234 THE BEAUTIES OE NATURE chap. 



the particles which the Lake of Geneva con- 

 tains to its bottom. It seems certainly worthy 

 of examination whether such particles sus- 

 pended in the water contribute to the pro- 

 duction of that magnificent blue which has 

 excited the admiration of all who have seen 

 it under favourable circumstances." ^ 



Among the Swiss mountains themselves 

 each has its special character. Tyndall thus 

 describes a view in the Alps, certainly one of 

 the most beautiful — that, namely, from the 

 summit of the ^gischhorn. 



"Skies and summits are to-day without a 

 cloud, and no mist or turbidity interferes 

 • with the sharpness of the outlines. Jung- 

 frau, Monk, Eiger, Trugberg, cliffy Strahlgrat, 

 stately lady-like Aletschhorn, all grandly 

 pierce the empyrean. Like a Saul of Moun- 

 tains, the Finsteraarhorn overtops all his 

 neighbours ; then we have the Oberaarhorn, 

 with the riven glacier of Viesch rolling from 

 his shoulders. Below is the Msirjelin See, 

 with its crystal precipices and its floating ice- 

 bergs, snowy white, sailing on a blue green 



1 Glaciers of the Alps. 



