8 UC-N B 3 ID? PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE, IN ITS SPREADING OVER THE EARTH. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF WILBRAND &T RITGEN. SMITH AND SON, MAPSELLERS, 172, STRAND. 1828. PRINTED BY R. WATTS, CROWN COURT, TEMPLE BAR. WH f CONTENTS. Page Introduction 1 Line of Perpetual Snow 2 Altitude of the Earth '. . 5 Depth of the Sea 12 General Extension of the Vegetable Kingdom, 13 Extension of the Acotyledones 17 Of the Monocolyledones 22 Of the Dicotyledones 29 Of Orders not described in the Picture 43 Of the Spreading of Animals 47 Spreading of the Mammalia 51 Of the Mammalia of the Seas . 51 Spreading of Birds 66 Spreading of the Amphibia 85 Spreading of the Other Animals 87 INTRODUCTION. IN the present Picture of Nature, it is intended to afford, with as much accuracy as possible, an idea of the manner in which plants and animals are spread upon the earth. The solid portion of our planet is surrounded by two principal elements water, and atmospheric air : by the former, to an ascertained depth: by the latter, to an unknown extent. Water forms the sea ; out of which the earth rises : so that, as the surface of the earth does not extend to hall that of the sea, it therefore appears to swim in it : ot this the Picture, at the first view, affords a sufficient idea. On the main land, fresh water is found in rivers, lakes, and ponds : these run into the sea. All plants and animals live in one of these elements, inhabiting either the water or the air ; being, in the former, in a lower; and in the latter, in a higher degree of perfection. The world of animated nature begins, as a complete whole, in the water; whence it ascends to the atmosphere, to a more delightful participation of the sun's light ; finally terminating in the perfect pattern of all organic formation man. The greatest luxuriance of organic life is un- A 2 PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE. doubtedly in the plains of the Torrid Zone, at the level of the sea. From hence life fluctuates, according to the seasons, to a fixed limit, both in the Northern and the Southern Hemisphere, as well as in the depths of the Ocean ; similar to the action of the sun, whose quickening beams extend, with varied influence, to all places. Our Picture is therefore founded upon this state of organic life, as it spreads itself over the surface of the globe. LINE OF PERPETUAL SNOW. The limit to which, in every part of the globe, or- ganized beings extend, in a perpendicular direction, above the level of the sea, is marked by a region where the cold is so intense, that the summits of mountains reaching or extending beyond that limit are covered with perpetual snow : this is called the Snow-Line. The sea at both poles is covered with ice; in the Southern Hemisphere, in a larger; in the Northern, in a smaller proportion. The land, if any exist, is enveloped with eternal snow, vegeta- tion ceases, animals die, and the inquisitive disposi- tion of man terminates. There, of course, the snow- line is at the level of the sea; although water may flow under the ice as far as the poles. At a greater . LINE OF PERPETUAL SNOW. distance from the poles, water appears between the icy tracts; the land is not covered with snow the whole year; minute vegetables cleave to the ground ; and animals are found. At this point, the snow- line rises from the level of the sea towards the Equator, where it acquires its greatest perpen- dicular height. The snow-line, according toJHumboldt, begins under the Equator at a perpendicular height of 16,790 ft.; nor does it vary much from that point. In the 19th degree N.L., the limit is fixed at 15,026 ft.; in the 35th N.L. at 11,510 ft.; in the 43d N.L. at 8632ft.; and reaches, in 62 N.L. (according to Wahlenberg), 5968 ft.; gradually decreasing to 75 N.L., where it is at the level of the sea. Of the snow-line in the Southern Hemisphere but little is known. Forster, however, found ice on the sea in 60 S.L. ; and the mountains in South Georgia, as well as in the Sandwich Isles, were covered with snow to the level of the sea. The same reckons the snow-line on Mount Egmont, in 39 s. L., to be 10,507 ft. We may therefore consider the region in 60, in the Southern Hemisphere, as the point at