318 The American Naturalist. [April 
are in relation to each other. Such a work, in fact, has never 
been done. Dr. Merriam has undertaken such a task, however, 
for some of the American mammals, n 
There is no other place on the whole earth which affords better 
opportunities for such a work than the Galapagos. Here we 
have the original natural conditions, hardly influenced by man. 
If all the variations of the forms on this group of islands, or even 
only the variations of a few genera, are studied, and the conditions 
of each variation are examined, then we may perhaps be able to 
express a more definite opinion on the causes of variation itself. 
Such work ought to be done defore it is too late. I repeat, before 
it is too late! Or it may happen that the natural history of the 
Galapagos will be lost, as it has unfortunately beén lost in so 
many islands; for instance, of St. Helena and the Mascarenes, 
lost forever, irreparably ! 
If I can succeed in raising the necessary funds, I shall try to do 
something for the solution of this important question. A visit 
of several months would bring out a good deal of light. The 
question of the origin of the islands themselves could be solved 
by the most careful collections of the flora and fauna of each, 
even the smallest island. The conditions of the flora and fauna 
as well as the domesticated animals which have become wild, could 
be studied on the spot. I may make some remarks upon this 
point. The following animals have become wild on the Galapagos, 
according to Wolf: Cattle, goats, horses, asses, hogs, dogs, cats, 
chickens. Cattle are found wild on Charles (8-900); Chatham P 
(2-3000); South Albemarle some; horses only on Charles : 
Island ; and asses are very numerous on Charles, Chatham, Inde 
fatigable, and Albemarle. They live together in troops of ten © i 
fifteen. Why, Dr. Wolf asks, have these animals adopted te z 
peculiar habit of sitting on the hind legs like a dog ora cat? And 
he adds that the most learned man could not help laughing at seeing a 
these animals in'this peculiar position. Goats are said to have — 
diminished on account of the dogs. They are found on the — 
arid mountains of Charles, Chatham, and Barrington. Hogs 
occur on all larger islands. Dogs live in droves in the uppe 3 
and lower regions. The wild-cats on Charles and Chatham 
