38 



The Naturalist. 



of streams fall from the rocky heights, the most remarkable of which 

 is the Staubbach. This is an exquisitely beautiful sight, the stream 

 of water descending in one fall nearly 1000 feet, dissolving itself in 

 a cloud of finest spray, which the gentlest breeze sways about in 

 strange and ever-varying forms. 



Between Spietz, which is situated on the banks of the Lake of 

 Thun, and Frutigen, mollusca were very plentiful, H. friiticiim, H, 

 hortensis, H.pomatia, and H. arhudorum being the most common species. 

 I also found several H. liortensis^ var. Jiybrida, and two fine dark H. 

 sylvatica. H, frtiticiim, H. mUom, &c., may be considered as typical 

 European species, in contradistinction to H. personata and II. 

 arhusiorum^ which are solitary representatives of genera not otherwise 

 found in the Old World. 



Nearer Kandersteg the scenery becomes wilder and more mag- 

 nificent, and on the loose masses of rock by the roadside I find Fupa 

 avena and H. rupestris in great numbers. Amongst the herbage many 

 species were to be found, the most conspicuous species being H. 

 arhustorum, H. fruticum^ H. villosa, &c. In the fitful glimmers of 

 sunshine numbers of some of our English species of butterflies 

 disported themselves; I noticed Colias Jiyale, Satyi^m' semele, Satyr us 

 megcera, Erehia hlandina, and I found a pupa of a Papilio^ probably 

 podalirius attached to a blade of grass. 



The Gemmi Pass at the foot of which Kandersteg stands is in 

 many respects one of the most magnificent and wonderful in Switzer- 

 land, the path winds up the mountain side, passing through a gloomy 

 pine forest, and often seeming as though blocked by the rugged 

 mountain sides ; the scenery along this pass is very wild, one part 

 particularly the scene of a landslip is in reality a valley of desolation. 

 Near the summit of the pass the path skirts the shores of the 

 Daubensee a lake about a mile long, fed by the Lammeren glacier, 

 and usually frozen seven months in the year. On the sloping ground 

 near here and in close proximity to snow, I got some very good H. 

 arhustorum, var. alpestris : this variety or species as it was formerly 

 considered, is specially characteristic of elevated situations, but the 

 same dwarfed, elongate form has been found in situations quite 

 dissimilar, the neighbourhood of Goole where it was found by Mr. 

 Nelson, at the last excursion of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, 

 being a case in point. Very characteristic specimens were lately 

 found by Mr. W. D. Roebuck, at Ingleton in Craven, some of which 

 he kindly added to my collection. 



The ascent of the Gemmi Pass from Kandersteg is of a totally 



