November 1, 1892.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



201 



^^ AN ILLUSTRATED "^^ 



MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE 



SIMPLY WORDED— EXACTLY DESCRIBED 



LONDON: NOVEMBER 1, 1892. 



CONTENTS. 



The Disaster at St. Gervais. By tlie Ri!;lit Hon. Sir 



Edw.\rd Fbt, LL.D., F.R.S 



Caterpillars— I. By E. A. Butlbb 



The Rev. John Michell. Astronomer and Geologist. 



By John KiCH.\RD SrTToy, B.A.CanUb. . 

 Bye- Products versus Waste- Products. By TAr«H-\y 



CoBNisn. M.Sc, F.C'.S 



The Movements in the Line of Sight of Stars and 



Nebulae. By Miss A. M. Clerke 



Notices of Books 



Letter: — E. II 



The Oldest Mammals. By R. Ltdekker, B. A. Cantab. ... 

 The New Geology. By the Ept. H. N. HncniNsoN, 



B.A., F.G.S 



The Face of the Sky for November. By Heebebt 



Sadler. F.R.A.S 



Chess Column. By C. D. LococK, B.A.Oxon 



201 

 204 



206 



2fS 



2C9 

 211 

 212 



212 



216 



218 

 219 



THE DISASTER AT ST. GERVAIS. 



By tlie Right Hon. Sir Edward Fry, LL.D., F.E.S. 



WHILST at Cbamonix this summer I was 

 much interested iu obtaining the best 

 information which I could as to the 

 physical causes of the destruction of 

 the baths of St. Gervais, which excited 

 such a widespread interest and sympathy. I had 

 the advantage of studying with M. J. Tairraz, photo- 

 grapher of Chamonix, the photographs which he had 

 taken the day after the event, and of conversing 

 with ]\L Venance Payot, who was also on the spot 

 about the same time, and with one or two other 

 persons who visited the site somewhat later. From 

 this information, and from what I myself saw, I was 

 able to come to a pretty clear view of what had 

 happened. Since my return to England I have 

 studied the very interesting paper on this subject 

 by M. Vallot, the director of the Mont Blanc 

 Observatory (who visited the spot on the 10th .July), 

 which appeared in /.« Xntiiir of the '20th August, as 

 well as the note signed "D. W. F.' in the "Proceedings 

 of the Royal Geogi'aphical Society " for August, and 

 the numbers of the Timex newspaper and of Xatiirr 

 which contained information ,or correspondence on the 

 subject. 



In the hope that what has so much interested myself 

 may interest some of the readers of K\c)WLED(iE, I have 



written this paper, with the view of endeavouring to give 

 some account of the causes of the catastrophe, not of giving 

 any detailed account of the event itself. Fig. 1 shows the 

 baths of St. (Icrvais before the disaster ; Fig. 2 shows 

 their remains after it. A comparison of these two views 

 will sufficiently bring to the mind the nature of the destruc- 

 tion caused by the event. These views, like all the othcr.s 

 which illustrate this paper, are after photographs taken bv 

 M. Tairraz. 



The accompanying sketch map (Fig. 3) will enable the 

 reader to follow the narration of this terrible disaster. 

 The western .slopes of Mont Blanc (ths summit of which 

 lies be\'ond the south-east corner of the map) descend into 

 the valley of the stream known as the Bon Nant, which, 

 rising in the Col du Bonhommo, runs nearly due north. 

 The well-known heights of the Dome du Gouter and the 

 Aiguille du Gouter give oil' glaciers which, through 

 tributary valleys, send their waters into the Bon Nant, and 

 amongst these the glacier de Bionnassay. Above this 

 glacier to the north are found glaciers called the glacier 

 de la Gria and the glacier des Tetes Rousses. The 

 stream from the Bionnassay glacier will be seen to flow 

 below the village of Bionnassay, and close to the village 

 of Bionnay to join the stream of the Bon Xant. This con- 

 tinues to flow northward till about half-a-mile above St. 

 Gervais it enters a narrow and deep gorge. -Just where 

 this gorge opens out, the baths of St. Gervais were built 

 across the valley — there about 100 feet in width. From 

 the baths, the Bon Nant continues its course northward 

 t]U it joins the Arve, near the village of Le Fayet. The 

 gradients of this piece of country are steep. The Aiguille 

 du Gouter is 12,710 feet high above the sea-level, the 

 Tetes Rousses about 9000 feet, the baths 2060 feet, and 

 Le Fayet 1950 feet. Such is the general character of the 

 locality. 



Early in the morning of Tuesday the 12th .July last, a 

 terrible volume of water, ice and mud overwhelmed the 

 baths and destroyed man}- lives. 



The source of this calamity is to be found high up in the 

 glacier des Tetes Rousses. 



Fig. 3. — Sketch Ifap uf district surrounding St. Gervais. 



The enlarged sketch map (Fig. 4) will enable ray 

 readers to understand the locality more exactly. The 

 large glacier marked A is the glacier de Bionnassay ; 

 the glacier immediately to the nortla of it, and marked B, 

 is the glacier des Ti'tes Rousses ; C is the glacier de la 

 Gria. The upper part of the glacier des Tetes Rousses is 

 nearly a plateau, and is confined, to the soutb, by rocks 

 which di\nde it from the glacier de Bionnassay, and 

 partially to the west by the rocks of Tetes Rousses, E F. 



