ON THE ZOOLOGY OF WESTERN PERU.
Under the head of the zoology of western Peru we beg leave to present to the reader a translation of a chapter on the influence of climate on animals, especially on domestic animals, taken from the work of the late Dr. Don Hipolito Unanue, entitled “Observaciones sobre el Clima de Lima.”
Dr. Unanue was an ornament to society, and honoured by his country, as well under the Spanish as the Patriot government: by the former, as the reader already knows, he was appointed chief of the medical tribunal of Peru; by the latter, president of that republic.
TRANSLATION.
The horrid picture of America which has been drawn by some ultramarine philosophers does not apply to Peru, and can only be viewed as the production of their own excited imaginations. Where else, indeed, could they have found those dark and unfriendly dies which enabled them to depict these happy regions under a repulsive aspect?—as so many dark spots in the creation denied the blessing of Providence,—as the dismal abode of serpents, crocodiles, and venomous monsters.[44]
Quale portentum neque militaris
Daunia in latis alit esculetis;
Nec Jubæ tellus generat, leonum
Arida nutrix.
Hor.
The learned Count Buffon laid down and wished to establish the four following propositions: 1st, that of the animals common to the old and new continents, the breed is larger in the former than in the latter; 2d, that the animals indigenous to the new are less than those of the old hemisphere; 3d, that the species of domestic animals which have been transplanted from Europe, have degenerated in America; 4th, that this part of the earth furnishes but few races of animals peculiar to itself. But the inaccuracy of these propositions has been demonstrated by the illustrious President Jefferson[45] in comparative tables of the existing animals on both continents. This, however, seems to be certain, that, as animals depend for their support on the productions of the vegetable kingdom, their number and growth will be in proportion to the luxuriance of vegetation; and therefore, there being in the one hemisphere as well as in the other very extensive plains covered with abundant pastures, and likewise poor and sterile regions that yield little or no nutriment, either hemisphere will exceed the other in the size, number, and beauty of its animals, wherever it happens to exceed the other in the fertility and extent of its woods and meadows.
Peru is by no means well fitted to maintain the numerous species of indigenous animals which inhabit the forests of North America, nor calculated for the multiplication of those which may be transplanted from Europe, to that prodigious extent which is observed on the broad plains and exuberant pastures of Chile and Parana. Still, however, this country, in its coast, its mountain ranges, and Montaña, comprises upon the whole a vast and beautiful variety, with which the pages of natural history will be one day enriched; but it is only our object at present to offer observations on some of the most remarkable of these, as they appear to be influenced by our climate.
INDIGENOUS QUADRUPEDS.
Of the families of quadrupeds found in Peru at the period of its discovery and conquest, the following are the chief.
Paco.[46]—Camelus Peruvianus, Linn. Syst. Nat.;—Molina, Histor. de Chile, Part I.
Alco.—Canis Americanus, Linn.; Kiltho,—Thegua, Mol.
Puma.—Felis puma, Linn.; Pagi, Mol.
Uturuncu.—Felis onsa, Linn.; Felis gigna, Molin.—is found in the west of Peru; and by the same name is designated the yaguar of Azara, plate IX. which inhabits the woods and thickets on the eastern side of the country.
Ucumari.—Ursus Americanus, Linn.
Tarúca.—Elaphus, Linn. ast corpore minor.
Providence, which has everywhere supplied its rational creatures with means of maintenance, and of executing the labours to which they are by nature destined, conferred on the native of the Andes an inestimable boon in the paco; by whose wool he is clothed, by whose flesh he is nourished. The fleet huanaco and the timid vicuña afford him amusement and pastime in the chase; and the llama and alpaca convey his goods with safety through the rough and narrow pathways of his native mountains. The long and upraised neck of these animals, their full and expressive eyes, the urcu, or tuft which adorns their foreheads, and the dignified air with which they look around them, as with composed and solemn step they march along in a right line like disciplined troops, form altogether a picture of such peculiar and striking beauty as must always be admired, and never can be forgotten.
