114 



The Naturalist. 



cover is the " meeting of the clans," Pupa avem and Clausilia rugosa 

 in hundreds : Clamilia parmla^ Pomatius maculatum, Helix lapicida in 

 numbers under the fallen stones by the wayside, Helix horiensis, per- 

 sonata^ obvoluta, incarnata. Coming down by the carriage road we 

 notice again on the smooth-barked beech and birch, quantities of 

 Clausilia rugosa and Pomatias maculatum. These chiefly hold the first 

 four feet of trunk from the ground, then comes Clausilia laminata and 

 rugosa up to about six feet, and lastly Bulimus montanus. I scraped off 

 the lower ones with a chip-box, picked off Clausilia laminata, and 

 among them one albida, and also the Bulimus when I could reach 

 them, but had generally to poke them off with my umbrella and catch 

 them in my hat. I also saw Helix candidula. Pupa avena, Bulimus 

 obscurus, and If. villosa. 



I do not know if the natives in these parts are conchologists, but 

 as I walked among the trees in the still summer evening, two peasants 

 came along, and seeing a stranger examining the trees, they looked 

 at some themselves, and of course they found some shells, which they 

 carefully picked off and brought to me, and, with native politeness 

 raising their caps, asked^ but in a doubtful, wondering tone — " Does 

 monsieur wish these ?" " Thanks — good night." " Good night, mon- 

 sieur " ; and they evidently made up their minds that they had seen 

 another " mad Englishman "; and perhaps as they went home through 

 the dark, silent woods, they crossed themselves and hoped it 97as only 

 a mad Englishman they had seen. 



I cannot imagine a more enjoyable trip than one taken for a few 

 weeks in Switzerland by a small party of field naturalists. The 

 flowers are lovely, the insects everywhere, if one only had the power 

 of getting over the ground that Acridium viridissima has ; the rocks 

 and strata are maddening, and shells are plentiful. Perhaps in the far 

 future it may be a reproach to any one to pass through the beauties 

 of Nature without attempting to pry into some of her secrets. 



Northampton, 24th Nov., 1877. 



ALPINE PLANTS ON LOWLAND HEATHS. 



By H. F. Parsons, M.D. 



I THANK Dr. Lees for the compliment he pays me in asking for my 

 opinion, but I rather wonder at his inviting me to join in a symposium, 

 which, if I remember rightly, is Greek for a drinking bout. 



The occurrence of mountain plants on sandy heaths, and woods in 

 the plains, although by the terms of the case not a common pheno- 



