565. The Date-Palm is a member of the palm family, which | ish, refreshing liquor. When the nut is gathered, a formation grows chiefly in the tropics. From their noble and stately of albumen takes place upon the inside of the shell, producing appearance, palms have been called by Linnæus "the princes that white, firm, pleasant-tasted, but rather indigestible subof the vegetable kingdom." Wine, oil, flax, flour, sugar, and stance which is called the kernel of the nut. A tree generally salt, says Humboldt, are the produce of this tribe; to which furnishes about 100 nuts. Von Martius adds thread, utensils, weapons, food, and habitations. The cultivation of the date-palm is an object of high importance in the countries of the East. In the interior of Barbary, in Egypt, in the drier districts of Syria, and in Arabia, it is almost the sole object of culture. It is a slow-growing tree, and it has been estimated that the age of one sixty feet high can not be less than 300 years. It is so abundant, and so unmixed with anything else that can be considered as a tree in the country between the States of Barbary and the Desert, that this region is designated the Land of Dates (Belad-el-Jareed). 566. The Banana or Plantain, which yields a great amount of nutritious substance, is a native of the southern portion of the Asiatic continent, but has been transplanted into the Indian Archipelago and Africa, and has also found its way into the tropical parts of the New World. The fruits weigh, altogether, about 70 or 80 pounds, and the same space which will Bear 1,000 pounds of potatoes, brings forth, in a much shorter time, 44,000 pounds of bananas; and if we take account of the nutritious matter which this fruit contains, a surface which, sown with wheat, feeds one man, when planted with bananas affords sustenance for twenty-five. 567. The Cocoa-nut Palm also belongs to inter-tropical climes, flourishing especially on islands and near the sea-shores. It is cultivated nowhere só extensively as in the islands of Ceylon, Sumatra, and Java. This tree grows to the average height of eighty feet. The nuts hang in clusters of a dozen each on the top of the tree. The fruit consists externally of strong, tough, stringy filaments resembling coarse oakum, which is formed into coir, and extensively used in the East for making cordage. Inclosed within this fibrous mass is the shell, of great firmness, and used for many domestic purposes. While the nut is green, the whole hollow of the shell is filled with an agreeable, sweet Questions-565 What is said of the palm family of plants? What do they produce? What is remarked respecting the cultivation of the date-palm ? 566. The banana or plantain? Its productiveness? 567 The cocoa-nut palm? 568. The Bread-fruit Tree is distributed generally among the Friendly, the Society, and the Caroline Islands. The tree is beautiful as well as useful, and rises to the height of about forty feet; when full grown it is from a foot to fifteen inches in diameter. The fruit is green, heart-shaped, about nine inches long, and equaling a large melon in size. The nuts, when roasted, are said to be as excellent as the best chestnuts, but it is principally for the fleshy receptacle or pulp that it is valued.. When roasted it is soft, tender, and white, resembling the crumb of a loaf, but it must be eaten new or it becomes hard. Others compare the flavor to that of a roasted potato. Such is the abundance of the fruit, that two or three trees will suffice for a man's yearly supply. 569. The Potato is a native of Chile, and was first introduced into Britain from Virginia, by Sir Walter Raleigh, in 1586. Of all the vegetable productions especially adapted for the sustenance of man it has the widest range, extending, according to Humboldt, from the northern extremity of Africa to Labrador, Iceland, and Lapland. In tropical regions an elevation of 4,000 feet is necessary for its growth. 570. The Cassava or Manioc is a shrub, a native of Brazil. The fleshy roots of this plant yield a nutritious substance, from which we obtain our tapioca. This latter article is a kind of starch, and is capable of being made into excellent puddings; it is a very wholesome food for children, and for persons whose digestive organs are feeble. A considerable quantity of this preparation is exported annually from Brazil to the United States. Arrow-Root, which forms a pleasant and useful aliment for children and invalids, is much cultivated both for doImestic use and for exportation in the West India Islands, Surinam, and in some parts of Hindoostan. It is so named from the property it is said to possess of being an antidote to the poisoned arrows of the Indians. 