the enemy, must lower the national flag of the belligerent under whom they were acting.
The above-mentioned vessels and boats, desiring at night-time to ensure the respect due to them, shall, with the consent of the belligerent whom they are accompanying, take the necessary steps that the special painting denoting them shall be sufficiently conspicuous.
vi. [Neutral merchantmen, yachts or vessels, having, or taking on board, sick, wounded or shipwrecked of the belligerents, cannot be captured for so doing, but they are liable to capture for any violation of neutrality they may have committed.]
The distinctive signs provided by Article v. can only be used, whether in time of peace or in time of war, to protect ships therein mentioned.
vii. In the case of a fight on board a war-ship, the hospitals shall be respected and shall receive as much consideration as possible.
These hospitals and their belongings are subject to the laws of war, but shall not be employed for any other purpose so long as they shall be necessary for the sick and wounded.
Nevertheless, the commander who has them under his orders, may make use of them in case of important military necessity, but he shall first ensure the safety of the sick and wounded on board.
viii. The protection due to hospital-ships and to hospitals on board war-ships shall cease if they are used against the enemy.
The fact that the crew of hospital-ships, and attached to hospitals on war-ships, are armed for the maintenance of order and for the defence of the sick or wounded, and the existence of a radio-telegraphic installation on board, is not considered as a justification for withdrawing the above-mentioned protection.
ix. Belligerents may appeal to the charitable zeal of commanders of neutral merchant vessels, yachts or other craft, to take on board and look after the sick and wounded.
Ships having responded to this appeal, as well as those who have spontaneously taken on board sick, wounded or shipwrecked men, shall have the advantage of a special protection and of certain immunities. In no case shall they be liable to capture on account of such transport; but subject to any promise made to them they are liable to capture for any violation of neutrality they may have committed.
[vii.] x. The religious, medical or hospital staff of any captured ship is inviolable, and its members cannot be made prisoners of war. On leaving the ship they take with them the objects and surgical instruments which are their own private property.
This staff shall continue to discharge its duties while necessary, and can afterwards leave when the commander-in-chief considers it possible.
The belligerents must guarantee to the staff that has fallen into their hands [the enjoyment of their salaries intact] the same allowances and pay as those of persons of the same rank in their own navy.
[viii.] xi. Sailors and soldiers, and other persons officially attached to navies or armies, who are taken on board when sick or wounded, to whatever nation they belong, shall be [protected] respected and looked after by the captors.
xii. Every vessel of war of a belligerent party may claim the return of the wounded, sick or shipwrecked who are on board military hospital-ships, hospital-ships of aid societies or of private individuals, merchant ships, yachts or other craft, whatever be the nationality of these vessels.
xiii. If the wounded, sick or shipwrecked are received on board a neutral ship of war, it shall be provided, as far as possible, that they may take no further part in war operations.
xiv. The shipwrecked, wounded or sick of one of the belligerents who fall into the hands of the other, are prisoners of war. The captor must decide, according to circumstances, if it is best to keep them or send them to a port of his own country, to a neutral port, or even to a hostile port. In the last case, prisoners thus repatriated cannot serve as long as the war lasts.
xv. The shipwrecked, wounded or sick who are landed at a neutral port with the consent of the local authorities, must, failing a contrary arrangement between the neutral State and the belligerents, be guarded by the neutral State, so that they may not be again able to take part in the military operations.
The expenses of hospital treatment and internment shall be borne by the State to which the shipwrecked, wounded or sick belong. (T. Ba.)
GENEVA, LAKE OF, the largest lake of which any portion
belongs to Switzerland, and indeed in central Europe. It is
called Lacus Lemannus by the old Latin and Greek writers, in
4th century A.D. Lacus Lausonius or Losanetes, in the middle ages
generally Lac de Lausanne, but from the 16th century onwards
Lac de Genève, though from the end of the 18th century the name
Lac Léman was revived—according to Prof. Forel Le Léman is the
proper form. Its area is estimated at 223 sq. m. (Swiss Topographical
Bureau) or 22512 sq. m. (Forel), of which about 140 sq.
m. (13412 sq. m. Forel) are politically Swiss (12312 sq. m. belonging
to the canton of Vaud, 1112 sq. m. to that of Geneva, and 5 sq. m.
to that of the Valais), the remainder (83 sq. m.) being French since
the annexation of Savoy in 1860—the entire lake is included in
the territory (Swiss or Savoyard) neutralized by the congress of
Vienna in 1815. The French part takes in nearly the whole of
the south shore, save its western and eastern extremities, which
belong respectively to Geneva and to the Valais.
