IDEAS 



FOB A 



PHYSIOGNOMY OP PLANTS. 



WHEN the active spirit of man is directed to the investi- 

 gation of nature, or when in imagination he scans the vast 

 fields of organic creation, among the varied emotions excited 

 in his mind there is none more profound or vivid than 

 that awakened by the universal profusion of life. Every- 

 where even near the ice-bound poles, the air resounds with 

 the song of birds and with the busy hum of insects. Not 

 only the lower strata, in which the denser vapours float, but 

 also the higher and ethereal regions of the air, teem with 

 animal life. Whenever the lofty crests of the Peruvian Cor- 

 dilleras, or the summit of Mont Blanc, south of Lake Leman, 

 have been ascended, living creatures have been found even 

 in these solitudes. On the Chimborazo (1), which is upwards 

 of eight thousand feet higher than Mount Etna, we saw but- 

 terflies and other winged insects. Even if they are strangers 

 carried by ascending currents of air to those lofty regions, 

 whither a restless spirit of inquiry leads the toilsome steps of 

 man, their presence nevertheless proves that the more pliant 

 organization of animals may subsist far beyond the limits of 

 the vegetable world. The Condor (2), that giant among the 

 vultures, often soared above us at a greater altitude than 

 the summits of the Andes, and even higher than would be the 

 Peak of Tenerifle were it piled upon the snow-crowned sum- 

 mits of the Pyrenees. Rapacity and the pursuit of the soft- 

 woolled Vicunas, which herd, like the chamois, on the snow- 

 cover'ed pastures, allure this powerful bird to these regions. 



