Appendix.] M. Thoui n's Description of a Bank, $c. 25 

 I have sown on this bank the seeds received not only from 

 the Alps, but several other frozen regions : for it is probable that 

 the elevation of the atmosphere near the Poles corresponds with 

 that of the highest mountains in France, rising gradually towards 

 the equator j nor is this consideration so foreign to the business 

 of a gardener in naturalizing vegetables, as might be at first 

 supposed. 



Roots of all the Alpine plants I could collect, have also been 

 planted in this bank, and they thrive much better than when 

 cultivated in pots on a stage, however open or airy, so that most 

 of the following have greatly increased both by seeds and roots. 

 Moehringia Muscosa, Viola Biflora, Androsace Carnea, and Lactea, 

 Soldanella Alpina, Primula Farinosa* Tussilago Alpina, Artemisia 

 Glacialis, SalLv Myrsinites, Retusa, and Reticulata. 



The culture they require is, 1st, to keep the bank carefully 

 weeded: 2dly, to reduce within bounds, many that grow and 

 spread rapidly so as to exclude others : Sdly, to dig and lighten 

 the surface frequently, that it may absorb air and water more 

 readily : 4thly, to add three inches in depth of fresh sandy peat 

 every year, in place of the old, which soon loses its humus } or nu- 

 tritious part ; 5thly, in giving the plants, at a certain season, not 

 only daily, but hourly waterings ; but this being one of the most 

 important points, I shall enlarge more fully upon it. 



Almost all Alpine plants are of humble stature, growing on 

 steep declivities of rocks in a layer of humus, or vegetable earth, 

 formed by the decomposition of Jungermannias, Lichens, and 

 Mosses. The greater part of the year, they are covered with a 

 bed of snow, which only begins to melt at stated periods of the 

 day, after the rays of the sun have acquired great force. Then 

 only do these Alpine plants awaken from torpidity, exhaling 



* I have constantly found this plant growing wild in wet meadows that are seldom 

 dry even in summer, at the foot of the mountains, and even in bogs. Seer. 



