232 POPULAR GEOGKAPHY OF PLANTS. 



and Melastomacea ;" here and there one of these giants has 

 fallen to the ground, and lies stretched across our pathway, 

 bedecked with wreaths of Orchises and Pothos-plants and 

 Ferns ; or, arrested in its fall, is leaning on an arm of some 

 neighbouring giant still stronger than itself, which first 

 perhaps has caused its death, and then like a courteous 

 conqueror supports its fallen victim; for where "such a 

 fulness of life and such a vigorous striving at development 

 exists, even so rich and fertile a soil as this is not capable 

 of furnishing the necessary nourishment in sufficient abund- 

 ance ; hence these gigantic trees are in a constant struggle 

 for their own preservation, and impede each other's growth 

 still more than the trees in our own forests. Even stems 

 which have grown to a considerable height, and require a 

 large supply of nutriment, feel the influence of their more 

 powerful neighbours, and are suddenly checked in their 

 growth by being deprived of the requisite juices. Thus we 

 see the noblest trees, after suffering an atrophy of some 

 months' duration, eaten away by ants and other insects, 

 seized with decay from the root to the summit, till, to the 

 terror of the solitary inhabitants of the forest, they fall 

 down with a tremendous crash/'* 



: ' Travels ia Brazil,' by Spix and Von Martius. 



