28 SUB-ALPINE PLANTS 



and unrivalled collection of plants from the Orient. Then there 

 is the Botanical department of the University under the control 

 of' the distinguished and energetic rector (Professor Chodat), 

 and the Conservatoire Botanique, opposite the Botanic garden, 

 which now contains as fine and complete an herbarium of European 

 plants as any to be seen in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, or London. 



In a word, thanks to the kindness of individuals and to the 

 public spirit of the town, it would be difficult for students desirous 

 of studying European plants, both living and dead, and of in- 

 vestigating their geographical distribution, to find a more suitable 

 or congenial place than Geneva in which to prosecute their labours. 

 There is also at Geneva an excellent school of horticulture. 



Having spoken thus of Geneva, it is only natural to make a brief 

 allusion to another important Swiss centre of botanical research, viz. 

 Ziirich. Indeed, for young students the facilities offered there are 

 remarkable, for in addition to the University and a small but useful 

 botanic garden, under the able directorship of Dr. Schinz, the 

 Professor of Botany, there is the famous State Polytechnicum, 

 perhaps the best of its kind in Europe. Its botany school is under 

 Professor Carl Schroeter, who is so well known for his extensive 

 work on the Alpine flora. Alpine vegetation in all its branches 

 is very thoroughly studied at Zurich, and that place is the head- 

 quarters in Switzerland of the modem science of Vegetable Ecology 

 or the study of Plant Associations. Those who wish to hear more 

 on the subject should read the very useful pamphlet by T. W. Wood- 

 head,^ reprinted from The Naturalist, May and June, 1908. 



Travellers in the Dauphiny Mountains will find a small but 

 interesting Alpine garden, containing good specimens of rare plants, 

 at the Col du Lautaret (6800 feet) and adjacent to the hotel. It is 

 in the keeping of the Faculty of Science of Grenoble University. 

 The surrounding scenery is very grand, and the district renowned 

 for the variety of its flora. ^ Acting on the assumption that 

 monopolies are, generally speaking, not good, and from actual 

 experience of both places, we have no hesitation in suggesting 

 that La Grave, with its two comfortable hotels, will be found in 

 some respects a more convenient and satisfactory place at which 

 to make a stay in that delightful district. 



^ T. W. Woodhead, Plant Geography and Ecology in Switzerland. 



^ So long ago as 1843, when J. D. Forbes wrote his Travels through the Alps, 

 he alluded to the Col du Lautaret and the neighbouring mountains being "clothed 

 to a great height with pasturages of the utmost luxuriance, filled with a greater and 

 more gorgeous variety of flowers than I recollect to have seen in any other part of 

 the Alps." ^ 



