4 8 
SCENERY OF SWITZERLAND. 
form narrower belts. Bellagio is on Trias; from the 
Island of Comacino the Gulf of Como is surrounded 
by Jurassic strata, south of which is a band of Cre- 
taceous, running from the Lago Maggiore, opposite 
Pallanza, by Mendrisio, Como, Bergamo, and the 
south end of the Lago d’Iseo to Brescia, and so on 
further to the east. 
Speaking roughly then we may say that the back- 
bone of Switzerland consists of Gneiss and Granite, 
followed on both sides by Carboniferous, Triassic, 
Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary strata. These 
however are all thrown into a succession of gigantic 
folds, giving rise to the utmost complexity. The 
similarity of succession on the two sides of the ridge 
gives reason for the belief that the Triassic, Jurassic, 
and Cretaceous strata north and south of the Alps 
were once continuous, and this impression is con- 
firmed by other evidence, as will be shown in the 
following chapters. 
