A most extensive and delightful field of observation presents itself to us in the vegetable bodies with which the surface of the land, and even the depths of the ocean, are so profusely furnished. The various regions of the globe are not less characterized by the form and grouping of the plants which have been allotted to them, than by the comparative activity of their vegetating power. The wastes of Europe, covered by ling, heaths, rushes, and sedges, exhibit little change of aspect under the variations of temperature and the revolutions of the year; while the plains of Venezuela, which during the drought are covered with a layer of sand, and present only a few withered palms scattered along the margins of muddy pools, are converted in the rainy season into an ocean of luxuriant vegetation. In the equinoctial regions of the globe, palms, arborescent ferns, and a multitude of magnificent trees, intertwined with flowering lianas hanging in festoons, form themselves into impenetrable forests, whereas the frigid regions of the arctic circle hardly produce plants a foot in height. The solemn and stately pines of the north of Europe have a very different aspect from the slender-twigged beeches and chestnuts of its temperate regions, or the laurels and fan-palms of its southern shores. Viewed in relation to their productions, the gelid regions of the globe are not confined to the circumpolar zone, but extend along the summits of the lofty mountains, following the line of perennial snow, which rises from the level of the sea, in Greenland and Spitzbergen, to the height of 14,000 feet in the Andes. These steril tracts nourish only a few species of plants, although the individuals belonging to them are frequently numerous. In the valleys, and on the southern slopes, no sooner has the returning heat of summer melted the snow, than a beautiful carpeting of verdure, diversified by flowers of various tints, spreads over the soil, displaying an astonishing rapidity of development, while the rocks in many places appear covered with cryptogamic plants. Besides mosses, lichens, and other inferior tribes, multitudes of ferns make their appearance. Grasses and creeping dicotyledonous plants are fully matured; and a rich pasturage affords, during the warm season, abundant nourishment to herbivorous animals. Some trees of small size also appear here and there, or even form themselves into thickets and woods. But, in general, the vegetation of these dreary regions, placed on the limits of the habitable earth, is characterized by a paucity of species and a stunted growth.