The Works of Charles Darwin: v. 2: Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by HMS Beagle (1839) by Paul H Barrett

Author:Paul H Barrett [Barrett, Paul H]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Science
ISBN: 9781315477596
Google: kiIXDAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-06-03T16:16:35+00:00

Notes

1 The bizcacha (Calomys bizcacha) somewhat resembles a large rabbit, but with bigger gnawing teeth and a long tail: it has, however, only three toes behind, like the agouti. During the last three or four years, the skins of these animals have been sent to England for the sake of the fur.

2 The broken tooth mentioned at Bahia Bianca must not be forgotten.

3 As this horse existed at the same time with animals now extinct, it is not probable, that it is the same species with the recent kind, although from the similarity of the teeth it must have been closely allied. Cuvier, talking of the remains of the horse, found fossil under similar conditions in Europe, remarks, ‘It is not possible to say whether it was one of the species now existing or not, because the skeletons of these species are so like each other, that they cannot be distinguished by the mere comparison of isolated fragments.’ Theory of the Earth, English translation, p. 285.

4 I need not here state, that there is no kind of evidence to support the belief, that a horse existed in America previously to the age of Columbus.

5 Theory of the Earthy p. 281 (English translation).

6 Ossemens Fossiles, vol. iv, p. 147.

d See Appendix ‘Extensive Addenda’, vol. 3, p. 477.

7 See the admirable Appendix to Beechey’s Voyage, p. 592 (quarto edition).

8 See Dr Richardson’s very interesting Report on North American Zoology for the British Association of 1836.

9 do not here mean to fix on the more northern parts of the old world as the parent country of these two animals. I only want to point out the channel of communication — not the course of the stream — whether from west to east, or the reverse. Perhaps, when we recollect how extraordinarily the Pachydermata abounded during the Tertiary epochs in the Old World, and that the representatives of these animals now only exist in that quarter, it may seem most probable that the migration took place from Asia to America.

10 This is the division followed by Lichtenstein, Swainson, and Richardson. The section from Vera Cruz to Acapulco, given by Humboldt in the Atlas to Polit. Essay on Kingdom of N. Spain, will show how immense a barrier the Mexican table-land forms.

11 Dr Richardson (Report to Brit. Assoc., p. 157), talking of the identification of a Mexican animal with the Synetheres prehensilis, says, ‘We do not know with what propriety, but, if correct, it is, if not a solitary instance, at least very nearly so, of a rodent animal being common to North and South America.’

12 Dicranocerus furcifer, Capra Americana, Ovis montana, Bos Americana, and Moschatus. Report to Brit. Assoc., p. 159.

13 Ed. New Phil. Journal. July, 1828, p. 327. From a paper by Mr Cooper in the Lyceum of Natural History of New York.

14 See Dr Buckland. Appendix to Beechey’s Voyage, p. 597.

15 I may observe that at the present day both species of elephants have wide ranges. The African one is found from the Senegal to the Cape of Good Hope, a distance of about 3000 miles.

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