. The Andes and the Amazon :|bor across the continent of South America. hler. Flowers are nearly confined to the edges of the denseforest, the banks of the rivers and lagunes. There are agreater number of species under the equator, but we havebrighter colors in the temperate zone. There is grand-eur and sublimity in the tropical forest (wrote Wallace, aft-er four years of observation), but little of beauty or bril-liancy of color. Perhaps the finest example of inflorescencein the world is seen in the Victoria Regia, the magnifi-cent water-lily discovered by Schomberg in 1837. Itinhabits the tr
. The Andes and the Amazon :|bor across the continent of South America. hler. Flowers are nearly confined to the edges of the denseforest, the banks of the rivers and lagunes. There are agreater number of species under the equator, but we havebrighter colors in the temperate zone. There is grand-eur and sublimity in the tropical forest (wrote Wallace, aft-er four years of observation), but little of beauty or bril-liancy of color. Perhaps the finest example of inflorescencein the world is seen in the Victoria Regia, the magnifi-cent water-lily discovered by Schomberg in 1837. Itinhabits the tranquil waters of the shallow lakes whichborder the Amazon. The leaves are from fifteen to eight-een feet in circumference, and will bear up a child twelveyears old; the upper part is dark, glossy green, the underside violet or crimson. The flowers are a foot in diameter,at first pure white, passing, in twenty-four hours, throughsuccessive hues from rose to bright red. This queen ofwater-plants was dedicated to the Queen whose empire isnever at once shrouded in Coca-plant Zoology of the Amazon. 295 CHAPTEE XX. Life within the Great River.—Fishes.—Alligators.—Turtles.—Porpoisesand Manatis. The Amazon is a crowded aquarium, holding represent-atives of every zoological class—infusoria, hydras, fresh-water shells (chiefly Ampullaria, Melania, and Unios),aquatic beetles (belonging mostly to new genera), fishes,reptiles, water birds, and cetaceans. The abundance andvariety of fishes are extraordinary; so also are the spe-cies. This great river is a peculiar ichthyic province, andeach part has its characteristics. According to Agassiz,the whole river, as well as its tributaries, is brohen upinto numerous distinct fauna.* The pirarucii, or red-fish (the Sudis gigas of science), is at once the largest,most common, and most useful fish. The Peruvian In-dians call it payshi. It is a powerful fish, often measur-ing eight feet in length and five in girth, clad in an orna-me
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