Vol, II.] 
alpine; and not a few of which alfo grow 
im Lapland, Siberia, nd Kamtfthatka ; 
fome likewiie in the higheft mountains of 
Afia. “The fummits of mountains afford 
the greateft of thefe plants. Le 
In thefe paitures trees begin to {hoot 
up; firft the Savines, and Pines with an 
eatabie nut, together with the Rhododen- 
drons, Vaccciniums, Salixes with a Myr- 
tle leaf, and with a ‘Thyme leaf, and ° 
others. 
A little lower fucceed the Fir woods, in 
the declivitics both of the Alps, and the 
other mountains. Some of ‘thefe, which 
face the north, producé the boreal piants 
of Lapland aad Siberia; as that which 
defcends from the mountain Pentdenant to 
the village les Plans. ‘Ihe other woods 
of this kind generally afford the Hercy- 
nian and Swedith plants, and fome peculiar 
to the country. 
Lhe woods are oecafionally interrupted 
by meadows, which owe their rife to 
burned trees, and are for the mo# part 
very fertile, and abundant in the fneft 
hay. Among thefe, the Yellow Gentians, 
Veratrums, Campanula with a Draba 
Jeaf, Anchufas, brown Stachys, and cther 
mountain plants prevail. | 
And now fucceed the fub-mountainous 
and: fubalpine regions, variegated with 
fields, meadows, and woods; fuch as the 
territory of Friburg, and other tracts 
lying beneath the lower mountains ; 
tracts not level, but unequal in theinadst- 
face, compofed of clufters of hiils~thd 
vallies. ‘hefe refemble the north of Ger- 
many, yet are without its fands: they 
have fome turf bogs, but not large. 
Along with common plants, fome’ alpine 
ones are here found, probably brought 
down by the torrents. > A 
_ ‘Thevine bearing plains follow, as thofe 
of Bafil, Zurich, “Turgow, Paternach, 
Vaud, Geneva, and the alpine valties. 
This warmer traét-refeinbles that of Jena, 
or the middle of Germany. But the funn 
banks. of the Leman lake, and that of 
Neufchatel, and the midit of the Valais, 
excel all others in the generous quality of 
the wines and pients. Here we meet with 
many plants of Auftria, the fouth of 
France, and Italy ; and fome even of Spain 
in the very hot and fcutherly expolea val- 
lies of the Valtelline and Valais. In the 
fame are‘preduced aromatic wines, replete 
with native {pirit, and extremely ftrong. 
‘The. heat>-of ‘the atmoiphere in thefe 
Hiller Defcription of the Swifs Alps. om 
945 
vallies is fuch as {carcely can be.credited 
by ttrangers. I have feen, when the ky 
threatened a ftorm, in a thermometer at 
Roche expofed to the fun, the ‘mercury 
alcend to the r17thdegree of Fahrenheit’s 
feale; and in the year 1762, even to the 
140th, when fixed to a garden wall, pro: 
tected from the north and eaft. 4 
The hottett parts of all are in the Val. 
telline, and in tranfalpine Switzerland, 
about Lugano and Chiavenna. ‘hel¢ 
afford plants, as yet not fufficiently ex- 
amined, but entirely Italian, and UnKnOWR 
in Germany, unle{s Carmola and Iftria bg 
reckoned in that country. aC 
Thus it comes to -pafs, that Switzer- 
land, in a fmall_ compas, produces more 
numerous plants than thofe kingdoms of 
which we as yet poflefs floral catalogues. 
Not that wedeny that the fame riches will 
be found in the Alps, vallies, and plaing 
of Savoy and Piedmont, when the collec- 
tions of C.Allionius fhall be made pub- 
lic. But if A. Gouan, inhis Flora Mon 
pclienfis, has enumerated 1,865 {pecies, of 
which about. 1,600 have con{picuoug 
flowers ; andif our enumeration contains 
almott 2,500 fpecies, of which there are 
1,714 exclufive-of Lichens, Moiles and 
Fungi; I may juitly fuppofe that ours 
exceed in number, fince that celebrated 
_botanift has reckoned among his, many 
garden plants ; whereas we have not a fine 
gle one which may not be found in uncul~ 
tivated fpots; and there are {carcely above 
twenty. which can be fufpected to have 
come originally from gardens, 
It is wonderful in how final! a tract 
fuch a variety of plants is contained. If 
from. Sion in the Valais you. travel to 
Mount Sanetich, a journey of about feven 
hours, you will leave at Sion the Ephe- 
dra, the Gramen echinatum, the Pome- 
granates, flowering in the rocks of mount 
Valeria, you will leave the Chefiuuts and 
flourithing Walnuts, filled by the chirp- 
ings of the Cicada, and the vines produc- 
ing excellent wine; then, the fields fertile 
in the fineft wheat; and by degrees the 
Beeches and Oaks will yanith ; then even 
the Firs will defers you, and foon after 
the Pines with an edible nut; at leneth, 
_the whole race of trees; and you may 
dine among the heath-like Saxifrages, and 
other plants of Spitzbergen; and thus 
in the {pace of half a day, collec plants 
which grow from the goth to the Seth 
degree ot latitude, 
6E2 HEADS 
