BUTTRESSED TREES. 19 1 



germs diffused through the atmosphere, are to a great 

 extent absorbed by trees; this is, however, a technical 

 question, which cannot well be considered here and 

 we must bring this portion of the present section to a 

 close, after a brief survey of the most remarkable items 

 among the vegetable productions of these forests. 



As curiosities, the buttressed trees, air roots, bam- 

 boos, rattans, and other trailing creepers, each deserve 

 a few words of passing mention. As regards the 

 first, they are an evident provision of Nature to 

 anchor the trees more securely in the ground. These 

 buttressed trees are of all sorts and sizes; besides 

 those of gigantic size and girth, there are many 

 species that shoot up to a great height, though the 

 diameter of the trunks is singularly small ; the buttress 

 system seems peculiarly well adapted to these cases, 

 as it furnishes a strong, light, and efficient support, 

 consisting of projections which resemble in some 

 measure thin boards, laid edge-ways, as struts, 

 against the trees. According to Mr. Wallace, who 

 seems to have given these matters particular attention, 

 " they rise^ to varied heights on the tree, from five or 

 six, to twenty or thirty feet, and are sometimes so large 

 that the spaces between them, if roofed over, would 

 form huts capable of containing several people." * 



These curious buttresses are found to occur in a 

 good many different varieties of trees, in the tropical 

 forests and jungles, and do not seem to be peculiar 

 to any one particular genus. Sometimes they occur of 

 very large size proportionately, in tall growing trees 

 of slender girth; and again, they are seen propping 

 up the huge trunk of some giant of the primeval 



* Tropical Nature, by A. R. Wallace, 1878, p. 31. 