The alco is the most faithful companion of the Indian: it is of middle size; and its body is commonly covered with black wool, all except at the breast and tail, where it is grey. These dogs are endowed with singularly acute powers of perception, their bark never fails to give notice of anything new that happens about the hut or dwelling, and they also attack strangers with great ferocity. Of this race there is a small breed like our lapdogs, which the Indian women carry on their quipes,[47] and cherish in their bosoms; and, as these pet-dogs are taciturn, this peculiarity has made some persons suppose that the alcos do not bark, and therefore belong not to the dog species.
The pacos and alcos inhabit the Sierra or highlands. Such of them as are domesticated descend with their masters to the coast, where they stay but a short time, and then return; for in the heat of the coast they soon fall victims to the caracha or itch,—the consequence of increased excitement and circulation on the surface of the body, and a want of perspiration occasioned by the thickness of the skin. Not more remarkable for their beauty are the eyes of the llamas and tarúcas in the Sierra, than are the aborigines of the same mountains for the smallness of their eyes and their inclination outwards towards the external angle: an useful structure, for it adjusts their sight to their situation, and, by giving them a side-long view of objects, often prevents them from falling over precipices when crossing the wild passes of the mountains. The same peculiarity of structure also defends them from the bad effects of the sun’s reflection from the snow, which in white people and the natives of the coast, whose eyes are full and large, induces zurumpe, which is a troublesome ophthalmia.
The tarúca or deer, and the puma or lion, being fitted to endure the temperature of the Sierra and of the coast, pass backwards and forwards from one climate to the other: the deer go about in flocks; but the little lions wander in solitude, apart from others of their kind. The deer are of a middle size, and have pretty horns.[48] They are fleet, and afford amusement to those who are fond of coursing. The otorunco or tiger, and the ucumari or bear, do not frequent this side of the Andes, but they inhabit the regions eastward of these mountains, where there are many other animals of prey.
FOREIGN QUADRUPEDS.
The sheep transported from Europe have increased to an amazing degree on the great commons or pastures of ichu[49] which abound in the heights of the Andes; and in the wide-spreading provinces of Collao the quality of the wool is particularly superior.
In the high and Cordillera ranges, horses, asses, and black cattle are, like man, of small size, because their growth is stinted by cold: they are covered with hair which has the softness, length, and consistence of wool; by means of which Nature protects them against the inclemency of those bleak and frozen wastes, even as she does the flowers of such shrubs[50] as grow on the same frigid heights.
On the other hand, in the valleys and on the coast, where the heat is sufficient to enable the various members of the body to develope themselves freely, those very quadrupeds are of good size, spirited, and showy. The donkey[51] is strong, and in Lima the most serviceable of the domestic animals; as he is also at the sugar-works, where he carries on his back a great weight of cane from the field to the mill: the horse is graceful and spirited: the bulls are powerful; and in the valleys of Chincha and Cañete, where a certain wild breed are carefully reared for the bull-ring, these animals are most ferocious.
The black cattle of the Sierra do not endure the climate of the coast: immediately that they descend from their native mountains, to use the vulgar expression, they become touched; that is, they become stupified, and die with amazing rapidity. On examining the entrails of cattle thus cut off, the liver, which has a broiled appearance, is observed to be indurated. I conceive that these animals are affected by transition of climate in the same manner as the human species; for, as soon as bullocks from the high and cold regions of the Andes arrive on the warm coast, the circulation of their blood is unusually accelerated and directed to the surface; but, as the skin which covers them is too thick and unyielding to allow of proper transpiration, the consequence is that there arises an ardent fever which destroys them. In beeves this fever is more violent and burning than it is in the paco or alco, because the skin of the latter, being of thinner texture than that of oxen, offers less resistance to the outlet of the humours; so that in the animals of finer skin there comes out a salutary eruption, which saves them; while in black cattle nothing of this sort occurs, and therefore they perish with incredible celerity.[52]
The butchers have not yet found out a remedy for this disorder. They only know from experience that the mortality among the cattle is greater in summer than in winter: a fact confirmatory of our conjectures as to the nature of the distemper: and therefore it is during the winter, or misty season on the coast, that cattle are driven down from the mountains to supply the Lima market.
