136 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



the falling shower and the energy of the processes of 

 which rain is in reality the equivalent. But in the 

 floods which have lately ravaged Switzerland we see 

 the same facts illustrated, not by numerical calcula- 

 tions or by the results of philosophical experiments, 

 but in action, and that action taking place on the most 

 widely extended scale. The whole of the south-eastern, 

 or, as it may be termed, the Alpine half of Switzer- 

 land, has suffered from these floods. If a line be 

 drawn from the Lake of Constance, in the north-east 

 of Switzerland, to the Col de Balme, in the south- 

 west, it will divide Switzerland into two nearly equal 

 portions, and scarcely a canton within the eastern of 

 these divisions has escaped without great damage. 



The cantons which have suffered most terribly are 

 those of Tessin, Grisons, and St. Gall. The St. 

 Gothard, Splugen, and St. Bernhardin routes have 

 been rendered impassable. Twenty-seven lives were 

 lost in the St. Gothard Pass, besides horses and 

 waggons full of merchandise. It is stated, that on the 

 three routes upwards of eighty persons perished. In 

 the village of Loderio alone, no less than fifty deaths 

 occurred. So terrible a flood has not taken place since 

 the year 1834. Nor have the cantons of Uri and 

 Yalais escaped. From Unterwalden we hear that the 

 heavy rains which took place a fortnight ago have 

 carried away several large bridges, and many of the 

 rivers continue still very swollen. We have already 

 described how enormous the material losses are which 

 have been caused by these floods. Many places are 



