THE ENTOMOLOGIST 



Vol. XLII.] APEIL, 1909. [No. 551 



FIVE WEEKS IN THE VOSGES. 



By a. E. Gibbs, F.L.S. 



(Plate III.) 



When travelling down the Rhine Valley from Strassburg to 

 Miilhousen a few years ago, I noticed from the carriage window 

 on the right the long line of castle-crowned peaks of the " blue 

 Alsatian mountains," a delightful looking country which appear- 

 ed to be well worth a visit, and I determined on some future 

 occasion to explore this tempting region. These hills form the 

 Vosges range of Alsace and Lorraine, on the border-land of 

 France and Germany, and across their highest peaks runs the 

 boundary line, the scientific frontier which Bismark insisted on 

 at the close of the war of 1870. In turning over in my mind 

 last winter possible schemes for an entomological holiday on the 

 Continent, not so remote from home as to make the journey too 

 exhausting for the younger members of the party, I thought of 

 resolves made in bygone days. So we made a hasty tour at 

 Easter, when the hills were covered with snow and the cold was 

 intense, to spy out the land, and to find a comfortable hotel for 

 a few weeks' sojourn, in a centre which appeared promising 

 from an entomological as well as a scenic point of view, with the 

 result that we selected the village of St. Maurice-sur-Moselle 

 at the south-west corner of the range, on French territory, as 

 our headquarters, a choice which we afterwards found no reason 

 to regret. St. Maurice is an industrial village of about three 

 thousand inhabitants, situated at an altitude of 1824 ft. above 

 sea-level, and is reached from Paris by way of Nancy and Epinal. 

 Arriving in the evening of June 27th we found comfortable 

 rooms had been reserved for us in the Hotel de la Gare, where 

 Mons. Cuny, the landlord, and his good wife proved most assidu- 

 ous and attentive. The next morning broke delightfully and we 

 were astir betimes. While breakfast was being prepared under 

 the shade of the lime tree, whose fragrant blossoms were being 

 picked to be dried to mix with the tea, or what passes for tea in 



ENTOM. APKIL, 1909. H 



