204 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



( = glacialis) summit and near the snow, N. side ; 

 nivalis ; brachyphylla near summit; alpina,* a form 

 of acaulis ; but differs in its gregarious habit, smaller 

 size, and colour of a yellowish-green. Hypochccris 

 helvetica, near the Bachalp. Hieraciiim alpicola, hairy, 

 stems I -leaved, peduncles 2-3, one-flowered, flowers 

 pale yellow ; leaves lanceolate ; S. ascent, 7000 ; 

 angiistifoUum (= Auricula; van 7 corresponds with 

 fig. 2368, Eng. Bot. ; according to Gaudin) ; N. 

 slope above the Battenalp ; anrantiacum, 5000 ; 

 alpimuii, a mono- or dicephalous species (? = No. 

 776-7 London Cat. 7th ed.) ; piliferum (= Schra- 

 deri) covered with a stellate silky pubescence, mono- 

 cephalous, leaves large, oval, obtuse, all radical ; 

 between the Bachalp and the tarn. Juncusfiliformis, 

 near the Bachalp ; yacquinii, stems naked, radical 

 sheaths short and mucronate, flowers in terminal 

 heads furnished with an involucral leaf ; N. ascent 

 6-7000. Kobresia caricina, rare ; Bachalp at 6000. 

 Liliastrum album, S. slope at 5000. Lcucanthemicm 

 alpimcm{ = Fyrethrum),6-']0oo. Leoiitodon Taraxaci 

 (= montanum), Luzula flavescens ; spicata ; near 

 Bachalp. Nigritella angustifolia, 5000. Oxytropis 

 campestris, debris ; N. face. Oxyria didyma. Phaca 

 frigida, stem branched above ; flowers, pale yellow ; 

 N. ascent near the Battenalp. Phaca ausfralis, stems 

 diffuse, procumbent ; flowers white or pale yellow, 

 with the keel violet ; peduncles longer than the leaves ; 

 between the tarn and the summit. Phyteuma hcmi- 

 sphcericum ; betonicifolium. Primula viscosa, near the 

 lake ; a small plant of a blackish-green colour ; leaf 

 margins furnished with glandular hairs ; flowers um- 

 bellate, 2-5, purplish; integrifolia (=Candolleana) 

 dwarf ; leaves fleshy, entire ; margins furnished with 

 glandular cilia ; flowers sessile 1-3, rose-coloured. 

 Phleuvi alpiiium ; Michelii, debris, N. face. Poa laxa, 

 near the summit ; mi>ior, ditto on N. side. Polystichum 

 rigidum, debris N. slope. Ramincuhis glacialis, a 

 stouter and larger plant than alpestris ; leaves some- 

 what fleshy, petals often tinged with rose-colour ; 

 nectariferous, the scale bifid. Rosa alpina. Rhodo- 

 dendron hirsutum, descends to the borders of the 

 lake on the N. slope. Rumex nivalis, 8000, near 

 the snow on the N. face before you come to the last 

 climb ; scutatus, rocky debris, N. face ; arifolius, 

 above the Battenalp ; these three species of Rumex 

 have all hastate or hastato-sagittate leaves, and are 

 true sorrels. Silene rupestris, S. ascent. Sagina 

 saxatilis { = Spergula saginoides), S. ascent at 6000. 

 Sibbaldia procumbens, S. ascent at 6-7000. Scdum 

 saxaiile, rocks, Bachalp. Scmperviviim tectorum and 

 montanum, S. ascent, Saxifraga oppositifolia ; plani- 

 jolia, leaves rosulate, strongly imbricated ; stems 

 many ; peduncles 2-3-flowered ; N. face near the sum- 

 mit ; androsacea, ditto and near the tarn ; Seguirii, left 

 of the path before coming to the tarn ; also N. face 



* Equal to pumila, Haller, not Jacquin ; G. verna Irachy- 

 phylla, Schult. Hegetschw. ; verna /3, DC. Jacquin's plant 

 has narrow lanceolate leaves and no filiform stolons. 



near the summit ; stems shorter than in the last 

 species, 1-3-flowered, pedicels very short ; moschata 

 ( = jnuscoides) a variable plant ; Bryoides, a form of 

 aspera, stems i -flowered ; sterile ones spreading; 

 leaves in closely-set rosettes, 6-7000. Soiccio 

 Doronicum, stems mono-dicephalous, heads large ; 

 leaves oblong, with a winged petiole, upper ones 

 sessile lanceolate ; this plant has more the habit of 

 a hawk-weed than a ragwort ; N. slope above the 

 Battenalp ; aurantiaca ; a species without scales at 

 the base of the involucre, N. ascent. Soldanella 

 pusilla ( = Clusii) near the tarn. Thlaspi rotundifolium, 

 near the tarn. Trifoliutn ccepitosum, 6-7000, 

 Valeriana mo n tana. Veronica alpina ; fruticulosa ; 

 saxatilis ; bellidioides, near the tarn ; aphylla, N. face, 

 near the snow. 



The Schwarzhorn affords also Androsace pennina ; 

 Arabis axrulea ; Aroiaria polygonoides ; Semper- 

 vivum arachnoidemn, &c. The mountain is 800 feet 

 higher than the Faulhorn ; guides and a rope re- 

 quisite. The neighbourhood of the Rosenlaui glacier 

 is a good locality ; the rocky debris at the foot of 

 the Wellhorn, and the rhododendron scrub on the 

 lower slope of the Engelhorn, left as you approach 

 the glacier, especially so ; while the wet rocks, &c., 

 beyond the baths towards Meyringen are rich in 

 cood mosses. There is not much on the Scheideck 

 pass ; Trifoliutn alpinum, however, is plentiful a 

 little over the eastern ridge, also Ilcdysarum obscurum, 

 and near the ridge, as one ascends from the west- 

 ward, Dianthus sylvesiris, Hieracium lanatum, Erio- 

 phoron Scheuchzeri, by a pool close to the inn there, 

 &c. That beautiful composite, Astrantia major, is 

 plentiful in the meadows a mile or so above Grindel- 

 wald. About the Lutschine from the glacier down- 

 wards, in sandy nooks and stony corners several good 

 things may be unexpectedly met with ; Myricaria 

 Germanica is abundant there, and some Salices. 

 ( To be continued) 



Adders Hissing.— G. Dewar states, he believes 

 that the hissing of the adder, or viper, arises simply 

 out of their enjoyment of life. My own observations 

 have been that they only hiss when disturbed, and 

 I doubt whether they are enjoying their lives, when 

 being poked out of a bush by a stick. Whenever 

 I have seen the viper in Epping Forest, it has 

 generally been within a short distance of some small 

 isolated thicket, into which it glides at your approach, 

 and when quietly watching it, as it lies coiled up 

 against some stumps, I have never heard it hiss until 

 I have disturbed it with a stick. In watching a viper 

 I had in captivity, when hissing it drew the lower 

 lip, down to the point of the left fang, which would be 

 extended ; and it produced two different sounds, one 

 at inspiration, the other at expiration, that which 

 accompanied expiration being the loudest. — Walter 

 A. Pearce. 



