THE PALM TREE. 127 



or footstalks, and a constant succession is produced 

 from the centre of this tuft, to supply the place of 

 the lower ones, as they decay and fall off. 



The flowers, which singly are small and inconspi- 

 cuous, generally appear in such dense clusters as to 

 render them peculiarly striking, especially when 

 newly opened, as they often emit a very powerful 

 odor. 



The Palm trees are as essential to the comfort of 

 the inhabitants of the countries in which they grow, 



as our most useful trees are to us. To the Wander- 



- 



ing Arab they afford both food and shelter ; and, as 

 he sits beneath its refreshing shade, and listens to 

 the tales of luxury and ease enjoyed by the nations 

 of the civilized world, when he is told that they have 

 no Date trees, he turns with a contented heart to the 

 barren sands of his own dear desert, probably won- 

 dering how they endure the privation. 



Perhaps we cannot better illustrate our subject 

 than by quoting a few pages from an interesting 

 work entitled, " The Palm Trees of the Amazon, and 

 their Uses," by Alfred Russel "Wallace, who, while 

 on a recent tour of discovery to the tropical parts of 

 South America, was so struck with the beauty and 

 grandeur of these noble trees, that he was induced 

 to make many close and interesting observations on 

 their habits and uses. 



" The materials for this work were collected during 

 my travels on the Amazon and its tributaries, from 

 1848 to 1852. Though principally occupied with 

 the varied and interesting animal productions of the 



