﻿A. 
  C. 
  RAMSAY 
  ON 
  THE 
  VALLEY 
  OF 
  THE 
  RHINE. 
  81 
  

  

  13. 
  The 
  Physical 
  History 
  of 
  the 
  Valley 
  of 
  the 
  Rhine. 
  By 
  A. 
  C. 
  

   Ramsay, 
  LL.D., 
  V.P.R.S. 
  (Read 
  February 
  4, 
  1874.) 
  

  

  [Plate 
  VIII.] 
  

  

  Having 
  on 
  several 
  journeys, 
  extending 
  over 
  more 
  than 
  twenty 
  

   years, 
  had 
  occasion 
  to 
  traverse 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Rhine, 
  from 
  the 
  

   plains 
  between 
  the 
  sea 
  and 
  Cologne 
  to 
  its 
  sources 
  in 
  the 
  Alps, 
  I 
  

   have 
  long 
  desired 
  to 
  explain, 
  if 
  possible, 
  the 
  physical 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  

   valley, 
  and 
  especially 
  of 
  the 
  part 
  that 
  lies 
  between 
  the 
  Drachenfels 
  

   and 
  Basel. 
  Other 
  occupations 
  for 
  the 
  last 
  thirteen 
  years 
  prevented 
  

   me 
  from 
  revisiting 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  ground 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  had 
  there- 
  

   fore 
  no 
  opportunity 
  of 
  testing 
  the 
  truth 
  of 
  such 
  hypotheses 
  as 
  had 
  

   occurred 
  to 
  me. 
  

  

  Last 
  summer 
  I 
  revisited 
  the 
  country, 
  spending 
  nearly 
  six 
  weeks 
  

   on 
  the 
  investigation 
  of 
  the 
  subject 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  following 
  paper 
  em- 
  

   bodies 
  the 
  broader 
  conclusions 
  at 
  which 
  I 
  arrived. 
  First, 
  however, 
  

   it 
  may 
  be 
  useful 
  briefly 
  to 
  sketch 
  the 
  great 
  features 
  of 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  

   the 
  Rhine, 
  from 
  its 
  sources 
  to 
  its 
  mouth. 
  

  

  The 
  Rhine 
  is 
  usually 
  stated 
  to 
  have 
  two 
  principal 
  sources 
  — 
  that 
  

   of 
  the 
  Vorder-Rhein 
  (in 
  a 
  glacier 
  region), 
  7689 
  feet, 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  

   the 
  Hinter-Rhein, 
  where 
  it 
  springs 
  from 
  the 
  Rheinwald 
  glacier, 
  

   7268 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  sea. 
  Both 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  Canton 
  of 
  

   Glarus. 
  The 
  accumulating 
  waters, 
  swelled 
  by 
  many 
  tributary 
  

   streams, 
  pass 
  through 
  the 
  Lake 
  of 
  Constance, 
  1305 
  feet 
  above 
  

   the 
  sea 
  ; 
  and 
  thence, 
  hemmed 
  in 
  between 
  the 
  lower 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  

   Schwarzwald 
  and 
  the 
  eastern 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  Jura, 
  the 
  river 
  flows 
  

   westerly 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  Basel, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  803 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  sea. 
  A 
  

   little 
  above 
  that 
  city 
  it 
  escapes 
  from 
  the 
  immediate 
  neighbourhood 
  

   of 
  the 
  hills, 
  and, 
  suddenly 
  bending, 
  flows 
  northerly 
  through 
  the 
  

   great 
  gravelly 
  inclined 
  plain 
  that 
  lies 
  between 
  the 
  mountains 
  of 
  the 
  

   Vosges 
  and 
  the 
  Hardt 
  and 
  those 
  of 
  tbe 
  Schwarzwald 
  and 
  the 
  

   Odenwald. 
  This 
  plain 
  extends 
  north 
  for 
  about 
  170 
  miles 
  to 
  Mainz 
  

   and 
  Bingen, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  about 
  272 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  sea, 
  showing 
  a 
  fall 
  

   between 
  Basel 
  and 
  Mainz 
  of 
  531 
  feet. 
  The 
  average 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  

   plain 
  is 
  therefore 
  0° 
  2' 
  3", 
  or 
  about 
  3 
  feet 
  1| 
  inch 
  per 
  mile. 
  In 
  

   its 
  broader 
  parts 
  the 
  plain 
  is 
  from 
  twenty-five 
  to 
  thirty 
  miles 
  in 
  

   width. 
  

  

  At 
  Bingen, 
  the 
  Rhine 
  suddenly 
  enters 
  the 
  gorge, 
  which, 
  inclusive 
  

   of 
  the 
  larger 
  windings 
  of 
  the 
  river, 
  is 
  about 
  sixty 
  miles 
  in 
  length, 
  

   as 
  far 
  as 
  Rolandseck, 
  near 
  which 
  a 
  second 
  great 
  plain 
  of 
  the 
  Rhine 
  

   begins, 
  at 
  first 
  narrow, 
  but 
  below 
  the 
  Siebengebirge 
  broadening 
  

   rapidly, 
  to 
  form 
  still 
  lower 
  down 
  the 
  modern 
  delta 
  which 
  merges 
  

   in 
  the 
  vast 
  plains 
  that 
  bound 
  the 
  German 
  Ocean 
  between 
  Calais 
  

   and 
  the 
  Elbe. 
  

  

  The 
  chief 
  questions 
  which 
  I 
  now 
  attempt 
  to 
  decide 
  are, 
  what 
  is 
  

   the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  features 
  of 
  the 
  plain 
  that 
  extends 
  be- 
  

   tween 
  Basel 
  and 
  Mainz, 
  and 
  also 
  of 
  the 
  gorge 
  between 
  Bingen 
  and 
  

  

  