the country before the French revolution. The late numbers of the Helvetic Almanac afford an accurate view of the statistics of the different cantons. Of works relating to particular parts of Switzerland, the best are Ebel's Description of the Mountaineers of Switzerland (Tüb., 1798-1802, 2 vols.), and, above all, Travels in the Bernese Oberland, by J. R. Wyss (Berne, 1816, 2 vols.), with excellent maps. The same region is described in Voyage pittoresque d'Oberland, accompagné de Notices historiques et topographiques (Paris and Strasburg, 1812). Of the maps of all Switzerland, that published by Keller and Scheuermann (Zürich, 1815 and 1819) is particularly worthy of attention. The great atlas of Weiss embraces only a part of Switzerland. For the use of naturalists, we mention Manuel d'Herboriser en Suisse et en Valais, rédigé selon le Système de Linné (Winterthur, 1811); and Précis d'un Voyage botanique fait en 1811 par Villars, Lauth et Nestler (Paris, 1812).-For travelling in Switzerland, the months of July, August and September afford the most settled weather. The most delightful season is in September, and often even in October, when the shores of the lakes of Geneva, Neufchatel and Bienne, and the charming scenes in the Pays de Vaud, enchant the visitor. The beginning of summer, and even the close of spring, are often equally favorable. The Alpine meadows, which are then decked with the most beautiful and rarest flowers, delight the eye, and afford rich stores to the botanist. The curious atmospheric phenomena, which are frequently seen, and on elevated mountains, even below the spectator, afford a new and sublime spectacle. The mild warmth, and the long days, render travelling, at this period, peculiarly pleasant. May, however, is commonly more beautiful than June, which is often rainy. Most travellers devote only six or eight weeks to visiting Switzerland, and limit themselves to the most interesting parts. With a proper and systematic plan, one can travel through all the cantons in three and a half months, if he proceeds mostly on foot, and remains in every place only as long as is necessary to view all its curiosities; but, owing to the frequent changes of weather, it is impossible to reckon upon three weeks in succession dry and warm: as much as fourteen days, therefore, ought to be allowed out of the three and a half months for obstructions from rain or storms. There are no proper extra posts in Switzerland, though persons

The

travelling in their own coaches may procure a change of horses. There are good regular coaches, however. Most travellers who arrive at the frontier places in the post-coaches, or in their own carriages, hire the horses and carriages which are always in readiness in the towns. The prices at which horses and mules are let, are high. The horses and mules are so used to the steep and rocky mountain roads, that, even on the brink of a deep precipice, the traveller feels himself perfectly safe. Those should be chosen, however, which have been used to carry, and not to draw. Roads lead over the Cenis, the Simplon (q. v.), and, since 1818, over the Splügen. road over the Simplon may well be compared with the proudest works of the ancient Romans. (See Alps, Roads over.} Over the other summits, no one can travel, except on foot, or, perhaps, part of the way on horseback. In the valley of Chamouni, and in Grindelwald, there are very low and small four-wheeled carriages, which are extremely inconvenient. It is possible to travel in these a part of the way, also, over the great mountain of St. Bernard. On account of the sudden changes of weather and the cold air on the mountains, it is necessary to be provided with warm clothing. The traveller, on excursions, should wear a light and easy dress, with half-boots, or, what is still better, shoes with gaiters, fastened tight about the feet to prevent gravel from getting in. A traveller should provide himself with two pairs of shoes, very strong, with thick heels and large-headed nails, to be worn over stony passes, in wet weather, and on glaciers; and with light ones for the smooth plains. Experienced travellers disapprove of the common irons fastened to the shoes. The Alpine shoes, invented by Pictet, are very good. The soles are at least six lines in thickness, with a strong but pliable upper leather, covering the whole foot, and with a covering of leather rising about one and a half inches above the sole, to secure the foot from any blow. Large steel nails, or rather screws, with heads somewhat more than four lines wide, which resemble a truncated four-sided pyramid, are inserted in the soles and heels, about seven in the former and five in the latter. In the intervals between the steel nails, common nails are driven in so that the heads touch one another. With this durable and not heavy shoe, one may walk safely over the naked granite, over ice and smooth grass. A staff, pointed with iron, is indispensable.

