THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 149 



fierce heat. Death alone dwells here, and the ground 

 is literally strewn with skeletons. Often a tiger may 

 be seen lying as destruction seized him in the very 

 act of leaping upon his prey, or an unclean bird as he 

 swooped from the clouds to seize upon the carcass. 

 Piles of coleoptera ants and other insects are lying 

 here and there and bear witness to the justness of the 

 name, Valley of Death, which the natives have bestow- 

 ed upon this place of desolation. But the fearful 



The Valley of Death (Java). 



character of the valley does not arise from the tree, 

 as was formerly believed, but from the emanations of 

 carbonic acid which, because of its specific gravity, 

 does not mix with the upper layers of the atmosphere. 

 As in* the famous Grotto del Cane near Naples, and 

 the Yapor Cave at Pyrmont, in Germany, here also 

 this gas brings infallible death to all living beings 

 that breathe near the ground. Man alone, to whom 

 God has given the faculty of walking upright, trav- 



