Geneva Convention

. See Red Cross Society

Geneva, Lake of, the largest body of water in Switzerland. It is known also as Lake Leman. It is about fifty miles in length and has the form of a new moon, with the points turned toward the south. Its greatest width is six miles; its surface is 1,230 feet above the sea level; its greatest depth is 1,014 feet. The lakes of Switzerland are usually greenish in hue, but the waters of Lake Geneva are of a deep blue. Sir Humphry Davy attributed this color to the presence of iodine, but his view is not now accepted. There are twenty-one different kinds of fish in the lake, but they are not abundant. Sailboats, with the peculiarly graceful lateen sail seldom seen away from the Mediterranean, are in use. The lake is never frozen over. Waterfowl winter here. The shore is, for the most part, a lofty mountain wall, or else it falls away in graceful slopes, clothed with vineyards and orchards and dotted with beautiful villages, rendering Lake Geneva one of the most picturesque bodies of water in Europe. Lying as it does in a great mountain cup, atmospheric pressure sometimes causes the waters to surge up unexpectedly in places to a height of several feet. Storms are numerous and dangerous, though nothing can be more charming than the surface of the lake in fine weather when pleasure steamers are abroad. See Chillon