450 



NATURE 



[September 7, 1893 



limes. At present it is very much frequented on account of the 

 medicinal action of the water. The situation is remar'Kable, 

 being overlooked by bold heij>hls which rise to altitudes of 

 620m. (Fort Btlin) and 599m. (Fort St. Andie), the town itself 

 being at an altilude of 354m. above the sea-level. The curative 

 effects of the salt waters (the mother-liquors remaining after the 

 separation of the sail) are mainly attributed to their remarkable 

 richness in bromide of potassium 322 c. gr. per kg. of water. 

 The natural salt springs woiked contain 27 gr., 5 of chloride 

 of sodium per kg., and yield about 13,000 h.lit. per day at 

 12° C. ; they are also largely used for bathing purposes. The 

 total production in salt of these works is about 6000 tons 

 per annum. 



Leaving Salins in carriages, the excursionists followed the 

 road which winds up through the height?, and thus had an 

 occasion of seeing the successive outcrops of the geological 

 formations so characteristic of the district, Trias, Lias and Lower 

 Jurassic, the roadsides affording plenty of fossils at different 

 points. The " Col" having been reached, a high undulating dis- 

 trict was attained showing the influence of altitude by the rela- 

 tive lateness of the crops, oats, &c. , and. their sparseness. The 

 farmhouses also mark the vicinity of the high Jura in their form, 

 biyh-pitched tiled roofs, massiveness, and overhangings, all 

 evidencing relative comfort and prosperity. Having passed the 

 bridge called the Pont du Diable, from the fantastic head 

 sculptured on the keystone of the principal arch, and from the 

 wildness of the gorge over which the road leads, the excursion 

 reached about 11 a.m. the charming and well-wooded valley, 

 deeply enclosed in bold and picturesque Jurassic escarpments, 

 called Nans sous Ste. Anne. Here an excellent dtjcKtier was 

 served under a lent, and in the afternoon a visit was made to 

 the sources of the Lison, situattd in a deep hollow, worn out in 

 the Jurassic beds, and receiving from a certain height a cascade 

 which disappears in one of those caves so common to all 

 limestone formations. 



1 he return to Salins was by a different route to that of the 

 morning, but showing fine vistas, and displajingon all sides 

 careful culture and abundant forest growth, which is mostly 

 communal and worked with great care and skill. Along 

 the road in the morning lay piles of timber showing 

 diameters at the butts of 2 feet and 2i ftet, and lengths of 15 to 

 20-25 yards. Having visited the salt-works in the town, and 

 seen the evidence of their antiquity in the succession of massive 

 masonry constructions required from time to time for their pre- 

 servation, dinner was served about seven o'clock in the hotel of 

 the baths, and the party returned to Besar.jon. 



Tuesday, Au^tisi 8, Montbcliard ami Belfort. — Leavirg 

 Besan9on at 6.15 am., with the continued fine and warm 

 weather of this wonderful season, the line ran along the Doubs 

 River through a very picturesque and highly cultivated country. 

 Montbeliard was reached about 7.50, when after a short halt the 

 excursionists proceeded by steam tram to the works of Messrs. 

 Peugeot Bros., at Audincourt. The visitors were divided in two 

 scries, A and B; the first were conveyed to the workshops of Valen- 

 tigney (roll ng mills, manufacture of springs and saws), and the 

 work^hops of Beaulieu (manufacture of bicycles) ; the last section, 

 B, w:s conducted through the workshops of Terre Blanche (tools, 

 hardware in general, coffee-mills, coach factory, electrical force 

 plant, &c. ). These works seem very active, well organised, and 

 well in touch with the requirements of their markets, the tools 

 manuTactured by the firm having a high reputation for quality 

 and cheapness. Everything indicated care and attention to the 

 wants of the working people, and the general air of comfort and 

 prosperity which was apparent in other parts of the department, 

 and about Besan9on, were here equally evident. Mont- 

 beliard was reached about twelve o'clock. There is little 

 remarkable in it except a chateau of the fifteenth 

 and sixteenth century, which now serves as barr.Tcks for the 

 troops. The town is largely inhabited by a race of Protestants, 

 descendants of the Anabaptists who sought refuge there from 

 Friseland. There is also a Jewish element in the population, as 

 indeed also at Besan^on and Dijon, marked by the synagogue of 

 a conventional style of architecture and the Hebrew inscriptions. 

 Montbeliard is a very pretty busy town as 1 e,'ards manufactures, 

 but the sewage arrangements laisscut a dhirer ; this is to a 

 certain degree intelligible from the fact of the town being 

 situstid on the canal which joins the Rhone and the Rhine at 

 the junction of the rivers Allaine, Savoureuse,and Lizaine, at an 

 altitude of 322m. As seen on the occasion of the visit, that is, 

 during a season of great drought, there were evidently elements 

 of typhoid fever, whether prevalent or not was not ascertained. 