571. Sugar-Cane. The range of this plant may be said to extend to all the regions of the torrid zone. In countries where the mean temperature is not less than 64°, it extends to latitude 30° on each side of the equator in the New World, and to about latitude 35° or 36° in the Old. The native country of the sugar-cane chiefly cultivated is China; wild sugarcane was found growing in many parts of America, on the discovery of the New World. The cultivated sugar-cane was conveyed to Arabia, Nubia, Egypt, and Ethiopia, where it became an object of extensive tillage. Early in the fifteenth century it first appeared in Europe. Shortly after the discovery of the New World by Columbus, the plant was conveyed to Hayti and Brazil, from which latter country it gradually spread through the islands of the West Indies and the southern part of the United States. 572. Coffee. This bush or tree is a native of the Ethiopian highlands of Africa, whence it has been introduced into Arabia, the East and West Indian Islands, Surinam, Cayenne, and Questions.-568. The bread-fruit tree. Describe the fruit 569. The potato? 570. The cassava or manioc? Arrow-root? 571. Sugar-cane? Its native country? Into what regions was the cultivated sugar-cane successively introduced? 572. Coffee? 573. Tea consists of the dried leaves of the tea tree, which is indigenous to China and Japan. It was first imported by the Dutch in 1610, and was brought into England in 1666. "The tea country" in China is situated on the eastern side between the 30th and 33d parallel of north latitude. A species of holly, called Paraguay Tea, grows spontaneously in the forests of Paraguay, and yields a beverage called Maté in Brazil. 574. The Vine comes to perfection in Europe as far north as latitude 50° or 520, but its profitable culture does not extend much beyond latitude 480,-the best wines being produced between the 30° and 45° north latitude. Its range in America is much more limited, a difference of 10° occurring between its limits in the Old and in the New World. The Fig is the fruit of a small tree with broad leaves. It is produced in India, Turkey, Greece, France, Spain, Italy, and northern Africa; but the best figs come from Turkey. The Cocoa, or Chocolate tree, grows spontaneously in several of the countries of tropical America; its fruit resembles a cucumber, the seeds of which furnish a substance from which chocolate is prepared. 575. THE animal kingdom is supposed to comprehend not less than 250,000 distinct species, of which, however, an immense proportion belong to the insect class. Its members are arranged in four grand divisions, namely: 1. Vertebrated animals. 2. Molluscous animals. 3. Articulated animals. 4. Radiated animals. 576. Vertebrated animals are those which have a vertebral column, or back-bone. This department is subdivided into four classes: 1. Mammalia, or animals which suckle their young. 2. Birds. 3. Reptiles. 4. Fishes. 577. Mammalia, or the mammiferous class, stand at the head of the animal creation, and are distributed into eight orders-besides man, who forms a distinct order, termed Bimana (two-handed). Though they differ vastly in appearance and habit, they nevertheless correspond in one particular, that of suckling their young. The eight orders, with some of their types, are as follows: 1. Quadrumana (four-handed),-monkeys, apes. 2. Carnivora (flesh-eaters),-cat, hyena, lion, bear, civet, glutton, mole. 3. Marsupialia (pouched),-opossum, kangaroo, wombat. 4. Rodentia (gnaw Questions.-578. Tea? Paraguay tea? 574. The vine? Fig? The cocoa or chocolate tree? 575. How many distinct species is the animal kingdom supposed to comprehend? Into what four grand divisions are its members arranged? 576. What are the vertebrated animals? How is this department subdivided? 577. What is said of the mammalia? ers), beaver, porcupine, squirrel. 5. Edentata (toothless),sloth, armadillo, ornithorynchus. 6. Pachydermata (thickskinned),-elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, zebra, tapir, horse, ass, and hog. 7. Ruminantia (chewing the cud), - camel, ox, goat, sheep, deer, antelope, giraffe. 8. Cetacea (be. longing to whales), -- whale, dolphin, narwhal, seal, porpoise. 578. Birds are distributed into the following six orders: 1. Rapaces-Birds of prey; 2. Scansores-Climbers; 3. Oscines -Songsters; 4. Gallinaceae-Henlike birds (gallina, a hen); 5. Grallatores-Waders; 6. Natatores-Swimmers. The known number of species is upward of 6,000. 