Dr. Ferguson, In His
Admirable Paper (See 9th Vol.
Of Edinburgh Royal Trans.),
shows clearly that the poison is generated in the drying
process; and hence that dry hot countries are often the most
unhealthy.
CHAPTER XVII
GALAPAGOS ARCHIPELAGO
The whole Group Volcanic - Numbers of Craters - Leafless
Bushes Colony at Charles Island - James Island - Salt-lake in
Crater - Natural History of the Group - Ornithology, curious
Finches - Reptiles - Great Tortoises, habits of - Marine
Lizard, feeds on Sea-weed - Terrestrial Lizard, burrowing
habits, herbivorous - Importance of Reptiles in the
Archipelago - Fish, Shells, Insects - Botany - American Type
of Organization - Differences in the Species or Races on
different Islands - Tameness of the Birds - Fear of Man, an
acquired Instinct.
SEPTEMBER 15th. - This archipelago consists of ten
principal islands, of which five exceed the others in
size. They are situated under the Equator, and between
five and six hundred miles westward of the coast of
America. They are all formed of volcanic rocks; a few
fragments of granite curiously glazed and altered by the
heat, can hardly be considered as an exception. Some of
the craters, surmounting the larger islands, are of immense
size, and they rise to a height of between three and four
thousand feet. Their flanks are studded by innumerable
smaller orifices. I scarcely hesitate to affirm, that there
must be in the whole archipelago at least two thousand
craters. These consist either of lava or scoriae, or of finely-
stratified, sandstone-like tuff. Most of the latter are
beautifully symmetrical; they owe their origin to eruptions of
volcanic mud without any lava:
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