iuniph 



SCIENTIFIC SIDE-LIGHTS 



704 



with the sunlight, and with the air in con- 

 tact with its leaves. But it is shut off by 

 its comparatively low development from a 

 whole world to which higher forms of life 

 have additional access. The want of loco- 

 motion alone circumscribes most seriously 

 its area of correspondence, so that to a large 

 part of surrounding Nature it may truly be 

 said to be dead. So far as consciousness 

 is concerned, we should be justified, indeed, 

 in saying that it was not alive at all. The 

 murmur of the stream which bathes its 

 roots affects it not. The marvelous insect 

 life beneath its shadow excites in it no won- 

 der. The tender maternity of the bird which 

 has its nest among its leaves stirs no re- 

 sponsive sympathy. It cannot correspond 

 with those things. To stream and insect 

 and bird it is insensible, torpid, dead. For 

 this is death, this irresponsiveness. DRUM- 

 MONO Natural Law in the Spiritual World, 

 essay 4, p. 138. (H. Al.) 



3482. TREE-FERNS OF THE TROP- 

 ICS A Climate of Perpetual Spring. The form 

 of ferns . . . , like that of grasses, also 

 assumes nobler dimensions in the torrid 

 regions of the earth, and the arborescent 

 ferns, which frequently attain the height of 

 above forty feet, have a palm-like appear- 

 ance, altho their stem is thicker, shorter, 

 and more rough and scaly than that of the 

 palm. The leaf is more delicate, of a loose 

 and more transparent texture, and sharply 

 serrated on the margins. These colossal 

 ferns belong almost exclusively to the trop- 

 ics, but there they prefer the temperate 

 localities. As in these latitudes diminution 

 of heat is merely the consequence of an in- 

 crease of elevation, we may regard moun- 

 tains that rise 2,000 or 3,000 feet above 

 the level of the sea as the principal seat of 

 these plants. Arborescent ferns grow in 

 South America, side by side with that benefi- 

 cent tree whose stem yields the febrifuge 

 bark, and both forms of vegetation are in- 

 dicative of the happy region where reigns 

 the genial mildness of perpetual spring. 

 HUMBOLDT Views of Nature, p. 230. (Bell, 

 1896.) 



3483. TREES, COLOSSAL, OF TROP- 

 ICS Crown Like Domed Cathedral The Giant 

 Must Dwell Alone. What attracted us chief- 

 ly were the colossal trees. The general run 

 of trees had not remarkably thick stems; 

 the great and uniform height to which they 

 grow without emitting a branch was a much 

 more noticeable feature than their thick- 

 ness; but at intervals of a furlong or so 

 a veritable giant towered up. Only one 

 of these monstrous trees can grow within a 

 given space; it monopolizes the domain, and 

 none but individuals of much inferior size 

 can find a footing near it. The cylindrical 

 trunks of these larger trees were generally 

 about 20 to 25 feet in circumference. Von 

 Martius mentions having measured trees in 

 the Para district, belonging to various spe- 

 cies (Symphonia coccinea Lccythis sp. and 



CratCBva Tapia), which were 50 to 60 feet 

 in girth at the point where they become 

 cylindrical. The height of the vast column- 

 like stems could not be less than 100 feet 

 from the ground to their lowest branch. 

 Mr. Leavens, at the sawmills, told me they 

 frequently squared logs for sawing 100 feet 

 long, of the Pao d'Arco and the Massaran- 

 duba. The total height of these trees, stem 

 and crown together, may be estimated at 

 from 180 to 200 feet; where one of them 

 stands, the vast dome of foliage rises above 

 the other forest-trees as a domed cathedral 

 does above the other buildings in a city. 

 BATES Naturalist on the River Amazon, ch. 

 2, p. 635. (Hum., 1880.) 



3484. TRIAL, FIERY, PRECIOUS 



RESULTS OGem8 the Products of Volca- 

 noes Crystallization through Pressure and 

 Fierce Heat Gives Them All Their Value. 

 Among the most interesting effects resulting 

 from the extrusion of masses of incandes- 

 cent rock, charged with water and various 

 gases, through beds of limestone, clay, sand- 

 stone, etc., we may mention the production 

 of those beautiful crystalline minerals which 

 adorn our museums and are so highly prized 

 as gems. By far the larger part of these 

 beautiful minerals have been formed, direct- 

 ly or indirectly, by volcanic agencies. 



These gems and beautiful minerals are, 

 for the most part, substances of e very-day 

 occurrence, which entirely owe their beauty 

 to the crystalline forms they have assumed. 

 The diamond is crystallized carbon, the ruby 

 and sapphire are crystallized aluminum, the 

 amethyst and a host of other gems are 

 crystallized silica; and in almost all cases 

 the materials of gems are common and wide- 

 ly diffused; it is only in their finely crystal- 

 line condition that they are rare and there- 

 fore valuable. JUDD Volcanoes, ch. 5, p. 146. 

 (A., 1899.) 



3485. TRIUMPH OF SCIENCE- Cu- 

 vier Reproduces from Fragments Extinct 

 Animals Complete Specimens Later Verify 

 His Theory. At length there was discovered 

 at Montmartre an upper jaw of the same 

 [unknown] animal, next a lower jaw, match- 

 ing the upper one, and presently a whole 

 head, with a few backbones, was brought 

 to light. These were enough, with Cuvier's 

 vast knowledge of animal structure, to 

 give him a key to the whole skeleton. At 

 about the same time, in the same locality, 

 were found other bones and teeth also, differ- 

 ing from those first discovered, and yet 

 equally unlike those of any living animal. 

 The first evidently belonged to some stout 

 and heavy animal, the others were more 

 slender and of lighter build. From these 

 fragments, ample evidence to him of his 

 results, he drew the outlines of two ani- 

 mals: one which he called the Palceotherlum 



(old animal) . . . , and the other An- 

 oplotherium (animal without fangs). He 

 presented these figures with an explanatory 

 memoir at the Academy, and announced 



