10 SWISS FLOWERS. 



poeticus, to be found within reach, she said, but nearly 

 over. Whether we might have been successful in the 

 search, or what else we might have discovered, it is im- 

 possible to say ; for, alas ! when we set off in the afternoon 

 to reach the heights yet above us, the treacherous mountain 

 put on his cap, and we were in a fog so thick that the only 

 wise course was to retreat to the hotel, where we learnt how 

 raw and cold the top of a mountain can be, when, in the 

 month of July, there is more than an agreeable heat at its 

 foot. Nor did we lose the fog till, on the following 

 morning, the higher part of the mountain was passed in 

 our descent, when we were again surrounded with perfect 

 summer. This was the more to be regretted, as several 

 quite rare plants are said to be found below the point of 

 the Esel, among them the yellow Alpine Poppy, Androsace 

 chamoejasme, and the purple Petrocollis Pyrenaica. 



This seems a not unsuitable place to make a few remarks 

 on dried plants, which are as much a characteristic of 

 Switzerland as the honey which is made from the living 

 flower, and that should be seen on every breakfast-table. 

 We have lived to consider these plants as but poor mummies 

 of what they once were ; but there was a time when the 

 sight of them would have roused almost ecstatic feelings. 

 No doubt they bring back very powerfully in after years 

 the scenes and places where they grew, while as a help in 

 studying botany they are invaluable. A friend, the late 



