310 
SINGULAR PLANT AND INSECT. 
14 Sept. 
thinking to disengage it quietly with the other hand, both arms were 
seized bj these rapacious thorns, and the more I tried to extricate 
myself, the more entangled I became ; till at last it seized hold of 
the hat also ; and convinced me that there was no possibility for me 
to free myself, but by main force, and at the expense of tearing all 
my clothes. I therefore called out for help, and two of my men 
came and released me by cutting off the branches by which I was 
held. In revenge for this ill-treatment, I determined to give to the 
tree a name which should serve to caution future travellers against 
allowing themselves to venture within its clutches. * 
On picking up from the stony ground, what was supposed a 
curiously shaped pebble, it proved to be a plant, and an additional 
new species to the numerous tribe of Mesembryantliemwn; but in color 
and appearance bore the closest resemblance to the stones, between 
which it was growing. On the same ground was found a species of the 
Gryllus tribe amongst the stones, and so exactly like them in color 
and even in shape, that it could never have been discovered, had it not 
been observed just at a moment when in motion; and as if more 
completely to elude notice, it seldo n stirred, and even then, but 
slowly. The intention of Nature, in these instances, seems to have 
been the same as when she gave to the Chameleon the power of 
accommodating its color, in a certain degree, to that of the object 
nearest to it, in order to compensate for the deficiency of its locomo- 
tive powers. By their form and color, this insect may pass 
unobserved by those birds, which otherwise would soon extirpate a 
* Acacia detinens, B. Catal. Geog. 1628. Frutex 4 — S-pedalis. (Vide iconem 
capitulo xivto adjectam.) Spinae 2 brevissimae recurvEe. Folia bipinnata, pinnis unijugis, 
(sive, conjugato-pinnata). Foliola obovata. Peteoli pubescentes. Flores in capitulis 
globosis. Legumen ovale complanatum membranaceum oligospermum. 
At the Sand Pool I found new species of 
Zygophi/llum Mesembryanthemumturbiniforme, C. G. 
Moraa 1630-2 Planta acaulis obconica, 
Marsilea superne truncata obscure punctata. 
Justicia, 2 species Hermannia bipinnata. C. G. 1627. 
Cyanella Planta palmaris. Folia bipinnati- 
Acanthus ? fida. Flores inter majores. 