579. Reptiles are distributed into the following four orders, viz. 1. Chelonia (Tortoises); 2. Sauria (Lizards); 3. Ophidia (Serpents); 4. Batrachia (Frogs). 580. Molluscous, or soft-bodied animals, are those which have no bones, but whose muscles are attached to a soft skin, which is inclosed, with few exceptions, in a hard case or shell. In this department there are three classes: 1. Those which have their heads furnished with feet, as the cuttle-fish, nautilus, etc. 2. Those creeping on the stomach,-the slug, snail, limpet, and whelk. 3. Headless, as the oyster, muscle. 581. Articulated animals are those in which the body is divided into joints or rings, sometimes hard and sometimes soft, which supply the place of a skeleton; this department consists of four classes: 1. Annelides, or ringed worms, as earthworms and leeches. 2. Crustacea, animals covered with a hard crust, as crabs, lobsters, and shrimps. 3. Insecta, of various families, as flies, bees, wasps, and butterflies. Questions.-Into what eight orders are they divided? 578. Into what six orders are birds distributed? 579. Into what four are reptiles? 580. What are molluscous or soft-bodied animals? What six classes does this department include? 5-1. What are articulated animals? Of how many, and what, classes does this department consist? 582. Radiated animals are so called because they have their organs arranged like rays proceeding from a center: they are also called zoophytes or animal plants, from their resemblance to some families of vegetable forms. This department contains three classes, which include star-fishes, seaurchins, sea-nettles, jelly-fishes, corals, madrepores, infusoria, and microscopic animals. LESSON V. DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. 583. ANIMALS exhibit a wonderful diversity in their organizations, from the gigantic forms of the elephant and whale to the atom so minute that the strongest magnifying-glass is required to detect its individual existence. By the use of the microscope it is ascertained that every leaf of the forest, flower of the garden, and drop of water teems with myriads of living beings, utterly inappreciable by the unaided senses of man, yet perfectly organized according to their grade. The variety of form, size, strength, and uses, found among animals, with their adaptation to every existing climate and soil, are evidences of the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator; for, while some beasts of prey with poisonous reptiles, and mischievous insects, are only scourges to the human race, the greater number of the animal tribes are subject to the control of man, and contribute essentially to his subsistence and comfort. 584. It is in the regions within the tropics that we find animal life, like vegetable existence, most intensely developed, whether we consider the number of individual, or of species, or the qualities of size and strength. The coral-forming tribes, which belong to the lowest or radiated department, are chiefly confined to those parts of the ocean which lie in the torrid zone. (For an account of the structures of these animals, see Lesson V., Part I.) Of the molluscous kind, marine shell-fish of unimportant size and appearance in cold latitudes become larger and finer on approaching the equatorial seas. Among articulated animals, the arachnidæ (spiders and scorpions) attain an enormous size in the torrid zone; the butterflies are magnificent; and the insect class, in general, occur in such numbers as frequently to become formidable, laying waste the earth, and driving nations before them. The termites, or white ants of Questions.-ES2. Why are radiated animals so calied? By what other names are they also called? What animals are included in this class? 583. What is said of the diversity in the organization of animals? 584. Where is animal life most intensely developed ? What is said of the coral-forming tribes? Of the molluscous kind? Of the articulated annnals? India and Africa, erect pyramids of clay to the height of ten or twelve feet, sufficiently compact to sustain the weight of several men,-far more wonderful works, in proportion to the size of the builders, than the pyramids of Egypt. 