in 1864.]

[Footnote 51: _Point d'argent, point de Suisse_, is a proverbial
expression which the Swiss twist into a historical compliment, asserting
that it arose in early mercenary times, from the fact that they were too
virtuous to accept the suggestion of the general who hired them, and
wished them to take their pay in kind from the defenceless people of the
country they had served.]

[Footnote 52: It is probable that the ice is on the increase in this
glacière, and that an archway, now filled up by the growing ice, has at
one time existed in the wall on this side of the care, through which the
ice and water used to pour into the subterranean depths of which the old
woman had told us. At the time of our visit, we could find no outlet.]

[Footnote 53: The following remarks may give some explanation of the
phenomenon of alternating currents in this cave, I should suppose that
during the night there is atmospheric equilibrium in the cave itself,
and in the three pits A, B, C. When the heat of the sun comes into
operation, the three pits are very differently affected by it, C being
comparatively open to the sun's rays, while A is much less so, and B is
entirely sheltered from radiation. This leads naturally to atmospheric
disturbance. The air in the pit C is made warmer and less heavy than
that in A and B, and the consequence is, that the column of air in C can
no longer balance the columns in A and B, which therefore begin to
descend, and so a current of air is driven from the cave into the pit C.
Owing to the elasticity of the atmosphere, even at a low temperature,
this descent, and the consequent rush of air into C, will be overdone,
and a recoil must take place, which accounts for the return current into
the cave from the pit C. The sun can reach A more easily than B, and