306 IN THE GUIANA FOREST. 



that these account for almost everything. But, 

 there are so many cases of genius and eminent 

 capacity in certain persons, which neither heredity 

 nor environment can explain, that true individu- 

 ality may be considered proven. By this we mean, 

 that even apart from the moulding of circum- 

 stances and the almost rigid fetters of continuity, 

 every man differs from every other who is now 

 living or has lived. 



Animals and plants appear to exist mainly for 

 the purpose of procreation. Everything else seems 

 to be secondary to this. Some plants, it is true, 

 thrive without producing seeds, appearing to con- 

 centrate their energies upon such inferior modes of 

 reproduction as suckers, tubers, and rhizomes, but 

 even these embrace every possible opportunity of 

 flowering when they get enough light. All the 

 preliminary work of the forest trees is done to 

 find a place where procreation may be carried 

 on, and when this is secured the principal task 

 of their lifetime is accomplished. For this they 

 build storehouses as it were and concentrate their 

 strength for a supreme effort, the result of which 

 we see in the lovely flowers which deck their 

 canopies. In some smaller plants such as the 

 orchids, we can appreciate what has to be done 

 before a perfect seed is ripened. Many species 



