GENEVA. 
wood covered with a kind of wax, in which the letters - 
house, and thus protect the foot passengers from the ef- 
fects ofthe sun and the rain. In this street, there are 
two rows of low wooden shops in front of the houses, 
aefeecting the street from the foot pavements. 
” Theu of the town forms a striking contrast 
with the lower part, not only from the splendid views 
which it commands, but also the admirable houses 
that it contains. The Rue Nouveau de pie ree 
commanding a splendid view of the Lake and the 
Western Alps, contains many elegant houses ; and the 
Terrace, which looks to the mountains of Sion, consists 
of the houses of M. M. Tronchin, Boissier, Sellon, Saus- 
sure, &c, which are large Stan ted buildings. 
The principal public edifices and establishments, are 
the cathedral of St Peter's; the Hotel de Ville ; the ar- 
senal; the college ; the public library; the hospital ; 
the theatre; and the places of worship. The cathedral, 
situated in the part of the town, is a large mo- 
dern church of Gothic architecture in the interior, with 
a fine organ, and windows of painted glass. The por- 
tal is in imitation of that of the Rotondo at Rome, It is 
built of rough marble, and consists of a fine peristyle of 
six Corinthian columns su ing a pediment which is 
surrounded by an ugly substitute fora dome covered with 
tin. In the time of the Allobroges and the Romans, a tem- 
ple, consecrated to the sun, occupied the spot on which 
the cathedral now stands. It contains the tombs of the 
Duke de Rohan, the head of the Protestant party in 
France, who was banished by the Cardinal Richelieu, 
and who died of the wounds which he received at the 
battle of Rhinfeld. His wife, the daughter of the great 
Sully, erected this monumentto his memory. Another 
tamb is erected to his son Tancred ; and another tothe 
celebrated Agrippa D’Aubigné, who died in 1630. The 
view from the top’ of the etiedrsl is very extensive and 
magnificent. The other churches of Geneva have no- 
thing remarkable in their appearance. That of St Ma- 
delaine is very plain without, but neat within ; and the 
church of Fustiere, in the square of the same name, is 
more like a large house than a religious edifice. The 
Hotel de Ville is situated in the upper part of the town. 
It isan ancient and uninteresting building, with large 
Gothic halls, and has a singular paved staircase without 
any , like an inclined plane. Between the two 
principal gates, isan inscription in commemoration of 
the abolition of the Catholic religion, The arsenal, like 
all other buildings of the kind, contains specimens of an- 
cient armour, and arms for 12,000 men. 
The college is a quadrangular building. Each class 
has a te and commodious school-room on the 
d floor, so as to occupy the two sides of the qua- 
le, and the upper part of the building contains 
apartments for the use of the principal or general in- 
spector, and for the public library of the city. The 
— library was founded by Bounivard, prior of St 
ictor, who lived in the time of the Reformation, and 
who was twice imprisoned, for having asserted the in- 
dependence of Geneva against the Dukes of Savoy. He 
bequeathed to it his manuscripts, relative chiefly to the 
history of Geneva, and his books, and left his fortune 
for the ort of the college. It now contains about 
50,000 printed volumes, 200 MSS. of which an ac- 
count was published in 1779, by M. Senebier the libra- 
rian, entitled, raisonnée des Manuscrits con- 
servés dans la Bibli de Geneve. Among these, 
are 24. volumes of Calvin’s sermons, and a large collec- 
tion of the letters of that celebrated reformer. There 
are also MS. letters of Beza and Bullinger, the homilies 
of St At ine, written upon the papyrus in the sixth 
: , and a book of the ces of Philip le Bel for 
1314 This curious journal consists of six tablets of 
131 
are engraved. One of the chambers of the library con- 
tains a collection of optical and mathematical instru- 
ments, anatomical preparations, and antiquities. Among 
these is a round buckler of silver 34 0z. in weight, with 
the following inscription: Largitar D. N. Valentiniani 
Augusti. It was found in the bed of the Arve in 1721, 
and it is the only one of the kind in existence, excepting 
that which is preserved in the royal library of Paris. 
The library is also adotned with paintings of several 
eminent men; and at one end of it is a fine bust of 
Charles Bonnet, the celebrated naturalist. One of the 
halls of the college contains several models in gypsum 
of ancient statues, groups, busts, and bas-reliefs, and al- 
Geneva 
so some fine paintings of St Ours and Ne la Rive. The Hospitals. 
public hospital is a large and elegant quadrangular build« 
ing, and along with other four charitable establish- 
ments, it has an annual expence of 80,000 crowns. In 
these establishments about 4000 persons are annually 
relieved, and their benefits are extended even to indigent 
foreigners. The theatre is a neat edifice, situated 
the south gate. The front of the theatre consists 
¢ ‘Theatre, 
six Ionic columns, fluted two-thirds of their length frox 
the capital downwards. Geneva is. supplied with wa- 
ter by a hydraulic machine, which raises it to the height 
of 100 feet, and furnishes 500 pints of water in a minute 
to the public fountains. The principal piece of anti- 
quity at Geneva is the Tour Maitresse, a remnant of the 
ancient wall, built in.1366 by William de Marcossai. 
aS 
— 
' Among the collections of natural history in Geneva, Collections 
one of the most celebrated is that of the able chemist of natural 
Theodore de Saussure, the son of the celebrated Saus- 
sure. It contains a fine collection of minerals, petrifac. 
tions, volcanic productions, insects and birds, and a col- 
lection of philosophical instruments, and chemical ap- 
paratus. The collection of Dr Jurine, besides.a cabi- 
net of ornithology and entomology, contains a collection 
of all the fossils of St Gothard. There are also collec- 
tions of minerals in the possession of M. M. Pictet, Tol- 
lot, Tingry, De Boissy, and De Lue. 
history. 
Geneva is well supplied with excellent baths both Baths and 
warm and cold. The baths of Lullinare erected in the ™2eTl 
very middle of the Rhone, where it issues from. the ‘ 
lake. The warm baths in the quarter called Le Der~ 
riere du Rhone, are much frequented, on account of the 
fine view which some of the apartments enjoy. A warm 
mineral spring was some years ago discovered at St 
Gervais, in Savoy, at a little distance from Sallenche. 
Buildings have been erected on the spot, and have been 
in use since 1809. The temperature of the water is 
33° of Reaumur. Fifty pounds of it contain, 
; Oz. Dr. Gr. 
Sulphate of lime mixed with one-seventh 
of carbonate of lime. .....2..+45 : ee 
Sulphate of soda... se ee eee » edi 6,0 
Carbonate of soda .......-55. aseful: Oy etl ee 
Carbonate of magnesia ......++5+5 0 220 
Petroleum ...... wakgtodares dias fopeae 00 2 
Concrete carbonic acid ....... ‘ 018 
It is supposed to have the same medicinal qualities as 
the baths of Leuk in the Vallais. 
There is ——_ no town in the world, which can 
boast of such an immense variety of splendid and in- 
springs. 
teresting views as Geneva. Within the city, the houses Views ane 
which form the lofty terrace already mentioned, those prome- 
in the street of Beauregard, and those which are near ®*4°s 
the cathedral, enjoy, from their elevated situation, very 
interesting views of the lake of Geneva, the Eastern 
Alps, the Saleve Mountains, &c. The principal pro- 
menades within the city, are the Treille, the Bastions, 
and the Place de St Antoine, from which there is a fine * 
