of the triangulation of Switzerland: the 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 Government map vary with these different estimates of the point taken as basis.
For all matters relating to the lake, see Prof. F. A. Forel's monumental work, Le Leman (3 vols., Lausanne, 1892-1904); also (with fine illustrations) G. Fatio and F. Boissonnas, Autour du lac Leman (Geneva, 1902). (W. A. B. C.) Genevieve, Or [[Genovefa, St]] (c. 422-512), patroness of Paris, lived during the latter half of the 5th century. According to tradition, she was born about 422 at Nanterre near Paris; her parents were called Severus and Gerontia, but accounts differ widely as to their social position. According to the legend, she was only in her seventh year when she was induced by St Germain, bishop of Auxerre, to dedicate herself to the religious life. On the death of her parents she removed to Paris, where she distinguished herself by her benevolence, as well as by her austere life. She is said to have predicted the invasion of the Huns; and when Attila with his army was threatening the city, she persuaded the inhabitants to remain on the island and encouraged them by an assurance, justified by subsequent events, that the attack would come to nothing (451). She is also said to have had great influence over Childeric, father of Clovis, and in 460 to have caused a church to be built over the tomb of St Denis. Her death occurred about 512 and she was buried in the church of the Holy Apostles, popularly known as the church of St Genevieve. In 1793 the body was taken from the new church, built in her honour by Louis XV., when it became the Pantheon, and burnt on the Place de Greve; but the relics were enshrined in a chapel of the neighbouring church of St Etienne du Mont, where they still attract pilgrims; her festival is celebrated with great pomp on the 3rd of January. The frescoes of the Pantheon by Puvis de Chavannes are based upon the legend of the saint.
Bibliography
The main source is the anonymous Vita s. Genovefae virginis Parisiorum, published in 1687 by D. P. Charpentier. The genuineness of this life was attacked by B. Krusch ( Neues Archiv, 1893 and 1894) and defended by L. Duchesne, Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des Chartes (1893), Bulletin critique (1897), p. 473. Krusch continued to hold that the life was an 8th-century forgery ( Scriptores rer. Merov. iii. 204-238). See A. Potthast, Bibliotheca medii aevi (1331, 1332), and G. Kurth, Clovis, ii. 249-254. The legends and miracles are given in the Bollandists'ActaSanctorum, January 1st; there is a short sketch by Henri Lesetre, Ste Genevieve, in "Les Saints" series (Paris, 1900).
These files are public domain.
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Lake of Geneva'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/l/lake-of-geneva.html. 1910.
