Jan. 1906. | BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 159 
and ferns seemed to be the first forms to settle on the 
denuded area. 
Mr. TaGe also exhibited a Mangrove Seedling. 
The following communication was also read :— 
' THE SAVANNAHS OF Guyana. By Epuarp EssEp. 
If we travel in Guyana from north to south along the 
rivers, we shall be highly impressed by the luxuriant plant- 
growth, forming high walls of dense, nearly impenetrable 
forests, in which the Mangrove—in the lowlands, the 
Avicennias—in the upperlands, are the predominant trees, 
whilst thorny Drepanocarpus lunatus (a papilionaceous 
plant), Desmoneus horridus (a palm), Paritiwm elatwm 
(Malvacee), Paneratium caribeum (Amaryllidacee), as 
fringes of the forest, are hanging and swaying in the water 
several metres from the actual river bank. 
The same vegetation continues along the numerous tfresh- 
water branches or creeks, but here we find the Pachira 
aquatica, the never-failing Calladiwm arborescens (one ot 
the largest Aroids), the Huterpe oleracea, Manicaria saceifera, 
changing the character of the vegetation; whilst arboreal 
Rubiacex, Papilionacee, Apocynacee, Bignoniacee, etc., as 
so many pillars support the garlands of the tropical forests; 
the lianes which, very often, tie together the crowns of the 
trees on both sides of the not more than 30 to 50 feet 
broad streamlet, form above the water an arch, in which 
thousands of birds and insects are lulling each other to sleep 
with their diverse nocturnal tunes, the expressions of their 
delight in the well-deserved rest after a busy, trying day. 
If we look on the map of Dutch Guyana by W. L. Loth, we 
see the geological formation roughly indicated by three 
different colours. The northern part is a strip of land 50 to 
60 km. broad, running from east to west parallel to the sea- 
shore. This part-is purely alluvial, and consists mainly of 
blue clay, here and there traversed by vertical layers of 
sea-shells, the deathbed of millions of Molluscs in remote 
antiquity. Here the vegetation is fairly continuous. The 
southern part is the hilly and mountainous “hinterland,” 