Should we compare the dogs reared in this city with those allowed equal freedom in the cities of Upper Peru, it will be found that the former are most indolent and indifferent to everything, so that any one, though an entire stranger, may step over them without the least molestation; but the latter surly curs it is necessary to approach with caution, because they attack all persons with whom they are not well acquainted and on friendly terms.
These animals are subject, especially in spring, to catarrhal epidemics which are peculiar to themselves; and they are also liable to influenzas by which mankind are affected, it being among them that the fatal epidemic commenced in the Trojan army.
Neither in Peru, nor in the neighbouring sections of South America, were dogs ever known to be attacked by hydrophobia prior to 1803; but about this time the malady broke out, during the heat of summer, in the valleys of the northern coast, from whence it extended southward along the maritime plains; having arrived at the city of Arequipa in the spring of 1807, while in Lima it was observed between the summer and autumn of the same year.
Having collected all the necessary data for disclosing the origin of this disorder, and consulted in writing the physicians and well-informed persons who had witnessed its symptoms, I have clearly learned,—1st. That this disease arose spontaneously from the increased atmospherical temperature of the years 1803 and 1804. It commenced on the northern coast, commonly called Costa Abajo, where the air was so heated that Reaumur’s thermometer indicated the temperature of 30° in some of the valleys: the calms were extreme, without the lightest breeze that could ripple the surface of the ocean; animals rushed into lakes and pools of still water to relieve themselves from the sensation of excessive heat; so that the season described by Horace was fully realized:
Jam Procyon furit,
Et stella vesani Leonis:
... caretque
Ripa taciturna ventis.
2. This disorder affected every sort of quadruped without distinction: and such was the degree of phrensy excited by it, that some animals in their fury bit and tore themselves to pieces; and, in situations where the heat was extreme, several men fell ill with all the symptoms of hydrophobia without having been bit.
3. The malady attached itself more especially to dogs, and some of them suffered so mild an attack that their bite was not mortal; but the greater number were severely affected, and propagated the infection to their kind, to other quadrupeds, and to man.
The mean and niggardly overseer of a sugar-estate had distributed among his negroes, though advised not to do so, some head of cattle that died rabid; which he did under the impression that they were only tocado, or touched with that disease which in hot weather usually affects cattle from the mountains: and the result was, that of the poor negroes who had partaken of this meat, many died with symptoms of hydrophobia.
4. In the towns of Ica and Arequipa the number of individuals who died, after having been bit by mad dogs, was greater, and their cases less equivocal than the preceding.
In Ica a single rabid bitch bit fourteen persons in one night, of whom eight were in one house; some sleeping al fresco, or in the open air; others were variously occupied; and the remaining six were among those who, on hearing the alarm, ran to assist in killing the bitch. The surgeon of the place, Don Mariano Estrada, wished to persuade them to submit to be cured; but they rejected his proposal, saying the will of God should be done; and all died with the exception of two men, the one twenty-eight and the other fifty years of age, who agreed to be placed under medical treatment. The physician cured them, happily, on the safest plan; which consists in applying a blister on the part bitten, with a view to promote suppuration from it, and in exciting salivation by means of mercurial inunction.
In the city of Arequipa it was much disputed whether or not the malady was a legitimate hydrophobia, and very learned papers pro and con were written by the Doctors Rosas and Salvani. In this paper-war much time was lost that should have been taken advantage of for resisting the progress of the malady. True it is, that in many cases those disorders, which by frightened imaginations were represented to be real examples of hydrophobia, were, in point of fact, no such thing; and the alarming misconceptions thus induced were soothed down and removed by persuasive means. Hence, this circumstance, which was the natural consequence of the general panic existing at the time, led Professor Salvani to think that it was precisely the same in all instances, until at length a succession of melancholy results declared the real nature of the disease. Immediately upon being made acquainted that the epidemic hydrophobia approached the capital, the Viceroy of Peru, Abascal, ordered all the dogs in the place to be killed,[53] by means of which he liberated Lima from the impending scourge; for though a very few hydrophobic patients entered, during this period, into the hospitals, they were not inhabitants of the city, but some individuals who had come in from the neighbouring farms and valleys.
