56 ALPINE FLOWERS AND GARDENS 



it is the other way about, and there are remarkably 

 fewer browsing animals in the Alps, both in variety 

 and in number. No, we are not forgetting the 

 goat, which is so numerous, and which, certainly, 

 is not affrighted by the awful aspect of the Alpine 

 flora ! But ' we must discount the goat and other 

 domesticated animals as guides to natural con- 

 ditions,' says Mr. Robinson ; and 1 think we 

 may agree. Civilization breeds ' acquired ' tastes, 

 ' depraved ' tastes, ' unnatural ' tastes — tastes which 

 can be little criterion for the conditions under 

 which the flowers developed the essential characters 

 of their blossoms. Dismissing, then, the domesti- 

 cated cow, goat, and sheep, the danger from 

 browsing animals becomes very small indeed ; and 

 I doubt if, since Alpines have been such as they 

 are, the danger has ever been much greater. This 

 leaves us face to face with the possibility that 

 these lovely plants suffer from what hitherto has 

 been looked upon as a modern and human malady 

 — ' nerves ' ! But perhaps the characteristics of 

 their blossoms are legacies from the dim past age 

 when the mammoth roamed the snows and ice of 

 the world ; and now, in these less exciting days, 

 the colour, scent, form, and nectar of these flowers 

 have been amiably retained for the delight and use 



