The New York herald., 1867-02-21

ocs q the beasts ~ forests. Shas ~ latter hays
nmns Of eonsde Nbe strength, capable Of raising tho
heir four liz /ts while the reptles even when they
nave iage" dcrdoped hmbs us them more TO direct
above and % ds snsr soHy song than s 70 ass
there one group which aquatic than the other
!. shss ssouP which lays s sGss In the water the
scristcs ss' Of he adult This : The case with
the and The IKE SsSs . sSs oas They
have scalcA In that they differ from the terrestrial
lizards, which have, in common with the snakes and
turtles body covered with scaes and which lay eggs
wherein the young are developed without exhibiting
those extensive changes which in the rnsiorma-
tons frogs and tosdR When the egg Of toad or
frog is Matched yousg which 10 born them in
way resembles the adult, bat what call tad
pole. II has form which s more like fish than IKE
frog or toad II has comparatively long tail II has
limbs at ALL IL has at rst pair several pairs OF
gills the TWO sides Of the head And then in course
OF time II develops rudmensl legs the gls reduced
the tai is reduced and. in the end the young animal
assumes the form Of the parent having lost Its exerna
the proportions which they have in the parent.
and the tail disappearing in the same way not py
dropping on, but by beng resolved Now all those
reptiles which have undergone these OK
metamorphoses are OF the lowest order, while those
wh,ch have scales and Of which the young is developed
In the egg without undergoing very extensive changes
stand highest and resemble many respects the birds
than the other reptiles and among them we nave
fewer that are aquatic For instance among the
rams there are only few species which
iDhabt the waters most OF them are terrestrial Among
the lizards there very few which haoit the waies
Of them are terrestrial; and among the turtles VIC
have many nbabit the water the fresh
waters those that lnhabt the hand, so that there
Is a certain graduation among animals, moving TO Ger
tain higher higher standing in proportion by their
nature they confined to the water, or 10 the
continents. All the animals of high stand-
ing in their respective classes inhabit extern
slve continents and the interior Of the aId; land;
animal II is only in the islands OF considerable dimen-
that find terrestrial animals OF superior order
On the smaller islands OF the Pacific, when they were
first visited by the white only toads were found and
kinds OF mice, but none OF the larger animals, not
even deer; even herbivorous large animal, and
none Of the carnvorous kind none OF the animals OF
prey which stand high 10 the scale OF mammaa.
And monkeys are only found on the larger continents
not single monkey II is only in Africa, in Asia, in
America that these highest OF all the mammalia 70
regions and nowhere In the temperate or cold zone
And that is true Of the reptiles and OF mammaa
aquac birds the webfooted BIRDS and we nd them
everywhere in the in the fresh waters but hardly
any Of them land The woodduck 10 perhaps the only
one Of th family the habits Of which are in measure
terrestrial Then have next in position those birds
To which the marshes the preferable home, and Of
these, wading birds occupy already by their consttu
tion, higher position than the aquatic birds Then
have those terrestrial birds which nearest 70 the
o
the ganaceous Birds and the ostrich also is OF
them. When we come 70 the perching birds and the
ference. Those which clmb--which climb along the
stems Of trees and Indifferent pcrchng birds and also
SO constituted to facilitate their position on the limb
OF tree or branch-having fngers Those which
in the ar with ease and rise highest IN the atmosphere
prey, TO which naturasts assign without hesitation the
highest position in their clasa So il is unmstakable
that there certain relation between the standing Of
the animal and the element IN which he lives. And IL
seems natural to infer that these elements
may have something 10 do in forming this peculiar con-
StItutiOn. and that theV
actcrstlcs in consequences Of these influences A. ah
events this relation TO which have just alluded. we
Of the considerations which is introduced when
tempted TO show that animals modified by the lnu-
ences under which they live [The lecturer here
of his Discourse have 50 much to say that Try to
find that which will interest you most in my exposition,
and therefore am perhaps more deliberate than should
be, IL was not under that pressure (Applause) The
animals Of Brazil now which nhabit the main land are
low in character as whole They do not stand high
hes already been made BY Button and which rs jnstfed
more and more by closer and fuller scqusintapce with
the animals OF that continent Whether we take the
bulk Of the reptiles Of South America bulk OF the
birds, orthe bulk OF mnmmalia whether compare The
one family with the other from each Of these
claases IN dinerent continents, we md that there
standard inferory pnmisakable the side Of the
South American animals. Let 60 through this In
the reptile, h unexceptonably that Of the crocodile
Now, the crocodles Of South America are small 10 COM
% hsv Svs q . q ns and N their
What Is peculiarly characteristic OF the crocodes ID
tna their jaws are provided with powerful teeth which
inerlock with one another in this way. illustrating oy
iaerlockng the nngers The teeth Of the lower jaw pass
ny TIC side OF the teeth Of the upper jaw that when
close togher And this is the highest possible
between the swo sets Of the jaws Now, all the
diles OF the Old Worldthose Of Africa and Asshnvs
ms peculiar form 4 denton The crocodilcs Of south
America on he contra-y, have all the teeth Of the lower
brought together ali The seth Of the upper ;sw PASS
by the teeth Of tho lower Jaw, and the teeth !
teeth Of upper So lower aw ~ Ga 80 s inside Of The
loss Of power that there is much ess Intimate rela
tion between these in that respect And YOU examine
Of ineriority The limbs and the fingers arc free Tney
touch distinct the one from the other proportion as
instance in which the fingers are entirsy free whsn
full grown When young they have web feet, and in
proportion as they grow this web vanishes and the
footed Even those Of the Old World are web-footed in
the egg, but as they grow larger this web vanshes
dies retain their web through e aud in some OF them
already IL Is even dsparagingy large in comparison TO
among them 10 compare with the highest IN the e.her
parts o. ne world and you see at that the char
scer Of inleriory 70 on the side Of America And in
the other families OF reptiles observe same for
instance In the prcponderance OF poisonous suakes
and poisonous snakes are By their structure, inferior
ber and proportion OF species Is greater
In South America than in those OF other parts on the
world one q .he terrestrial snakes however acquires
the largest OF 81 the reptiles OF that famiythe dnen-
sions OF y o. the largest specimens extending u n
ecn oaenteen feet and more Specimens Of twenty net
have not becu very rare but vet nowadays when these
animals have been hunted down to 90 ercat an extent
there are rarely specimens OF that dimensions 70 be
found However, let me say, rtouch upon this SUBJ
ect that though common, the poisonous snakes haunt
they don't AFFORD any danger 10 travelling than the
ordinary snakes we sco or the poisonous snakes which
We nave various parts OF the country. And accidents
are here With us, and no doubt time win the frc
quency Of these accidents be impedmeut 70 the ex
tension OF the settlement Among the aquatic reptiles
We have family which very numerous in BRAZIL
Ine frogs, and especially the tree toads Of which
snere sucn variety, that the forests are
vocal with their notes. and the sounds that they
emit are 20 varied that they initiate the voice OF other
snimas 70 the extent Of frequently producing strange
deluson-some OF them are barking like dogs Others are
crying IKE children and frequently your attention and
sympathes may BE- attracted by q voice which would
distress you could you not satisfy yourself very soon
snat y comes rom cluster Of frogs from infants
,x,,l ussssss LAUGHTER and appause) The family Of
tuTsics very numerous, and some very ntereetsnr
REPRESENTATIVES are 10 South America and in the fresh