﻿THE 
  JUNGLES 
  OF 
  PANAMA 
  

  

  139 
  

  

  Photograph 
  by 
  David 
  Fairchild 
  

  

  THE 
  GREAT 
  OWL 
  BUTTERFLY 
  WHICH 
  FLIES 
  AT 
  DUSK 
  : 
  PANAMA 
  

  

  When 
  the 
  author 
  first 
  saw 
  the 
  wings 
  of 
  this 
  remarkable 
  butterfly 
  through 
  the 
  camera 
  as 
  

   he 
  took 
  its 
  photograph, 
  he 
  was 
  startled 
  by 
  its 
  resemblance 
  to 
  an 
  owl's 
  face. 
  Its 
  eye 
  spots 
  

   seemed 
  almost 
  luminescent 
  and 
  it 
  could 
  easily 
  be 
  imagined 
  that 
  an 
  owl 
  was 
  flying 
  at 
  dusk. 
  

   If 
  held 
  at 
  arm's 
  length 
  and 
  viewed 
  with 
  almost 
  closed 
  eyes, 
  the 
  reader 
  can 
  readily 
  imagine 
  

   he 
  is 
  looking 
  at 
  an 
  owl. 
  

  

  length 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  strange 
  force 
  of 
  in- 
  

   stinct 
  has 
  carried 
  them, 
  whose 
  form 
  and 
  

   probably 
  whose 
  gait 
  has 
  not 
  changed 
  in 
  

   hundreds 
  of 
  thousands 
  of 
  years. 
  

  

  POSSIBLY 
  THE 
  WORLD 
  S 
  FIRST 
  

   CULTURISTS" 
  

  

  AGRI- 
  

  

  There, 
  in 
  the 
  cavern, 
  lies 
  a 
  mass 
  of 
  

   mushroom 
  spawn 
  as 
  delicate 
  to 
  the 
  touch 
  

   as 
  cobwebs 
  are, 
  and 
  embedded 
  in 
  it 
  every- 
  

   where 
  are 
  the 
  bits 
  of 
  leaf 
  brought 
  by 
  the 
  

   attas, 
  hundreds 
  of 
  yards 
  over 
  their 
  high- 
  

   ways, 
  for 
  its 
  nourishment. 
  

  

  If 
  you 
  take 
  this 
  spawn 
  carefully 
  out 
  

   into 
  the 
  sunlight, 
  countless 
  groups 
  of 
  

   sparkling, 
  almost 
  microscopic, 
  bodies 
  are 
  

   apparent. 
  These 
  are 
  the 
  mushrooms. 
  It 
  

   is 
  upon 
  these 
  that 
  the 
  baby 
  attas 
  feed. 
  I 
  

   wonder 
  if 
  these 
  mushrooms 
  are 
  not 
  the 
  

   oldest 
  cultivated 
  plants 
  in 
  the 
  world, 
  and 
  

   this 
  cave 
  agriculture 
  of 
  the 
  attas 
  the 
  most 
  

   ancient 
  of 
  all 
  agricultures. 
  

  

  To 
  enter 
  the 
  great 
  tombs 
  of 
  Egypt 
  and 
  

   see 
  the 
  mummy 
  cloth 
  of 
  a 
  Pharaoh 
  is 
  to 
  

   look 
  at 
  the 
  handiwork 
  of 
  beings 
  which 
  

   lived 
  three 
  thousand 
  years 
  ago, 
  but 
  to 
  

   open 
  the 
  mushroom 
  cave 
  of 
  an 
  atta 
  is 
  to 
  

  

  come 
  into 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  an 
  instinctive 
  

   agricultural 
  practice 
  which 
  probably 
  be- 
  

   gan 
  long 
  before 
  the 
  Cave 
  epoch 
  of 
  man- 
  

   kind 
  and 
  has 
  been 
  continued 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  

   present 
  time. 
  

  

  There 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  no 
  weeds 
  in 
  the 
  

   shape 
  of 
  other 
  kinds 
  of 
  mushrooms 
  

   growing 
  in 
  these 
  nests. 
  How 
  do 
  the 
  attas 
  

   keep 
  them 
  out, 
  and 
  does 
  the 
  crop 
  ever 
  

   get 
  diseased, 
  I 
  wonder 
  ! 
  It 
  is 
  things 
  like 
  

   these, 
  which 
  you 
  feel 
  have 
  been 
  going 
  on 
  

   uninterruptedly 
  for 
  eons 
  with 
  feverish 
  

   haste, 
  that 
  make 
  the 
  jungle 
  what 
  it 
  is, 
  a 
  

   place 
  in 
  which 
  to 
  think 
  and 
  wonder. 
  

  

  The 
  little 
  laboratory 
  at 
  Juan 
  Mina, 
  

   where 
  we 
  spent 
  six 
  days, 
  stands 
  in 
  a 
  

   citrus 
  grove 
  established 
  there 
  some 
  years 
  

   ago, 
  and 
  for 
  naturalists 
  to 
  live 
  and 
  work 
  

   in 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  wonderfully 
  comfortable 
  and 
  

   convenient 
  place. 
  Carefully 
  screened, 
  

   equipped 
  with 
  running 
  water 
  and 
  cooking- 
  

   stove, 
  it 
  overlooks 
  from 
  a 
  slight 
  elevation 
  

   the 
  famous 
  Chagres 
  River, 
  famous 
  for 
  

   its 
  deadly 
  black-water 
  fevers, 
  which 
  in 
  the 
  

   days 
  of 
  the 
  California 
  gold 
  seekers 
  made 
  

   the 
  trail 
  across 
  the 
  Isthmus, 
  which 
  passes 
  

   through 
  the 
  jungle 
  behind 
  the 
  laboratorv, 
  

  

  