n damp obscure recesses, it crawls during the heat
of the day about the dry sand-hillocks and arid plains, where not a
single drop of water can be found. It must necessarily depend on
the dew for its moisture; and this probably is absorbed by the
skin, for it is known that these reptiles possess 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 (Proctotretus
multimaculatus) remarkable from its habits. It lives on the bare
sand near the sea-coast, and from its mottled colour, the brownish
scales being speckled with white, yellowish red, and dirty blue,
can hardly be distinguished from the surrounding surface. When
frightened, it attempts to avoid discovery by feigning death, with
outstretched 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 animals 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 insects, 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
announced the commencement of spring. The plains were ornamented by
the flowers of a pink wood-sorrel, wild peas, oenotherae, 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 degrees; and in
the middle of the day the thermometer seldom ranged above 55
degrees. On the eleven succeeding days, in which all living things
became so animated, the mean was 58 degrees, and the range in the
middle of the day between sixty and seventy. Here