PREFACE 



The completion of the Panama Canal and its use by the 

 ships of all the world will have a profound effect on the 

 countries near the Isthmus. Changes in the external rela- 

 tions, industries and occupations of the neighboring peoples 

 are to be expected; these may even be accompanied by 

 changes in the face of nature herself. Costa Rica, lying 

 immediately north of Panama, with her high mountains, 

 her rushing rivers, her great variety of climate and of natural 

 products, will share in these transformations. The natural- 

 ist may regret some of them but he may at least leave for 

 the future a picture of what the past contained. To con- 

 tribute to such a record, and at the same time to introduce 

 some of the features of tropical life to immediate visitors 

 to Costa Rica, are the aims of this book. This little re- 

 public is so readily accessible, it is so easy for foreigners to 

 travel there and it offers such wonderful inducements to 

 naturalists and entomologists (for many of whom the time 

 and expense involved in visiting most portions of the Ameri- 

 can tropics are absolutely prohibitive) that it certainly 

 should be much better known than it is at present. The 

 information here brought together would have been wel- 

 come and time-saving to us, had it been at hand when 

 we first entered the country, and while our descriptions re- 

 late primarily to Costa Rica, we believe that they apply 

 also to conditions existing throughout much of tropical 

 America. 



Our primary concern in Costa Rica was a study of the 

 dragonflies with reference to their seasonal distribution, 

 which necessitated visits to the same localities at different 



