HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



20' 



Bachalp tarn and so on to the Bachalp pasture huts ; 

 patches of snow lie all through the summer in this 

 hollow, as well as on the upper part of the north 

 slope. The last two-thirds of the descent is over 

 pasture and through forest to the meadows above the 

 village. 



The ascent may also be made from Interlaken, 

 through beech and pine forest and over a grassy 

 slope, to the Schynige Platte, whence there is a good 

 bridle-path, recently constructed, onwards. 

 ■■y To the summit of the Rothhorn (an inn here is 

 newly rebuilt), there is a good horse-path direct from 

 the Bear Hotel at Brienz. The first part of the way is 

 precipitous and laborious ; higher up, through forest — 

 beech, &c., below, pine above — to the Planalp. The 

 last part is over rocky debris. Pedestrians coming 

 from Lucerne may make the ascent from the other 

 side, following a foot-path which leads from the 

 village of Gyschyl, and just above the Sarnen Lake, 

 over the mountains to Sorenberg. The path is 

 fairly good for the first part of the way, till you 

 descend into the Marienthal, above Sorenberg, 

 thence on by a track, left, to the Staffelalp, and Schutt- 

 walden ; beyond on the left is the Maisee ; the rocky 

 height on the right is the Nesselstock, as rich in 

 rare plants as the Rothhorn itself. 



There is an inn at Gyschyl ; but better quarters 

 are to be had at Lungern, a little farther on (at the 

 foot of the Brunig), where there is a good hotel. 

 The view of the Bernese Alps is not so fine as that 

 afforded by the Faulhorn, but in other respects the 

 prospect is superior. Pilatus makes a prominent 

 figure in the landscape ; to the right is the Titlis 

 range, with Mt. Gliirnisch the Todi and Santis in 

 the distance ; on the left, among others, Napf and 

 the Schratten, a mountain full of vast cracks, 

 crevasses and caverns, and one which offers striking 

 evidence of stupendous upheavals and overturnings 

 in geological times. The whole country immediately 

 north of the Brienz Lake belongs to the same num- 

 mulitic limestone formation as that already referred 

 to in connection with Pilatus. There is no lack of 

 marine fossils in some places, on the crest of the 

 Widderfeld (a peak of Pilatus) for instance, in par- 

 ticular, however scarce they may be in the meta- 

 morphic strata. 



Faulhorn, upper section, 5000-8800 feet. Geo- 

 logical character, a dark friable calcareous schist. 



Achillea atrata, 7000. Anemone sidphiirea ; above 

 the Bachalp. Aquilegia alpina ; stems 1-3-flowered, 

 large, handsome ; N. ascent near the Battenalp. 

 Arabis ciliata, var. of alpestris according to Bouvier, 

 ( = hirsiita incana of Gaudin) ; N, ascent 5500- 

 6000 ; ptimila ; near summit ; dwarf, radical leaves 

 rosulate, covered with bifid and trifid hairs. Alchetnilla 

 hybrida ; a dwarf form of vulgaris ; Jissa, near the 

 Bachalp tarn ; pentaphylla, near the tarn ; also above 

 the Battenalp, N, side. Astrantia minor ; near the 

 Bachalp. Aroniaim scorpioides ; near tarn; also on 



debris, N. slope. Androsace pnbesceiis ( = alpina of 

 Gaudin) ; leaves close set, in rosettes at the ends of 

 the branches, flowers solitary ; chanurjasruc ; obtiisi- 

 Jolia, near tarn. Anthericinn serotiuuni ( = Lloydia 

 ser.) near tarn. Agrostis rupestris. Avena siibspicata, 

 panicle oval or cylindrical, spikelets close set ; near 

 summit, both slopes ; distichopkylla, leaves distichous, 

 stems many, decumbent, much branched ; Schetichzerl 

 ( = versicolor) stems erect, panicle oboval, short, 

 branches geminate ; csespitose : all three species are 

 pretty grasses, florets of a greenish-violet hue, and 

 growing high up above 6000 feet. Azalea procum- 

 bens ( = Loiseleuria) ; Cardaniiiie bellidifolia , near 

 tarn ; rcsedifolia. Cherlcria sedoides, near tarn ; 

 Crepis niontana, N. face ; grandijlora, above the 

 Bachalp. Campanula rhomboidalis. Cerinthe glabra, 

 a boraginaceous plant, with large glabrous glaucescent 

 oval obtuse leaves ; inflorescence in leafy racemes, 

 corollas greenish-yellow banded with violet ; singular. 

 Carex microsfyla ( = lobata of Kunth) an androgynous 

 sedge, CKspitose, spikelets in a dense spike ; N. 

 face at 6000 ; fxtida, near inciu-i'a, spikelets many, 

 in an ovoid globular head, leaves as long as the 

 triquetrous stem ; leporina (near, if not = lagopina, 

 V. Br. Fl. ; Hooker and Arn. 8th ed. p. 502) ; 

 6-7000 ; cH7-vnla, leaves setaceous, spikelets andro- 

 gynous contracted into a compact oblong spike, 

 stems curved ; slopes both sides ; 7000 ; atrata ; 

 bract by no means invariably shorter than the 

 lower spike, and fruit certainly not purplish-black ; 

 they are green in our specimens ; both slopes at 

 7000 ; nigra, abundant ; irrigna, wet rocky places, 

 above the Bachalp ; firma, leaves short rigid, ^ spike 

 I, 9 2, fruit dark brown lanceolate, beak bifid ; 

 ferriiginca ; capillar is. Cystopteris alpina. Chatnce- 

 orchis alpina, N. face, above the Battenalp. Ceras- 

 tium latifolium, near the summit ; stricttivi, a var. 

 of arvense ; ( = 203 b. London Cat.) stem and 

 leaves glabrous, 7-8000 ; trigyniim ( = Stellaria 

 cerastioides) ; 5-6000. Draba toj)tentosa ; radxal 

 leaves rosulate, hairy and tomentose ; hairs both 

 simple and stellate ; between tarn and summit, on 

 rocks ; also N. face above 7000. Erigeroji tinijlorum, 

 7500. Empetrum nigrnm. Eriophoron Schenchzeri 

 ( = capitattim) ; heads globose ; wet places above 

 the Battenalp. Ely ma spicata ; differs from Kobresia 

 merely in its simple spikelet of two florets. Festnca 

 alpina, 6000 (^s^x.oi ovina) ; Gaudini ; N. face above 

 7000 ; Halleri, dwarf, leaves setaceous with involute 

 margins, panicle short contracted ; rocky fissures 

 above 7000 ; nigrescens, crespitose, leaves fascicled, 

 radical ones capillary ; panicle long, lax, narrow ; 

 glumes and glumellas violet as in violacea ; pumila 

 and pulchella, 6000. Geranium lividttm ( = phaum or 

 the variety thereof) ; N. slope. Geum reptans near 

 the summit : differs from montanttfn in being stoloni- 

 ferous, leaves more deeply incised and toothed. Gaya 

 simplex. GaliiDn Helveticnm ; above the Bach and 

 the Batten Alps, Gymnadenia albida. Gentiana tenella ; 



