1901 | BRIEFER ARTICLES 227 
color your fingers as you touch them; ugly looking incipient Polyporei 
exude oily looking drops of brown fluid; and the rotting bark con- 
tains a host of microscopic fungi. Epiphyllous algae and lichens 
are always abundant in these dark forests and are often mimicked by 
insects. 
However little one may be interested in the insects of temperate 
regions, the constant buzzing of flies and wasps, and the fluttering of gor- 
geous butterflies in this virgin forest soon attract one, and leave a lasting 
impression of the activity of the animal world as compared with the 
world of plants. ‘The ants alone, in their host of forms and curious 
habits, aré sufficient to distract the most obstinate collector, and rob 
him of many hours he would have spent in adding new numbers to 
his herbarium. ‘They are the most intelligent beings of the forest, 
and the solitary traveler finds a sort of intellectual companionship in 
watching theirmovements. The termites of the tropics are second 
only to the tree ants in interest. At Boela only the tree-inhabiting 
forms were found, and none of those curious kinds were seen which 
cultivate fungi in their nests. The dead stumps and trees were every- 
where alive with them, and the decaying trees were rapidly removed 
by immense colonies of these wood-eaters. The virgin forests of the 
tropics would be well nigh impassible to collectors if the fallen branches 
and logs were not quickly riddled with the galleries of the white ants. 
They are above ground what the earthworm is below it. They reduce 
all dead wood to half-digested fragments. 
This portion of Ceram is very sparsely settled, so sparsely, in fact, 
that during the whole time we spent at Boela we saw only two or three 
native Alfurians, who came off to the steamer in their small dug-out 
canoes to sell their large but coarse-grained bananas. They are a 
darker, more uncleanly race than the Javanese or Amboinese, and show 
traces of Papuan origin. Imported coolies from Java and Amboina 
are depended upon to work the drills at the oil wells. 
But all idea of time was lost as we wandered through this forest, 
until the rapidly fading light (to say nothing of the rapidly devouring 
mosquitoes) gave warning that a hurried retreat must be made from 
this malaria-haunted shore. In the morning we saw Boela again, and 
it looked even more beautiful gilded by the rising sun than in the 
evening light.— Davin G. Faircuitp, Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C. 
