Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-03-03

| appearing In the same way-not tty drOl
} ping on, but by being resolved. Now, a
| reptiles which have undergone these transfOTB
. | atiouA or these fnetnmorphoses, are Of u
lowest order. while those which have scales, 70
Young Of which Is Developed in the egg witlloJ
| undergoing very extensive changes, staD
higher, and resemble IN many resLfcts N
them we have fewer that are aquatic. For u
stance, among the serpents there q 9 oaiy con
parauveiy few species which 1nhhbit The y
| ters Most OF them are terrestrial. Among u
lizards there are very few which tulabit th
waters: most OF them are Terrestrial, an
among. tha turt. g We have as msny that ~ ~
| habit the land. 10 that there ia a ceFtei
gradation among animals, a certain highs
aoa higher sia9ssiag' 3sg' IN pFoRodfLie99 pRde9 as ,d 2
| 70 the water or marshes, or
| the dry land, or Eise into tae Interior q
In -fbeir resrecfive classes inhabt eztensiv
| continents and the interior Of the land. n
| large island Dourshes any great terrestrial an
| imal II is only on islands Of considerable di
| IN ensions that we ind terrestrial animals Of
| 50 perior order. On the smaller Islands or Tn
| Pacific, when they were nrst visited ~ IN
| kinds Of mice but none Of the larGer animal Is
| Not even deer. not even herbiv-r0us animals
| and none Of the carniverous lIind--nene OF IN
| ANNA q OF prey which stand so high in TN
| scaleofnammalia and monkeys ere only Iount
| on the larEer continents. Austr,ita, Which u
| the smallest OF the continents, has NOT singl'
! monkey; it is only in Africa. Ia Asia, ant
| In America that these highest OF al
| m ANNA Ia sre % be found, and IN those eontt
nents only within the warm fes,iont ana NO
where in The temperate or cold zone. And
| what IS true Of reptiles aud mamnalia, Il
! equally true OF the birds. The lowest birds are
the aquatic birds, the webb footed blrds-and
we find them everywhere, IN siid on lie rivers
but hardly any OF tnFm 1nlan1- In9 wood
duck Is perhaps the Only one ol We iaulliy lls
habits OF which are IN a measure tefresblni,
Then We have next ia position those birds OF
which tine mBrsnes are the proVerpial home
and all those wsding birds occupying alre 4dy,
bv their constitution, higiIhr position than
the aquatic. Then we have those Terrestrial
birds which come nearest the web-f0oted, but
which rnns over the ound but do not
nercn on trees, and are not good az
flying the gailinaceous bind belongs 20 them,
the ostrich also. When we come 10 the percA-
ing birds. the birds that fly with ease We have
again 70 make a difference Those which climb
along the sten on trees, and are ludineIent
perching birds, and also lndlIerent ngels-
Standing below those in which the foot - so
constituted a. 70 facilitate their position on a
limb or a branch OF a tree. Finally, those
the atmosphere, and which are ireest N their
motion, are the birds Of lrey, 10 which natur-
alIst aassign. without hesitation, the highest
position IN their class. 20 il is uuuistakabie
that there is y csrtatn relation bstween the
standing OF an animal ana the element
in VIII ne lives, and IL seems natural TO
infer that these elements may have something
TO do With this pecEliar constitution, and thai
the animals may have assumed their character
in consequence OF those Influences At al
events this relation, 80 which 7 have Just al
luded is one Of the cOBside atiOns which are
D.
animals are nos modified BY the influences
under which they I've The speaker here
paused q moment Have 50 much to say that
try to ind that which viii Interest you most
in my exposition, ana therE. oEe ! aI1 EerhBps
more deliberate than should be II l was not
under that pressure. lApplause.l Now, the
animals Of Brazil which inhabit Ebs main land
are low in character a. a whole. They do not
stand so high as those Of other continents.
II Is remark Wnieh pas a!ready been made
by Lecunte aid which IS Justified more and
more by the closer ana ll.ller aeduaintan - With
the animals Of that continent Wh6ahar we
take the bulk Of the reptiles Of south America,
or the bulk OF the birds and the bulk OF the
nam malta, Thethsr we compare the one fam
uy with the other, throggI each Of these
classes in different continents, We nud that
there is a stamp OF inferinrty, unmistaka7ly
on the side Of the South American animals.
