582 



THE VICTOEIA REGIA. 



call it the forno do loiosoca, or oven of the jacana — the leaves 

 being like that of the baking- pans, or ovens, on which the 

 mandioca meal is roasted. The leaf rises from the root at the 

 bottom of the pool, on a stock armed with sharp spines. 



When young, the leaf may be seen in the form of a deep 

 cup or vase surrounded with ribs, at that time com- 

 paratively small, the whole green expanse of the adult leaf 

 covered in between them in regular rows of puffings. As the 

 ribs grow their ramifications stretch out in every direction, 

 the . leaflets one by one unfolding to fill the ever- widening 



MiUl.L. 



THE VICTORIA REGIA. 



spaces ; till at last, when it reaches the surface of the water, 

 it rests horizontally above it without a wrinkle — the colossal 

 leaf being thus supported by a heavy scaffold of ribs beneath 

 it, sufficient not only to support the light-stepjjing jacana, but 

 even a young child. Some of the leaves have a diameter of 

 from four to five feet ; some may grow even to a larger size. 



" Here, seen in its own home, it has in addition to its own 

 beauties the charm of harmony with all that surrounds it," 

 observes Mrs. Agassiz, — " with the dense mass of forest, with 



