The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1878-07-03
Vegetable and Animal Life In the
TrOpicss

In regard to the vegetation Of the
tropics Mr.. Wallace in his newly pub
lished work, "Tropical Nature" finds
that although the primeval forests of the
equatorial zone are grand and over
whelming by their vastness, and by the
display of force of development rarely
or never witnessed in temperate climates,
yet the comparative scarcity of flowers
will prove surprising, and the absence
of animal life for great distances will
also impress the traveller with astonish-
ment. Hardly does the traveller see the
same tree repeated in close neighbor-
hood; he goes toward one like the tree
he is seeking, but it proves on examina-
tion to be distinct. But if flowers and
animals are few and far between, insects
are not; butterflies especially are bril-
liant features in the tropical landscape.
The largest and showiest are those
which move in the most leisurely man.
ner; they owe both the preservation of
their colors and the slowness of their
fight to immunity from the attack of
birds and beasts. These will not eat
them. Other kinds that are not dis
tasteful mimic exactly the coloring of
the uneatable butterflies, and thus pro-
tect themselves. Wasps, ants and bees
furnish an extraordinary variety both as
to appearance and habits; leaf insects
and stick insects copy leaves and twigs
so exactly that they deceive birds. The
brilliant colors of the birds are only
recognized after long search for them
among the apparently deserted woods,
the most noticeable and most abundant
belonging to the parrot, pigeon and
woodpecker families. Next to birds,
and perhaps, to the less observant eye,
even before them, the abundance and
variety of reptiles form the chief charac-
teristic of tropical nature. Lizards are
by far the most abundant in individuals,
and the most conspicuous; they consti.
tute one of the first attractions to the
visitor from colder lands. They literally
swarm everywhere. Snakes are much !
less prevalent. Speaking of monkeys,
Mr.. Wallace asserts that the prehensile |
tails of the American varieties are used |
as fifth hand, ''and is constantly used !
to pick up small objects from the
ground" He also confirms the old |
stories about vampire bats. Several spe-
cies are blood suckers, and abound in
most parts of tropical America, being
plentiful in the Amazon Val
ley. Their carnivorous propenslties
were once discredited, but are too we'll
Horses and cattle are
often bitten and are found in the morning
covered with blood; repeated attacks
weaken and ultimately destroy them.
Some persons are especially subject to
the attacks of these bats, and as native
huts are never sufficiently closed to keep
them out, these unfortunate individuals
are obliged to sleep muf1ed up in order
to avoid being made seriously i'll, or
even losing their lives. The exact man.
ner in which the attack is made is not |
positively known, as the sufferer never |
feels the wounds. Mr.. Wallace states |
that he himself was once bitten on the |
toe, which was found bleeding in the
morning from a small round hole, from
stopped. On another occasion, when his
feet were carefully covered up, he was Bit
ten on the tip of the nose, only awaking
to find his face streaming with blood.
The motion of the wings fans the sleep
er into a deeper slumber, and renders
him insensible to the gentle abrasion of
the skin, either by tooth or tongue.
This ultimately forms a minute hole, the |
blood flowing from which is sucked or |
Tapped up by the lowering vampire.
The largest South American bats, hav-
ing wings from two to two and half |
feet in expanse, are fruit-eaters, the
true blooded suckers being small, or
medium size, and varying in color in
different localities. They belong to the
genus PhyLLOstOnaG, and have tongue
with horny papille at the end; it is
probably by means of this that they
abrade the skin .and produce a small
round wound.