128 AMERICAN FERN JOURNAL 
from the north. A great deal of the moisture is precip:- 
tated by the mountain chain, which forms the backbone 
of the Isthmus, and the water flows back to the Atlantic 
through the Chagres and other streams. At the time of 
our visit, there was considerable sickness on the Isthmus. 
The most dreaded disease was known as Chagres fever. 
The French were already constructing hospitals, however, 
and doing what they could to establish sanitary condi- 
tions. We heard afterwards that the principal engineer _ 
on the Isthmus, M: Blanchet, who was in charge of the 
excavations at Culebra, succumbed to the effects of the 
climate and died before the close of the year. 
__ There is not space here to describe the city of Panama 
of that time, with its ruins covered with mosses and ferns, 
its stately cathedral, its market filled with — : 
reaming parrots, and strange fruits, its money-changers 
ak prehistoric pottery and golden objects from Chiriqui_ 
for sale,* its shops where hammocks of the finest quality 
and beautiful Panama hats are sold, and in some of them 
pearls from the neighboring pearl fisheries, at pees : 
higher than in New York. One of the most beaut 
things we saw was a large terrestrial orchid called “flor 
1} 
. del Espiritu Santo,” the fragrant flower of which had at — 
its center what looked like a pure white dove with its 
- ie outspread. Its botanical name is Peristeria elata. 