In warm weather, a straw hat is preferable to a felt one. A cloak, of oiled taffeta or oiled linen, to keep off the rain, is very convenient and warm, and, for this reason, a good protection on the high mountains or in a piercing wind. The traveller should also take a flannel shirt, the best protection against sudden colds, light woollen pantaloons, and a great coat of light cloth; also a covered flask for cherry brandy to bathe the tired limbs. The best comes from Grindelwald. To the mineralogist, the apron of thin leather, invented by Pictet, deserves to be recommended. It is never well for one to travel on the mountains alone, nor, on the other hand, in company with more than three or four persons, because of the scanty accommodations of the inns in the small places. A guide should always be procured; and very intelligent ones are easily to be met with. If a person is not used to walking, he should begin with short journeys every day; but walking in Switzerland, even for females, is not so difficult as is commonly supposed. The mountains should be ascended, where it is possible, on the western side. The best descent is on the eastern declivities. It is unsafe to travel on the high mountains in spring until after the avalanches have rolled down the sides. After a long and violent rain, a person should wait two days before traversing the high valleys among the rocks, where pieces are liable to fall from the sides at such seasons. In snowy vales and among the glaciers, it is well to cover the face with a green or dark gauze. Volatile alkali, diluted with water, mitigates the burning pains in the face, caused by the bright reflection of the sun's rays from the fields of snow and the glaciers. One should never travel over the glaciers after a fresh fall of snow (which sometimes happens even in the summer months), particularly at mid-day; for a travel ler might then very easily break through the soft mass. To these rules the traveller will easily add such as his own experience may suggest. Many circumstances combine to make travelling in Switzerland more expensive than in the adjacent countries. But few of the cantons produce the necessaries of life in sufficient quantities for the inhabitants. In many places, the people are obliged to procure them from a distance; and then the expense of conveyance augments the price. Inn-keepers on the mountains and in retired valleys are especially subjected to this advanced price, and are, therefore, obliged to charge higher than those in

cities and frequented roads. The hotels, in towns and in large villages, often even in the rudest Alpine vales, as in Lauterbrunnen and the valley of Chamouni, are very good. In Italian Switzerland, and generally beyond the southern chain, it is common to agree upon the price to be paid to inn-keepers, guides, servants, and the like, beforehand; for otherwise a person is very liable to be imposed on. The expenses for one who makes only a short stay at the various places, are, of course, greater than for one who remains longer. If a person devotes five or six months to travelling through Switzerland, in a carriage or on horseback, his daily expenditure will amount to twelve or sixteen Swiss francs;* but if he limits himself to six, four or two weeks, his expenses will be at least eighteen francs a day. If he travels on foot, and has a guide who carries his luggage, twelve francs a day will be sufficient. The difference in the standard of money in the different Swiss cantons is inconvenient, particularly since some cantons have begun to refuse to admit the money of others. The Manual of Glutz-Blotzheim, before mentioned, presents a useful view of the worth of the different coins. The old louis-d'or (twenty-four livres tournois), the French twenty franc piece, the Brabant, Bavarian and Würtemberg dollar, and French five franc piece, are in most general circulation. The reckoning by Swiss francs (sixteen to a louis-d'or) is pretty general. In the hotels they reckon much by French francs. Any one who intends to visit all the cantons can proceed in the following order-either through Constance, Schaffhausen, Eglisau and Winterthur, or through Lindau, the lake of Constance, Roschach and St. Gall, to Zürich (see Voyage de Zuric à Zuric, 1818); then over mount Albis to Zug, over lake Zug to Arth, at the foot of the Righi (q. v.), of which Fuessly and Keller have published beautiful sketches, with a description by J. H. Meyer (Views of Mount Righi, drawn from nature, Zürich, 1809); over the lake to Lucerne (q. v.), which Businger describes in his guide-Lucerne and its Environs, with a good Map of the Lake of the four Forest-Towns (Lucerne, 1811). The traveller now enters on the route over the mountains. The way leads through Stanzstadt, Stanz, the abbey of Engelburg, and over the Surenian Alps; or from Stanz through Buochs, over the lake of the four Forest-Towns, Rütli,

*A Swiss franc is about twenty-seven or twenty-eight cents.

