Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1861 edition. Excerpt: ... (without enumerating many smaller ones), namely, 2,000 from ten trees at Limon, and 500 from five trees at San Antonio. Good capsules contain 40 seeds each, --in some I have counted 42, --so that I calculated I had (in round numbers) at least 100,000 well-ripened and well-dried seeds. Some small turgid (almost globose) capsules contained only from two to four seeds, as large and ripe as any in the largest capsules, while other capsules of the ordinary length, but slender, proved to contain only abortive seeds and were accordingly rejected in the drying. Had the month of July been as sunny as it is said usually to be, many more capsules would doubtless have ripened; as it was, only about one flower in ten produced ripe seeds. I had scarcely finished drying my seeds at Tabacal, when I received the welcome intelligence that the army of General Flores had obtained possession of Guayaquil, and that the communication between the coast and the interior was re-opened. I therefore resolved to proceed to Guayaquil, and despatch from thence a portion of my seeds by the first opportunity. I started from Tabacal on September 28th. The road thence to Guayaquil follows the right bank of the river, as far as to where the latter is confined to a deep chasm (to avoid which some rough ground has to be climbed), and then crosses to the left bank. The descent is really very gradual, but seems more steep than it really is, because the river tosses and foams among the huge stones which impede its course. As we descended, it was interesting to mark the gradual transition to the vegetation of the hot region. Leguminous trees, so scarce in the hills, began to be frequent. A bombaceous tree (Chorisice, sp.) here and there adorned the forest with its numerous purple.