796 



On the 7tli I walked towards Colomraiers on the recommendation 

 of my guide of the day before, as the best ground in the neighbour- 

 hood of Vendome ; and the ground is good, consisting of slopes on 

 the margin of a wood in a calcareous soil, but I did not add anything. 

 I was told at Vendome that a M. Monin, a physician at Blois, was a 

 very good botanist; to Blois therefore I returned, and soon made ac- 

 quaintance with him. We went together the next day to the wood 

 of Russy, chiefly to look after Isopyrum thalictroides, A steep bank 

 of small elevation descends from the wood towards the meadows, 

 which, like most of those occupying the valleys in France, are quite 

 flat and somewhat marshy. In moist places at the foot of this slope 

 was the station of the Isopyrum, but a new road has been made ^ot 

 yet finished) along this very bank, and has cut away one half of it, 

 and covered up the other with the rubbish, and the Isopyrum was 

 not to be found. Erica scoparia, Ranunculus nemorum, Scorzonera 

 humilis and Centaurea Jacea were the fruits of our walk, and 1 found 

 a curious irregular specimen of Orchis militaris (or of Simia), with 

 the limbs variously united to the body, (fig. 11, p. 789). 



On the 9th I set out alone, the rain having delayed M. Monin, and 

 went to a windmill which he had pointed out to me near St. Gervais. 

 I botanized there in spite of the frequent and heavy showers, and 

 noticed Globularia vulgaris, Cynanchum vincetoxicum. Geranium lu- 

 cidum, Helianthemum apenninum ? and H. pulverulentum. H. Fu- 

 mana is said also to grow there, but I did not observe it. There is a 

 little wood close by, which seems rich in the usual calcareous plants 

 of the country. 



On the 10th I engaged a place in the voiture which goes from Blois 

 to Romorantin, and was to have met M. Monin at a place called Les 

 Granges, but my driver knew nothing of Les Granges, though he had 

 professed to be acquainted with it, and carried me beyond it, so that 

 we missed each other. The country of this day's excursion is called 

 Sologne, and is a curious feature in the surface of France. The 

 ground seems to descend gradually all the way from Normandy to a 

 considerable distance south of the Loire, so that the hills, which about 

 Rouen are 500 or 600 feet high, become less and less, till a height of 

 30 or 40 feet forms a marked eminence. The whole surface in So- 

 logne is sandy and gently undulating, and, from its low position, is 

 generally moist in the bottoms. Sedum villosum grows among the 

 corn, and Illecebrum verticillatum on the road-sides. It seems to be 

 well worth visiting from its peculiarity, and from its botanical produc- 

 tions, as it offers many rare ])lants, and I should have done well to 



