The Zoologist — April, 1874. 3933 



wasp is held, and lets him fall to the ground to make what use he 

 may of his liberty, if liberty it can be called, for on falling he almost 

 invariably finds himself encumbered by portions of the clammy 

 web : so it is in the tropics ; the spiders, though well armed with 

 offensive weapons, prefer to release those gorgeous captives whose 

 means of resistance or defence they think it desirable to evade. 

 This theory Mr. Bates further illustrates as follows : — 



"Amongst the mammals, I think the skunk is an example of the same 

 kind. Its white tail, laid back on its black body, makes it very conspicuous 

 in the dusk when it roams about, so that it is not likely to be pounced upon 

 by any of the Carnivora mistaking it for other night-roaming animals. In 

 reptiles, the beautifully banded coral snake {Elaps), whose bite is deadly, is 

 marked as conspicuously as any noxious caterpillar with bright bands of 

 black, yellow and red. I only met with one other example amongst the 

 • Vertebrata, and it was also a reptile. In the wood around Santa Domingo 

 there are many frogs. Some are green or brown, and imitate green or dead 

 leaves, and live amongst foliage. Others are dirty earth-coloured, and hide 

 in holes and under logs. All these come out only at night to feed, and they 

 are all preyed upon by snakes and birds. In contrast with these obscurely 

 coloured species, another little frog bops about in the day-time, dressed in a 

 bright livery of red and blue. He cannot be mistaken for any other, and 

 his flaming vest and blue stockings show that he does not court conceal- 

 ment. He is very abundant in the damp woods, and I was convinced he 

 was uneatable as soon as I made his acquaintance and saw the happy sense 

 of security with which he hopped about. I took a few specimens home with 

 me, and tried my fowls and ducks with them ; but none would touch them. 

 At last, by throwing down pieces of meat, for which there was a great 

 competition amongst them, I managed to entice a young duck into snatching 

 up one of the little frogs. Instead of swallowing it, however, it instantly 

 threw it out of its mouth, and went about jerking its' head as if trying to 

 throw off some unpleasant taste." — P. 320. 



The corpulent iguanas and their enemies, the pisoti, offer one 

 more temptation to make an extract, and this must be the last. 

 I fear I have already exceeded the bounds of moderation, but 

 I know not which of these extracts I can suppress. It is some 

 satisfaction to find I have given much more space to Mr. Belt than 

 to myself. How great would be the boon to Science if every 

 naturalist would thus record his observations; how much greater 

 the boon if every traveller would become a naturalist and an author, 

 so that not a single fact should escape notice, but be preserved 

 for ever. 



SECOND SERIES — VOL. IX. S 



