2IO 



Woodhead : Plant Geography in Switzerland. 



Backmann, Chodat and Forel have given much attention to 

 the phenemona of periodicity. 



The most elaborate and complete monograph is that of Lake 

 Constance.* This extensive series of monographs has been 

 published by a Limnological Commission appointed and 

 financed by the Governments of Switzerland, Austria, Baden, 

 Byern, and Wiirtemburg, each of the five States sending a 

 delegate to the Commission. This work furnishes an excellent 

 illustration of the value of co-operation in science in a common 

 research. 



Phenology. — Phaenological observations were practically 

 inaugurated by Heer, who in 1844, (F. H., 194) published the 

 results of his investigations on the periodical appearance of 

 plants and animals. Schwendener, who was a student under 

 Heer, continued the work, and the results, which were published 

 in 1856 (F. H., 194), formed the subject of his inaugural dis- 

 sertation. Since then, over a hundred papers on this subject 

 have appeared (see F. H., 193 to 201), the most systematic 

 work emanating from the Forestry Department of Kanton 

 Bern, which, for nearly forty years, has made a detailed study 

 of these phenomena. 



Studies on Soils. Respecting the influence of soils on 

 the distribution of plants, in addition to the works already 

 mentioned, several papers have recently appeared. Vogler t 

 has studied the problem of physical or chemical influences on 

 the distrbution of Alpine plants in the Albula pass (2,300 

 metres), and concludes that the chemical influence dominates. 

 Liechti and Mooser,:|: have made many interesting experi- 

 ments on the indirect effect of CaC03 in favouring nitrification 

 in the soil. They shew that in many soils the other forms of 

 calcium salts are in greater quantities than CaC03. 



Stebler,§ has shewn that if pieces of chalk are present, but 

 the finely divided soil contains no chalk, such a soil can support 

 a chalk flora. In connection with these investigations on the 

 effect of lime on plants, the Swiss Agricultural Stations make. 



* C. Schroter and O. Kirclmcr, ' Die \'egetation des Bodensees.' 

 Lindaii, 1^96 and 1902. 



t \'ogler, ' Beobactungen i'lbcr die Bodenstetigkeit der Arten im 

 Gebietc des Albulapasses." Berichte d. schweiz. bot. Ges. Bern, iqoi. 



\ I,i(^chti and INlooscr, ' l^ntersnchnngen iibcr das Kalkbediirfniss 

 schweizcnschor Knllurboden." Landw. Jahrb. der Scliweiz., pp. 141-175, 

 1904. 



§ F. G. Stabler, ' Der Kalkgehalt einger Esparsetteboden.' Landwv 

 Jahrb. der Schweiz, 1906. ^ 



Naturalist, 



