151 



mountains of the Ancles. The common colour is a 

 dark brown, but those found under stones upon the 

 shores of the river Coquimbo are yellow.^" It is said 

 that neither of them are venomous, and that those 

 who are bitten by them experience no inconvenience. 

 I was once present when a young man was bit by one 

 of them, who merely complained of a slight smarting^ 

 of the part, which continued inflamed for not more 

 than half an hour. Such experiments, however, are 

 too superficial to prove satisfactory. 



Se g t. III. Reptiles, — I have already observed, that 

 there are but few reptiles in Chili ; and, in truth, all 

 that are known are water turtles, two species of frogs, 

 the land and water toad, a few lizards of the aquatic 

 and terrestrial kinds, and one species of serpent ; nor 

 are either of these venomous. 



The turtles are of two species ; one is an inhabi* 

 tant of the sea, denominated by Linnaeus testudo 

 coriácea ; the other, testudo lutaria, is found in 

 fresh water, particularly in the lakes of the southern 

 provinces. 



The frogs are the green frog (rana esculenta) and 

 the temporary frog (rana temporaria). 



The land toads are similar to those of Italy, and 

 live altogether in moist and wet places. The water 

 toads are of two kinds, the arunco (rana arunco) and 

 the thaul (rana lútea). The arunco is a little larger 



* The European scorpions are yellow when young, and continue 

 so while they remain under stones, but on exposure to the air be- 

 cortie brown„..i^n Trans. 