5. When this calamitous epidemic commenced in the valleys of Costa Abajo, Don Jose Figueroa, Bachelor of Arts, wrote me to say, that “the dogs went about with their tails between their feet; they slavered much; hid themselves from human sight; howled lustily; and presently they fell down and moved no more:—as remedies in these cases, cutting off the ears and giving oil were tried in vain. The cats, with their hair on end, ran about the house-tops. Horses and asses got enraged the one against the other; they threw themselves on the ground, rolled about, and instantly on being dead they swelled and putrefied. Black cattle—roaring and lowing—bounded about, fought with each other, in the contest even broke their horns, and they died quickly.”
6. Professor Estrada confidently stated, that of forty-two individuals who died in the city of Ica, after having been bit by mad dogs, the greater number were cut off from twelve to ninety days after the accident. The symptoms which followed the ingraftment of the poison disclosed themselves in the form of convulsions, oppression at the breast, sighs, sadness, laborious breathing, horror at liquids and shining objects, fury, vomiting of dark bilious matter, and an incessant urgent call on the part of the patients that the assistants should depart from them, because they felt themselves impelled to attack, bite, and tear them to pieces: none in this state survived beyond the term of five days.
Since the year 1808 this terrible epidemic has been disappearing. From time to time, however, a dog may be seen running violently hither and thither, and biting all whom he may happen to meet, in the same way as is done by the really mad dog.—But, in the examples wherein no bad results arise from the bite, they may be considered of the same character with the disorder observed by Mr. Colombier, which attacks dogs, renders them furious, and excites them to bite, but has, nevertheless, nothing at all of hydrophobia in it;—still, however, the safest way is to kill the dogs thus affected, and to implore the Father of mercies that these regions may never again experience so severe a visitation.
Canis ore timendo,
Ore vomit flammam.
German Arat.
BIRDS.
The shores of the South Sea are covered with myriads of birds, among which are distinguished, for their incalculable number, the Huanaes; from whose ordure, as some believe, is produced that red-coloured earth or manure (huano[54]), of a penetrating and alkaline smell, which enriches the land so much as to make it yield triple or quadruple the produce it could do without this dressing: a discovery made by the ancient Indians, who were most skilful agriculturists.
Gulls, herons, ducks, and some other families of the feathered class, descend during autumn from the mountain lakes to the coast, where they remain until the commencement of summer, when they again return to the Sierra.
In undertaking this journey, they take their flight in the morning in large flocks; and, as they soon come in contact with lofty barriers of mountains which oblige them to change their course, they ascend the higher regions in a winding and spiral manner, till, after numberless evolutions and gyrations, they have risen above the loftiest peaks of the Cordillera, and find themselves again at liberty to pursue their journey in a direct line.
The condor[55] often stations himself in the middle of the spires,[56] either as acting the part of a guide, or to boast in proud display the strength of wing by which the most vigorous and powerful of birds can soar above all the rest of the feathered race.
In his outward aspect the male bird bears upon him many marks of dignity which distinguish him from the female: such is the crest which serves him as the emblem of monarchy,—a crown; the blackish and loose skin which in folds covers the head, and gathering up behind, after the manner of curls or frizzled hair, resembles a wig; and the white of the wings, when the bird stands erect, gives his shoulders the appearance of being covered with a mantle or cloak.—See the excellent Memoir of Messrs. Humboldt and Bonpland on the Natural History of the Condor, printed in Paris in the year 1807.
Santiago Cardenas, better known by the name of Santiago el Volador, or Flier, for many years watched the flight of the condor, with the intention of imitating him; and he left a quarto volume written on this subject, which I have deposited in the library of the College of San Fernando. In this work he describes three different kinds of condor.
1. Moromoro with ruff (golilla) and mantle of the colour of ashes.—It has of “embregadura,” or length, from the point of one wing to that of the other, from thirteen to fifteen feet.
