Geographical Distribution of Cacti. 389 



in general, is universal and natural to nearly all nations. The 

 decoration of the tombs of the dead with flowers was an in- 

 expressibly beautiful custom; and, though strenuously denounced 

 by the early Christians, as savouring of idolatry, the hearts of 

 men soon wandered back to so simple, so elegant, so natural a 

 mode of testifying affection. This is a custom which has been 

 well said to be " of the heart, and to speak to it, and has there- 

 fore maintained its ground in every age and region, unaffected by 

 the constant changes in customs merely arbitrary and conven- 

 tional." — Edinburgh, April 29. 1839. 



Art. III. Observations on the geographical Extension of the Cacti in 



Brazil. By Professor Von Martius. 



(Translated from the " Garten Zeitung," vol. i. p. 134., by J. L.) 



The family of the Cacti appears to have an extensive range in 

 Brazil. Many species are found in the south, as far as the 

 tropic of Capricorn, where I have been ; and it frequently hap- 

 pens that a great number of the same species are found near each 

 other. Towards the south, however, they begin by degrees to 

 be more scarce, and at the river La Plata but few species can 

 stand the night frosts. The climate also towards the west, 

 under the same degree of latitude, in open extensive plains, 

 where it is rather cold, appears but little favourable to the 

 growth of the Cacti ; and still further westward, in Chile, they 

 are only found in considerable numbers on the warm rocky 

 shores of the ocean. From La Plata northwards, the Cacti are 

 found every where, and even throughout all Brazil, as far as the 

 equator, and from there northwards as far as the boundary of 

 the kingdom. They do not, however, appear in equal numbers 

 all over this great extent of country ; but those parts in which 

 they are found the most numerous and characteristic are in the 

 provinces of Pernambuco, Paraiba, Rio Grande do Norte, and 

 Ciara; therefore the space between the 9th and 5th degrees of 

 latitude may be considered as the most striking locality of the 

 Cacti in Brazil. 



The extension of the localities of the species appears to me 

 more limited generally; because, probably, species, such as those 

 of the genera Cereus and Opuntia, which are considered as be- 

 longing to most of the tropical countries of the new world, are 

 not distinct species, but only varieties nearly allied to each other. 

 Particular attention ought, therefore, to be paid by travellers, 

 when accompanied by an artist, if they wish to give a systematic 

 and geographical description of these wonderful plants ; because, 

 on account of the difficulty of conveying them on a journey, and 

 the similarity of their forms, the pencil of the artist can alone be 

 had recourse to as the only certain means of displaying botanical 



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