56 IN AND AROUND BESANCON. 
21st December, 1906. 
Chairman—Dr J. W. Marrtin. 
In AND AROUND Besancon. By Mr Witiiam M‘CutTcHEON, 
B.Sc. 
The Jura Mountains form the natural boundary between 
France and the north-west of Switzerland, stretching in a. north- 
easterly direction for some two hundred miles and having an 
extreme width of fifty miles. In the summer of ’92 I cycled 
down the western limit of these mountains from Dijon, the town 
of “Glory Roses ’’ and champagne, to Lyons, the River Saone 
forming the boundary. Standing on the Tour Metallique in 
Lyons one has a splendid view of the deep valley through which 
the Rhone comes from the Lake of Geneva, and which separates 
the Juras from the Alps of the Dauphiny, with Mont Blanc in 
the background. From the Swiss*side a forenoon’s cycle run 
from Berne brings one to the eastern limit of these mountains 
not far from Lake Neuchatel, which nestles at their foot. In the 
summer of 794 I crossed their extreme spur by means of a pass 
that leads from Olten towards Bale; but during last summer 
(1906) it was my fortune, however, to spend a month of my holi- 
days in Besancon, and I was able to glean a few facts concerning 
this interesting district. 
The Juras rise rather abruptly from the lowlands of Switzer- 
land, but towards the great central plain of France they descend 
as by a gigantic staircase, for there are no fewer than seven 
parallel ranges of diminishing altitude. My personal experiences 
were gathered from the two lowest chains, as I had not time to 
visit the actual culminating pine-clad points which overlook Lake 
Geneva. To the geologist the word Jura recalls the Jurassic 
system of rock-formation, and here the limestones are to be seen 
cropping out in every valley. The hill on which the citadel of 
Besancon stands is a huge mass of limestones, and the bending 
of the strata is distinctly visible a long way off, for the two sides 
of the hills are perpendicular and devoid of the least trace of 
herbage. The limestone lends itself to the formation of under- 
ground passages for water, and more than one stream disappears 
during its course, to reappear further down the valley. Some 
