VEGETATION OF THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 233 
by Mr. P. Ewart. The nuts are intensely bitter, and contain an 
azotized principle, which may prove an active medical agent.”—The 
natives call the tree ** Juzoogry,” others ** Kurwut," but this last name 
is applied to many kinds of trees with pg cé leaves. 
{To be continued.) } 
—À 
Sketch of the VEGETATION of the Isthmus of Panama; by M. Brr- 
THOLD SEEMANN, Naturalist of H. M. S. Herald. 
That part of the Republic of New Granada which connects the two 
great Continents of America, and is called the Isthmus of Panamà or 
Darien, lies between the fourth and tenth parallels of north latitude, 
and the seventy-seventh and eighty-third of west longitude. It comprises 
the provinces of Veraguas and Panamà, and the territories of Darien 
and Bocas del Toro ; it is bounded on the N. and N.E. by the Atlantic, 
on the S. and S.W. by the Pacific Ocean, on the E. by the rivers Atrato 
and San Juan, and on the W. by Mosquitia and the State of Costarica ; 
and it presents a surface, including the adjacent islands, of 34,700 
square miles, an extent of territory nearly equal to that of Portugal. 
Tts coasts are fringed with islands. The largest, on the Atlantic side, 
are the Escudo de Veraguas and those situated in the Lagoon of 
Chiriqui: while various others, of smaller size, generally known to voy- _ 
agers by the name of Cayos, are scattered along the shores, and form, — 
as is the case with the Sambaloes, regular chains: they are, however, — 
but thinly inhabited, and little frequented. Of greater importance, 
and more populous, are the islands of the Pacific. Several groupes, 
viz., Secos, Paredez, Ladrones, and Contreras, lie off the coast of 
Veraguas; another cluster, of which Coyba, Gobernadora, and Cebaco 
are the largest, exists near the Bay of Montijo, while a little. archi- — 
pelago, the Pearl Islands, also known by their synonyms of Islas del — 
Rey, Islas del Istmo, and Islas de Colombia, valuable from the number 
of pearls which are annually collected there, is situated at the entrance 
of the Bay of Panama. Smaller, but scarcely less important, is the 
groupe in the vicinity of Panama, consisting of Taboga, Taboguilla, Oto- 
que, Flaminco, and Perico, islands which are highly cultivated, and whose 
beauty has designated them emphatically the Garden of Panama. 
The Isthmus is not distinguished for the height of its mountains, 
The mighty chain of the Andes, after traversing the whole continent of 