Let US 90 through these in every point OF view.
The highest type OF Fepttles Is unquesi touahly,
that Of the cTOcoatls. low she prOC8diles OF
south America are small in conn! arson with
those Of AfrlCa OF the GaBges, and in thelE
structure they have character OF infsriority
even. What Is the peculiar GIazaG -eTisttc OF
the crocodile, Is that their jaws are provided
win powerful teeth which loek with one
shuts, the two jaws are br ught
very close tcsether, and this is the highest
possible relation between the two jaws
Now the croeodiles OF ne Odd .yOTid, OF Africa
and Asia, have this peculiar form Of dsntifion,
the crocodiies OF South America, on the eOn-
trsry, have all the teeth Of the lOwer jaw so
uUtiug on the upper jaw that when the two avs
are brought tOzetber, al the teeth OF the upper
pass ~ TIE teefl OF T1le lower Jaw ana the
1 eth of the lower jaw TT on the ipslde Of the
teeth OF tAe upper jaw, 50 that there is much
less power and much less Intimate relations be
tween the jaws in that respect And II you
and the relation OF the Iinlss you md again
the character Of inferiOrity- In proportion as
the fingers are free one from the other, The
limb IS more free. Look at the toad for in
stance, Ia which the hngSrB are entirely
free when fuH grown; when young they
have weo feet, ana "a progortion as they
become free. All the embryo crOcOdiles are
weh-fCOt ed. even thOse of tp5 old world are
web-f0oJed in the beginning, hut e they grow
larECr tris web disappears, ana the fingers be-
come free. The South American croc0dlles re-
ta'n the web through life, aud in some OF Them
% Is often diSprOpOrtlOn& ely lgrge m c0mpari-
son with the size OF theiT fingers 81 tha taEiug
the highest au0Hg thrln - compare with the
highest Of otheF parts or the World you see a
once that the character OF iuteriOrty Is on the
side Of An erica. And in the other families OF
reptiles YOU O. serve the sstos. FOR iUstsure,
in the preponderance O. poisonous snakes The
pO sOnUu~ snalIe are by theirstTueture ia feriOr
20 those that are harmless, and The number ard
proportion Of this poisonous species Is greater
tn South America than IN any other part of the
world One c4 the terrestrial smokes acquires
very r@Hlar<alls uiuat eiCns Iii 10 the bOu-cOn-
strictOrth he largest OF aii reptiles nf tht fam
isy. TIE menslOns O4 It--Ot TIE largest speci-
me nens-extents TO fifteen aud eighteen feet and
more. Specimens OF twenty aet have been
very rsre, tut not in our day, when these
an inRls have reen hunted down 20 so
great an aIteDt that there rarely BpectNn Gus
Of that diu1eusa0n 10 be tOund Further let me
~ q
common. the poisonous snakes haunt such
BLACK recsss-s so seigQm lreqnented by men,
at they % not Ofes any rnCfe daligBf to travel
than the rattlesntges with as or the
other poisonous snakes which We have IN
derived fffoZ, these sniglais !; as rare there
as 10 IS " - rs, and, undoubtedly, at no time
viii the frequeuce of these animals be an i'm
ped meut TO thu extension OF the Eetti ieIBenI
among be quatlc reptiles we have a fami y
which IS very numerous IN Brazil and deserves
especial nDtice the lrugs ana especially the
tree tOadE, of which there is such variety that
the forests are vocal with their noise. They
imil are the voice Of other animals to the ex-
ent Of ffeq aeniiy producing q strange drlu-
sion. Some OF Jueln aae barking like dogs.
