38 4 MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



midst of the ocean, floating masses of sea- weed are 

 frequently met with, which are likewise at times 

 the abodes of pelagic Crustaceans, and other animals. 

 On terra-firma every country has its own peculiar 

 plants, which vary from the luxuriant vegetation of 

 the valleys, to the bleak and barren wilds of alpine 

 regions, or from the thickly-set forests of the tropics 

 to the frigid ice-clad rocks of arctic or antarctic 

 climes. No country is yet known to be entirely 

 destitute of herbage. Melville Island, Novaya Zem- 

 lya, and Spitzbergen, in the far north, as well as 

 Tierra del Fuego, and the lately-discovered lands of 

 the extreme south, alike yield their contributions; 

 even from Kerguelen's-land, that Isle of Desolation, 

 a limited Flora has been compiled by the younger 

 Hooker. 



Vegetables play a most important part in the 

 economy of our globe. Not only do they yield 

 abundant aliment for man and beast, for insect and 

 worm, but also by absorbing carbon from the atmo- 

 sphere they purify it and render it fit for respiration ; 

 their ashes also, and other debris form the basis of a 

 rich soil, which especially in new countries is of vast 

 importance. Coals and other bituminous minerals, 

 which are the fossilized remains of primeval forests, 

 are too well known as most valuable agents in the 

 hands of man, to be more than mentioned. In 

 short, whether clothing the plain, adding beauty to 

 the landscape, or magnificence to the mountain, 

 whether charming the eye, or pleasing the imagina- 

 tion, affording raiment, food, or medicine, or em- 



