24 INTRODUCTORY 



up on the mountain-side, where those in charge of 

 the cows are often completely isolated for weeks from 

 the world : so much so, that in many valleys the 

 church bells of the principal villages are rung at twelve 

 noon each day, to pass the time to those of the distant 

 alpen. This is the case, for instance, at Davos 

 Platz, where in addition the bells of St Johann 

 Kirche are rung on Saturday evening, usually about 

 six o'clock, to warn those on the mountains of the 

 approach of the Sabbath. 



We have dwelt on the alpen, or pastures, at some 

 length here, for it is essential that they should be 

 clearly distinguished from the valley meadows, cut 

 regularly with the scythe, usually three times during 

 the summer months. The pastures are in many 

 respects as distinct botanically from the meadows as 

 they are often far away from them. In the following 

 chapters we shall discuss some of the typical Alpines 

 of the pastures and the meadows. 



With this digression we must now return to our 

 Alpenroses. They are evergreen shrubs, two, three, 

 or more feet in height, often occurring in great 

 abundance in the higher pastures, among the Alpine 

 thickets, in or on the borders of the forests, especially 

 where they fringe the margins of the Alpine lakes. 

 Of the two species, the Common Alpenrose, Rhodo- 

 dendron ferrugineum, Linn. (Plate II.), is by far the 

 most abundant in Switzerland. It is easily recog- 

 nised by the fact that the under-sides of the oldei' 

 leaves exhibit a rusty-brown appearance, though the 



