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proves, that the Orichalcum of the ancients, was a mixture of copper and calamine, or the lapis calaminaris, and that it was not in fuch high efteem, as many (who fuppofe it to have been a mixture of gold and copper) have erroneoufly imagined.

Memoir. Containing an Examination of the Opinion of feveral ancient and modern Authors, who maintain that there was formerly a Communication between the Euxine, Cafpian, Baltic, and White Seas. By the Abbé MANN. In treating this fubject, which is worthy of particular attention, on account of its connexion with the theory of the earth, our Academician begins by laying before his readers a fummary of what preceding writers have faid on the matter, and afterwards examines the phyfical objects, actually exifting, which are adapted to clear it up. The refult of all is; that the ancient junction of these feas is fufficiently af

certained.

RESULTS of the Meteorological Obfervations, made in 1778, at Franeker in Friefland. By Profeffor Van SWINDEN. This Memoir contains an hundred pages.

Memoir. Concerning a Method of measuring the Degree of Quickness with which Ice thaws. By the Count de FRAULA.

RESULTS of the Meteorological Obfervations made at Bruffels, during the Year 1778.-EXTRACT of the Meteorological Obfervations made at Bruffels during the Year 1779. By M. du RONDEAU.- -These two tables terminate this Third Volume.

ART. VI.

Tableaux Topographiques, Pittorefque, Phyfiques, Hiftoriques, Moraux, Politiques, Litteraires de la Suiffe; i. e. Topographical, Picturefque, Philofophical, Hittorical, Moral, Political, and Literary Defcriptions of Switzerland. 2 Vols. Large Folio. Paris. 1780.

TH

HIS great Work, which contains a rich and extenfive fund of inftruction and entertainment, belongs to a feries of 1200 prints, elegantly engraven, and exhibiting Views of SWITZERLAND and ITALY, which were published fucceffively in Numbers at Paris in 1777, and the years following. The two volumes before us relate to Switzerland alone. They contain an ample and circumftantial account of the phyfical and moral ftate of that interefting country, the principal lines of its history, a description of the government, manners, arts, and cuftoms of its refpective Cantons, the characters of the eminent men whose names fhine in its annals, and views of the ftupendous afpects of nature, and its rich productions, in that fingular region.

At the head of the first volume we find A Difcourfe concerning the Natural Hiftory of Switzerland, which is principally defigned to point out the nature of the different fubftances which compose

thofe

those enormous mountains that are accumulated one upon another § and, rifing gradually, have their fummits fupported by ftupendous maffes of rocks, covered with eternal fnow and ice. The borders of the Lake of Geneva, the falt-pits of Bevieux, the cafcades and torrents of Piffe Vache and Trient, the round flints (galets) that are rolled from the tops of the mountains, and cover confiderable spaces at the foot of the Glacieres, and the famous mountain of St. Bernard, its environs, and its hofpital (or rather hofpitable manfion), are the firft objects we meet with here. The account of this famous hofpital, its fituation, and the difinterested benevolence of the humane Monks whofe lives pafs in acts of compaffion to the miferable, is interesting and affecting. This is followed by a description of the Vallais, and the course of the Rhone, which exhibits inftructive and enter-. taining details of natural hiftory, pleafing reprefentations of the, habitations, manners, occupations, contentment, and tranquility of the inhabitants of the mountains, and an ample account of those stupendous maffes of ice and fnow (called glaciers and gla-. ciéres), which, though to the ignorant fpectator they bear no marks of utility, have, nevertheless, a manifest influence on the temperature of the globe, and thus evince the wisdom and goodnefs of the Author of Nature. These aftonishing maffes of ice, whose origin and formation are amply and circumftantially defcribed in this work, are immense magazines of pure and folid water, which nature keeps in referve to replenish feveral of the great rivers of Europe, and diftributes proportionably to their refpective wants. The melting alfo of these maffes of ice maintains, in fummer, that freshness and moisture in the atmofphere, fo neceffary to the vigour and vegetation of thofe excellent paftures, which conftitute the peaceful opulence of the inhabitants of the mountains. It is curious to fee the beautiful and numerous flocks afcending the mountain in proportion as the fnow disappears, following the productions of the fpring which increase, and as it were rife anew to life, before them from day to day, until the point of time when the fnows of Autumn oblige them to retire, and to live, during winter, on the forage that has been gathered in the lower valleys, where the fame coolnefs and the fame waters have procured them three or four crops of provifions. It is alfo from these icy mountains, that Swit zerland derives its mineral waters, its hot fprings, its crystal mines, and its cold baths, which are ufed with fuch fuccefs in many disorders. One of the first phenomena that surprises the traveller on his arrival at the Glacières in fummer, is to fee at the foot of the Glacier, and on the borders of the valley, which it has filled with enormous maffes of ice, green pastures, trees, and a fruitful foil much higher than the ice. This fhews that the prodigious maffes of ice, in queftion, must have been formed