which perpetual snow reaches the level of the sea. The snow-line in the Picture is drawn according to these observations. Its height, however, undergoes A 2 4 PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE. some change, in consequence of the different situations of countries in the same degree of latitude : hence it is, that countries in North Ameiica in the same lati- tude are much colder than those in Europe; and plants are found in Spitzbergen in 80 N. L. The altitude of the snow-line is therefore drawn at a mean ; the deviations from which are marked with a star. The snow-line, when considered as to its position to the Meridian, appears as a curve nearly resembling an ellipse ; forming an eternal covering of snow ; having its range, in every part of the globe, at a certain unchangeable height, beyond which organic life ceases. But besides this perpetual line of snow, there is another, constantly varying according to the sea- sons. In the Northern Hemisphere, after the Au- tumnal Equinox, this line gradually becomes lower ; being in the winter, according to circumstances, even in the middle of the Temperate Zone, at the level of the sea: on the contrary, in the Southern Hemi- sphere, as the sun reaches the Southern Tropic, the line rises, till it joins the perpetual snow ; and as the sun returns towards the Northern Tropic, it again gradually descends towards the sea. Thus organic life fluctuates perpetually from North to South, and ALTITUDE OP THE EARTH. from South to North. It is this varying- line of snow which intimates to birds of passage their time of migration. This variable line of snow forms, in the direction of the Meridian, a similar curve to that which the earth describes when revolving round the sun ; viz. an ellipse : being closely connected with the action of the earth which occasions the seasons. ALTITUDE OP THE EARTH. In the five parts of the globe, there are detached mountains as well as continuous ranges, which are elevated above the perpetual limit of snow. In our Picture, the chains of mountains and single mounts are delineated according to their true degree of lati- tude, together with their known heights. The lofty mountains of Asia occupy the back ground : imme- diately before them is the range of the Andes in America, running from North to South ; and re- markable for having considerable altitudes in both Hemispheres. Before them appear the European and African mountains ; the former being separated from the latter by the Mediterranean Sea, which is repre- sented in the Picture as existing at the foot of Mount Etna. The African mountains are characterized by 6 PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE. the elevated sandy plains terminating, in the South- ern Hemisphere, at the Cape of Good Hope; the summits of whose mountains are accurately designed according to their height. Lastly, the mountains of the Pacific Ocean, running from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere, are represented by Mowna Roah, the Peak of Otaheite, and Mount Egmont. 1. Of the detached mountains, commencing at the North, the first is, Parnassus in Spitzbergen. Its height, according to Mulgrave, is 3956 ft., and is covered with perpetual snow to its foot. 2. The next is Alkaware in Lapland, in 67 25' N. L. Its height, according to Wahlenberg, is 5062 ft., and considerably above the snow-line. 3. The lofty Sulitelma in Lapland, in 67 12' N.L., whose height is 5798 ft., is covered with perpetual snow on its summit. The line of perpetual snow, according to Wahlenberg, is about 4369 ft. above the level of the sea. 4. The Volcano Hecla in Iceland, in 64 N.L., gra- dually rises, by seven ridges, to a height of 4900 ft. ; and, of course, much beyond the snow-line. 5. The Areskutan in Jemtland, in 63 25' N.L., (according to Wahlenberg, 5169 high,) reaches the dis- tricts of perpetual snow. 6. Sncehatten in Norway, in 62 N.L., is, according ALTITUDE OP THE EARTH. 