Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-10-22
dDbllo,I. Statesr.I1'I;a:II.rIit, d
and Animal Life I'M the
lIf Amazon Regions. .9rsFg
LECTURE BY PRoFEssSR AGAssIz.
EErom tho Boston Post, Oct. III.

audience was equal in point OF numbers TO
that of last week, and an even greater num- f.
ber of literati and distinguished citizens
were present. cas .aaq ,a1..
The lecturer remarked in opening thatln
developing his theme he labored nnder tWo-
fold dificulties-the extraordinary diver
sity of living beings that peoped that re-
gion, which would require hours and days
to describe, and then the ihpossibility of
presenting an image of the objects by q
mere enumeration. The only means, there
fore would be by comparison. with that
which surrounds us. The prominent diff
ference between tropical and temperate
vegetation is that aid over the North ana
even warmer parts Of the temperate zone,
plants of the same kind are gathered To-
gether in large numbers so as slngly 10 Gov
erextcnsive areas. Hence the monQtonous
character of our beautiful forests and mead
ows when compared with the luxurious
vegetation of tropical regions. Here there
is congregation of naples oaks, pines, &c,
mixed together here and there. 'lntropical
regions the most diversified plants grow
side by side. No grassy plains exist there,
but a variety of the most Heterogeneous
plants are gathered together to cover the
surface of the ground. Here we
have frequent alienation of open
ground. Not so there. Nowhere Is
vegetation SO dense nowhere are
the forests SO grand; nowhere the variety
Of plants so great as in the valley OF the
Amazon. Brazil has been looked upon as
fine paradise of vegetation, and the variety
of species from those regions ex-
ceeds all which have been collect.
ed from equal surfaces of other parts OF
the earth. 1t is the richness and profuslon,
bounty of exquisite variety, splendor OF
color and size and colossal dimensions OF
the trees which impress the. visitor at first,
and the Longer one dwells among them the
greater they grow upon the mind. Inc
Professor, after general remarks, of which
the above is q brief synopsis, proceeded 10
compare plants of the temperate zone Oh
the family of which clover, peas, beans, &c,
are members, hardly ever reaching the di-
mensiOns of the shrub here, with the same
family in tue forests of the Amazon, where
it is one of the most conspicuous and repre-,
sented by stupendous trees OF many varie--
ties remarkable for their beauty and ele-
gance of foliage. In this connectiom re+
marks were made upon the great question
which divides naturalistsas to whether this
diversity has grown ont. .ot something
| which preceded it or whether it was the
| work of mind. This question was presented
| that there might be seen the, extraordinary
range, of considerations his investigations
| lead him to, and Indifferent as the subjects
| themselves might be, how important they
| were, even with reference to our creed,
4 to our moral condition, and to our. intel
4 lpctual culture. To give another illustra-
/ tion of this branch of the subject, what is
| called the rose family of the Northern
| regions was pared with that other
family knownas the myrtle family. Most
| of our fruit trees, apple,Ipears ounce
| cherries, plums, apricOts &C., belong to
| the rose family, and we have also herba-
Iceous plants of this family, such as the
rose bush, strawberries; SC. The speaker
announced himself as not believing in the
theory of development, and argued that II
the ideas of some naturalists are true, II the
| physical influence. under which thsfe
! things grow could in any measure be the
cause of this diversity, we should have uni
| form or monotOnous causes producing di-
versity. We should have one cause pro-
ducng different results. He could not see
| how those who advocate this transmuta-
tion of one kind of being into another,
had yet shown single instance in
which it may have been accomplished
The myrtle takes the place, as it were, in
the tropics, of rose plants in. the TEN
perate zone. The wonderful diversity
of the myrtle family was described. in
some otmits many forms OF VeSetatlon'
among oChers GhaG SHOWN as Cile Dt li
nut tree OF colossai dimensions, ol ,WIiIGll ii1
the frule is larger ghan amanS heau. ln9 =
green OF the tropics was inci9eheally sIateu
to be dark ana deeply iharkeu' E0l'S ar
mosteven to black, purple or redalSh Ilnge,
and yet essentially green. AhoIHer iau1lly
like our Camella Jap9hica was was eescTIoeu !ea AZ
y some length ana an interesting picture
|. given OF parasites when iasteh upon trees
ike the mlstletoe, ana nnally eXCeruiinaCe
v, Nst trees. Another marKol pecultariCy vi
the vegetation OF Inese !2rests ls CIe Illliu-
mer, Nple quantlty Oh CraiiIag, riYep: peiVns
ing a great variety Oh lamillSs. -, Mo?C 81
pine al 1ples grow as ParasiIes, anu CleIe Is
such 'arlety Oh Che iaIeer as we nave MI nv
conceptio n OF IN our temperate zone. n,tlle
palm FAM " IS not only Gne most sCr!klIS
feature in IT, eNegeGaole Worlu Oh tle trop-
les, but the m oSI uselll, from which t4e ln-
habitants of Il eSe regions MAKE tnelC nam
mocks, build tn, 1T mus; cover theIr HOUSES US
and derive their 900. Inc variety OF thlS
family is very larg 9, the 6lVerslty OF loilage
and fruit being won, Neriul. 1here Is among
others, a variety whic 4 may De coilPareu
to cherries, plumbs, TaPesS, lpiueoelIteS,
sc. The laws OF natnra ! growLu are iosC
beautifully eXemplifed ,py Cne , various
kinds of palms. Had got. lic arclilteGCuIe
sprung from these regions, L. nI'SnS NAYS
been very different from WI WC u now Is
Passing to the second head o. we Iliene'
the speaker remarked that it was idie TO as az
tempt to give general idea Of t, Ne WuoIe
animal world in such an extensive lacs OF
land, in quarter of an hour. In IT, Ne nnO. lrss