Aug. 1833. 



SALINAS. 



77 



some kind of worm, or annelidous animal. How surprising 

 it is that any creatures should be able to exist in a fluid, sa- 

 turated with brine, and that they should be crawling among 

 crystals of sulphate of soda and lime ! And what becomes of 

 these worms when, during a long summer, the surface at 

 least is hardened into a sohd layer of salt? Flamingoes* in 

 considerable numbers inhabit this lake ; they breed here, and 

 their bodies are sometimes found by the workmen, preserved 

 in the salt. I saw several wading about in search of food, — 

 probably for the worms which burrow in the mud ; and these 

 latter, perhaps, feed on infusoria or confervee. Thus we 

 have a little world within itself, adapted to these little inland 

 seas of brine.f 



With respect to the geological position of the salinas, they 

 occur either in the plains composed of shingle, and over- 

 lying various deposits, or within the grand calcareo-argilla- 

 ceous formation of the Pampas. The only rule I can dis- 

 cover, is, that they do not occur where the substratum is 

 granitic, as in Brazil and Banda Oriental. I know of their 

 occasional existence over the immense territory extending 

 from lat. 23°, near the Rio Vermejo, to 50° south. The 

 climate may generally be considered as rather dry ; at least, 

 such is the case in Patagonia, where the salinas are most 

 numerous. Those which I. saw occurred in depressions, 



* Throughout South America, the flamingo appears singularly attached 

 to salt lakes. I saw instances of this throughout Patagonia, in the Cor- 

 dillera of Northern Chile, and at the Galapagos Islands. 



f In the Linnaean Transactions, vol. xi., p. 205, a minute crustaceous 

 animal is described, under the name of Cancer saUniis. It is said to occur 

 in countless numbers in the brine pans at Lymington ; but only in those 

 in which the fluid has attained, from evaporation, considerable strength ; 

 namely, about a quarter of a pound of salt to a pint of water. This cancer 

 is said, also, to inhabit the salt lakes of Siberia. Well may we affirm, 

 that every part of the world is habitable! Whether lakes of brine, or those 

 subterranean ones hidden beneath volcanic mountains — warm mineral 

 springs ; the wide expanse and depths of the ocean ; the upper regions of 

 the atmosphere ; and even the surface of perpetual snow ; — all support 

 organic beings. 



