A Trip to Tucuman 283 



among them, and likewise syphilis. The latter disease 

 is very prevalent in South America, and according to 

 the opinion of some learned authors the disease was 

 originally imported into Europe from South America. 

 Whatever may have been the point of its origin, it is, 

 according to the opinion of those most competent to 

 express themselves upon the subject, unfortunately 

 very common in the southern continent. 



The days I had allowed myself for my visit to Tucu- 

 man came all too quickly to an end. I would gladly 

 have stayed longer, and pushed on to Salta and Jujuy, 

 and thence invaded Bolivia, and paid a call in passing 

 to a young friend of mine, who has for many years past 

 been sending me the birds and insects of the latter 

 country. But I knew I had gone as far as I dared to go 

 with the time at my command, and therefore on the 

 night of October 2Oth boarded the train for my return 

 to Buenos Aires. By doing this I was enabled to see 

 by the light of day that part of the country through 

 which I had passed in the night on coming up. The 

 clear division between the different vegetational zones 

 through which we passed was most interesting. When 

 I awoke on the morning of the 2ist we were still in the 

 region of the giant cacti and the thorny undergrowths 

 of the semi-arid belt. We soon passed beyond this into 

 a tract which still retains much of the primitive vegeta- 

 tion of the pampas. It was characterized by growths of 

 tall, harsh grasses, growing in tufts, with bare open 

 spaces between them. Some of these spots between 

 the grass-tufts were filled with blooming plants of 

 different species, among them I was delighted to see 

 the scarlet verbena blossoming in a way which would 

 delight the heart of a florist at home. Wide patches of 

 the soil were all ablaze with the brilliant red of this 



