47 



taking other influences into account also, if we would 

 desire to recognize anything like design and adaptation 

 (I will hardly call it cause and effect) between the con- 

 tinent and the thing contained. It is almost needless to 

 add, that there are many elements to be considered, 

 such as local atmospheric conditions, excess or deficiency 

 of electricity, superabundant moisture, diminished light, 

 and the geological composition of the soil, before we 

 can hope either to appreciate zoological phenomena as a 

 whole, or to reconcile the apparent inconsistencies which 

 they are accustomed to display. 



Mr. Darwin, to whom we are indebted for so much 

 valuable information concerning the natural history of 

 various portions of the world, in his notes on Tierra del 

 Fuego, observes : " Beetles occur in very small num- 

 bers ; it was long before I could believe that a country 

 as large as Scotland, covered with vegetable productions 

 and with a variety of stations, could be so unproductive. 

 The few which I found were alpine species of Harpalidcs 

 and Heteromera, living beneath stones. The vegetable- 

 feeding Chrysomelidce, so eminently characteristic of the 

 tropics, are here almost entirely absent. I saw very few 

 flies, butterflies, or bees, and no crickets or Orthoptera. 

 In the pools of water I found but few aquatic beetles. 

 I have already contrasted the climate as well as the 

 general appearance of Tierra del Fuego with that of 

 Patagonia ; and the difference is strongly exemplified in 

 the entomology. I do not believe they have one species 

 in common ; certainly the general character of the 



