Tropical Nature, and Other EssaysRead Books Ltd, 25. mai 2016 - 418 pages This early work by Alfred Russel Wallace was originally published in 1878 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'Tropical Nature, and Other Essays' is a collection of essays including Wallace's observations on equatorial vegetation, animal life, and sexual. Alfred Russel Wallace was born on 8th January 1823 in the village of Llanbadoc, in Monmouthshire, Wales. Wallace was inspired by the travelling naturalists of the day and decided to begin his exploration career collecting specimens in the Amazon rainforest. He explored the Rio Negra for four years, making notes on the peoples and languages he encountered as well as the geography, flora, and fauna. While travelling, Wallace refined his thoughts about evolution and in 1858 he outlined his theory of natural selection in an article he sent to Charles Darwin. Wallace made a huge contribution to the natural sciences and he will continue to be remembered as one of the key figures in the development of evolutionary theory. |
From inside the book
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... probably,—the constant high temperature of the soil and of the surfacewaters of the ocean,—the great amount of aqueous vapour in the atmosphere,—the great extent of the intertropical regions which cause the winds that reach the ...
... probably,—the constant high temperature of the soil and of the surfacewaters of the ocean,—the great amount of aqueous vapour in the atmosphere,—the great extent of the intertropical regions which cause the winds that reach the ...
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... probably fifty or sixty feet, and the temperature found there is nearly forty degrees lower than at the equator. This great body of cool earth absorbs a large portion of the surface heat during the summer, and conducts it downwards with ...
... probably fifty or sixty feet, and the temperature found there is nearly forty degrees lower than at the equator. This great body of cool earth absorbs a large portion of the surface heat during the summer, and conducts it downwards with ...
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... probably in great part local seabreezes, which, from the position of Batavia, must come from the north. As a rule, therefore, every current of air at or near the equator has passed obliquely over an immense extent of tropical surface ...
... probably in great part local seabreezes, which, from the position of Batavia, must come from the north. As a rule, therefore, every current of air at or near the equator has passed obliquely over an immense extent of tropical surface ...
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... probably no district where judicious planting would produce such striking and beneficial effects. In Central India the scanty and intermittent rainfall, with its fearful accompaniment of famine, is no doubt in great part due to the ...
... probably no district where judicious planting would produce such striking and beneficial effects. In Central India the scanty and intermittent rainfall, with its fearful accompaniment of famine, is no doubt in great part due to the ...
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... probably not much more than a third shorter than this at the equator. Travellers usually exaggerate the shortness of the tropical twilight, it being sometimes said that if we turn a page of the book we are reading when the sun ...
... probably not much more than a third shorter than this at the equator. Travellers usually exaggerate the shortness of the tropical twilight, it being sometimes said that if we turn a page of the book we are reading when the sun ...
Contents
ANIMAL LIFE IN THE TROPICAL FORESTS | |
THE COLOURS OF ANIMALS AND SEXUAL SELECTION | |
THE COLOURS OF PLANTS AND THE ORIGIN OF | |
THE DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS AS INDICATING | |
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Common terms and phrases
abundant adapted Africa allied Amazon animals ants Asia attract bamboo Batavia beautiful become birds blue brilliant butterflies carnivora causes changes characteristic climate colour Colours of Animals comparatively conspicuous continent curious Danaidæ Darwin distinct distribution earth Eocene equator equatorial zone existence extensive fact families fauna favourable feet female ferns fertilization flowers foliage foresttrees fruits genera genus greater green groups habits heat hummingbirds hyænas immense inhabit insects islands Juan Fernandez land larger larvæ leaves lemurs less light Madagascar Malay Malay Archipelago male mammalia marsupials Miocene monkeys natural selection North northern observed occur oceanic ornaments Palæarctic parrots peculiar perhaps phenomena plants Pliocene plumage probably produced proportion protection rays region remarkable resemble sexual selection showy sometimes South America species spots structure sunbirds surface tail temperate zones temperature theory tints trees tropical trunks Ungulata variation varied variety vegetation whole wings yellow