o hers are crying like children, and frequently
you rattcntion aud sympathies may be attrs cted
ly voice which W ulu distress you, could you
not satisfy yourself that it came nom elU ter
q frogs, and not trcm an lLGlnt in tryUbie,
Laugh ter anI applauEe.l The family Of turtles
has very uuIne Gus and sOIne veEy interesting
r. pTesen ntatlvcs in south America, and in the
fresh waters some OF its largest. The largest tur
Ties known are those Of the sea, and the green
TURF is one OF the largest Bind, the leather
turtle tbs very largest but there are fresh water
turtles on the AplAEon when groW 70 denlen-
on Of three feet 10 length from three to four
feet, and they are among the most delicious
articles Of food IN the country, aud Ia such
luantity do they OK, 81 that they constitute one
Jt the res urces Of the Dopu alton. furnishing
them not only with meat, out also With anoth-
ar article very important as an OBJ 5ct Of diet
ihey manufacture butter rom thess turtles,
and the nnu}ber OF eggs " lch are gathered tor
Turtles, when rivers Doslu 20 lower gather IA
.he main streams, and may be seen in the ed
dies Of the Amazon, in the bayoueS
IN the Amazon, in thousands and thous-
aBds clustered together awaiting the op-
DOFtunity TO go ON The land when the
water has subSided to It's minimum. Then
hey emerge frOm the water, 90 on land,
and at fsE hltntrsd kargs frOit. ths water line
luTrOw their bOles ard deposit their eggs, COW
sring them with sand, and then return 70 the
water, n wing so Cif&eed the marks they have
made whi e lay ing that 70 au unaccustomed
EYE 40 would be impossible to detect the posi-
ion Of the eggs: but the Indians so skil ed
n their pursuit OF these eggs That merely walk
ing over the sand, by the reSiztance OF the
sand, or peruaT feeling OF holloWness under
meath, thev Immediately detect the pos ition Of
he eggs, which are raised by uncOvering four,
dve or SIX inches OF the sand. In this wy
.hey lay bare the egg, which they
they break them. and in that way collect the
fatty substance which the yolk contaiUs, and
rom which they prepare kird OF butter,
.hroughCut the valley Il the Amazon.
ApPlsqss.l " lS unpaTdona1te me mll-
thus lesseling the supply OF
meat in that whole region; and the animal is
really the most va gluabls. an article OF food,
Of any in the whole valley. Besides these
considerable variety, there are rev ter
restrial turtle, some Or which grow 70 the di-
meuSiOns Of our L gger-head turtle. From this
class Of reptiles, call your attention 70 that OF
birds. ! would Sat, tuat OF aquatic birds we
fnd chiefly small kinds OF geese and ducks,
and OF these one which IS very falnllar TO You
Of the domesticated animals among us-the
musk duck is a species quite common in the
valley Of the Amazon. BeSide at, a npm pmber Of
small king otgeese, rsinhrkable Tor thelr eleg1n
form ard the rapidity OF their movement
" hen ascending the river, you see Them in
small hOcks, running along the shores, evl-
IDENTIFY more active than any bird Of that family
which we see about US ia dCmesticity. Then
the wadiDg birds constitute pronlnent lea
tuTe OF the aquatic birds ~ The valley. There
are very large hocks Of gulls all along the great
rivers, and corn Grants are not rare. Swans,
on tbe contrary, are very rarely seen. or
Wading birds the number is legion. They con-
stitute one Of the prominent features OF all
these cNtens We sWaunps in the valley Of the
Amazon, and nothing y more beautiful
and OF gray herODs 6llghted or The shores
OF the small lakes. eedlng upon fishes
and ruuning upon the surface OF the water,
which is sometime 80 deusely covered with
which these wafer birds may run and nothing
Is more Beautiful psrhsps than ponds with
thopsaads and taousancs Of the FictOrta hegi0
IN bloom, ius immense ieaves spreading out as
the leaves OF our Water-hlies upon our ponds,
and these ronds at the same time 50 covered
with birds thai when they are disturbed, and
they srise, they literally obscure the light ana
appear ike clouds In the atmos phere. haYe
seen On one occasion pond which was 50 COW
cred with white herous mixed With red ibisses,
that when we came u the shore ge flund
fishes by thousands which had beun killed by
the birds walking over them and when the
birds rose it wa literally imposs. bic TO see the
sky there through the cense crowds W which rose
like clouds from the surface o the water The
most chagact eristic bird Of these regions are a
family Intermediate psstween our galliuaceous
bird and the Wadefs, forming a kind OF transi-
ton " Pc be tween tle waders and the gallina-
ceous, In a country without little dry land.
This fanliy Is ohaFaoteFisti ip OF our prairie I he
prGiTiA hen, the grouse, and the hke-and it's a
family which Is largely repressu ted gVeryw " here