198 



SEICHES OF THE LAKE OV GENEVA. 



iiJent, and wary fteps, in a tideways or oblique manner, 

 ipreading his legs and reaching forward. In this pofition he 

 would pluck the long hairs of the dog's tail. But he would 

 always take care to place his feet in fuch a manner to be ready 

 to ftart oft' when the dog was roufed and mapped at him. 



It would be needlefs (obferves my ingenious friend in the 

 conclufion of this entertaining account of the crow) to re- 

 count inftances of this bird's understanding, cunning, and 

 operations, which certainly exhibit inconteftible demonftrations 

 of aregular combination of ideas, premeditation, reflection,: and 

 contrivance, which influenced his operations. 



~ ~ 



XI. 



An Account of the Seiches af the Lake of Geneva. 

 By M. Vaucher *.„'.. 



Sudden and ir- XhE inhabitants of the banks of the lake pf Geneva, de- 

 regular nie and " ' 

 fall of the lake fignate by the name of feiches certain fudden and irregular 



of Geneva called changes which take place in the level of the waters of the 

 feiches. ° l 



lake, and have no relation with the regular and annual iff- 



creafe produced by the melting of the fnows. This phe- 

 nomenon was defcribed at the beginning of the laft century. 

 Fatio de Duilers in the 2nd vol. of Spoil's Hiftory of Geneva; 

 and afterwards by Jalabert in the Academy of Sciences ; 

 Serre in the Journal de Savans, Bertrand, and by De SaufTure 

 in the 1ft vol. of his Travels in the Alps. But though feveral 

 of thefe philofophers have attempted to explain the facl, as 

 we (hall hereafter remark, yet no one has considered it with 

 precifion, and as a general phenomenon. The editors of 

 the Bulletin des Sciences, from whofe excellent ftieet I take 

 the prefent account, have followed Mr. Vaucher, and after- 

 wards prefent the different explanations. The numerous 

 observations of that philofopher have led him to the following 

 general refults. 

 Particular detail 1. The feiches are not peculiar to the lake of Geneva, (hey 



of the faftsj are alfo obferved in the Lakes of Conftance, Zurich, Annecv, 

 they are obferved " J ... __ . . , _ J 



in other lakes. IWeut-chatel, and in the lake Major, and there are ftrong 



reafons to think that I hey exift in moft lakes, though they 



may not have been fufficiently obferved. 



* From the Bulletin des Science, No. 96. 



2. It 