The lake is formed by the Rhone, which enters it at its east end, between Villeneuve (E.) and St Gingolph (W.), and quits it at its west end, flowing through the city of Geneva. The only important tributaries are the Drance (S.), the Venoge (N.) and the Veveyse (N.). The form of the lake is that of a crescent, of which the east end is broad and rounded, while the west end tapers towards the city of Geneva. The bird’s eye length of the whole lake, from Chillon to Geneva, is 3912 m., but along its axis 45 m. The coast-line of the north shore is 59 m. in length and that of the south shore 4434 m. The maximum depth is 101512 ft., but the mean depth only 500 ft. The surface is 123114 ft. (Swiss Topog. Bureau) or 1220 ft. (Forel) above sea-level. The greatest width (between Morges and Amphion) is 812 m., but the normal width is 5 m. The lake forms two well-marked divisions, separated by the strait of Promenthoux, which is 21612 ft. in depth, as a bar divides the Grand Lac from the Petit Lac. The Grand Lac includes the greater portion of the lake, the Petit Lac (to the west of the strait or bar) being the special Genevese portion of the lake, and having an area of but 3012 sq. m. The unusual blueness of the waters has long been remarked, and the transparency increases the farther we get from the point where the Rhone enters it, the deposits which the river brings down from the Alps gradually sinking to the bottom of the lake. At Geneva we recall Byron’s phrase, “the blue rushing of the arrowy Rhone” (Childe Harold, canto iii. stanza 71). The limit of visibility of a white disk is 33 ft. in winter (in February 1891 Prof. Forel observed an extreme of 7012 ft.) and 2114 ft. in summer. Apart from the seasonal changes in the level of the lake (which is highest in summer, no doubt because of the melting of the Alpine snows that feed the Rhone), there are also the remarkable temporary disturbances of level known as the seiches, in which the whole mass of water in the lake rhythmically swings from shore to shore. According to Prof. Forel there are both longitudinal and transverse seiches. The effect of the longitudinal seiches at Geneva is four times as great as at Chillon, at the other end of the lake, while the extreme duration of this phenomenon is 73 minutes for the uninodal longitudinal seiches (3512 minutes for the binodal) and 10 minutes for the transverse seiches (5 minutes for the binodal). The maximum height of a recorded seiche at Geneva is rather over 6 ft. (October 1841). The currents in the water itself are irregular. The principal winds that blow over the lake are the bise (from the N.E.), the vaudaire or Föhn (from the S.E.), the sudois or vent de pluie (from the S.W.) and the joran (from the N.W.). The storm winds are the molan (from the Arve valley towards Geneva) and the bornan (from the Drance valley towards the central portion of the lake). The lake is not as rich in fish as the other Swiss lakes, one reason being the obstacle opposed by the Perte du Rhône to fish seeking to ascend that river. Prof. Forel knows of but twenty indigenous species (of which the Féra, or Coregonus fera, is the principal) and six that have been introduced by man in the 19th century. A number of lake dwellings, of varying dates, have been found on the shores of the lake. The first steamer placed on the lake was the “Guillaume Tell,” built in 1823 at Geneva by an Englishman named Church, while in 1873 the present Compagnie générale de navigation sur le lac Léman was formed, and in 1875 constructed the first saloon steamer, the “Mont Blanc.” But despite this service and the railways along each shore, the red lateen sails of minor craft still brighten the landscape. The railway along the northern shore runs from Geneva past Nyon, Rolle, Morges, Ouchy (the port of Lausanne), Vevey and Montreux to Villeneuve (5612 m.). That on the south shore gains the edge of the lake at Thonon only (2214 m. from Geneva), and then runs past Evian and St Gingolph to Le Bouveret (20 m. from Thonon). In the harbour of Geneva two erratic boulders of granite project above the surface of the water, and are named Pierres du Niton (supposed to be altars to Neptune). The lower of the two, which is also the farthest from the shore, has been taken as the basis of the triangulation of Switzerland: the official height is 376.86 mètres, which in 1891 was reduced to 373.54 mètres, though 376.6 mètres is now said to be the real figure. Of course the heights given on the Swiss Government map vary with these different estimates of the point taken as basis.
For all matters relating to the lake, see Prof. F. A. Forel’s monumental work, Le Léman (3 vols. Lausanne, 1892–1904); also (with fine illustrations) G. Fatio and F. Boissonnas, Autour du lac Léman (Geneva, 1902). (W. A. B. C.)
GENEVIÈVE, or Genovefa, ST (c. 422–512), patroness of Paris, lived during the latter half of the 5th century. According to tradition, she was born about 422 at Nanterre near Paris; her parents were called Severus and Gerontia, but accounts differ widely as to their social position. According to the legend, she was only in her seventh year when she was induced by St Germain, bishop of Auxerre, to dedicate herself to the religious life. On the death of her parents she removed to Paris, where she distinguished herself by her benevolence, as well as by her austere life. She is said to have predicted the invasion of the Huns; and
