Statistics, 
—_——~ 
Natural cue 
riosities. 
La Crau. 
- 
Caves. 
692 
that of the human body ; ten are below it, and eighteen 
are above it. The waters of the ee ek a are 
strongly purgative ; those of Salut iure- 
tic pa acdns, The degree of heat in Salut is 884. 
is situated in a frightful chasm of a valley, 
shaded on both sides by rude, barren mountains, and 
the Baston, a foaming torrent, filling the hollow. The 
situation is such, that the inhabitants dare not stay 
here during the winter, but remove all their furniture, 
and even their doors and windows, to such houses as 
are most out of the reach of mischief from the floods 
and avalanches. The mineral waters issue out of a hill 
in the centre of the village, and are distributed into 
three baths: they are strongly sulphureous, and con- 
sequently i: Shaq Their degree of heat is from 
80 to 1123: are to the touch, and tinge 
silver black. The waters of St Sauveur, near Luz, 
are not so hot as those of Bareges, but their taste is still 
more nauseous. There are other mineral waters at 
Cauterets, in the midst of beautiful . The hot- 
test spring raises the mercury to 118° ; in the coolest, 
it falls to 69°, de may also be men- 
tioned: it is a town on the river Neste, complete- 
ly hemmed in by lofty mountains on the borders of 
Catalonia. The baths are at a small distance from the 
town, and near the springs, which issue out of a rock, 
and are three in number, ete y dhgor ge 4 their 
of heat, but all tepid. e of them is 
rated by a plank from a copious stream, which, fur- 
nishes the coldest and purest water in the valley. Their 
streams are suffered to unite soon afterwards, to fill the 
tepid baths. The other mineral, waters of any note in 
France, are those of Forges, Vichi, Bourbonne, Bala- 
ruc, and Plombieres, 
Of the natural curiosities in France, we shall 
cipally confine our attention to those. which are inte~ 
ing from their connection with ip paytcslgingrs: 
phy. In this point of view, the plai of La 
claims our first notice. It is ed on the east side 
of the Rhone, between ales ae Dee eee 
triangular ; it covers an area of al 20 uare leagues, 
or 136,780 English acres. Thia ava is coveted entirel 
with quartz of gravel, some of the size of aman’s head, 
but of all sizes less, and the shingle of the sea shore 
is not more barren of soil. The basis of the whole 
plain consists of horizontal layers of pudding stone; and 
as, on examination, the stones on lain- have been 
ascertained to be exactly of the same kind, there can 
be little doubt that on vast body pO re read over 
pe yee ager oan ie ge inatec e ction 
of layers of the same which may perhaps have 
risen a great height above what is now the surface. 
This is the opinion of Saussure, and is more probable 
than the suppositions, that the gravel has been brought 
down by Durance from Alps of Dauphiny ; 
that the Rhone has formed it ; or that,it is the work of 
the sea, This plain was known to the ancients by the 
names of the nay a Lapidius, or Campus Herculeus, 
The origin of the first name is sufficiently obvious ; the 
latter was derived from its having been the reputed 
scene where Hercules, fighting with the sons of Nep- 
tune, and being in want of weapons, was supplied from 
heaven with a shower of stones. , 
There are some singular caves in France, particular- 
ly that in Franche Compté, near the village of Beaume, 
and those of Roquefort ; the former is remarkable from 
its containing a glacier. This cave is at the bottom of 
a small valley, in the middle of a thick forest. The 
FRANCE. 
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high, and this a passage leads to the chamber 
taining the glacier, the descent to which i a 
of 40 feet, In this cavern are stalactites of solid 
which are in some parts nearly joined by 
a 
sf 
Hi 
i 
gs 
same material, rising from a magnificent 
floor. Reaumut's » which 
of the cave was at 20} fell within 
Penagennty) by mere 
among the a calcareous mountain. 
In the month of October, the thermometer of Reaumut 
cone in app 9 to 54°; net de 138° 
in open air; Chaptal, on the 2Ist of August 
1787, with a good thermometer, which stood at 23° in 
the shade in the open air, found the of a 
— current of air in one of the caves to be 4°. He was 
informed that the thermometer had been seen, in that ex 
position, as low as 2° above zero. The hotter the exters 
nal air, the cooler the caves are found to be, because the 
current is then stronger. These caves are used in the 
manufacture of a. i esteemed cheese. 
The fountain of Vaucluse, immortalized by Petrarch, Vaucluse. 
termina- 
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i 
aes 
Az 
= 
tain of Vaucluse, The entrance to the cavern is 60 feet 
in height ; before it rises an immense rock, which qui 
conceals it : this rock the water filters, gushi 
out at its base in innumerable little streams. » is 
the ordinary state of the fountain; but when, in the 
ing, the snows of the mountains melt, the water rises : 
aentons age jana vinahe diocemsah Aispinn : 
e territory , in Aix, isa 
spring called the fountain of La Foux, which has the 
same periodical risings as the fountain of Vaucluse, but 
it is little known,’ 2 <A 
In the of Ardeche are several natural cu- : 
riosities ; the bridge of rock, under which the river of 
Ardeche passes; the grottos of Vallon; the gulf of 
Goule ; with many singular basaltic columns, &e. © 
II. In describing the dotanyof France, we shall be prins Botany. 
cipally indebted to the sketch of it given by Mr Aikin. 
Notwithstanding the pains that have hitherto-been . 
bestowed by French naturalists in ing the Flora 
of their native country, it still remains: in an 
state. Particular districts, as the environs of 
surveyed with consi- 
EE 
north ; the fertile plains on the Belgian frontier ; the ” 
rich vales of the ie Ame pore OR RE I 
towering ts w ie; exterior ridges: of 
the Alps Roney sine: wc: exposure of the 
di coast ; offer such -striking: differences: of 
soil-and tem , a8 evince at once a most abundant 
* So called from the celebrated Queen of Navarre, who. here lays the scene of her Tales. 
