NOTES FROM THE JOURNAL OF A BOTANIST 
IN EUROPE. 
BY W. 5. FARLOW, M.D. 
PART III. GENEVA AND THE ALPS. 
AFTER a month of wandering through Switzerland and northern 
Italy, I have, at length, settled in this charming city for the purpose 
of more systematic botanical study than one is likely to under- 
take in such resorts as Grindelwald and Zermatt. I arrived in 
Switzerland from Munich about the middle of July, and reached 
Grindelwald on the 20th, when the alpine vegetation was in full 
bloom, and I think I never saw such a display of wild flowers as 
was then to be found in almost all the high pastures, or Alps 
proper, and, still higher up, on exposed rocks just below the snow 
line. For the European botanist, who is only in search of rarities, 
Zermatt is much richer than Grindelwald. In general, Dauphiny 
is more favorable for the botanist than Switzerland itself, but to 
an American, who must, at least, see Switzerland and who wishes 
to get a good general idea of the alpine flora at the same time, 
no place seems to me better adapted than Grindelwald. The 
valley is easily and quickly reached and, only a few steps from the 
village, is the moraine of the lower glacier which, by a constant 
recession (according to the guides) for twenty years, has left ex- 
posed a mass of rocks on which, but more particularly along 
their border, may be found numerous alpine and sub-alpine plants. 
Amongst the most beautiful and common, are Linaria alpina DC. 
and Epilobium Fleischeri Hochst. which attract the eye of non- 
botanical travellers, and even of the guides themselves. To the 
left of the moraine (looking up) and along the path leading to 
the mer de glace one can Without fatigue collect alpine plants to 
his heart’s content, including even the famous Edelweiss, Leontopo- 
dium alpinum Cass., unless he arrives a little late in the season, in 
which case, every trace of it will have disappeared under the dev- 
astations of guides and tourists. For my part, I can’t see the 
least beauty in the flower, and it was a great annoyance to have a 
handful thrust into my face every few minutes by some enter- 
prising, but not over-polite, Swiss boy. It does very well, how- 
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