18813 The Matter horn Today 



(according to a local saying quoted by Guido Rey) 

 "God passes only by night." A number of others 

 have since followed him. 



Our course was essentially that taken by Whym- Modem 

 per, the point being to keep as near as possible to aids 

 the saw-edged northeast angle out of the reach of 

 volleys of stone. Within recent years the trip has 

 been made easier by better accommodations and 

 various devices. A good hotel now stands near the 

 Schwarzsee or Lac Noir, a tarn which lies two thirds 

 of the way up to the cabin. Wire ropes, I under- 

 stand, have been installed where needed, and the 

 whole course sways more closely to the northeast 

 ridge. 



The ascent by my party was a mad business at 

 best; mere amateurs in high mountaineering, we 

 were not in the Matterhorn class. Personally I 

 have always sympathized somewhat with an old 

 Indiana farmer. Arriving late at my lecture, he 

 took a front seat near the teacher and listened with 

 much interest. At last he could stand it no longer, 

 and in a loud whisper asked: "What the devil were 

 they up there for?" 



4 



In connection with my early European tours, I Fishes 

 spent as much time as possible studying at the agam 

 Musee d'Histoire Naturelle located in the famous 

 park, Jardin des Plantes, in Paris, and at the British 

 Museum in London, besides doing some work in 

 the Universities of Berlin and Copenhagen. I thus 

 became acquainted with many of the leading Euro- 

 pean zoologists, and especially with all who had 



C 2693 



