Tropical Nature, and Other EssaysAMS Press, 1878 - 356 pages |
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Page viii
... seem to me the special physical conditions to which the existing peculiarities of tropical life are mainly due . The three opening chapters treat the subject under the headings of climate , vegetation , and animal life . The conditions ...
... seem to me the special physical conditions to which the existing peculiarities of tropical life are mainly due . The three opening chapters treat the subject under the headings of climate , vegetation , and animal life . The conditions ...
Page 19
... seems probable that the nature of the soil or the artificial clearing away of the forests , are important agents in producing the departure from the typical equatorial climate observed in such districts . The almost rainless district of ...
... seems probable that the nature of the soil or the artificial clearing away of the forests , are important agents in producing the departure from the typical equatorial climate observed in such districts . The almost rainless district of ...
Page 22
... seems full daylight . For the next quarter of an hour this changes very little in character ; when , suddenly , the sun's rim appears above the horizon , decking the dew - laden foliage with glittering gems , sending gleams of golden ...
... seems full daylight . For the next quarter of an hour this changes very little in character ; when , suddenly , the sun's rim appears above the horizon , decking the dew - laden foliage with glittering gems , sending gleams of golden ...
Page 30
... seems an intruder , and where he feels overwhelmed by the con- templation of the ever - acting forces , which , from the simple elements of the atmosphere , build up the great mass of vegetation which overshadows , and almost seems . to ...
... seems an intruder , and where he feels overwhelmed by the con- templation of the ever - acting forces , which , from the simple elements of the atmosphere , build up the great mass of vegetation which overshadows , and almost seems . to ...
Page 31
... seem to be the component parts , is so imperfect , that gaps or holes are left by which you can see through the trunk in various places . At first one is disposed to think this is The caused by accident or decay , but repeated ...
... seem to be the component parts , is so imperfect , that gaps or holes are left by which you can see through the trunk in various places . At first one is disposed to think this is The caused by accident or decay , but repeated ...
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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...