Tropical Nature, and Other EssaysAMS Press, 1878 - 356 pages |
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Page 7
... rarely incon- veniences us or produces any burning of the skin ; while in the tropics , at almost any hour of the day , and when the sun has an elevation of only 40 ° or 50 ° , exposure to to it for a few minutes will scorch a European ...
... rarely incon- veniences us or produces any burning of the skin ; while in the tropics , at almost any hour of the day , and when the sun has an elevation of only 40 ° or 50 ° , exposure to to it for a few minutes will scorch a European ...
Page 24
... rarely of excessive violence , as might in fact be inferred from the extreme steadiness of the barometer , whose daily range at Batavia rarely exceeds one - eighth of an inch , while the extreme range during three years was less than ...
... rarely of excessive violence , as might in fact be inferred from the extreme steadiness of the barometer , whose daily range at Batavia rarely exceeds one - eighth of an inch , while the extreme range during three years was less than ...
Page 30
... one tree to another and rarely detects two of the same species . All are tall and upright columns , but they differ from each other more than do the columns of Gothic , Greek , and 30 TROPICAL NATURE , AND OTHER ESSAYS .
... one tree to another and rarely detects two of the same species . All are tall and upright columns , but they differ from each other more than do the columns of Gothic , Greek , and 30 TROPICAL NATURE , AND OTHER ESSAYS .
Page 34
... rarely with very conspicuous flowers . Flowering Trunks and their Probable Cause.— Among the minor but not unimportant peculiarities that characterise these lofty forests , is the curious way in which many of the smaller trees have ...
... rarely with very conspicuous flowers . Flowering Trunks and their Probable Cause.— Among the minor but not unimportant peculiarities that characterise these lofty forests , is the curious way in which many of the smaller trees have ...
Page 38
... rarely or never flower , and seldom even produce foliage ; but when they have reached the summit of the tree that supports them , they expand under the genial influence of light and air , and often cover their foster - parent with ...
... rarely or never flower , and seldom even produce foliage ; but when they have reached the summit of the tree that supports them , they expand under the genial influence of light and air , and often cover their foster - parent with ...
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Common terms and phrases
abundant adapted adorned Africa allied Amazon animals ants Asia attract bamboo Batavia beautiful become birds blue brilliant butterflies carnivora causes changes character characteristic climate colour Colours of Animals comparatively conspicuous continent curious Danaidæ Darwin distinct Eocene equator equatorial zone existence extensive fact families fauna favourable feet female ferns fertilization flowers foliage forests fruits genera genus greater green groups habits heat humming-birds hyænas immense inhabit insects Juan Fernandez land larger larvæ leaves lemurs less light Madagascar Malay Archipelago male mammalia marsupials Miocene monkeys natural selection naturalists North northern observed occur oceanic ornaments Palearctic parrots peculiar perhaps phenomena plants plumage probably produced proportion protection rays region remarkable resemble sexual selection showy slender sometimes South America species spots structure sun-birds surface tail temperate zones temperature theory tints tion trees tropical trunks Ungulata variation varied variety vegetation whole wings yellow
Popular passages
Page 286 - And assuredly, there is no mark of degradation about any part of its structure. It is, in fact, a fair average human skull, which might have belonged to a philosopher, or might have contained the thoughtless brains of a savage.
Page 134 - I have seen the female sitting quietly on a branch, and two males displaying their charms in front of her. One would shoot up like HUMMING-BIRDS a rocket, then suddenly expanding the snow-white tail like an inverted parachute, slowly descend in front of her, turning round gradually to show off both back and front.
Page 62 - ... from tree to tree, entangling the giants in a great network of coiling cables. Sometimes a tree appears covered with beautiful flowers which do not belong to it, but to one of the lianas that twines through its branches and sends down great rope-like stems to the ground. Climbing ferns and vanilla cling to the trunks, and a thousand epiphytes perch themselves on the branches. Amongst these are large arums that send down long aerial roots, tough and strong, and universally used instead of cordage...
Page 201 - Dr. Wallace, who has had such immense experience in breeding Bombyx cynthia, is convinced that the females evince no choice or preference. He has kept above 300 of these moths living...
Page 289 - ... various forms, and especially to the gibbons ; so that in all probability the special line of variation which led up to man branched off at a still earlier period. And these early forms, being the initiation of a far higher type, and having to develop by natural selection into so...
Page 25 - The approach of the rain-clouds was after a uniform fashion very interesting to observe. First, the cool sea-breeze, which commenced to blow about ten o'clock, and which had increased in force with the increasing power of the sun, would flag and finally die away. The heat and electric tension of the atmosphere would then become almost insupportable. Languor and uneasiness would seize on every one, even the denizens of the forest, betraying it by their motions.
Page 123 - ... while in the temperate regions there have been a series of periodical checks and extinctions of a more or less disastrous nature, necessitating the commencement of the work of development in certain lines over and over again. In the one, evolution has had a fair chance ; in the other, it has had countless difficulties thrown in its way. The equatorial regions are then, as regards their past and present life history, a more ancient world than that represented by the temperate zones, a world in...
Page 179 - It is a suggestive fact that all the brightly-coloured birds mentioned above build in holes or form covered nests, so that the females do not need that protection during the breeding season which I believe to be one of the chief causes of the dull colour of female birds when their partners are gaily coloured.
Page 172 - Animals," (Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection, p. 45), that very little need be added here except a few words of general explanation. Protective colours are exceedingly prevalent in nature, comprising those of all the white arctic animals, the sandy-coloured desert forms, and the green birds and insects ' of tropical forests. It also comprises thousands...