510 SWITZERLAND. 



lar, which suppurated, he had taken several flat pieces, each about 

 half an inch long. He added, that the same substance is found in the 

 stomach of cows, and in the goitrous tumours to which even the dogs 

 of the country are subject. He had diminished and cured the goitres 

 of many young persons by emmolient liquors, and external applica- 

 tions ; and prevented them in future, by removing his patients from 

 the place where the springs are impregnated with tuf: and if that 

 could not be contrived, by forbidding the use of water which was not 

 purified. 



Children are occasionally born with guttural swellings, but this 

 may arise from the aliment of the mother. It is to be presumed that 

 people accustomed to these excrescences will not be shocked at their 

 deformity ; but it does not appear, as some writers assert, that they 

 consider them as beauties. To judge from the accounts of many tra- 

 vellers, it might be supposed that the natives, without exception, were 

 either idiots or goitres ; whereas, in fact, the Valaisans, in general, 

 are a robust race : and all that with truth can be affirmed is, that goi- 

 trous persons and idiots are more abundant in some districts of the 

 Valais than perhaps in any other part of the globe. It has been as- 

 serted that the people very much respect these idiots, and even con* 

 sider them as blessings from heaven. The common people, it is cer- 

 tain, esteem them so, for they call them " souls of God without sin ;" 

 and many parents prefer these idiot children to those whose under- 

 standings are perfect, because, as they are incapable of intentional 

 criminality, they consider them as certain of happiness in a future 

 state. Nor is this opinion entirely without its good effect, as it dis- 

 poses the parents to pay greater attention to such helpless beings. 

 These idiots are suffered to marry, as well among themselves as with 

 others.* 



Cities, chief towns, edifices. ...Of these the most considerable 

 is the city of Bern, standing on the river Aar. It is extremely neat 

 and handsome, the streets being wide and long, and including, within 

 it, several streams and fountains. It contains about 13,000 inhabitants. 

 Basil is accounted, by some the capital of all Switzerland. It is situ- 

 ate in a fertile and delightful country, on the banks of the Rhine, and 

 the confines of Alsace and the empire. It contains two hundred and 

 twenty streets, and six market-places. The town-house, which stands 

 on the river Birsec, is supported by very large pillars, and its great 

 hall is finely painted by the celebrated Hans Holbein, who was a na- 

 tive of this city. The situation of Basil is pleasing : the Rhine divides 

 it into the upper and lower town ; and it is considered as one of the 

 keys of Switzerland. Baden is famous for its antiquity and baths. 

 Zurich is far less considerable than Bern ; but in the arsenal is shown 

 the bow of the famous William Tell ; and in the library is a manu- 

 script of excellent letters, written by the unfortunate lady Jane Grey 

 to the judicious reformer Bullinger, in elegant Latin and German. 



The city of Geneva, which, before it was annexed to France, was 

 an associate of Switzerland, and under the protection of the Helvetic 

 body, but within itself an independent state and republic, is well built, 

 and well fortified ; and contains 26,000 inhabitants, most of whom are 

 Calvinists. It is situate at the efflux of the Rhone from the lake of 

 Geneva. 



* Coxe's Travels through Switzerland, vol. i. p. 385, &c. 