in a higher region, and have defcended from thence into the valleys which they have filled, and converted into mountains of folid water. How this defcent has happened it is eafy to conceive in fpring and autumn, when it rains at the foot of a mountain, it fnows at its fummit, or at its heights. The fnow melts in fummer towards noon, but freezes again at night: thus the water is changed from fnow into ice; this is, at leaft, the cafe with the furface, which has been melted. Thefe collections of snow and ice, accumulated on the steeps and precipices of the mountains, are drawn downwards by their weight, and defcend into the valleys and low grounds, which they raise almost to a level with the mountains, forming layers, or crufts of fnow and ice, which extend to a great diftance. The Glaciere which feparates the Canton of Bern from the Vallais, is thirty (French) leagues in length. When these enormous maffes of fnow have filled up the valleys, and by alternate freezing and thaws have been converted into ice, the new parcels that come down fucceffively, flide over the preceding maffes, and defcend like torrents on the cultivated lands. Thefe latter overflowings. (if we may use that term) form what the natural hiftorians of Switzerland call the Glaciers, which they diftinguish from the Glacieres. In the remaining part of this Difcourfe, our Author brings us to the famous mountain of St. Gothard, of which he difplays all the wonders, defcribing its natural curiofities, its temperature, its cryftal mines, the mountains that furround it, and the rivers that have their fources in its neighbourhood. From thence he conducts us by the Lake of the Four Waldftætt or Forest Cantons, where the chapel of TELL, the heroic founder of Helvetic liberty, is ftill beheld with veneration, and where the boatmen fhew, with patriotic pride, the place where the four illuftrious friends confirmed by oath the first confederation on which the free conftitution of the Thirteen Cantons was founded. In the middle of this lake we find Gerfaw, the fmalleft republic in Europe, whofe territory is but two leagues in length, and one in breadth; and all whofe male inhabitants who have arrived at the age of fixteen, are entitled to a place in the general affembly, confifting of about 300 perfons. Our Traveller, and his companions went to vifit this little town, and, going into a public house, found an advertisement exposed to view, in which there was a prohibition to drink or play at any kind of game, with two perfons of the place, whofe names were mentioned, and the reafon of this prohibition was, that one of these perfons was fometimes drunk, and the other quarrelfome. Happy, fay we, thofe little towns and ftates, where the morals of each citizen are under the eye of the public; happy, at leaft, in comparison with thofe enormous cities, where each individual cannot be an object of attention to the community,

community, and where vice, of confequence, may not only have innumerable afylums, but may even riot in obfcurity at noon-day!

The environs of Lucerne, Soleure, and Berne, the valley of Lauterbrun, and the famous cafcade of Staubach, the Glaciers of Grindelwald and Rofenlavi, the route of Engelberg, by the Cantons of Underwald and Schweitz, to Einfidlen, or our Lady of the Hermites, as alfo the route of Glaris by the country of the Grifons, to the fources of the Rhine, and the paffage from thence through Truns, Ilantz, Richenau, Coire, Trogen, St. Gall, Zurich, Scaffhaufen, Waldshut, Lauffenburg, and Rhinsfeldt, to Bafil; furnifh rich materials for the natural hiftorian, and fublime landscapes for the poetical painter: and neither of these kinds are neglected in this Difcourfe.