7 to Esmark, 8120 ft., topping the snow-line by 2152 ft.; which, according to Wahlenberg, lies at the height of 5968 ft. 7. Mount St. Elias on the north-west coast of North America, one of the loftiest summits of the Andes, situated at 60 21' N.L., rises far beyond the snow-line; being 17,038ft. high. 8. The Brocken in Germany, in 51 12' N.L., com- pared with the preceding, appears quite minute ; its height being only 3715 ft., and therefore far below the limit of perpetual snow. 9. Schneekoppe in Silesia, in 5034'N.L., is 1598 ft. below the snow-line, the altitude of which is 6820ft.; whereas, according to Gerstner, Schneekoppe is not more than 5105 ft. 10. The highest summit of the Carpathian Moun- tains, on the contrary, which lies in 49 N. L., and is called Lomnitzer Spitze, reaches the first part of the snow-line, in consequence of its height being 8632 ft. 11. Grossglockner in Salzburg, in 47 N. L., is 12,780 ft. high, and extends far beyond the snow- line. 12. Mount Pilatus, on the contrary, in the Canton of Lucerne, on account of its height being only 6993 ft,, does not reach the snow-line : its summit is however frequently enveloped in fog. 8 PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE. 13. The Rigi, in the same Canton, remains below the snow-line ; its height being 5893 ft. 14. Mount St. Gotthard, on the contrary, in 46 40' N.L., extends far beyond the snow-line; its height being 12,021. In Switzerland, the limit of snow lies at an altitude of about 8300, and 8900 ft. 15. TheJungfrau, in 46 25' N.L., is likewise much elevated beyond the limit of the eternal snow. Its height, according to Tralles, is 13,718 ft. 16. The same holds good in Oertler- Spitze in Tyrol; whose height is, according to Gebhard, 15,364 ft. 17. The height of Mont Blanc, in. 45 41' N.L., is, according to Saussure, 15,679 ft. The perpetual snow begins, according to the same naturalist, on the north side, in 8324 ft. altitude ; and on the south side, in 8953 ft. 18. The Great St. Bernard, in 45<> 25' N.L., whose highest summit lies 11,062 ft. above the level of the sea, is covered on the summit with perpetual snow. 19. The Puy de Dome near Clermont, in 45 25' N.L., does not reach the snow-line. Its height, ac- cording to Delambre, is 4853 ft. 20. Mont Mezin in the Cevennes, (its height being, according to Adanzon, only 6567,) does not reach the snow-line. 21. Mont d'Or in Auvergne, in 45 N.L., is yet ALTITUDE OF THE EARTH. 9 lower ; its height being, according to Delambre, 6196 ft. 22. The Pic du Midi of the Pyrenees, in 42 45' N.L., penetrates the snow-line; its height being, ac- cording to Ramond, 9640 ft. ; and the line of perpe- tual snow commences on the Pyrenees at 11,180 ft. 23. The Marbore, also a Pyrenean mountain, in 42 25 N. L., extends yet farther into the snow-line; its height being, according to Ramond, 11,190 ft. 24. The same holds good in the Maladetta, another summit of the Pyrenees; which, according to Cordier, is 10,679 ft. 25. Vesuvius, in the vicinity of Naples, in 41 N.L., is, according to Saussure, 3899 ft. ; and therefore remains much below the snow-line. 26. But the highest summit in Southern Europe, Etna, in 2725 / N.L.,is covered with perpetual snow; its height being 10,963ft. 27. Several summits of the Cordilleras, in North America, are higher than the limit of perpetual snow. Besides Mount Elias, there is the Peak of Louisiana, in about 36; which, according to Pike, is 19,803 ft. 28. The Himalayan Mountains in Asia, between the 40th and 30th degree of North Latitude, are un- doubtedly the highest in the world. A peak in 35 of N. L., according to Crawford, is 24,964 high. A 3 10 PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE. Measurements of a more recent date, by Captain Webb, and of which an account was given in the Journal of Science edited at the Royal Institution (Oct. 1818), point out much greater heights. From the boundary of Thibet, Captain Webb measured more than two hundred points of the Himalayan Chain ; the most remarkable of which are : In 30 46' 22"LAT. . . . 24,342ft. 30 17' 59" 24,793 30 21' 52" 27,357 30 12' 15" 24,163 29 59' 34" ...... 24,221. The limit of eternal snow in 30 36' N.L. lies, ac- cording to Webb, at the height of 12,307 ft. Captain Hodgson, who, on the 31st of May 1817, discovered the Sources of the Ganges, is of opinion that the very spot where this river rises from under the snow is 13,754 ft. above the sea : which accords with Webb's account relative to the snow-line. Their height, moreover, coincides with that of the snow-line on the Peak of Teneriffe, on the Atlas Mountains in Africa, and Popocatepetl in Mexico. 