The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-11-30
CORRESPON NCE.
Letter from Switzerland.
GENEVA. Nov. Sd. 1881

GENEVA, NOV. Od, 1861.
Afessrs. Editors,-We have traversed
many regions all celebrated for the beauty
of their scenery; we have travelled
through Great Britain and the livelier
plains of our country, but we have no.
where met with such rich union of pic
turesque objects as in the Republic of
Switzerland The industry of its inhab-
itants-the curious house architecture
with projecting roof, to guard from the
wintry snow-the valleys kempt as care
fully as gentleman's lawn at home, the
wagon roads superior everywhere to
park roads in America, and oftentimes
exhibiting engineering skill Of the highest
order as well as enormous labor-the
mountain sides grass-cpvered and fir
clad to the levels of eternal snow-and
finally the Alps, afford the materials for
vast deal of study and reflection as well
as enjoyment. The immense masses that
constitute
The Alps, Exhibit at First Sight the
Appearance of Confusion and
Disorder.
They seem the venerable witnesses of
mighty convulsions which took place when
the earth assumed the form assigned it
by its Creator. What painsin the bowels
Of the earth, what stupendous groanings
and upheavals there must have been or
ever the Alpine Vohu Vabohu were
formed, and the age of trituration of fora
and fauna began Inaccessible peaks
covered with snow, SUBMITS with sides
perpendicular as gigantic obelisks, rocks
almost deprived OF their hold by time
and ready to fall from old age, are the
phenomena which the Alpine chains pre-
sent Nothing can be more imposing
than Mount Blanc 1t towers high above
all the mountains. The other SUBMITS
which encompass and incline toward it,
are all comparable to humble subjects
anxious to contemplate and pay homage
to their sovereign head. The Cervin ap-
pears like a triangular pyramid, and its
serpentine summit rises to the clouds
The circular figures which these noun
tains assume may be considered the most
remarkable feature of their arrangement
Mount Rosa, for example, is formed by
an uninterrupted series of mighty peaks
that enclose an immense circle nearly six
thousand yards in diameter. The gen
eral confguration is volcanic, but geolo-
gists have looked in vain for ancient vol
canoes In the Al pine chains. The ocean
alone has left traces of its former exist
ence. Incontestable evidence of the sea
exists not only in numerous shells, but
In the fact that the calcareous strata for
the most part alternated regularly with
layers Of fine sand, are yet occasionally
separated from each other by beds Of
pebbles or small angular and rounded
stones, that could only have been united
In the depths of the ancient ocean by the
calcareous cement that envelops them.
And yet in despite of this disordered APP
pearance Of Switzerland, the observer
familiar with nature can see evidence of
arrangement in the strata, fssured and
tilted, and folded as they are. The most
ancient deposits in these mountains are
stratified In the direction from west
southwest to east-north-east While
we are commenting on the geology of the
Alps, it is impossible to avoid referring
to the strange, disconnected granite
blocks to be seen 1000 feet above the
lake of Geneva. They have apparently
fallen from the highest SUBMITS Of the
Alpine range to the declivities of the Jura
on the side of Switzerland.
Next to the Alps themselves,
The Glaciers of Switzerland
are The greatest attraction to the traveller.
But if the visitor actually expects to see
these ice rivers move, and watch them
trend and grind the rock, be will, unless
more fortunate than we, be greatly dis
appointed. The philosophy Of the glacier
Is the melting of the snow by the sun, and
this snow thus melted is afterward con-
verted into ice. The plains Of ice or
glaciers are often inclined, and always