374 DARWINISM chap, xii 



in almost all the tropical oceanic islands ; but the particular 

 mode in which they are able to traverse a wide expanse of 

 ocean, which is a perfect barrier to batrachia and almost so to 

 snakes, has not yet been discovered. Lizards are found in all 

 the larger Pacific Islands as far as Tahiti, while snakes do not 

 extend beyond the Fiji Islands ; and the latter are also absent 

 from Mauritius and Bourbon, where lizards of seven or eight 

 species abound. Naturalists resident in the Pacific Islands 

 would make a valuable contribution to our science by study- 

 ing the life-history of the native lizards, and endeavouring to 

 ascertain the special facilities they possess for crossing over 

 wide spaces of ocean. 