This, of all the condors, is the strongest; and he takes ostentatious delight in combating against the wind, and balancing himself on extended but flutterless wing in the most imposing and majestic manner. It has been said of the moromoro, that, seizing the newly-born lamb, he throws it over his shoulder, where he keeps it steadily fixed; and, having thus secured his prey, rises on the wing, and betakes himself to flight.[57]
2. Condor of ruff and mantle of the colour of clear coffee.—He has of embregadura from eleven to thirteen feet, and he is swift and daring.
3. Condor with white mantle and ruff.—He has expanse of wing, or embregadura, from nine to eleven feet; and this is the most abundant and beautiful species. The condor inhabits the steep rocks of the Andes; and, according to the observations of Santiago, he makes every day two journeys to the coast in search of food, which shows his prodigious velocity.
In our dissection of this bird, we met with no air-vessel which could maintain a communication between the lungs and the spongy substance of the clavicles, nor any communication between the crop and windpipe. The internal cavity of the chest is lined by a fine and transparent membrane or pleura, which forms various little cells; the lungs descend as low as the abdomen, and adhere, at their posterior extremity, to the spine and ribs, which have perforations at the points of adhesion, communicating with the interior of their spongy body. The texture of the lungs is porous, so that, as soon as they are blown into and inflated through the windpipe, they freely supply with air all the recesses or concealed crevices, great and small, that are about them; and they also fill with air the cavities of the ribs and sternum.
Condor-grease is considered excellent for resolving and dissipating hard glandular tumours of the breast and other parts of the body; and the Peruvians attribute to it as many other virtues as the Europeans do to the kid, of which it is said by one of their physicians that totus est medicamentosus—all is medicinal.
INSECTS.
It is well known that warm and humid countries are infested with swarms of small insects, as flies, mosquitos, zancudos, fleas, &c.; and a certain traveller has asserted that, on this account, Lima was insupportable as a place of residence: but the statement is erroneous, for such insects do not flourish in the midst of population and cleanliness.
Notwithstanding the mildness of winter in Lima, it is sufficient to annihilate the flies and zancudos: mosquitos are not within doors at any season of the year. The flies and zancudos multiply in summer; and the latter are very annoying, especially at night, for they prevent sleep by the buzzing of their wings. But by taking care that no water be left in the house till it become nearly putrid, this little insect will not be allowed to grow troublesome; for the zancudos are the offspring of the animalcules which are produced in water tending to a state of decomposition: neither do the flies prove troublesome by their numbers in the houses where cleanliness is not neglected.
The pediculus may be said to be sterile on the coast, but most highly prolific in the Sierra: insects of this and the cimex kind persecute man wherever he sojourns, and Lima does not appear to be more infested or overstocked with such vermin than certain European cities. In Paris alone there are seventy-seven species of the cimex.[58]
The most intrusive, the most vexatious insect of the torrid zone, is the pique or chigre, which in other parts is known by the name of nigua. Uncleanly in the extreme, it searches the corrales, or pens, where pigs are enclosed, and multiplies infinitely in dirty situations. The heaps of rubbish, or sweepings and refuse from streets and houses, &c. are, as it were, in a state of effervescence with piques, which also follow the footsteps of man, pursuing relentlessly those with overgrown nails, and others who neglect cleanliness. Less than the flea, but of the same colour, it contrives to introduce itself inside shoes and stockings, and to lodge in the tenderest part of the foot,—in the sole, or under the nails: there it fixes itself, causing as much pain as would be occasioned by the point of a needle, and it secures its position so well as to render it very difficult of being detached. In attempting to remove it, the soft parts are often ill-treated by the instrument, which is either a needle or pin, commonly used for its extraction; and when, during the operation, the part acted upon becomes tinged with blood, the end of the matter is, that the pique, instead of being removed entire, is lacerated, and, the one-half only being taken away, the other is still left inserted under the skin, and there occasions more pain than at first. For this reason, those persons who are accustomed to piques keep very quiet when they observe that one of them has fixed itself under the epidermis or outer skin, and leave it undisturbed for a day or two: here it forms its nest; and is gradually metamorphosed into a white globe, of the