Among the multitude of fingular and ftriking objects that prefented themselves to M. LABORDE in this philofophical excurfion, we cannot help mentioning the Martis-Loch, or hole of St. Martin, bored through the fummit of the mountain of Falzaber, by which the Sun in the months of March and September enlightens the fteeple of the village of Elm, in the Canton of Glaris. This natural meridian is remarkable. The hole in the mountain is round, and, when feen from the village appears to be about three feet in diameter. On the 3d, 4th, and 5th of March, and the 14th, 15th, and 16th of September (old ftile) the fun paffes behind the hole; its whole difk is feen the 4th and the 5th, and then it cafts its light on the fteeple of Elm. The inhabitants maintain that the hole is very large, and that its real diameter is about 25 feet. It is eafy to judge of the height of this mountain, fince the village of Elm, which it covers, is deprived entirely of the fight of the fun during fix weeks of the winter feafon. How ftrange fuch a country in the centre of Europe.

The Description of SWITZERLAND that follows this Difcourse, is a very learned and extenfive work, comprehending amply what the title announces, and drawn from all the best fources of information, ancient and modern, which are mentioned in notes, full, perhaps too full, of erudition. It confifts of forty-five ARTICLES. In the firft six, we have an account of the fituation of the country, the origin of its names, its elevation above the other countries of Europe, its Alps, Mountains, and perpetual Glaciéres. In the description of these latter (the icy-mountains) our Author has followed Gruner. The fources of the Rhine, the Rhone, and other great rivers, which are replenished by the Glaciéres or icy-mountains, and direct their courfes through the Helvetic territories, form the subject of the two following articles. In the EIGHTH and NINTH the five great lakes of Switzerland, and nine others of a fecond rate, are particularly 8

described.

defcribed. In the Fourteen fucceeding Articles the Author treats of the mineral waters, falt-pits, mines, caverns, and water-falls of this fingular country, of the diverfity of its climate in the northern and fouthern parts, of its earthquakes, and other phenomena, of the nature of its foil, of its rural improvements, grain, vineyards, fruit- trees, plants, vulnerary herbs, paftures, ftuds, forefts, woods, quarries, marl-pits, animals, fish, reptiles, infects, and petrifactions. The Seven following Articles give a curious account of the population of Switzerland, of the languages fpoken in that country, of the refpective limits of the Reformed and Roman Catholic religions, and a very candid and interefting portrait of the proteftant and popish clergy. We find here alfo ample details, relative to the bishopricks, abbeys, convents, and commanderies of the Romish Cantons, and to the ecclefiaftical conflitution of the Proteftant States. The divifion of the Helvetic Body into cantons, co-allies, and allies; the ariftrocratical, democratical, arifto-democratical States, and thofe which have a form of government approaching to monarchy, are circumftantially and accurately defcribed in the FIVE following Articles. The thirty-fixth and the fix fucceeding Articles treat of the political. fyftem of the Helvetic confederacy, of its general and particular diets or affemblies, of the different ranks and privileges of the fubjects in each canton and ftate, of the coin, revenues, militia, arfenals, public roads, &c. and the THREE Articles that conclude this great work, exhibit a view of the general connexion of Switzerland with the Empire, France, and the House of Auftria, and its particular connexions with the See of Rome, Spain, England, Naples, Savoy, Pruffia, Venice, and Holland, as alfo of the employment of its troops in foreign fervice.

A collection of Records, Acts, and Hiftorical Differtations, is fubjoined to this work, as proofs and illuftrations of its contents, which form a rich and diverfified fund of natural, hiftorical, political, and literary fcience. The two volumes, which are of the largest folio fize, contain above 400 pages, and we fuppofe, though without any authority, that it will be followed with fimilar defcriptions of the ftates of Italy, correfponding with the prints and views of that country that are given in the collection above mentioned.

AR T. VII.

Hiftoire de l'Academie des Infcriptions et Belles Lettres, avec les Memoires de Litterature, &c. i. e. The History of the Academy of Infcriptions and Belles Lettres, together with the Memoirs of Literature, taken from the Registers of that Academy, from 1773, to 1775, and a Part of 1776 inclufive. Vol. XL. 4:0. Paris. 1780. N the hiftorical part of this Volume (which is at prefent under the direction of M. Dupuy, who has fucceeded M. le APP. REV. Vol. Ixiv.

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