Natural-Historical Collections. 303 
caymans at a stagnant pool or lagune on the Repoononie, the animals lying just 
below the water, and their snouts projecting above it. Travelling, in 1811, in 
the vicinity of the Takotu with some Portuguese, we had several times occasion 
to swim across the smaller rivers and pools. To frighten away the caymans, we 
had only to throw ourselves into the water with violence, beat and cause a great 
splashing. Such experiment in the Oronooko would now be a very dangerous 
one, as they overthrow small corials, and instantly seize any person in the water. 
The cayman, it is said, does not strike, as generally supposed, with its tail, 
but with its head, and that suddenly and with tremendous force. The alligators 
do the same. 
The cayman of Orinooko takes its prey both on land and in the water in- 
differently ; but it can devour it only on land, as it cannot swallow under water 
without letting it in, such is the formation of the glottis. The larynx is provid- 
ed with a valve which excludes the water by shutting over the orifices both of the 
cesophagus and trachea. It cannot, however, bear long exposure to the sun. 
The cayman swallows stones in considerable quantities. Some think this is 
to satisfy hunger ; others, to assist digestion ; while others believe it arises from 
an instinctive faculty to render the body specifically heavier, and to enable the 
animal to sink in the water. I found, in a young cayman, two pieces of lead as 
well as stones. The harder pebble stones, of the agate and crystal kinds, are 
frequently found in the stomach. 
As to the incubation of the cayman, if any one stoops over the ‘nest, places 
his ear close, and strikes over it,—if ready to come out, the young fry will be 
heard croaking. It is said the cayman takes this method of trial. The cayman 
waits about its eggs laid in the sand, places itself to the landward, and when the 
little ones are rising from the ground, it devours all that run that way : the others 
go clear, and find their way to the water. 
It is asserted that the animal buries itself in the mud, to pass the summer or 
dry weather, when the water of the lakes is drying up. Jose Yustre, however, 
says that the cayman and great serpents do not inter themselves in the ground, as 
represented by Humboldt ; that they do not roar; and that the tiger always kills 
the cayman in combat, the latter being so inflexible that he cannot get a grasp of 
the tiger, who springs upon his back and gores the neck. He confirms the story 
that the cayman ever avoids the porpess.”’ 
The Barberry, (Berberis vulgaris.) —This tree is a native originally of the 
eastern countries, though it is now found in most parts of Europe, where it 
thrives best upon light and chalky soils. It grew formerly wild, in great quan- 
tities, in the hedgerows of England, but has been universally banished, from a 
general belief that its presence is injurious to the growth of corn. Duhamel, 
Broussonet, and other scientific writers, treat this belief as a vulgar prejudice. 
It should, however, be remarked, that the fructification of the barberry is incom- 
plete, unless the stamens be irritated by insects when the filaments suddenly 
contract in a most remarkable manner towards the germ. The flowers are, there- 
fore, by a beautiful arrangement of nature, peculiarly attractive to insects; and 
thus the barberry may become injurious to neighbouring plants.—Library of 
Ent. Knowledge, Vol. II. 
Insects of Java.—M. Payen has lately found in Java, species of insects which 
appear to belong to genera hitherto supposed to be exclusively proper to America. 
He has discovered, amongst others, a new species of Megalopus, and what is more 
extraordinary, a species of Spherotus, which appears to differ little from the 
Spher. curvipes of Kirby, which is from Brazil. 
On the different colours of the Eggs of Birds; by M. Gloger.—It is a re- 
markable fact in nature, that those birds, whose nests are most uncovered, and 
whose eggs are most exposed to the sight of their enemies, lay eggs of a colour 
as little different as possible from the surrounding objects, so as to deceive the 
