Geneva

Geneva, LAKE OF, or LAKE LEMAN (Lacus Lemanus), situated between Switzerland, to which the larger portion belongs, and France. It lies 1218 feet above the level of the sea, and extends for 45 miles from east to west, in the form of a crescent. Its greatest breadth is 9 miles, its area 223 sq. m., and its maximum depth is 1022 feet. This lake at some periods of the year presents a curious phenomenon: the whole mass of water oscillates from side to side of the lake, causing, especially near Geneva, a rise and fall of from two to five feet in the course of about eight or ten minutes (seiche). The phenomenon is probably due to differences of barometric pressure on different parts of the surface. The lake abounds in fish. The shore on the side of the Pays de Vaud is a classic spot, celebrated by J. J. Rousseau in his Nouvelle Héloïse and by Byron in his Childe Harold and in the Prisoner of Chillon, while the names of Voltaire and of Madame de Staël are connected with Ferney and Coppet at the Geneva extremity, Gibbon's with Lausanne. The southern French shore rises solemn and stern, with the mountains of Savoy in the background. From the Lake of Geneva, Mont Blanc is visible, and although 60 miles distant, is often reflected in its waters. Mirages are sometimes observed on the lake. The Rhone enters the lake at the upper end, turbid and yellow, and leaves it at the town of Geneva as clear as glass, and of a deep blue tint. The lake receives about twenty unimportant streams along its northern shore.