The chief characteristic of the Amazonian forest, aside from its magnitude, is the great diversity of genera and species. In the northern temperate zone we find forests of a single species, others of three or four species; in this great tropical forest the habit of growth is solitary and an acre of ground will contain hundreds of species—palms, myrtles, acacias, mimosas, cecropias, euphorbias, malvaceas, laurels, cedrellas, bignonias, bombaceas, apocyneas, malpigias, lecythises, swartzias, &c.

Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee:

Mae, born in Fujhou in the Fujian Province in China, and her daughter Michelle, born in the United States, both have high values on quantitative measures of cultural socialization.

I saw them walking from a distance, their bodies strangely angular in the dawn light.