appearance of a moderately-sized pearl. It holds on fast to the skin, by its mouth, at the point where it first adhered. Having attained maturity, it is in fact nothing else than a group of innumerable little eggs united by a white glutinous matter, and covered by a common envelope which encloses the whole. While growing, the pique scarcely causes inconvenience; but instantly it has acquired its due size, if not extracted, it gives rise to very stinging pain. Two or three days after its introduction it will have attained a sufficient growth for being removed. In the performance of this operation the negroes are most expert, on account of the constant practice they have in operating on themselves. With the point of a pin they carefully separate the epidermis under which the nigua is fixed, leaving it still attached by its reddish mouth; and then they thread or transfix it, and extract it in its globular form. Great care should be taken not to burst the bag or envelope of the insect at the time of extracting it, for otherwise several ova, equivalent to so many parasitic insects, are left to infest the foot; and besides, should part of the bag be left behind, pain and inflammation will supervene, followed by suppuration to cast off the foreign body. The hollow left after the pique is abstracted, is to be filled with snuff or the ashes of a cigar; as it stops any oozing of blood from the little wound, and assists in promoting the separation, or absorption, of any fragments of the envelope of the insect that may have remained behind; and by this means the pain is avoided which otherwise might arise if these parts were left to themselves, and allowed to slough off.
Without having recourse to the process of extraction, the piques may be destroyed by rubbing the spot where they nestle with mercurial ointment, or with a mixture of soap and oil: in either way they are killed, and consequently fall off in form of crust. Tepid oil applied to the parts injured during the extraction of the pique or nigua affords relief; and it is requisite that the person who has been operated upon take great care not to put his feet in cold water until the incision made in the skin be entirely healed; for otherwise there would be risk of inducing that fearful disease—locked jaw.
EXTINCT ANIMALS.
Notwithstanding the vast distance from one another at which different nations of the earth have been planted, it may yet be traced in their traditions that one great and glorious object had been seen in common by their forefathers, the image of which had been so impressed on their minds, that, when placed in analogous circumstances, it often recurred to their thoughts, and was always referred to, though under different appellations. Thus, in midst of the solemn and sublime apparatus of thunder and lightning, Jehovah descends to the summit of Sinai to give law to the Hebrews. This august and majestic image of the greatness of Divine power is soon after applied to Jupiter darting thunderbolts from the peak of Ida against the armies of Greece; and the Great Man[59] appears in like manner on the mountains of Ohio to exterminate with his darts a fierce animal, which desolated the fertile plains. So also, in former times, the Heavenly Angel came down to the summit of Santa Helena in Southern America, to crush and overwhelm a fierce and polluted race of giants, who, having entered these harbours from some unknown clime, devastated the land.[60]
The Indians of the one and the other hemisphere corroborate the truth of their traditions by being able to present the great molar teeth, or grinders, which are found under the surface of the earth in the places alluded to. In Peru, these teeth, with other bones of enormous magnitude, are found in the province of Chichas, near the tropic of Capricorn; and in Chile there are not wanting vestiges of the same sort of organic remains.
I have had in my possession four of these molar teeth, of which I yet preserve one in the library of the Medical College of San Fernando. When compared among themselves, I have judged, from their configuration, that they did not belong to the same fossil elephant; but, rather, that three pertained to the mammoth, and that one had belonged to the mastodonton of Cuvier: from which it is to be inferred that those very bulky animals, which in remote ages lived in Siberia and North America, had penetrated into Southern America, where they have left the natives, in the relics of their destruction, or fossil remains, a memorial of the existence and punishment of antediluvian giants.
The bony fragments which are considered to be parts of this gigantic race, may they not rather consist of earthy petrifactions in water impregnated with lime? Between the villages of Chorrillos and Miraflores, in the locality named Calera, water impregnated with lime is observed to percolate at the foot of the barranco, or broken bluff-land; and it deposits on the stones, over which it drips or passes, certain crusts or laminæ, which have the same appearance with the bony laminæ of the human skull.[61]