Cl.IMATI-: .1X1' //]'/:/■ h\\'.l77(>\ 



103 



the cdklcst 46 . The lowest point to wliich the thcnnomcter 

 fell was 41 ".5, and oecasionalK' in llie inidi.lle of the da)- it 

 rose to 69' or 70' A'et witli this hiLjh teniperalin'e ahnrist 

 c\'cr\' beetle, se\'eral L;encra of spiders, snails, ,ind 1,'ind-shells, 

 toads and lizards, w eie .all l_\'inu; torpid heni/ath stones. Hut 

 \vc ha\'C seen that at ]5ahia l^lanca, whiih is fonr decrees south- 

 ward, and therefore with a climate on!)' a \Qvy little colder, 





SKIN'NING L7I OR WATER SKRl'tXIv. 



this same temperature, with a I'athcr less extreme licat, was 

 sufficient to awake all orders of animated beings. This shows 

 how nicel)' the stimulus recpiircd to arouse h)'bernating' animals 

 is governed by the irsual climate of the district, ,and not b\- the 

 absolute heat. It is well known that within the tropics the 

 hybernation, or more properly ;vstivation, of animals is deter- 

 mined not by the tempcratiu'e, but 1))' the times of drought. 

 Near Rio dc Janeiro, I was at first surprised to r)bser\e that, 

 a few days after some little depressions had Ijecn filled -with 

 water, the)' were peopled Ij)- niunerous full-grown shells and 

 beetles, which must ha\'e been l\ing dormant. Ilumboklt has 

 related the strange accident of a hovel having been ercctt.d 

 o\'er a spot where a )-riung crocodile la\' buried in the hardened 



