54 
FLORA AND SYLVA 
garden in Switzerland. It was founded 
in 1889, in response to a generous gift 
by Prof. Romanes of Oxford, followed 
by grants from the English and Swiss 
Alpine Clubs, from Prince de Join- 
ville, and the Swiss Government. The 
Government continues its support, aid- 
ed by Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria, the 
Geneva lodge of the Swiss Alpine Club, 
and other contributions. Situated upon 
a rocky summit overlooking the village | 
of Bourg St. Pierre, its flanks are i 
clothed with thick Larch woods, while | 
four broad tracks and three narrower I 
ones render every part easy of access I 
and lead gently to the summit. Water | 
is laid on from the cascade of Valmay, | 
at twenty minutes' walk from the village, 
and upon a little platform overlooking 
the garden and commanding fine views 
of the surrounding: co 
g country. 
little 
botanical laboratory has been built for 
the convenience of visitors ; this is 
already furnished with a good micro- 
scope and lenses, and a few books upon 
alpine plants. A number of rocky beds \ 
have been thrown up in different aspects \ 
for collections gathered from every 
quarter of the globe, including the j 
mountains of Jura, the Carpathians, the | 
Pyrenees, Caucasus, and the Hima- 
layas ; and other groups are arranged 
by families. There is also a small 
arboretum, with fine specimens of the 
Swiss Pine (P. cembrd)^ and upon the 
open summit a series of plant-borders 
exposed to wind and sun, where the 
plants grow to perfection, such little 
gems as Kritrichium nanum spreading 
in full luxuriance. Owing to its being 
difficult of access, and to the lack of 
accommodation in the village, the 
visitors' book shows only 250 to 300 
visits in the season ; but these are amply 
repaid for their trouble by the beauty 
of the spot and the interest of the col- 
lection, which, as an alpine garden, has 
proved a complete success. 
A second botanical garden was found- 
ed in 1 890 at a height of nearly 4,000 
feet, at Pont de Nant in the Alps of 
Bex, Canton de Vaud ; here Dr. Witz- 
ceck has a laboratory in connection 
with the Faculte des Sciences of Lau- 
sanne. Between 1892 and 1899 Prof. 
Lachmann of Grenoble opened three 
alpine gardens in the Alps of Dauphine, 
all of them in relation to the University 
of Grenoble. One of these, at Cham- 
prousse (5,600 feet), is in a spot so 
difficult of approach that, in spite of 
the loss involved, it has in great measure 
been abandoned. That of Lautaret, 
though at a height of 6,000 feet, is so 
easily reached from Grenoble that the 
students are able to make free use of 
it during the summer. The third is at 
Villard-d'Arene (5,800 feet), and is 
mainly experimental, and for the first 
care of exotics unable at the outset to 
stand the rigours of Lautaret. 
In 1895 the north-eastern section 
of the French Alpine Club established 
quarters in the Vosges, 3,500 feet above 
the sea, an example followed more re- 
cently by the University of Nancy in 
a similar garden in the Haute- Vosges. 
The work of Prof Flahault of Mont- 
pellier deserves the highest praise, in 
the establishment upon Mont Aigoual 
in the Cevennes, of several stations up 
to 4,700 feet, where valuable experi- 
