PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 325 



of heat iiud cold is fairly considered, the necessity for this inference 

 seems to be not so very obvious. And no one appears to have tried 

 the experiment of subjecting the same individuals to great differences of 

 temi^erature, whereby the immense effect of inherited adaptation would 

 have been thrown out of the account. 



With the exception of the often-quoted paragraph from Humboldt 

 and Bouplaud, none of the foregoing observations attest a higher tem- 

 perature than 113° F., noted by Saussure as endured by eels in the hot 

 springs of Aise. This is but little above the temperature observed at 

 Fort Yuma, in California, which is occux>ied as a military i)ost. 



I have not yet found the original passage from which the statement 

 credited to Humboldt and Bouplaud, as to living fish in water at a tem- 

 perature of 210° Fahr., is quoted. Yarrell gives no indication of the 

 precise place from which he cites. In an essay* ^^Sur une nouvelle 

 espece de jnmelodus^^ {P. cyelopum), however, Humboldt writes: "L'ha- 

 sard a voulu que ces inondations volcaniques n'eussent pas lieu I'ann^e 

 que j'ai passee dans les Andes de Quito; mais les poissous vomis par lea 

 volcaus sout un phenomeue si commun et si g^n6ralement connu de 

 tons les habitans de ce pays, qu'il ne pent pas rester le moindre doute 

 «ur sou authenticite." From which it a[)pears that, on the occasion re- 

 ferred to at least, he was obliged to rely upon second-hand testimony ; 

 especially upon that of M. de Larrea, of Quito, who had collected a cab- 

 inet of minerals, was instructed in chemistry, and had looked into the 

 records of many villages around Cotopaxi. From this gentleman he 

 learned that in 1G91 myriads of the fishes in question were vomited up 

 from the volcano of Imbabarri, causing a fever among the neighboring 

 people. Some Indians assured him ("quelques Indiens m'ont assur6") 

 that the fishes were living as they came down the side of the mountain, 

 " mais ce fait ne me paroit assez averc.''^ Very few of the specimens 

 that he saw were sufficiently disfigured, in his opinion, to indicate ex- 

 posure to very great heat, and the specimens came out of the mountain 

 mixed with an argillaceous mud. Humboldt conjectures the existence 

 of subterranean lakes whence he supposes the fishes to have come. Not 

 having found the original passage, I cannot, of coiu-se, say how far its 

 context might modify the inferences which have been drawn from it as 

 quoted, but it is evident that at the time here referred to, at least, he 

 had no idea that the fishes were alive when thrown out from the mouh- 

 tain, nor did he make any record of the temperature (210° Falir.) named 

 in the citation. 



The instances of frozen fishes thawed into life again differ in kind 

 rather than in degree from familiar experiences with frozen fingers, toes, 

 and ears restored to their integrity by gradual thawing, icJien fhey have 

 not been frozen too long. In no case, so far as I know, has any attempt 

 been made to ascertain whether the frozen fish retains in its interior 

 parts a temperature above the freezing point; nor is it stated that 



'Revueil d'ohservations de zoologieet d^anatomie comparee, Paris, 1811, tome l^'^ p. 22. 