Tell's Chapel to Altorf. Thence you pass on the great road from German Switzerland to Italy, in three days, to Bellinzona. Through Ursern, the road leads from Altorf to Dissentis, and the adjacent springs of the Rhine; and further through Trons to Coire, where a traveller who wishes to visit Graubündten (the Grisons, q. v.) stops. Among the principal curiosities of the Grisons are the valley of omlesch, the bridge of Solis, which is the highest in Europe, the Via Mala, the glaciers of the Rhine, the valley of Misocco, the glacier of Bernina. From Coire, the traveller pursues his journey through Sennwald to Appenzell and Gais, and then through Utznach and Einsiedeln; or, if he does not intend to visit first the bath at Pfeffers (q. v.), through Panyx, Elm and Matt, to Glarus, and thence to Einsiedeln, from which he returns, over Schweitz and the ruins of Goldau, to Lucerne. Then he goes through the charming Entlibuch, or over the battle-field of Sempach, through Zopfingen, Morgenthal, Hindelbank, Hofwyl (q. v.), to Berne. (q. v.) From Berne, the traveller proceeds over Thur, in four to six days (including the time occupied in returning through Interlaken and Brientz), to the beautiful Oberland, to Lauterbrunnen, to Staubbach, over the little Scheideck to Grindelwald, at the foot of the Jungfrau (first ascended by the two Meyers in Aarau, 1811 and 1812; see Travels over the Glaciers of Berne, Aarau, 1813), and of the Schreckhorn, and over the great Scheideck to Haslithal. From Merzringen, the chief place in the valley, those who have not travelled from Altorf to the hospice of St. Gothard can go by the new road through the Susten valley. The hospice on the Grimsel, 5887 feet high, is particularly worthy to be visited. Thence the traveller_proceeds to the glaciers of the Rhone. From Berne he goes through Murten and Avenches, or Friburg, Murten, Avenches, Payerne, Lausanne, Aubonne, to Geneva. Thence he proceeds to the icy heights and glaciers of the valley of Chamouni, either through Thonon, Evian, Simoens and Sixte, or through Bonneville and Salenche, to Servoz; thence on to Chamouni, at the foot of Mont Blanc (q. v.), which requires three days. The glacier of Montanvert and La Flechière, opposite to it, are commonly the limit in this direction. The best guides are Saussure's and Bourrit's works, Pictet's Itinéraire, and Gottschalk's description (the Valley of Chamouni, Halle, 1811), with a map. In 1812, Lori published some beautiful

views of the valley of Chamouni. If the traveller does not return from Chamouni to Geneva, he either takes a difficult path through the valley of Valorsine, and over the village of Trent, or the Col de Balme, to Martigny, at the foot of the Great Bernard. From this place, one may go over the Simplon road to the Borromean islands (to go and return, six or seven days are necessary), or over St. Branchier to the Val de Bagnes (where, in 1818, owing to the fall of the glacier Getroz, lake Mauvoisin broke through its banks, and spread fearful devastation); then to the hospice on St. Bernard, and back to Martigny, which requires three days. A good map of the mountain was published by Lapie (Paris, 1803). A full description of it is given by Wibel of Berne in his Voyage Pittoresque depuis Lausanne jusqu'au Mont Bernard,ornamented with fourteen colored plates. From Martigny, the traveller goes through St. Maurice, by the Pissevache, or, by a circuitous way, which well rewards him for his trouble, through Sitten, and along the new road, so called, over mount Azeindaz, to Bex (where the remarkable salt mines may be seen), and then through Aigle and Clarens to Vevay, whence the traveller may proceed by water to Geneva, if he does not wish to go by land through Lausanne. On the opposite shore of the lake, the road passes through Meillerie and Evian to Geneva; then through Orbe, adjacent to the beautiful valley of the Lac du Joux and the valley of Romainmotier, to Yverdun (q. v.), and along the lake to Neufchatel (q. v.), whence a visit may be paid to the manufacturing villages Chaux de Fonds (q. v.) and Locle (in the neighborhood of the latter is the Saut de Doubs); from Neufchatel through Bienne, or Aarberg, to Soleure (q. v.), near which rises the Weissenstein, affording from its summit a fine view of the wide valley that divides the Jura (q. v.) from the Alps. It is one of the most splendid prospects in Switzerland. If a person wishes to go through the Münster valley to Basle (q. v.), he must return to Bienne; and, following the directions in Bridel's text to Birrmann's Voyage Pittoresque de Bâle à Bienne, two days are requisite to pass over the road leading through Pierre Pertuis, an ancient Roman gate of rock, forty feet high. If one desires to visit the principal curiosities in Switzerland in six or eight weeks, it is best to pursue the following course:Schaffhausen, Zürich, Zug, Righi, Lucerne, Schweitz, Altorf (perhaps to the hospice on mount Gothard), Berne, Ober

