324 NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



effect of the aisle of a great Gothic cathedral, and the 

 defect, as it seemed to me, is that the reproduction is 

 too faithful. The trees of Oreodoxa regia, which are 

 about a hundred feet in height, are all exactly of the 

 same form and dimensions, so much alike that they 

 appear to have been cast in the same mould, and it is 

 difficult to persuade one's self that they are not 

 artificial productions. It may not be easy to say why 

 the same uniformity which satisfies the eye in a con- 

 struction of stone, should fail to do so when similar 

 forms are represented by natural objects. I suppose 

 the fact to be that in all aesthetic judgments the mind 

 is unconsciously influenced by trains of association. 

 Our admiration is aroused not merely by given com- 

 binations of colour or form — by the mere visual image 

 formed on the retina — but is controlled by our sense 

 of fitness. We should resent as a caprice of the 

 architect an irregularity in a vista of arches : among 

 objects endowed with life we expect some manifesta- 

 tion of the universal tendency to variation. 



With an intention, never fulfilled, to make a second 

 visit to the garden, and, under the guidance of the 

 director, Dr. Glaziou, to make nearer acquaintance 

 with some of the vegetable wonders there brought 

 together, I returned to my hotel. Before reaching 

 Rio, I had decided to devote most of my short re- 

 maining time to a visit to the Organ Mountains, and 

 to make Petropolis my head-quarters. As there was 

 no especial reason for delay, I started for that place 

 on the morning of the following day, July 9. 



I shall make no attempt to describe the beauties of 

 the bay as they were successively unfolded during the 



