CHAPTER I 



OF OUR ENTHUSIASM FOR " ALPINES " 



" We are here dealing witli one of the strongest intellectual im- 

 pulses of rational beings. Animals, as a rule, trouble themselves but 

 little about anything unless they want either to eat it or to run away 

 from it. Interest in, and wonder at, tlie works of nature and of the 

 doings of man are products of civilisation, and excite emotions which 

 do not diminish, but increase with increasing knowledge and cultiva- 

 tion. Feed them and they grow ; minister to them and they will 

 greatly multiply." — The Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour, in his Address 

 as Lord Rector oj St. Andrews University, December 10, 1887. 



Some excuse — or rather, some explanation- 

 seems to be needed for daring to present yet 

 another book upon the Alpine Flora of Switzerland. 

 So formidable is the array of such books already, 

 and so persistently do additions appear, that it is 

 not without diffidence that I venture to swell the 

 numbers, and, incidentally, help to fill the new 

 subterranean chamber of the Bodleian. 



With the author of " Du Vrai, Du Beau, et 

 Du Bien," I feel that " Moins la musique fait de 

 bruit et plus elle touche " ; I feel that reticence 