585. No part of the world is so remarkable for the profusion of insect life as the regions of the Orinoco, and other great rivers of tropical America. Humboldt informs us that at no season of the year, at no hour of the day or night, can rest be found there, and that whole districts in the upper Orinoco are deserted on account of these insects. Different species follow one another with such precision that the time of day or night may be known accurately from their humming noise, and from the different sensations of pain which the different poisons produce. The only respite is the interval of a few minutes between the departure of one gang and the arrival of their successors, for the species do not mix. On some parts of the Orinoco the air is one dense cloud of poisonous insects to the height of 20 feet. 586. Among vertebrated animals, the reptiles are especially numerous and formidable in this zone,-as the crocodile of Africa, the gavial of India, and the alligator of America,—and the serpent tribe, some distinguished by their prodigious length and power, the python of India, and the boa of America, and others of smaller proportions, armed with a poison of peculiar deadliness, the hooded snake of Asia, the cerastes of Africa, and the yellow viper of America. The birds here are of the most beautiful forms, splendid colors, and largest dimensions, as the graceful birds of Paradise, inhabiting New Guinea; the parrot tribe of Brazil, the ostrich of Africa, and the cassowary of Australia. The mammiferous quadrupeds are likewise found, in tropical regions, in the greatest variety, including the most colossal, the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and giraffe; and the most sanguinary, the lion, tiger, leopard, panther, ounce, hyena, puma, and jaguar. BOA CONSTRICTOR. 587. The animal tribes of the temperate and cold regions are, with a few exceptions, distinguished for their positive utility to man. Advancing from the equator toward the pole, they are found, as a general rule, gradually to diminish in number, magnitude, and ferocity. The insects of temperate regions are much smaller than their tropical fellows, and except in the hottest parts of the year, and in marshy localities, they produce little inconvenience. The great voracious reptiles totally disappear, and the venomous serpents are few and upon a smaller scale. The birds of two orders, swimmers and waders, chiefly subsisting on fish, increase in numbers with distance from the equator; the songsters also have more melodious notes in temperate than in tropical countries; but all the varieties are marked with greater simplicity of coloring. [CONTINUED ON PAGE 81] Questions.-585. Profusion of insect life in tropical countries? 586. What is sail of the vertebrated animals of tropical regions? Examples Examples of large mammiferous quadrupeds? 587. For what are the animal tribes of the temperate and cold regions distinguished? The insects of these regions? The reptiles? The birds? What is said of their colors? QUESTIONS ON THE MAP. DISTRIBUTION OF MAMMALIA. WHAT noted cetaceous animals abound in the arctic seas? What species of ox inhabits the northern lowlands of America What huge species of bear, noted for its ferocity, is confined animals of the horse genus are confined to nearly the same range as the elephant of Africa? Ans. Z-a, d-w. What stately ruminating animal is likewise limited to this range? Ans. G-e. What animals of the horse and ox genera belong to the tem- Does there appear to be an unusual number of large herbiv- What fierce carnivorous animal is confined to central and What part of Asia and Africa does the jackal inhabit? What animal of the ox genus abounds in the interior plains ica and the southern half of North America? Ans. P-a. By What four species of ruminating animals constituting a dis- In the middle and southern temperate regions of what grand what other names is the puma known? Ans. Cougar, panther, and What fierce carnivorous animal is found in most parts of Do large animals appear to be as common on the Western Is the range of the monkey tribes limited to the warm re- What genus of quadrumana is especially characteristic of In what peninsula and large island of the East Indies is the What of the quadrupeds of Polynesia? DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS. The arctic coasts and the northern borders of the Atlantio The district of what tiny and beautiful bird comprises South What gallinaceous bird, now extensively domesticated, has The district of what member of the vulture family, noted as Below the northern limit of what remarkable family of birds The southern half of Europe, with the neighboring parts of The southern half of Asia, except west of the Persian Gulf |