I 22 
NATURE NOTES. 
Edelweiss, now so reduced in its native haunts by the depreda- 
tions of tourists that laws have had to be made for its preserva- 
tion, as for the beautiful Disa gvandijlova of Table Mountain. 
The poor Gentians ! Not only the tourist, but the native, 
is their enemy, and their collection has become a branch of 
commerce. Of this an interesting account will be found in the 
Covnhill Magazine for June last. 
“ There is a class of men and women ” saj-s the writer, “ who 
make it their profession to pursue and root up the Gentianella, 
and this class exists throughout the whole chain of the Alps, 
in Tyrol, the Bavarian Alps, and in Switzerland. This is 
the Enzianklauber They go out away up the mountains, for 
months at a time, from the time when the snows melt until they 
begin to come again. From the roots of the Yellow Gentian 
{Gentiana lutea), and also, says our author, from those of the 
beautiful blue Gentiana acaulis, is distilled the “gentian brandy,” 
which “ may be said to be the very elixir of life to the mountain 
folk,” and is credited with the cure of all the ills that flesh is 
heir to. The result of their action is thus described : — 
Formerly, when the 'gentians grew common as do daisies on our meadows, 
upon every Alpine pasture, the root-digger was able to realise a good income, 
but it is otherwise now. These beautiful mountain flowers have been so perse- 
cuted, so driven from one vantage ground to another, that they are becoming 
annually more scarce, more difficult to find, and consequently the business has 
become more unremunerativ'e whilst becoming more hazardous. But this is the 
fault of the men themselves. If they would but leave the lower portion of the 
root in the ground, the plant would recover and grow again. To such a pass 
has it come, that Alps which were at one time blue with gentians are now 
entirely cleared of them. 
But it is not only the flowers of the Alps that are in danger. 
The ferns of the Forum have at this time of year a respite from 
the visits of the tourists, but in the spring the beautiful Maiden- 
hair, which springs from every crevice and throws a pale green 
robe over these monuments of antiquity, is in urgent need of a 
protector, or of the enlistment of a public feeling on its behalf. 
The love of money is the root of all evil, and the love of flowers, 
and still more of ferns, is in too many cases the prelude to 
destruction. 
Those who do not go abroad for their holida5’s may find 
ample scope for self-denial at home. They will spare at least 
some of the ferns they meet with on their country walks ; they 
will yield to the appeal which has lately been made to refrain 
from stripping the Thames of its Water-lilies ; they will not 
divulge indiscreetly where they found the Osmunda, or reveal 
the roots of the rarer orchids. If they find a rare plant, they 
will pluck it in moderation and spare its roots ; and they will 
discourage “ root-grubbing ” of all kinds. And they will also 
hold in detestation a line of conduct diametrically opposed to 
root-grubbing, but one equally to be abhorred of all faithful 
Selbornians — we allude to the introduction of plants into 
localities where they may become naturalised, and apparently 
