SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



39 



of the first scientific botanists who visited the high 

 North-West of Canada, and many of his records 

 adorn the Hst of plants of that magnificent botanical 

 region. The writer of these notes had the pleasure, 

 in 1894, of discovering one handsome plant there, 

 which does not appear to have been recorded since 

 Sir John visited the district further north with his 

 exploring part}-. 



Richardson's literary remains are considerable, 

 perhaps the most important being " Fauna Boreale- 

 Americana." He was a C.B., F.R.S., Inspector of 



Naval Hospitals, and a physician to the Fleet. 

 He was knighted in 1846, and in 1848 sailed in 

 search of his great friend, Sir John Franklin. He 

 died, universally admired by those who knew hira, 

 and beloved by his friends, in 18G5, at Lancrigg, 

 near Grasmere, where he spent in retirement the 

 last ten years of his life. The portrait is one by 

 Pearce, who painted a series of Arctic e.xplorers 

 for Lady Franklin, who presented the pictures to 

 the National Portrait Gallery. 



(To be continued.) 



A FIRE -PROOF TREE, 



Bv G. Clarke Nuttall, B.Sc. 



'IpHE wonderful adaptability which a living 

 organism can show to an apparently hostile 

 environment has been a matter of remark times 

 without end. Again and again we have been struck 

 by the presence of life where we should least have 

 looked for it, and have been surprised by the 

 marvellous way in which certain forms of life 

 can become modified to enable them to grapple 

 successfully with new contingencies. Indeed, this 

 adaptability to environment is the sign proper of 

 life, and on it alone has it been found possible to 

 frame a satisfactory definition of the term itself. 



A new and striking instance of this power of 

 adaptation has recently been brought into notice 

 by a Government report issuing from Colombia, 

 the north-west corner of South America. Writing 

 from Santa Fe de Bogata, the chief town, Mr. 

 Robert Thomson draws attention to a native tree 

 which is capable of withstanding the action of fire 

 to a most remarkable degree ; indeed, it apparently 

 prefers to be exposed to it, for it actually thrives 

 better when it has been " under fire." This quality 

 enables it to live w-here other trees perish, as the 

 following will show. A great part of Colombia 

 and the north of South America generally consists 

 of level plains almost interminable in extent, known 

 as llanos or savannas, and estimated to cover 

 nearly three hundred thousand square miles, an 

 area more than three times as large as the whole of 

 Great Britain. Here and there at long intervals 

 low hillocks or mesas break the monotony of the 

 plain, but so little are the inequalities of the surface 

 that the llanos have often been likened to a sea of 

 land. During the dry seasons of the year they 

 become veritable deserts of dried-up vegetation 

 and burning sand ; the wild animals sustain life 

 with the greatest difficulty, and the parched earth 

 cracks into deep fissures. With the advent of the 

 rainy season Nature revives : the plains spring into 

 life — both animal and vegetable, the waters pour 

 down, the rivers swell, and soon what had been a 



desert becomes a lake of rolling waters over which 

 boats may pass for miles. Animal life suffers 

 almost as much then from the too great abundance 

 of water as it previously did from the drought. 

 When the waters subside in October they are 

 followed by a paradise of fresh green vegetation, 

 which springs up into maturity almost like magic ; 

 and the inhabitants of the plains, the Llaneros, 

 come down from the low hills where they had 

 retreated during the flood, driving down with them 

 their vast herds and flocks to feed on the juicy 

 pasturage. For a time all is well, but gradually 

 the sun sucks up the moisture, the vegetation 

 withers and then dies, and the drought again 

 settles on the land. The herdsmen are accustomed 

 at this time, when everything is as dry as tinder, 

 to set fire to the heated grass, so that when the 

 rains come a new growth shall spring up un- 

 hampered by profitless remains of a past season. 



These savanna fires, miles in extent, sweep 

 over the plains with devastating fury, destroying 

 all in their path, and leaving behind them only a 

 track of blackened ashes, which ashes, though 

 giving back to the soil the elements which the 

 plants took from it, do not enrich it to the same 

 degree as would accumulations of leaf -mould 

 formed from decaying vegetation. What is a gain 

 in utility as far as pasturage is concerned is a loss 

 in other ways, for the fire entirely checks the 

 growth of trees or shrubs, and the land is bare of 

 vegetation beyond the yearly yield of grass. 



One tree alone stands out a solitary and striking 

 exception to the ha\oc wrought by the flames. It 

 refuses to go under in the general devastation, and 

 so well has it known how to protect itself, that the 

 fire leaves it unscathed ; nay more, it has made the 

 best of its lot, and bends the very flames to its 

 service. Locally this tree is known as Chaparro, 

 botanically it is classified as Rhopala cbovata. It 

 belongs to a genus of trees and shrubs, most of 

 which are also natives of South .\merica. Its 