land, to Meiringen; from Berne to Lausanne, Geneva; thence to the valley of Chamouni, to Chamouni or Martigny (perhaps along the Simplon road to Domo d'Ossola, or to the hospice on mount Bernard), and, in the way before mentioned, through Bex, Vevay, Yverdun, &c., to Basle. In two or three weeks, the following journey may be made: through Basle, Münsterthal, Bienne, Soleure, Berne, Oberland, Hofwyl, Lucerne, Righi, Schweitz, Zug, Albis, Zürich, Schaffhausen, Constance. If a traveller wishes to visit particularly French Switzerland and the Savoy Alps, he can perform the following journey in about twenty-five days: Schaffhausen, Baden, Aarau, Berne, Friburg, Vevay, Bex, St. Maurice, Martigny, Val de Bagnes, Col de Balme, Chamouni, Geneva, Lausanne, Bienne, Münsterthal, Basle. Since Aberly, the following artists have distinguished themselves by views of scenes in Switzerland: Rieter, König, Hegi, Fuessly, Keller, Birrmann, Wocher, and the two Loris.-See, also, Wetzel's Voyage Pittoresque aux Lacs Suisses (Zürich, 1824, containing eightyfive plates).

SWIVEL; a small piece of artillery, carrying a shot of half a pound, and fixed in a socket on the top of a ship's side, stern or bow, and also in the tops. The trunnions of this piece are contained in a sort of iron crotch, whose lower end terminates in a cylindrical pivot resting in the socket, so as to support the weight of the cannon. By means of this swivel (which gives name to the piece of artillery) and an iron handle on its cascabel, the gun may be directed by hand to any object. Swivel is also a strong link of iron used in mooring-chains, &c., which permits the bridles or cables to be turned as occasion requires.

SWORD. This weapon, probably because it is more constantly carried about the person than other weapons, such as the arrow, spear, &c., has acquired a peculiar connexion with the circumstances of the wearer. To this day, the surrender of the sword denotes submission, and the breaking of it degradation. In many countries, it has become the emblem of power. In Germany, the sword was one of the imperial insignia. In Turkey, the sultan is girded with the sword of Osman on ascending the throne. In England, the sword of state is one of the regalia, and the "offering of the sword" one of the ceremonies of coronation. In France, the sword is also one of the royal insignia. In the middle ages, knights gave names

to their swords; thus Charlemagne's sword was called Joyeuse, and Orlando's Durindana. The efficacy of no other weapon depends so much upon the courage and skill of the individual. It is the poetical representative of all arms; and, in the middle ages,the word degen (sword) was used in German to denote a worthy man; later, a servant, but a servant of a dignified character, and a free man. In this sense, Otfried, in his translation of the Gospels, calls John the Baptist Christi Thegan. In a German poem of the fourteenth century, the apostle Peter is called Gotes Degen, and the forste and senat of all apostles. Thane, which is derived from the same word, is also an Anglo-Saxon title of honor familiar to the readers of Shakspeare. Under the emperors of Rome, no one was allowed to wear a sword except soldiers; hence the custom of presenting the sword on investing with a military dignity. Trajan, when he made Sura Licinius commander of his guards, put a naked sword into his hands, with the words, "Take this, and use it for me if I rule well, against me if I rule ill." The secular infeoffment of crown vassals, in the middle ages, was performed by presenting the vassal a naked sword. To this day, decapitation with the sword is considered more honorable than hanging, in those countries where both modes of execution are in use, as in many on the continent of Europe. In England, the axe is used, and only in cases of high treason. As soon as the art of forging metals was invented, arms of metal were probably made; and the sword must have been one of the first, as the club, and similar weapons, would naturally lead to it. Wooden swords are found at present among many savage tribes. Some historians mention Belus, king of Assyria, as the inventor of the sword. The Greeks ascribed the invention, according to Diodorus, to the Cretans. From the Scriptures we learn that swords were used in the earliest times in Asia. Abraham drew his sword to sacrifice his son Isaac. The knife probably originated from the sword by degrees. The knife, in many countries, as in Spain, is still a formidable weapon. Swords were probably made at first, like other weapons, of copper, as men acquired the art of forging this metal sooner than any other. The heroes of antiquity never appear without the sword. Whether the Greeks wore it on the left or right side is not determined; but the Romans, as long as they used short swords, wore them high on the right side, as ap

