| IDEAS FOR A PHYSIOGNOMY OF PLANTS | pp. [210]–231. |
Universal profusion of life on the slopes of the highest mountain summits, in the ocean and in the atmosphere. Subterranean Flora. Siliceous-shelled polygastrica in masses of ice at the pole. Podurellæ in the ice tubules of the glaciers of the Alps; the glacier-flea (Desoria glacialis). Minute organisms of the dust fogs—pp. [210]–213.
History of the vegetable covering. Gradual extension of vegetation over the naked crust of rock. Lichens, mosses, oleaginous plants. Cause of the present absence of vegetation in certain districts.—pp. [213]–220.
Each zone has its peculiar character. All animal and vegetable conformation is bound to fixed and ever-recurring types. Physiognomy of Nature. Analysis of the combined effect produced by a region. The individual elements of this impression. Outline of the mountain ranges; azure of the sky; shape of the clouds. That which chiefly determines the character is the vegetable covering. Animal organizations are deficient in mass; the mobility of individual species, and often their diminutiveness, conceals them from view—pp. [220]–223.
Enumeration of the forms of Plants which principally determine the physiognomy of Nature, and which increase or diminish from the equator towards the Pole, in obedience to established laws—
| Text. | Illustrations. | |
|---|---|---|
| Palms | pp. [223]–224 | pp. [296]–304 |
| Banana form | p. [224] | p. [305] |
| Malvaceæ | p. [224] | pp. [305]–307 |
| Mimosæ | p. [225] | pp. [307]–308 |
| Ericeæ | p. [225] | pp. [308]–310 |
| Cactus form | p. [226] | pp. [310]–312 |
| Form of Orchideæ | p. [226] | pp. [312]–313 |
| Casuarinæ | p. [226] | pp. [313]–314 |
| Acicular-leaved Trees | p. [227] | pp. [314]–329 |
| Pothos form, and that of the Aroideæ | p. [227] | pp. [329]–331 |
| Lianes and Climbing plants | pp. [227]–228 | pp. [331]–332 |
| Aloes | p. [228] | pp. [332]–334 |
| Grass form | p. [228] | pp. [334]–337 |
| Ferns | p. [229] | pp. [337]–341 |
| Lilies | p. [229] | pp. [341]–343 |
| Willow form | p. [229] | p. [343] |
| Myrtles | p. [229] | pp. [343]–346 |
| Melastomaceæ | p. [229] | p. [346] |
| Laurel form | p. [229] | p. [346] |
Enjoyment resulting from the natural grouping and contrasts of these plant-forms. Importance of the physiognomical study of plants to the landscape-painter—pp. [229]–231.
| Scientific Illustrations and Additions | pp. [232]–352. |
Organisms, both animal and vegetable, in the highest Alpine regions, near the line of eternal snow, in the Andes chain, and the Alps; insects are carried up involuntarily by the ascending current of air. The small field-mouse (Hypudæus nivalis) of the Swiss Alps. On the real height to which the Chinchilla laniger mounts in Chili—pp. [232]–233.
Lecideæ, Parmeliæ on rocks not entirely covered with snow; but certain phanerogamic plants also stray in the Cordilleras beyond the boundary of perpetual snow, thus Saxifraga Boussingaulti to 15,773 feet above the level of the sea. Groups of phanerogamic Alpine plants in the Andes chain at from 13,700 to nearly 15,000 feet high. Species of Culcitium, Espeletia, Ranunculus, and small moss-like umbellifera, Myrrhis andicola, and Fragosa arctioides—pp. [233]–234. Measurement of Chimborazo, and etymology of the name—pp. [234]–236. On the greatest absolute height to which men in both continents, in the Cordilleras and the Himalaya,—on the Chimborazo and Tarhigang—have as yet ascended—p. [236].