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Show 262 l~ AL K L.\1\'D ISLANDS. March, 1834. Our conception of .a compound animal,* where in some respects the individuality of each is not completed, may be aided, by reflecting on the production of two distinct creatures by bisecting one with a knife, or where nature herself performs the task. We may consider the polypi in a zoophyte, or the buds in a tree, as cases where the division ~f the 'individual has not been completely effected. In th1s kind of generation, the individuals seem produced only '\ovith relation to the present time; their numbers are multiplied, but their life is not extended beyond a fixed period. By the other, and more artificial kind, through intermediate steps or ovules, the relation is kept up through successive ages. By the latter method many peculiarities, which are transmitted by the former, are obliterated, and the character of the species is limited; while on the other hand, certain peculiarities (doubtless adaptations) become hereditary and form races. We may fancy that in these two circumstances we see a step towards the final cause of the shortness of life. • With regard to associated life, animals of other classes besides the mollusca and radiata present obscure instances of it. The bee could not live by itself. And in the neuter, we see an individual produced which is not fitted for the reproduction of its kind-that highest point at which the organization of all animals, especially the lower ones, tends-therefore such neuters are born as much for the good of the community, as the leaf-bud is for the tree. 26J CHAPT~R XIII. Strait of Magellan-Port Famine-Geology- Deep water in channelsErratic boulders-Climate-Limit of fruit trees-Mean temperatureLuxuriant forests- Rigour of antarctic islands-Contrast with the north- Snow-line, great fl exure of--Glaciers- Icebergs transport fragments of rock- Glacier in low latitude- Absence of erratic blocks in intertropical regions- Glnciers and tropic.:1.l vegetation -Comparison with northern hemisphere-Siberian animals in iceEmbedded in cold mud- Edible fungus-Zoology-Fucus giganteusLcave Tierra del Fuego. STRAIT OF MAGEJ,LAN. IN the end of May, 1834, we entered for the second time the eastern mouth of the Strait of Magellan. Having beat our way against wind and wave we anchored at Gregory Bay, and had an interview with the so-called gigantic Patagonians; of whom Captain FitzRoy has given so good an account. The country on both sides of the strait, in this part, consists of level plains, like those of the rest of Patagonia. Cape Negro, a little past the second narrow, may be considered as the point where the land begins to assume the marked features of Tierra del Fuego. On the east coast, south of the Strait, broken park-like scenery in a like manner connects these two countries, which are opposed to each other in almost every point. It is truly surprising to find in a space of twenty miles such a change in the landscape. If we take rather a greater distance, as between Port Famine and Gregory Bay, that is about sixty miles, the difference is still more wonderful. At the former place we have rounded mount~ins concealed by impervious forests, which are drenched with the rain, brought by an endless succession of gales; while at Cape Gregory there is a clear and bright blue sky over the dry and sterile plains. 'rhe atmospheric cur- |