Notes of a Tour in Switzerland. 5231 



as being very acid, and of a sharp vinous flavour ; and (if I rightly 

 understand him) tells us that the fishermen on the Gulf of Bothnia 

 make a sort of preserve (Rob) of them, which imparts a most agree- 

 able flavour to fresh fish.* 



A writer in the September number of the * Phytologist' (p. 97), 

 speaking of the barberry (Berberis vulgaris) and Epimedium alpi- 

 num as the only British representatives of the order Berberidaceee, 

 says that "the influence of these plants on the general aspect of the 

 country is most inconsiderable, and neither of them would be missed 

 were they to disappear, except by the botanist and the nurseryman." 

 This remark may be just and true enough as applied to Britain, be- 

 cause with us these plants are comparatively rare, except in cultiva- 

 tion ; but (I am now speaking only of the barberry) not so as regards 

 Switzerland, in certain districts of which the shrub greatly abounds; 

 for instance, in some parts of the journey from Martigny to the Baths 

 of Leuk whole tracts of barberry were to be seen loaded with scarlet 

 fruit (there should seem to be no blackbirds and thrushes to devour 

 the berries); and, the foliage having now (September 11) assumed a 

 bright autumnal tint, the bushes looked almost as if they were on fire, 

 and added a more marked and glowing feature to the landscape than 

 a whole common of gorse in full flower does in England, being con- 

 spicuous at a distance, even on the slopes of the opposite side of the 

 valley. 



Being on the subject of the berry-bearing shrubs of the country, I 

 may mention that in the street at Thun (September 14) I met a 

 countrywoman carrying a basket of red currants, the produce, no 

 doubt, of some garden, which struck me as being by far the largest 1 

 ever saw : the berries were quite equal in size to those of the finest 

 white currants. I should have liked to have introduced the sort into 

 England, though possibly it would have degenerated in our climate. 



In general the cultivated fruits we met with in Switzerland (I speak 

 of apples, pears and plums) were, I think I may say, about the worst 

 of their kind that it is well possible to conceive, not many degrees 

 removed from their aboriginal wild parents. 



Few plants in Switzerland engage the attention of strangers more 

 than does Rhododendron ferrugineum, or t( the rock-rose," as it is 



* " Baccae sapore austero-vinoso gaudent, hinc conficiunt Piscatores sinura Both- 

 nicum incolentes ex eis Rob, quod piscibus recentibus additum, iis gratissimum con- 

 ciliat saporem." — Flora Lapponica. 



" Baccae acidissimae pro embemniate piscatorum Alandiae ; Tingunt luteo colore." 

 Flora Suecica. 



