72 THE EQUINOCTIAL ZONE. 



always black and clammy, stimulated by the 

 fervid heat of a tropical sun, produces trees 

 whose stems are of a spongy texture, from their 

 rapid growth, loaded with parasites, especially 

 the orchideous tribe, of which no less than 

 three hundred species are peculiar to the island." 

 Of locopodia more than two hundred species 

 are found, and the tree ferns form a twentieth 

 part of the whole vegetation. Fruit and vege- 

 tables proper for food abound, perhaps more 

 than in any other part of the world, and no 

 less than one hundred varieties of rice grow 

 here. 



Ceylon is, as we have just mentioned, 

 the country of cinnamon, and there also grows 

 a remarkable tree, Taberncemoniana dichotoma, 

 pretended by the sages of that country to be 

 the forbidden fruit, and they also assert that 

 paradise was situated in that island. They say 

 that it may be identified by the fragrance of its 

 flower, and by its beautiful tempting fruit, still 

 bearing the marks of the teeth of Eve. Till 

 the sin was committed they pretend the fruit 

 was delicious, but from that time forward it 

 became poisonous, as it now remains. 



Of the flora of that part of Africa which lies 

 in this zone very little is known. One more 

 feature in the equinoctial zone must be noticed 

 ere we leave it. When the atmosphere and soil 

 are destitute of its proper degree of humidity, 

 there is a striking change in the relations of 

 the seasons. In the height of summer, the trees 

 lose their leaves, and the herbs die, so that the 



