3$ IN THE GUIANA FOREST. 



produce offspring. If he is overshadowed by 

 others, flowers cannot be produced, and without 

 flowers, as a matter of course, there can be no 

 seeds. When we see the plants of our gardens 

 flower freely we know they are in good health. 

 We can even conceive that they glory in the 

 success they have achieved. How much more, 

 then, must the trees ol the forest exult in the fact 

 that they have at last overcome all opposition and 

 produced their first-born. 



Seeing all these things and a thousand others in 

 the forest, the naturalist cannot but feel interested 

 in it. Every day something new attracts his 

 attention, and every fresh observation gives rise to 

 a train of thought which leads him on and on to 

 solve problems of the greatest importance. At 

 first the number of these is appalling he gets 

 almost disheartened as questions come up one 

 after another. To slightly alter an old quotation, 

 " Science is long but life is short," nevertheless, if 

 we succeed in discovering a few of nature's secrets, 

 we shall not have lived in vain. Unfortunately for 

 tropical nature, few naturalists have had the privi- 

 lege of even a passing glimpse of her beauties, while 

 those who have lived in the great South American 

 forest for any length of time could be numbered on 

 the fingers. 