29. Lebanon in Asia, in 30 N.L., whose height is 9535 ft., according to La Billadiere, does not reach the snow-line, which lies at an altitude of 9708 ft. ALTITUDE OF THE EARTH. ] 1 30. The Atlas Mountains in Africa, in 32 o N. i,., penetrates the snow-line ; their highest summit being 1378 ft. 31. The Peak of Teneriffe, in 28 17' N. L., does not quite reach the snow-line ; its height being only 12,175ft. 32. The Pic d" Orizaba in North America, in 20 N.L., penetrates the snow-line ; its height being, ac- cording to Humboldt, 17,406 ft. 33. Popocatepetl, in 19 3' N.L. (being, according to Humboldt, 17,678 high), penetrates the snow-line, the height of which is 15,027 ft. 34. MownaRoah,mOw\\y\\ee in the Pacific Ocean, in 19 N.L., is divested of snow during the month of June : its height is, according to King, 15,432 ft. 35. Cayambe in South America, and under the Equator, nearly reaches the snow-line ; its height being, according to Humboldt, 19,535 ft. 36. Pichincha in Quito, likewise under the Equator, approaches the snow-line: its height is 15,974 ft. 37. Chimborazo in Quito, in 1 27' s. L., is covered on its summit, to a great extent, with perpetual snow; its height being, according to Humboldt, 21,464 ft. 38. The Volcano Cotopaxi, to the south-east of Quito, penetrates to a great extent beyond the snow- line ; its height being 18,870 ft. 12 PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE. 39. The Cordilleras in South America, from Chim- borazo to 8 S.L., elevate themselves from 9851 ft. to 11478. Beyond the 8th degree, several summits penetrate into the snow-line, varying in height between 19,000 and 14,000 ft. Many of them are active volcanoes. The Corderillas extend to the 25th degree s. L. Among numerous summits, Descabezado in Chili is particularly remarkable ; its height being, according to Molina, 21,315 ft. 40. The Peak of Otaheite in the Pacific Ocean, in 18 s. L., does not reach the sivow-line ; its height being only 10,230 ft. 41. Finally, Mount Egmont, in the northern part of New Zealand, is represented in 39 25' s. L. Its height, according to Forster, is 15,315 ft. ; and it penetrates considerably into the snow-line. DEPTH OF THE SEA. The depth of the sea is opposed to the elevation of the earth. In the air, a limit is placed to organic life by the perpetual snow-line, beyond which it cannot long exist. Whether in the sea, also, there be depths where no creature is able to live, or whether a boun- dary be assigned to organic life within those depths, cannot be ascertained. It however clearly appears, EXTENSION OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 13 from the observations made by Biot and other Natu- ralists, that fishes, according to their different dispo- sitions, live in different depths of the Ocean. The parallel circles drawn in the sea correspond with the lines parallel to the snow-line : they, however, refer only in part to a well-known condition of life, and in part belong to a probable one. GENERAL EXTENSION OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. I. The vegetable world, according to distinctive cha- racters which may be observed in plants, has been arranged under three grand heads; to each of which a name is assigned, from the peculiarities of seeds and buds. Many plants, especially herbs, shrubs, and trees, bear seed, consisting of a single bud involved in two seed-lobes, Cotyledones ; which, after germination, when the lobes appear above the earth, form two seed-leaves. Seeds of this kind are called Dicotyle- dones ; a name which has been given to the plants themselves, whose seeds are of the above-mentioned description. Other plants bear seeds having a single bud with one seed-lobe: these are called Monocotyle- dones : and the name has likewise been given to the 14 PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE. plants themselves. Of this kind are the grasses and the palms. Plants of the third kind either bear no seeds at all, but, in their stead, buds, as the mushrooms ; or the seeds are quite simple, and comparable only to the buds in the seeds of Dicotyledones. These buds are considered as seeds without seed-leaves, and the plants which produce them are