THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LAKES IN 
GENERAL, AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION 
OVER THE SURFACE OF THE GLOBE 
By Sir JOHN MURRAY, K.C.B., RR.S., D.Sc, etc. 
CONTENTS 
PAGE 
Introduction ........ 514 
Definition — Distribution — Source of water — Precipitation and 
evaporation — Genetic relationship — Temperature— Deposits 
— Motions — Organisms — Compared with oceanic islands — 
Hydrosphere — Classification by physical characters — Classifi- 
cation by temj)erature — Classification by origin. 
Lakes Connected with Inland Drainage Areas . . . 524 
northern hemisphere ....... 526 
Eural-Asia — North Africa — ^North America. 
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE ....... 562 
Australia — South Africa — South America. 
Lakes Connected with Rivers flowing directly into the Ocean . 572 
Europe — Asia — Africa — North America — South America — Aus- 
tralia — Tasmania — New Zealand. 
Crater Lakes ........ 644 
Europe — Asia — Africa — America — New Zealand. 
Antarctic Lakes ........ 649 
Summary ......... 649 
Tables of the Principal Lakes of the World . . . 652 
Arranged according to : L, superficial area ; II., volume ; III., 
maximum depth ; IV., altitude. 
INTRODUCTION 
Although this work deals specially with the fresh- water lochs of 
Scotland, still it seems desirable to review briefly the distribution and 
peculiarities of lakes in general. The Scottish lakes are all in a region 
which has in recent geological times been covered by an ice-sheet. 
By way of contrast it will be interesting to look at the lakes in other 
similarly glaciated regions, and at lake regions where there is no evidence 
that ice has played any part in the formation of the lakes. 
Definition. The generally accepted definition of a lake is a mass of still water 
514 
