The Life of Jean Henri Fabre 



tracted by the peculiar and unique variety of 

 the flora growing upon its slopes: 



Thanks to its isolated position, which leaves it 

 freely exposed on every side to atmospheric influ- 

 ences; thanks -also to its height, which makes it the 

 topmost point of France within the frontiers of 

 either the Alps or the Pyrenees, our bare Provencal 

 mountain, Mont Ventoux, lends itself remarkably 

 well to the study of the climatic distribution of 

 plants. At its base the tender olive thrives, with 

 all that multitude of semi-ligneous plants, such as 

 the thyme, whose aromatic fragrance calls for the 

 sun of the Mediterranean regions; on the summit, 

 mantled with snow for at least half the year, the 

 ground is covered with a northern flora, borrowed 

 to some extent from Arctic shores. Half a day's 

 journey in an upward direction brings before our 

 eyes a succession of the chief vegetable types which 

 we should find in the course of a long voyage from 

 south to north along the same meridian. 1 



To any one with any love of plants, to any 

 one with blood in his veins, the expedition was 

 a tempting one. So we see him set out for 

 the twenty-third time in company with two 

 colleagues ■ and five others. Let us join them 

 if we wish to make the acquaintance of the 



1 Souvenirs, I., p. 180. 



2 Th. Delacour and Bernard Valot of the Jardin des 

 Plantes. 



I46 