called Acotyledones (having no seed-leaves). Mushrooms, lichens, mosses, ferns, and marine plants, particularly wrak (fucus), and laver (ulva), are of that kind. From a careful comparison of these three kinds of vegetables, it is unquestionably ascertained that the plants without seed-leaves are in the lowest state of vegetable existence : above them are the Monocoty- ledones : and, lastly, the most perfect are the Dicoty- ledones. We may therefore consider these three tribes of plants as presenting three degrees of per- fection. II. It has been fully demonstrated by observation, that each of the foregoing tribes of plants is divisible into several distinct Orders, or natural assemblages ; every Order containing a multitude of plants, which are distinguished, by their own peculiarities, from plants of other Orders. Thus the mushrooms, lichens, EXTENSION OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 15 mosses, ferns, &c., constitute peculiar Orders among the Acotyledones ; the grasses, the grass- lilies, sword- lilies, the lilies generally, asparagus, palms, &c., among the Monocotyledones ; the leguminous, pod- ded, and umbellated plants, &c. among the Dicoty- ledones : each Order being subdivided into Genera, each Genus into Species, and each Species displayed in individual plants. Thus the whole vegetable king- dom may be compared to a tree, dividing itself into branches, twigs, and shoots. III. From remarks hitherto made, the most satisfactory conclusions are drawn, that certain Orders are found in the various portions of the globe, either exclu- sively, or in particular. 1. Although vegetation terminates on the line of perpetual snow in Acotyledones of diminutive size, they however appear in larger growth in temperate and warm climes, and partly assume the shape of more perfect plants, as is seen in the arboreous ferns. 2. Monocotyledones are found of most luxuriant growth and beauty, and in most frequent appearance, towards the Torrid Zone ; impressing, at the level of the sea, at the Equator, their character to the vege- table world, in the palms. 3. Dicotyledones are more proportionably spread 16 PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE. over the surface of the earth : yet of these, herbaceous plants only occur towards the snow-line ; and ar- boreous ones rather grow in warmer countries. IV. In the Picture, the extension of the vegetable king- dom is represented on the northern or left side ; that of the animal kingdom, on the southern or right side. The classes and orders of plants, the genera of the mammalia, birds, amphibia, fishes, moluscae, insects, crustaceae, worms, and zoophytes, are marked by lines which refer to the limit of snow and the Torrid Zone, as far as the special orders approach in their extension, or, on the contrary, recede from them. Where, according to well-known observations, an order or genus peculiarly occurs, the name and the lines are engraved. These lines, when supposed to be moveable radii of a circle, will point out, by their motion, that district within which the organized beings either are found exclusively, or to which they particularly belong. As the world of organized beings, within a certain district in the Equator, is distinguished by a propor- tional and luxurious abundance, the lines also are drawn up to a certain extent, lying around the very point of the Equator ; and which appears to be the EXTENSION OF THE ACOT YLEDONES. 17 centre of organic vigour, from which the quickening rays extend to all parts of the organic world. Few naturalists have as yet, when inquiring into the localities of plants and animals, taken into con^ sideration the respective region of the earth to which each was particularly attached ; and this was most neglected with regard to those plants and animals which, in the Torrid Zone from the level of the sea in ascendant direction to the snow-line, inhabit the different elevations. Humboldt and Bonpland have first shewn the way, by their admirable Picture of the Andes. Many observations ought therefore to be collated, in order to design, in our Picture, the spread- ing of various orders and genera; yet it could some- times be pointed out only at a probable rate : it may therefore happen, that an order or genus is placed either farther from or nearer to the snow-line than they really are in nature. Such deviations, however, will not, we hope, be particularly detrimental to the use of the Picture. EXTENSION OF THE ACOTYLEDONES. 