History of the vegetable covering of the surface of the globe. Gradual extension of vegetation over the bare rocky crust. Lichens, mosses, and succulent plants. Causes of the present absence of vegetation in particular districts [8]-[13]
Each zone has its peculiar character. All animal and vegetable forms attached to fixed and always recurring types. Physiognomy of Nature. Analysis of the general impression produced by the aspect of a country or district. The several elements which make up this impression; outlines of the mountains, azure of the sky, and form of the clouds: but principally determined by the vegetable covering. Animal organisation far less influential on the landscape from deficiency of mass. The power of locomotion of individuals, and frequently their small size, also contribute to lessen their general effect on the landscape [13]-[16]
Enumeration of the forms of plants which principally determine the physiognomy of Nature, and which decrease or increase from the equator to the poles according to laws which have been made the subject of investigation [17]-[20]
| Palms | [20], [21], [126]-[140] |
| Plantains or Bananas | [21], [22], [140], [141] |
| Malvaceæ | [22], [141]-[143] |
| Mimosæ | [22], [23], [143]-[145] |
| Ericeæ, or Heath form | [23], [24], [145]-[147] |
| Cactus form | [24], [147]-[151] |
| Orchideæ | [24], [25], [151], [152] |
| Casuarineæ | [25], [152], [153] |
| Needle trees | [25], [153]-[175] |
| Pothos and Aroideæ | [26], [175]-[178] |
| Lianes, or twining rope plants | [26], [178]-[180] |
| Aloë form | [27], [180]-[183] |
| Gramineæ | [27], [28], [183]-[187] |
| Ferns | [28], [188]-[193] |
| Liliaceæ | [28], [193] |
| Willow form | [28], [193]-[196] |
| Myrtaceæ | [28], [196]-[200] |
| Melastomaceæ | [28], [200] |
| Laurel form | [28], [200] |
Enjoyment derived from the sight of the natural grouping and contrasts of these forms of plants. Importance of the physiognomic study of plants to the landscape painter [29]-[31], [200]-[203]
Scientific Elucidations and Additions—p. [33] to p. [210].
Organic forms, animal and vegetable, in the highest mountain regions adjacent to the limit of perpetual snow in the Andes and the Alps; insects carried up involuntarily by ascending currents of air. The Hypudæus nivalis of the Swiss Alps. On the true elevation above the sea reached by the Chinchilla laniger in Chili [33]-[35]
Lecidias and Parmelias on rocks not entirely covered with snow; some phænogamous plants also wander in the Cordilleras beyond the limits of perpetual snow, as the Saxifraga boussingaulti, to 15770 English feet above the level of the sea. Groups of phænogamous plants extend in the Andes to 13700 and 14920 English feet above the sea; species of Culcitium, Espeletia, and Ranunculus; small umbelliferous plants resembling mosses in appearance; Myrrhis andicola and Fragosa arctioides [35], [36]
Measurement of the height of Chimborazo, and etymology of the name [36]-[39]
On the greatest absolute heights which have yet been reached by any human beings in either continent; in the Cordilleras and the Himalaya, on the Chimborazo and the Tarhigang [40]