THE VEGETATION OF THE ISLAND OF ST. LEGER. 



503 



THE VEGETATION OF THE ISLAND OF ST. LEGEE IN 

 LAGO MAGGIOEE. 



By Madame Tzikos de St. Leger. 

 [Read December 3, 1912; Sir Albert K. Rollit, LL.D., in the Chair.] 



The " Isole St. Leger " (St. Leger Islands), or Isole di Brissago, the 

 larger one, also called formerly Isola di S. Pancrazio, and the smaller 

 one Isola di S. Apollinare, are situated about two miles from the 

 Italian frontier, in the upper, or northern, part o'f Lake Maggiore, 

 which belongs to Switzerland. 



The larger island contains about 13| acres and is 690 feet above 

 sea-level, while the smaller one (about 100 yards distant from the first) 

 contains only 7| acres and is 680 feet above the sea. 

 H The shortest distance from the islands to the mainland is something 

 over half a mile, where communications, both with Switzerland and 

 Italy, are O'f the best. The larger of the two islands has its own 

 Federal postal depot, which renders intercourse with the mainland easy. 



The temperature generally prevalent throughout the whole district 

 very seldom descends below 15° Fahr., and still more rarely rises 

 above 70° Fahr., and on the islands themselves the surrounding body 

 of water is the cause of a still pleasanter temperature, as it mitigates 

 alike the cold in winter and the heat in summer; a gentle breeze, 

 springing up regularly on the lake during the whole of the hot season, 

 renders a sojourn there most agreeable. 



This mild temperature also accounts for the presence on the 

 islands o'f such a diverse and almost tropical vegetation. And, in 

 addition to the temperature, the great variety of flora seems also to 

 be due to the different quality of rocks which form the subsoil of the 

 plantations. These rocks, which, decomposed, seem to contain all the 

 mineral food necessary to almost all plants, consist mostly of laminated 

 micaceous schists. 



As for the soil forming the upper stratum over these rocks, it had 

 to be brought almost entirely over from the mainland, and could 

 hence easily be adapted to the various requirements of the different 

 plants. When I first took possession of the islands, they presented, 

 with the exception of a few poorly grown oak trees, an almost bare 

 surface, nor had they ever been properly cultivated before my time. 



The early history of the islands dates from the time when, during 

 the Eoman dominion and the civil wars in the country, they served 

 as a semaphore station for the townlets of the surrounding shores. 

 Then some centuries later they became, after the Edict of Constantine, 

 a refuge for the first Christians about the lake and, under S. Apol- 

 linare, possessed the first Christian church, which later on became 

 the parish church of Brissago. 



When under S. Ambrose about a.d. 400 the parisli church was 



