NOTES ON A VISIT TO SWITZERLAND AND GERMANY. 309 
were all situated underneath the dwelling-houses, as is the 
case in Germany; the ceilings were low, and there was little 
means of ventilation. The cows are also housed in a similar 
way, and they are never grazed outside except in the higher 
slopes of the Alps, where they graze as in Scotland. 
On the 16th June I visited Zurich, and was shown over the 
technical school. The Forestry and Agricultural Department 
has small museums of plants, animals, and implements, but not 
nearly so large as those at Aschaffensburg which we saw last 
year. I also saw through the Botanical Gardens. They are 
small in size, and in the centre of the city, and many of the 
specimens, which did not appear to be thriving, were no doubt 
affected by the smoke. We noticed the effect of smoke in the 
same way on the trees on the highest reaches of the 
Abishorn. 
Before taking leave of this forest, I may mention that it has 
a great variety of means of transport, each of which is suited 
to the topographical formation of the ground. The valley 
itself, with the State road and railway as its main arteries, forms 
an outlet for all the side means of transit, and these are made 
up of roads for waggons on its more accessible areas, tram- 
lines winding round its steeper slopes, and sledges and timber- 
chutes on its higher and more precipitous peaks. All these 
are of the very best of their kind, but the management is 
annually becoming more favourable to tram-lines of narrow 
gauge, and is using that mode of transit in preference to all 
the others. The waggon’s own weight on the tram-line carries 
it to the depot. One man takes charge of each waggon, and 
he has a very simple and effective method of applying a brake 
to it. 
The geological formation on which the forest-soil rests is a 
soft white limestone, which makes the higher peaks very liable 
to landslips, and the numerous streams to be cut into deep 
gorges. The streams are carefully protected by artificial means, 
and the forests on the peaks are managed on the selection 
system, whereby they are never cleared of trees. Unless this is 
carefully attended to, landslips causing great damage occur. 
Anyone who wishes to get a complete history and description of 
this forest should procure Herr Ulrich Meister’s book, beautifully 
illustrated (but only printed in German), and published in 
Zurich. 
VOL. XIX. PART II. x 
