460 SUMMARY OF THE CONTENTS. 



loped organization. Stem of an Arundinarea sixteen to seventeen 

 feet long from knot to knot . ' ;. * " ; *'-- '. . ' '"." 193 194 



< . !' - ' ''' " "' - 



On the myth or fable of the Lake of Parime / *-^ ? '-;J- 194202 



The Nocturnal Life of Animals in the Primeval Forest p. 205 to p. 214. 



Difference between languages in respect to their richness in well- 

 defined expressions for characterizing natural phenomena, such as 

 the state of vegetation, the forms of plants, the outlines and group- 

 ing of clouds, the appearance of the surface of the ground, and the 

 farms of rocks and mountains. Loss which languages suffer by 

 the disuse of such words, or by their signification becoming im- 

 paired. The misinterpretation of a Spanish word, " Monte," has 

 caused the undue extension or introduction of mountains in maps. 

 Primeval Forest ; frequent abuse of the term. Absence of the 

 uniformity which is produced by the association of the same kinds 

 of trees, characteristic of tropical forests. Causes of the impene- 

 trability of forests between the tropics ; the twining plants, Lianes, 

 often form only a small portion of the underwood . 205210 



Appearance of the Rio Apure in the lower part of its course. Margin 

 of the forest fenced like a garden by a low hedge of Sauso (Her- 

 mesia). The wild animals of the forest lead their young to the 

 river through small openings in this hedge. Flocks of large water- 

 hogs or Cavies (Capybara). Fresh-water dolphins . 210 212 



Wild cries of animals resound throughout the forest. Cause of the 

 nocturnal uproar 212 213 



Contrast with the stillness which reigns during the noon-tide hours 

 on days of more than usual heat in the torrid zone. Description 

 of the narrows of the Orinoco at Baraguan. Humming and flut- 

 tering of insects. Life stirs audibly in every bush, in the clefts, of 

 the bark of trees, and in the earth undermined and furrowed by 

 Hymenopterous insects . . . . % _;- ^v -\ "i 213 214 



Scientific Elucidations and Additions p. 215 to p. 216. 

 Characteristic terms in Arabic and Persian descriptive of the surface 

 of the ground (Steppes, grassy plains, deserts, &c.). Richness of 

 the old Castilian idiom in words expressive of the form of mountains. 

 Fresh-water skates and dolphins. In the great rivers of both con- 

 tinents some organic sea-forms are repeated.- American nocturnal 

 monkeys, the three-striped Douroucouli of the Cassiquiare 215 216 



Hypsometric Addenda p. 217 to p. 223. 



Pentland's measurements in the eastern mountain chain of Bolivia. 

 Height of the volcano of Aconcagua according to Fitzroy and 

 Darwin. Western mountain chain of Bolivia . . 217 219 



Mountain systems of North America. Rocky Mountains and the 