pears from the bass-reliefs of the columns of Trajan and Antoninus at Rome; and Polybius explicitly states this fact in his history (vi, 21). The kinds of swords are too numerous to be given here. The straight, long sword was used by the Christians of the West in the middle ages, while the Poles, and all the tribes of Sclavonic origin, employed, and still prefer, the crooked sword. The Saracens also had the crooked sword at that time; and it is still the common one in Asia. At present, light cavalry in Europe, as hussars, lancers, &c., wear the crooked sword, while the straight, long sword is the weapon of the heavy cavalry. The latter is, generally speaking, a better and ⚫ more trustworthy weapon. In the middle ages, double-handed swords also were worn; and in books on the art of fencing, this branch is treated, as is also the art of fighting with the dagger. It was an unwieldy weapon, and probably originated from the wearing of plate armor. The sword of the executioners is, to this day, a double-handed one; but, as it requires considerable skill and coolness, it has been exchanged, in most countries, for the heavy axe. The Highland claymore, a broadsword with a basket hilt, has been introduced into the Highland regiments in the British service. The blade of a sword is divided into the upper, middle and lower part, or the forte, middle and foible. Fencing with the small sword and the broad sword are quite different arts. The former is of a much nobler character. (See Gymnastics.) Some places, as Toledo, Saragossa, Damascus, are particularly celebrated for fine sword blades.

SWORD-FISH (xiphias); a genus of fishes, remarkable for having the upper jaw prolonged, somewhat in the form of a sword, and constituting at least one third of the total length. It is placed by Cuvier in the same family with the mackerel. The body is elongated, almost destitute of scales, and is carinate on each side at the base of the tail. There are no proper teeth. The common sword-fish (X. gladius) is sometimes more than twenty feet long, the beak included. It swims with greater swiftness than almost any inhabitant of the deep, and is possessed of vast muscular strength. It attacks, and generally puts to flight, the smaller cetaceous animals, notwithstanding its food is usually vegetable. Its flesh is good; and, in some countries, the fishery is an object of importance. It is taken with the harpoon, and usually tears the net, if enclos

ed. The female approaches the shores in the latter part of spring or beginning of summer. The sword-fish is found in almost all seas.

SYBARIS; an ancient Greek city of Lower Italy, in Lucania, on the gulf of Tarentum. It is supposed to have been built by a colony of Achæans and Trozenians, about 720 B. C. The Sybarites were celebrated for their luxury and voluptuousness, and had become enervated by the mildness of the climate, the richness of the soil, and their great wealth. Becoming involved in a war with Crotona, the city of Sybaris brought into the field 300,000 men, while the forces of the former amounted to but 100,000. The Crotonians, however, were victorious, and totally destroyed Sybaris.-Sybarite is still used to signify an effeminate voluptuary.

SYCAMORE. This term was given by the ancients to a species of fig (ficus sycomorus). By the moderns, it is applied to a European species of maple (acer pseudoplatanus); and, in the western parts of the U. States, to the Occidental plane, or button-wood. (See Fig, Maple, and Plane.)

SYCOPHANT, with the Athenians; a man who denounced others on account of violations of law, or kept watch on their doings in order to misrepresent them, and to make them the basis of an accusation. The name is derived from GUKOV, a fig, and parvw, I discover, and was originally applied to certain persons who gave information of such as, contrary to the Athenian laws, exported figs. Subsequently, every false accuser, cheat, or other wretch, who strove to injure men, whether by legal process or in the course of ordinary dealing, was called by this name. It was in Athens a term of great reproach.

SYDENHAM, Thomas, a celebrated English physician, was born in Dorsetshire, in 1624, and, in 1648, took the degree of bachelor of medicine at Oxford. He subsequently commenced practice as a physician at Westminster, and speedily attained great reputation. From 1660 to 1670 he held the first place in his profession, though it was not till the latter part of his career that he became a licentiate of the college. Being a great sufferer from the gout, he was unable, in the latter part of his life, to go much from home; but he continued to benefit society by his writings and advice till near the time of his decease, in 1689. Doctor Sydenham's improvements form an era in the history of medicine. He first applied