ON VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY. 91 



Such is Bryan Edwards's brief account of the 

 grandeur of tropical vegetation, as it appears in 

 the larger islands of the West Indies ; the accu- 

 racy of which, we can, from very gratifying ex- 

 perience, most amply confirm. But these effusions 

 of vegetable nature are not confined to those 

 islands. They extend to the continent of Ame- 

 rica also, as well as to many parts of Africa and 

 Asia ; of which, had our time permitted, we 

 could have presented a long list of magnificent 

 examples. We can only now generally observe, 

 that the varieties of vegetable productions in 

 those climates are equal to their grandeur ; and 

 that as we recede from the equator and approach 

 the poles, those varieties diminish, until vegeta- 

 tion is limited to the lowest grade in its scale. 

 Thus it has been computed, " that at Spitzbergen, 

 which is in the eightieth degree of north latitude, 

 there are only about thirty species. In Lapland in 

 the seventieth degree, about five hundred and 

 thirty-four. In Iceland, in the sixty-fifth degree, 

 about five hundred and fifty-three. In Sweden, 

 which reaches from the southern part of Lapland 

 to the fifty-fifth degree, one thousand three bun- 

 dred. In Brandenburgh, between the fifty-second 

 and the fifty-fourth degrees, two thousand. In 

 Piedmont, between the forty-second and forty- 



of the natives, whose love of retirement, may lead them to 

 frequent their walks, or to repose themselves under their 

 impenetrable shades. 