NO. 1245, VOL. 48] 



From Monti eliard to Belfort the line ran through a more rolling 

 country than that in the immediate neighbourhood of Besan(;on. 

 Belfort (pronounced by the I'rench •' Bay four' ) was reached 

 at 2. 15 (after an excellent dejeuner at Montbeliard, served in the 

 gymnasium). Situated on the frontier, always a fortress of note, 

 and now rendered celebrated by its splendid defence 

 by Colonel Denfert during the campaign of 1870, 

 its historic interest overpowers its other attractions. Special 

 permission had been obtained for the excursionists to visit the 

 chateau or citadel. This permission was largely taken 

 advantage of by the excursionists, notwithstanding the some- 

 what abnormal heat of the afternoon sun. Guided by the 

 iflficers of the Association and by those of the military seivice, 

 the visitors were first conducted to the site of the splendid 

 colossal lion which graces the western face of the fortress. 

 Designed by Bartoldi, and executed in Vosges sandstone, it 

 harmonises admirably with the lines of the ground and of the 

 fortress structure. Whether the colour adopted is the best 

 artistically is a matter for the sculptor and artists in general, but 

 the lines are very fine, and the attitude of the lion very happy 

 and expressive. The visitors were then conducted to the 

 plateau, or flat roof, which crowns this part of the fortress, 

 from which is discovered a splendid panoramic view of the sur- 

 rounding country. An officer of the fort very obligingly gave 

 a detailed description of the district surveyed, explained the 

 position of the German army of siege, showed the line now 

 forming the frontier, pointed out the various points of in eresl 

 in view from the Ballons des Vosges in the north, to the Swiss 

 Juia in the south, with the vast and fertile plain of Alsace lying 

 between these points, here and there dotted with villages in the 

 distance. One could not fail to appreciate the significance of 

 the absence of a natural frontier line at this point, and at once 

 to understand the vastness of the armaments which have to 

 make good the security ofa country so bounded. 



A visit was then paid to the monument raised to the volun- 

 teers who fell during the campaign of 1870, and then a return 

 was made to the principal square, in which the Town Hall is 

 situated ; here, at seven o'clock, dinner was served in a 

 splendid hall oinamented with a set of very fine historic paint- 

 ings illustrating events in the history of the place. A few and 

 deeply felt words of welcome from the Maire, an equally short but 

 expressive speech from the Prefect of the Department, and the 

 dinner ended under the happiest of conditions for the visitor;. A 

 municipal band played during the dinner, and gave the 

 members of the Association a retraite atix flambeaux to the 

 station, whence Resarj m was reached about 11. 15 p.m. 



Visit of tlie Citadil of Bcsaiicon, August 7. — by special per- 

 mission the citadel was opened to the members of the Associ«r 

 tion in the afternoon of this day. The members, taking 

 advantage of it, assembled at the Ron an triumphal aich slifi 

 preserved and known as the Porte Noire. Thence ascends the 

 steep road conducting into the fort, and remembering that it 

 may have been, or rather must have been, used by Caisar when 

 occupying and holding garrison in this city, one could not but 

 feel a greater interest attaching to the various points presented 

 by the guide. The structure of the fort is mainly due to Vauban, 

 but of course is now somewhat out of dale, but the position, 

 taken in conjunction with the occupation of the neighbouring 

 heights, is still very strong, and of great military value. From 

 the parapetof the highest part oflhe fortress a splendid bird's-eye 

 view is had of the town and its surroundings, while the wind- 

 ings of the River Doubs underneath, the variety of the culture 

 clothirg the neighbouring hills, the forts quietly looking out 

 over all, and the hum of activity ascending the town, rendered 

 the visit highly interesting, despite the abnormal heat and the 

 climb to the lofty point of view. During the reconstruction of 

 the fort by Vauban, he was obliged to demolish the church of 

 Ste. Etienne, badly injured during the siege. The material was 

 not, however, lost, and amongst other usages a tombstone, evi- 

 dently of a bibhop or an abbot of the Middle Ages, was used as 

 a flooring for one of the sentry boxes or videttes which linethe 

 parapet or path running round the summit of the fortress. Other 

 remains have been preserved, partly in the fort, and partly in the 

 garden near the Porte Noire, the former site of a Roman theatre. 

 Final Excursion, Auguit II to 13. — An accident, slight in 

 itself but troublesome for the time, prevented me a sisting at 

 this excursion, which comprehended the source of the Loue 

 Pontarlier, Neucbatel, Bienne, Chaux de Fonds, and the Saut 

 du Doubs, that is, an extremely dangerous and picturesque 

 district on the frontier of Switzerland. 



J. P. 0'RHI.LY. 



