Rhine

(The,) (rin,) [Ger. RHEIN,] (anc. Rhenus,) a great river of W. central Europe, having its source in Switzerland, where it is formed by two small streams, one of them rising on the N. side of the Pennine Alps, the other on the N. slope of the Vogelsberg near the Pa of Mt. St. Bernard. Forming a junction a few m. above Chur, the united river takes a course N. to the Lake of Con stance; after pa ing through which it forms at Schaffhausen a fine cataract, 75ft. in height. Trending more to the W., the R. reaches Basle, where it becomes navigable; and thence resumes its N.flow, forming the boundary bet. the grand-duchy of Baden and Alsace-Lorraine, and also bet, the former and Rhenish Bavaria. Afterwards, taking a somewhat sinuous N.W. course, it pa es through the Rhenish-Pru ian pro vs. and Westphalia, then enters Holland where it empties into the N. Sea by a delta, the seaboard of which extends for 110 m. Near its embouchure, the left or S. arm of this river takes the name of the Waal, while the N. branch, or Rhine proper, is lower down called the Leck, to distinguish it from its old channel, now closed. About two-thirds of its volume are carried to the sea by the Waal; and the rest partly to the ZuyderZee by the Y el, and partly to the N. Sea by the Leck and Maas. The chief affluents of the R. are the Neckar, Main, Moselle, Ruhr, and Lippe. The picturesque scenery found throughout the greater part of its course constitutes the R. the most remarkable and celebrated stream in Europe. Along its banks are situate the cities of Con stance, Schaffhausen, Basle, Strasburg, Mannheim, Mayence, Coblentz, Bonn, Cologne, Dü eldorf, Arnhem, and Rotter dam. Its navigation by steamers, and that of its larger tributaries, embraces an extent of abt. 1,500 m. [s. 767]