242 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



devote a day to exploring the Nesselstock and 

 Schratten or adjoining Tannhorn. The descent to 

 Brienz can be made by the old road which passed by 

 the Irtschelen Alp and Schwanden, leaving the Eysee 

 lakelet on the left. 



In the immediate neighbourhood of Interlaken 

 several interesting plants may be gathered in the 

 course of a matutinal stroll ; Eriniis alpimis and 

 Globidaria cordifolia on rocks foot of the Harder ; 

 Gentiatia asclcpiadacea in the woods about ; cruciata 

 south shore of the Brienz lake ; Hepatica triloba and 

 Cyclamen Eiiropatim, woods ; also Litzula albida and 

 Maiantkem2iJ?t bifoUum, Pyrolas, Spircea Ariiiiais 

 Thalictrum aquilcgifolium. Salvia gliitinosa, yellow 

 Digitalis, &c. In wet meadows, Tetragotiolobiis silt- 

 quosiis, a plant with yellow lotus-like flowers, but 

 larger and fewer, and a curious four-sided pod ; wet 

 meadows, near Bonnegen, on the lake, Ilippophae 

 rhamnoides ; Marshy flat, at Neuhans, lake of Thun, 

 Spiranthes astivalis, and in one place Liparis Locselii. 

 If an excursion to the cave of Saint Beatus on the 

 Beatenberg north shore of lake Thun be undertaken, 

 look for Lactuca perennis, Lascrpititim Siler, and 

 Helianthennim fjimana, in the crevices of rocks by 

 the footpath leading up to the cave, and for Physalis 

 Alkekengi on the debris below before you ascend. 

 On the rocks about the cave itself, Carex hiimilis 

 and Laserpitiiim siler. Farther on and among rocks 

 by the footpath through the wood downwards, Ame- 

 lanchier vulgaris, a pomaceous shrub allied to Sorbus ; 

 Rhammis alpimis; Cyclamen Eicropa:icm; Laserpitiiitn 

 glabrum; Saponaria ocyiiioides; Alelitlis iiielissopkyllutn, 

 scarce ; Geranium sanguineum ; Peucedanii7n Cer- 

 varia ; and by the stream which issues from the 

 cavern, Lasiagrostis Calamagrostis ; a large coarse 

 grass densely tufted and with long linear involute 

 leaves. On the Nase, rocky promontory of the 

 Bratenberg, Rhododendron ferrugineum grows down 

 to the water's edge. Just before leaving the wood, 

 if a little footpath be followed leading right for a 

 short distance, Trifolium rtibnitn will be met with : 

 a trefoil somewhat like incarnatnin, but glabrous and 

 with stipules of a different character. Return by 

 steamer from Merlingen. Liliastrum [albnm grows 

 in the valley above this place, and several good 

 mosses are to be gathered on the fallen rocks there. 

 The ascent of the Sigriswyl Rothhorn were super- 

 fluous almost from botanical motives ; it is about 

 2500 feet lower than its namesake of Brienz. Nothing 

 therefore out of the common is to be expected. Of 

 more distant excursions, that via Lauterbrunnen to 

 the Wengern Alp, and to Miirren with ascent thence 

 of the Schilthorn, 9000 : a guide necessary : — or 

 via the Suarten Valley to the Sulegg, 8000 ; Drei- 

 spitz, 8300 ; Schwalmenen, 9000; or lastly to Spiez 

 on the lake, for the ascent of either the Niessen 

 or Stockhorn or of both. Facility of access and good 

 repute with regard to the richness of their flora are 

 reasons for giving these a preference to the others. 



There is nothing attractive for botanists in the- 

 Wetterhorn, Schreckhorn, and adjoining giants of the 

 Bernese Alps: little can be expected from bare 

 precipices and snow-fields : Campanula Cenisii is 

 recorded as growing above the first glacier of the 

 Wetterhorn, and that is undeniably a rarity ; below 

 the glacier three gentians, acatiUs, verna and Jiivalis 

 which are not rarities. 



Desor reports Ramiuculus glacialis as growing upon 

 the Schreckhorn at 11,600 feet, Androsace pennina at 

 10,550 feet, and the lichen Parmelia elegans on the 

 highest summit at 13,050 I 



It IS not that alpine plants will not grow in greater 

 abundance at these elevations under favourable cir- 

 cumstances of sheltered locality, &c., but simply 

 because there is no soil for them to grow upon. 



^To be continued.) 



NOTES FROM THE HIGHLANDS. 



WHATEVER fortune the majority of your low- 

 land readers may have had this summer in 

 collecting, we in the north have been overwhelmed 

 with rain, and little or nothing of insect life has been 

 seen, excepting in the very brief snatches of sunshine 

 which have burst through the clouds. 



On the loth of June I caught the first Artaxerxes 

 of the season, the specimen being very noticeable for 

 the large size and brilliancy of the row of orange 

 spots along the upper margin of both wings. No 

 more of this fascinating little butterfly was seen until 

 the second week in July, when, at an elevation or 

 1600 feet above the sea, and on a steep mountain-side, ^ 

 littered with broken rocks and green with ferns and 

 heather, a spot was accidentally discovered, where, in 

 company with the common blue and small heath, 

 Artaxerxes were flitting about in every direction, and 

 I had a lively morning's work amongst them. 



Their flight is rapid, and owing to the dark colour 

 of the upper side of their wings it is very difficult to • 

 keep the little insects in sight over broken ground. 

 When settled — generally on the dwarf mountain 

 buttercup — they open and shut both pair of wings, 

 and then the rapid contrast of the upper and under 

 sides makes them very noticeable. In the specimens 

 I took in July the marginal row of red dots varied 

 from great distinctness, in the earlier captures, to 

 others in which they were hardly visible. The white 

 dots on the forewings were also sometimes large and 

 clear, and in one or two individuals so minute as to 

 be hardly discernible. 



Alexis, of the brilliant Scotch variety, appeared sud- 

 denly on the 22nd of June, during a bright sunshine, 

 but two wet weeks following, it entirely disappeared, 

 — in fact, towards the end of July, and all through 

 August, butterflies were very scarce, and the only 

 insect abroad in any numbers were day-flying Noctuoe. 

 On the I2th of the latter month I was out grouse - 



