INDEX. 



553 



SAV 



Savannahs of South America during the 

 dry season, 13 



— a savannah on fire, 14 



— their aspect during the rainy season, 



15 



— and at the end of the rainy period, 



15 

 Saw-bill humming-bird, 317 

 Scalaria pretiosa, 274 

 Schomburgk, Eichard, his discovery of 



the Victoria Regia, 137 

 Scorpions, immense size of, in the torrid 

 zone, 218 



— fatal effects of their bite, 219 



— their habitat, 219 



— their suicidal propensitic, "219 



— their ferocity and cruelty, 220 

 Scotophilus Coromandelicus, the, 494 

 Screw-pines. See Pines 

 Sea-birds, tropical, 267 



— of the Peruvian sand-coast, 35 



— arctic, 266 



Seals of the Peruvian sand- coast, 35 

 Secretary-bird, his destruction of snakes, 



302 

 Secretary-eagle (Serpentarius cristatus), 



his destruction of snakes, 302 

 Semnopitheci, the, 504 

 Senegambia, light-coloured races at, 



522 

 Sensitive plants of Brazil, 135 

 Sericornis citreogularis, 370, 371 

 Serpents. See Snakes 

 Shark, the white, his ferocity, 271 

 Sherbet, the doum palm used for the 



preparation of, 157 

 Ship of the desert. See Camel 

 Siamang of Sumatra, the, 503 

 Sikkim mountains, slopes of the, 82 



sylvan wonders of the, 82 



changes of the forests on ascend- 

 ing, 83 



the torrid zone of vejretation, 83 



the temperate zone, 84 



the coniferous belt, 84 



limits of arboreal vegetation, 84 



animal life, 84 



firing the jungle in, 131 



Silk-worm (Bombyx mori), its import- 

 ance to man, 249 



— antiquity of silk in China, 249 



— silk of other worms, 249 

 Simoom, the, of the Sahara, 98, 99 

 Sloth, the, 477 



— his miserable appearance, 477 



— adaptation of his organisation to his 



peculiar mode of life, 478 



— his means of defence, 478 



— his tenacity of life, 480 



— genera of tlie sloth, 480 

 Snake-tree (Ficus elastica), the, 139 



SPI 



Snakes of the Peruvian sand-coast, 35 



— of the tropical forests, 293 



— comparative rareness of venomous, 



293 



— habits of venomous, and their ex- 



^ ternal characteristics, 204 



— bite of the trigonocephalus, 295 



— antidotes, 295 



— fangs of venomous serpents, 296 

 the enormous bush-master, 297 



— the brown viper (Echidna oc^llata), 



297 



— the rattlesnake, 297 



— the Cobra di Capello, 298 



— the asp and viper, 300 



— boas and pythons, 301 



— enemies of, 302 



— sometimes feed on one another. 304 



— their means of locomotion, 305 



— anatomy of their jaws, 306 



— feeding-time at the Zoological Gar- 



dens, 307 



— useful and agreeable to man, 308 



— adaptability of their colour to their 



pursuits, 309 

 — • water, 309 

 SoTcery of the negroes, 526 

 Soudan, destructive fly of, 230 

 South Sea Islands, verdure of, 6 



screw pine of the, 133 



Sparrow-hawk of Africa (Melierca 



musicus), 383 

 Sperm whales, 267 

 Sparrow, Baya, 367 

 I Spices of the tropics, 197 



— cinnamon, 198 



— nutmegs and cloves, 199 



— pepper, 202 



— pimento, 203 



Spiders, tropical, formation of, 211 



— their means of attack and defence, 



211. 212 



— spotted spider of Makololo, 212 



— giant webs of several tropical species, 



212 



— harmony of colour between the 



Aranse and their usual haunts, 2 1 2 



— beautiful colouring of the epeiras, 



213 



— splendid colours of the spiders of the 



tropics, 214 



— the mygales, or trap-door, 215 



— retreats of the genus Clubiona, 215 



— maternal instincts of, 216 



— enemies of, 216 



— venom of the, 217 



— services rendered by spiders to man, 



217 



— eaten by several savage nations, 21 7 



— encounter between a spider and a 



cockroach, 218 



