110 



CHARLES DARWIN 



depend on the dew for its moisture; and this probably is 

 absorbed by the skin, for it is known, that these reptiles pos- 

 sess great powers of cutaneous absorption. At Maldonado, 

 I found one in a situation nearly as dry as at Bahia Blanca, 

 and thinking to give it a great treat, carried it to a pool of 

 water; not only was the little animal unable to swim, but 

 I think without help it would soon have been drowned. 



Of lizards there were many kinds, but only one (Proc- 

 totretus multimaculatus) remarkable from its habits. It 

 lives on the bare sand near the sea coast, and from its mot- 

 tled colour, the brownish scales being speckled with white, 

 yellowish red, and dirty blue, can hardly be distinguished 

 from the surrounding surface. When frightened, it at- 

 tempts to avoid discovery by feigning death, with out- 

 stretched legs, depressed body, and closed eyes: if further 

 molested, it buries itself with great quickness in the loose 

 sand. This lizard, from its flattened body and short legs, 

 cannot run quickly. 



I will here add a few remarks on the hybernation of ani- 

 mals in this part of South America. When we first arrived 

 at Bahia Blanca, September 7th, 1832, we thought nature 

 had granted scarcely a living creature to this sandy and dry 

 country. By digging, however, in the ground, several in- 

 sects, large spiders, and lizards were found in a half-torpid 

 state. On the 15th, a few animals began to appear, and by 

 the 18th (three days from the equinox), everything an- 

 nounced the commencement of spring. The plains were or- 

 namented by the flowers of a pink wood-sorrel, wild peas, 

 Oenothera?, and geraniums; and the birds began to lay their 

 eggs. Numerous Lamellicorn and Heteromerous insects, the 

 latter remarkable for their deeply sculptured bodies, were 

 slowly crawling about; while the lizard tribe, the constant 

 inhabitants of a sandy soil, darted about in every direction. 

 During the first eleven days, whilst nature was dormant, the 

 mean temperature taken from observations made every two 

 hours on board the Beagle, was 51 0 ; and in the middle of 

 the day the thermometer seldom ranged above 55 0 . On the 

 eleven succeeding days, in which all living things became so 

 animated, the mean was 58 0 , and the sange in the middle 

 of the day between 6o° and 70 0 . Here, then, an increase ofi 



