42 GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. 



in the works of nature, although not always asso- 

 ciated together, or perhaps often associated to- 

 gether in the same species. The regions, for 

 example, which produce the most beautiful of 

 quadrupeds, produce also the most gigantic ; the 

 same observation applies to birds and to reptiles. 

 In such regions, life is in abundance, whether 

 we look at the animal or the vegetable kingdom, 

 and we may add, in its fullest power and glory. 

 But to different regions, distinct forms of life 

 are, as a rule, assigned, and that in harmony 

 with laws, a portion of which only we can under- 

 stand. This fact, however, cannot fail to strike 

 us, namely, that where vegetable life is in pro- 

 fusion, there will animal life, according to the 

 character of the vegetation, be also in profusion. 

 The eastern slopes of the Andes teem with 

 animal and vegetable organization, attractive in 

 all that enchants the eye, and baffles the pencil. 

 Here, up to the very borders of the snow line, 

 flourish phaenogamous plants of great beauty, at 

 elevations of 13,700 and nearly 15,000 feet, Hum- 

 boldt found several species of Culcitium and 

 Espeletia (C. nivale, C. rufescens, and C. reflexum, 

 E. grandiflora, and E. argentea), Sida Pichin- 

 chensis, Ranunculus nubigenus, Ranunculus Gus- 

 manni with red or orange-coloured blossoms, the 

 small moss-like umbelliferous plant, Myrrhis An- 

 dicola and Fragosa arctioides. On the declivity 

 of Chimborazo, the Saxifraga Boussingaulti grows 

 beyond the limit of perpetual snow, on loose 



