Tropical Nature, and Other EssaysAMS Press, 1878 - 356 pages |
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Page 61
... rarely seen . After describing the forests of the Lower Amazon , Mr. Bates asks : " But where were the flowers ? To our great disappointment we saw none , or only such as were insignificant in appear- ance . Orchids are rare in the ...
... rarely seen . After describing the forests of the Lower Amazon , Mr. Bates asks : " But where were the flowers ? To our great disappointment we saw none , or only such as were insignificant in appear- ance . Orchids are rare in the ...
Page 64
... rarely of blue colour , indicating the position of handsome flowering trees . The well - established relation between coloured flowers and the need of insects to fertilize them , may perhaps be connected with the comparative scarcity of ...
... rarely of blue colour , indicating the position of handsome flowering trees . The well - established relation between coloured flowers and the need of insects to fertilize them , may perhaps be connected with the comparative scarcity of ...
Page 65
... rarely or never witnessed in temperate climates . Among their best distinguishing features are the variety of forms and species which every where meet and grow side by side , everywhere and the extent to which parasites , epiphytes ...
... rarely or never witnessed in temperate climates . Among their best distinguishing features are the variety of forms and species which every where meet and grow side by side , everywhere and the extent to which parasites , epiphytes ...
Page 69
... rarely play any important part in scenery , and their entire absence may pass quite un- noticed ; while the abundance , variety , and character of the vegetation are among those essential features that attract every eye . On the other ...
... rarely play any important part in scenery , and their entire absence may pass quite un- noticed ; while the abundance , variety , and character of the vegetation are among those essential features that attract every eye . On the other ...
Page 72
... rarely absent in the more luxuriant parts of the tropics , and which is more often so abundant as to form a decided feature in the scene . It is therefore the group which best characterises the equatorial zone , and should form the ...
... rarely absent in the more luxuriant parts of the tropics , and which is more often so abundant as to form a decided feature in the scene . It is therefore the group which best characterises the equatorial zone , and should form the ...
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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...