Taylor : Note3 on Swiss Mollusca. 



37 



A dwarf thistle, with very large white flowers, was very common 

 on the mountain sides; its flowers were nearly three inches in diameter. 



In passing from Alpnacht to Brienz, I found near the summit of 

 the Brunig pass, H. pomatia, H. liortendB^ Clausilia rugosa, Pupa avena, 

 and Bulimus montanus, all attached to the face of the bare rocks. The 

 B. montanm were the only examples of the species I obtained ; they 

 are much more slender than English shells, and resemble very much 

 some collected by Mrs. Fitzgerald in Bavaria, for specimens of which 

 I am indebted to that lady's kindness. A portion of this pass gives 

 some really magnificent views, the road being far away up the moun- 

 tain side, while almost beneath your feet lies the verdant valley, 

 hemmed in again hy mountains down whose precipices fall numerous 

 streams in charming cascades. 



On the banks of the Lake of Brienz are the celebrated falls of 

 Gheissbach, a series of seven cascades descending near 1 200 feet to 

 the lake below. The mountain side is clothed with a luxuriant growth 

 of trees and herbage, amongst which, more especially in those parts 

 moist with spray from the falls, were numerous species of moUusks, 

 H. villosa, a. per sonata, H. obvoluta, H. hortmsis, H. arhmtorum, H, 

 incarnata, C. biplicata, and Pupa secale being the most noteworthy. 

 S. personata is an extremely interesting shell, belonging to the sub- 

 genus Triodopsis, which, with the exception of this species so remote 

 from its allies, is exclusively North American. It resembles very 

 closely the R. inflecta of Say, and has little affinity with H. claiisa of 

 the same author, though evidently from misconception some writers 

 have applied the name clausa, Say, to inflecta. The true H. clausa is 

 quite a different shell, destitute of apertural teeth, and belongs to the 

 sub-genus Mesodon. 



On the road-side between Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen, II, 

 Jiortensis, H. villosa, and II. pomatia were common on the vegetation 

 and fences, pomatia especially evincing a partiality for those situations. 

 On the sides and beneath the masses of loose rock, H. arbiistormn was 

 the most common shell. Many butterflies of our English species 

 were flitting about in the sun, Argymiis PapMa, Erehia blandina, and 

 Lyccena Alexis being the most common. Insect life seemed abundant 

 in this valley, for in addition to numerous butterflies, grasshoppers of 

 various species swarmed, their continued stridulations compelling 

 notice. The almost total absence of small birds was another remark- 

 able feature of the country. The valley at Lauterbrunnen is very 

 narrow, and so enclosed by lofty aud precipitous mountains that the 

 sun's rays do not penetrate in winter before midday. A great number 



