wliich tlie limestone reposes, may be seen
on the same side of the river.
The hot springs of Naters, as I have
before mentioned, rise in mica slate,
on the same side of the valley, and a few
miles above the gorge, where the springs
of Leuk rise. Though the springs are
called the springs of Naters, they are
three miles lower down the valley. A
section which has been made into the
granitic formations by the Rhone, near
Martigny, at the celebrated cascade of the
Pisse VacJie, shows how near the lower
calcareous rocks in the valley of the Rhone
are to those called primitive, though the
gianitic formations are not seen again in
the valley, till after passing the town of
Leuk. Now the inference which may
fairly be drawn from these observations is,
that the thermal waters o fth e Alps, do not
rise in the upper strata, but spring out of
the lower and primary rocks ; and as they
bieak out near the feet of the great range
of the Alps, and extend from the northern
side of the Semplon, through Savoy, to the
confines of France, and even into Dau-
phiny, in nearly the same direction, we
may with some probability infer also, that
these mountains are placed over or near to
one common source of heat, to the agency
of which they may owe their original elevation.
This latter inference is, in some
degree, supported by the well-attested fact,
that the districts in which the hot springs
are situated, have been subject to great and
frequent convulsions, particularly the Haut
Valíais, where the temperature of the water
is the highest. In the year 1755, at Brieg,
Naters, and Leuk, the earth was agitated
with earthquakes every day from the 1st
of November to the 27th of February, and
some of the shocks were so violent, that
the steeples of the churches were thrown
down, the walls were split, and many houses
were rendered uninhabitable. Many of
the springs were dried up, and the waters
of the Bhone were observed to boil. At
three different times the inhabitants abandoned
their houses, and fled for safety into
the country. We were informed by a physician
at Brieg, who accompanied us to the
baths of Naters, that, at the same period,
the rocks above the spring opened, and
threw out a considerable quantity of hot
water.
mÍ
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