Botanical Notices from Spain. 115 chelium caruleum, L., which is also found in the low warm valleys of the Sierra Nevada : from the rocks hang down the thorny branches oi Capparis spinosa, L., mingled with Sedum amplexicaule, Boiss. ; and in the moist grassy valleys, in the shade of willows and elms, is frequently found Dorycnium rectum, Ser., Mentha rotundifolia, L., Ly thrum Salicaria, L., Epilobium hirsutum, L., Retama sphcsrocarpa, Boiss., and Chamcepeuce hispanica, DeC, which occurs in the Sierra Nevada up to a height of 4500 feet. As soon as I had made all arrangements requisite to prolong my stay in the Sierra Nevada, whose lofty mountains attracted me irre-sistibly, I quitted Granada; and accompanied by a merry Andalusian, who acted at once as servant, guide and assistant, as well as a ca-pital beast of burden, I set out for the Cortijo de S. Geronimo, which consists of a few scattered dwellings lying about 4500 feet above the sea, the highest inhabited spot on the northern side of the mountain, whose inhabitants still retain a clear recollection of Boissier. The Sierra Nevada is, with the exception of the mountain-ridges which enclose the valleys, almost wholly bare, and is even deficient for the greater part in the 'Monte bajo,' which everywhere covers the Spanish mountains. All the lower portion of the northern slope consists of limestone, in part interrupted by a beautiful marble, which for in-stance at S. Geronimo and Guejar forms immense rocks. In some places are found traces of coal (for example at the north foot of the Cerro Trevenque) and mines of mica (as on the southern slope of the Dornajo) ; and on the Cerro Calal, at the village of Guejar, are still found some lead-mines, which are now abandoned. I have however not succeeded in finding any trace of fossils in the whole of this limestone range. These limestone mountains rise to a height of 7000 to 7500 feet, and the highest and most interesting summits are those of the mountains Dornajo, Cerro Tesoro and Cerro Treven-que, in the neighbourhood of S. Geronimo. At S. Geronimo the gneiss formation commences, which in the snow-region passes into the micaceous slate and constitutes the highest chain of the Sierra, whose highest peak is the Cerro Mulehacen (said to be 11,600 feet), Picacho de Veleta (11,200 feet), Cerro Alcasava and Cerro Caballo. The region which is scarcely to be termed that of eternal snow, since every summer it melts, with the exception of some scattered snow-fields (hitherto I have nowhere observed the glaciers of which Boissier speaks), begins at about the height of 8500 to 9000 feet, and is clearly distinguished by its geognostical nature as well as by its highly peculiar vegetation from the lower regions. Traces of iron are here found frequently. The alpine region commences at a height of about 6000 feet, and the mountain region at 3500 feet. The environs of the Cortijo de S. Geronimo, on the southern slope of the magnificent alpine valley through which the rapid Monachil takes its course, form those districts of the entire northern declivity which abound most in water, and consequently in plants. The northern ridge, enclosing the valley known by the name of the De-hesa de S. Geronimo, whose highest slaty ridge rises to 8000 feet, is especially remarkable for its arboraceous luxuriance, being almost
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