406 A TROPICAL BOTANIC GARDEN. 



stature covered to the top with a bosky vegetation of parasites and 

 epiphytes, to be able to conceive how, in their own special way these 

 wrestlers have multitudes of special adaptations of which we as yet 

 but dimly perceive the origin and the functions. Only after having 

 experienced the surprise caused by the sight of the luxuriant vegetation 

 of the tropics, can the physiologist at last obtain a true idea of the 

 wonders reserved for him in the study of vital phenomena manifesting 

 themselves with such remarkable force. Finally, it should be borne in 

 mind that the present climatological conditions of equatorial countries 

 are very much like those which formerly extended over the entire sur- 

 face of our globe. It is therefore indispensable that we should study 

 tropical plants if we wish to solve tlie series of riddles relating to the 

 origin and affiliation of the plant groups of our period. To the botan- 

 ists who study this marvellous flora in its native situation is reserved 

 the honor of filling out the great gaps in our present knowledge and 

 of making discoveries whose importance and signification we can now 

 but partially guess. 



What we have just said is neither premature nor out of place. First, 

 the results already obtained sustain it. Besides, naturalists have 

 recently given a proof of the interest they have in extending their 

 researches to equatorial countries. During the 4 years that the 

 laboratory for research has been established at Buitenzorg it has been 

 visited by fourteen naturalists, and all but one came from beyond the 

 sea and from different countries. It is to be regretted that we have 

 to add that no French botanist has, up to the present time, come to 

 occu])y a work table in the laboratory of the Hortus Bogoriensis. 

 Without doubt the number of visitors will go on increasing, and at 

 length they will come from all nations. He who has the honor of now 

 directing the scientific establishment described in this article is the 

 first to desire it. Indeed, it is with the intention of encouraging and 

 stimulating this movement that it has been written. 