1. All marine plants are Acotyledones ; amongst which the wracks (fad), and the lavers (ulva), are most abundant, and generally diffused. The former, 18 PKTOLE OF ORGANIZED 3f ATCKE. the surface of the sea, producing an appearance MUU- lar to a green meadow; and are therefore called sea- grasses. Their extension cannot be accurately ascer- tained : it appears, however, from different obsenra- towards the poles, they extend beyond thai region where the sow-fine reaches the level of the sea, hut that they grow principally in the seas of wanner cli- mates: their extension is therefore designed asm- creasing towards the Equator. 2. Daring the summer, a green weed grows in fresh water, which gradually IIIIM into xlank threads (eon/erar), or extends to stdnn or star-jellies (tremuOe). As such substances shew the continual growth of plants out of the fluid ele- nent, and as they occur in ponds and ditches in great quantities during the latter part of the autumn and the spring, their extension on the main land is designed from the snow-line to the Torrid Zone; but their native country is the vicinity of the limit of perpetual 3. The structure of Mushrooms (Fungi) essentially coincides with that of the COJI/CTT* and trcmeU* : they grow partly on the leaves and fruits of plants, as well as on putrescent animal substances 5 shewing, EXTENSION OF THE ACOTYLEDONES. 19 in that way, a reviving vegetation, which is closely connected with the decay of vegetable and animal substances ; and resembling, in that way, the green weeds which grow under water. The handsomer mushrooms shoot from the earth, similar to other plants; and are chiefly furnished with a cap, as the flowers are with bells or crowns. The mush- rooms are more numerous in the Temperate than in the Torrid Zone : they chiefly vegetate in the latter part of summer and in the autumn, but dying away on the approach of frost. The line on the Picture has therefore been so drawn, that their native country is shewn to be much nearer to the line of snow than to the Torrid Zone. 4. The Lichens (Lichenes) are found in all parts near the snow-line, being the last signs of the vege- table world ; extending between the snowy plains, be- yond the limit of perpetual snow to the very extreme of cold. In Lapland they are found, according to Wahlenberg, at a height of 500 ft. They are nume- rous at the commencement of the snow-line, impress- ing, even there, their character upon vegetation. They, it is true, spread also to the Torrid Zone ; but are at some distance from the snow-line, withdrawn by a happier vegetation ; maintaining a prepon- derance over all other plants only near the snow-line. 20 PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE. According to such observations, their extension is represented on the Picture. 5. The Liverworts (Hepatica), as to their structure, are between the lichens and mosses ; some of them, for instance the star-lip, having 1 a closer affinity to the mosses; others, as the marsh-liverworts, to the lichens. They chiefly vegetate in the beginning of spring and the latter part of autumn. Their native country, there- fore, lies between that of the lichens and the mosses. 6. The Mosses do not penetrate so far into the snow-line as the lichens. They are closer allied to the other plants with regard to their structure, but, according to general observations, very plentiful in those parts where flower-bearing plants seldom occur. In the Torrid Zone, they vegetate only in marshy damp spots, growing chiefly in the autumn and spring: accordingly, their native country is un- doubtedly in the neighbourhood of the snow-line. 7. Between the mosses and ferns is the genus of Club-Moss (Lycopodium) ; resembling the mosses with regard to their growth, but vegetating like the ferns, particularly during the summer ; bearing two valved capsules, in spikes ; and, even in that view, ap- proaching those ferns whose capsules are in the spikes; as, for instance, the genus of Flowering-Fern (Osmunda L.). EXTENSION OF THE ACOTYLEDONES. 21 8. The native country of the Ferns lies in the be- ginning of the Torrid Zone. They are not however so exclusively found in that part of the world as the palms are, which, under the perpendicular rays of the sun, at the level of the sea, acquire the utmost luxu- riance. Their native country lies, according to Hum- boldt and Bonpland, in a pendent line above that of the palms; where they are arboreous, resembling the palms in their exterior shape : whereas, in the Tem- perate and Frigid Zones, they are herbaceous, vege- tating only in summer. According to Crantz, only four species of ferns are common to Greenland j and some species of them (Pteris crispa and Pteris arch- angelica) remain, according to Wahleriberg, 1400 ft. below the snow-line. Accordingly, the extension of these plants is so represented, that the Tropical Regions appear as their native country. 9. The order of Dutch Rushes (Equisetacece) is par. ticular to the Frigid and Temperate Zones, although their native country cannot be accurately ascertained. In consequence of their being cryptogamic plants, they obtain a very low degree of perfection : shewing however, in their membraneous structure, and in the spikes (wherein they bear the buds of fructification), a degree of perfection that becomes real in the grasses. According to these circumstances, the native country 22 PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE. of the grasses may be considered as that of these plants. According to Cranz, Equisetum arvense is the only one met with in Greenland. 10. The Palm Ferns in the Torrid Zone, of which only two species, Zamia and Cycas, are as yet known, bear a resemblance to the Equisetaceae in the Tem- perate Zones, in the rudiments of their blossom. Their native country is that of the arboreous ferns. 11. Of plants without seed-leaves, the Naiades come nearest to the Monocotyledones. The genera of the Duck-Meat (Lemnd), the Horn-Wort (Ceratophyl- lum), the Milfoil (Myriophyllum), and the Chara, are common inhabitants of fresh water in the Temperate Zone. Of the Acotyledones, these only bear some, but very few, rudiments of flowers. According to their character, as being water-plants, and what observa- tion of their extension furnishes, the Temperate Zone must be regarded as their native country. OF THE MONOCOTYLEDONES. 1. Of all Monocotyledones, and even of all flowering plants, the grasses extend nearest to the snow-line. Grassy plains are found, however, in the Torrid, Tem- perate, and Frigid Zones, on this side of the region in which lichens prevail. Commencing in that re- gion where they characterize the vegetable world, they extend themselves in one way to the greatest MONOCOTYLEDON ES. 23 heat ; and, in the opposite, to the vicinity of the snow : losing their character, however, towards the Torrid Zone, in handsomer and more luxuriant plants. In the Torrid Zone, the appearance of some grasses, for instance the bamboo, approaches that of the palms, both in their beauty and size j and the time of their growth and blossoming accords with that local situa- tion. According to these observations, the line of the grasses has been drawn from the snow-line to the Torrid Zone, and the prevalence of the grasses on this side of the limit pointed out. 2. In the same way as the Monocotyledones termi- nate at the snow-line in grasses, they become conspi- cuous in the Torrid Zone by the luxuriant magnifi- cence of the palms and plantain- trees. The palms and plantains, from their structure, belong peculiarly to the scorching sun-beams of the Torrid Zone ; and scarcely extend to neighbouring parts in the Tempe- rate Zones, either in perpendicular or horizontal direction. The wax-palm is found on Chimborazo, as high as 2800ft.; and the dwarf-palm (Chamarops humilis) in the southern part of Europe, growing only in the neighbourhood of the sea-coast The line indicating the locality of this order of plants has therefore been drawn from the Torrid Zone to the middle of the inhabitable part of the globe. 24 PICTURE OF ORGANIZED NATURE. 3. The Plantain-trees (for instance, the Figs of Paradise, Musce), are, as to their luxuriant growth, size of leaves, and colour, superior to the palms, but much more confined to the Torrid Zone. 4. The Order of the Reed (Cann