Jean-Baptiste Biot

“ So gross has been the exaggeration and so baseless the popular fear regarding spiders that entomologists have been inclined to discredit all accounts of serious injury from their bites. Not only have the most circumstantial of newspaper accounts proved to be without foundation but there are on record a number of cases where the bite of many of the commoner species have been intentionally provoked and where the effect has been insignificant. ”

“ Except when breeding the Bienteveo is a peaceful bird, never going out of its way to make gratuitous attacks on individuals of its own or of other species; but in the pursuit of its prey it is cunning, bold, and fierce. Like the true Tyrant-birds it preys a great deal on large insects when they are abundant in the warm season, and is frequently seen catching its prey in the air. A large beetle or grasshopper it invariably beats against a branch before devouring it. But even in summer, when insect prey is most abundant, it prefers a more substantial diet whenever such is to be had. ”

“ Continuing his descent, my friend soon joined the Indian.
Lucien's impatience was extreme; he was enchanted with this aerial route.
"Now it's your turn," said I, as soon as I had drawn up the lasso.
"Are you going to tie me?" he asked in a disappointed tone.
"How did you suppose you would descend?"
"By holding on to the lasso, like l'Encuerado and M. Sumichrast," answered the boy.
"The grasp of your hands is not firm enough; you must not think of it; I have no wish to risk your neck."
"Oh! dear father! do let me try." ”

“ I only wanted to show them to Chanito. Good-bye, Señor Huitzitzilin! you are a brave bird, and it's I, l'Encuerado, who tells you so!"
And the Indian went away, saluting the valiant mother with so many waves of his hat that the poor bird must have thought her last hour had come.
"What do these beautiful little birds feed upon, M. Sumichrast?"
"On the juices of flowers and small insects. Look! there is one hovering, and its wings are moving too fast for us to see them. Don't stir! I see a branch so covered with blue flowers that it can hardly fail to attract the bird. ”

“ Hiou! Hiou! Chanito!" we heard shouted in the distance.
"Hallo! hallo!" answered the boy.
And, soon after, l'Encuerado returned, carrying a fawn on his shoulders.
"Oh! what a pretty little creature!" cried Lucien; "why didn't you take it alive?"
"Bullets are the only things that can run as fast as these animals, Chanito."
"What became of the mother?" asked Sumichrast.
"I was not able to get near her; but at all events, we have more than enough meat now, both for to-day and to-morrow."
Lucien took possession of the fawn. He had always longed [161] to possess one of these animals alive. ”

“ Lucien was skillful enough to shoot one, and Sumichrast knocked down another. L'Encuerado loaded with the game, we proceeded to our hut.
Being now reassured as to our bill-of-fare for dinner by this unexpected windfall, I kept on walking towards the entrance of a glade, the soil of which, being quite burrowed, betrayed the presence of the moles. Each of us lay down under the shade of a tree. Chance led me under a robinia or iron-wood tree, the trunk of which will defy the best-tempered axe. ”

“ He really was a dear man, was Beit.
Of course I don’t know anything about his business character. Apparently there is a character a man puts on in business, just as a man does in politics, and it may be quite different from his character as a gentleman.
Beit every year made a pilgrimage to Hamburg, to see his old mother, who lived there, and it much touched me, his devotion to her. But our bond of affection was our affection for Rhodes.
The German Emperor sent for Beit, for I gathered that Beit saw how peace was threatened. I don’t know35 if this was the reason of the interview. ”

“ I should like to very much," said Betty. "I don't care," she said to herself, "and besides, it's not as if he were a young man, or a tourist, or anything. He must be ever so old—thirty; I shouldn't wonder if he was thirty-five."
When she saw the picture she merely said, "Oh," and stood at gaze. For it was a picture—a picture that, seen in foreign lands, might well make one sick with longing for the dry turf and the pale dog violets that love the chalk, for the hum of the bees and the scent of the thyme. ”

“ BITTERN, a genus of wading birds, belonging to the family Ardeidae, comprising several species closely allied to the herons, from which they differ chiefly in their shorter neck, the back of which is covered with down, and the front with long feathers, which can be raised at pleasure. They are solitary birds, frequenting countries possessing extensive swamps and marshy grounds, remaining at rest by day, concealed among the reeds and bushes of their haunts, and seeking their food, which consists of fish, reptiles, insects and small quadrupeds, in the twilight. ”

“ Bolder than M. Biot, but with a circumspection always alive, M. Dumas declared to Pasteur, without, however, further insisting upon the point, that he would not advise anyone to occupy himself too long with such a subject. M. de Senarmont alone took the part of Pasteur, and said to M. Biot:
'Let Pasteur alone. If there is nothing to be found in the path which he has entered upon, do not be alarmed, he will not continue in it. ”

“ Secure in its retreat, the Bittern keeps its place even if a sportsman should pass by the spot on which it crouches. It will not be tempted to leave its retreat by noise, or even by stone throwing, for it knows instinctively that the quaking bogland which it selects as its home is unsafe for the step of man.
The very cry of the Bittern adds to this atmosphere of desolation. By day the bird is silent, but after the sun has gone down it utters its strange wild cry, a sound which exactly suits the localities in which it loves to make its habitation. ”

“ We long looked down on the tree-tops of the forest we had just crossed, and the uniformity of the dark-green foliage had a most gloomy aspect; and, while close round us there were a number of birds fluttering about the trees, none of the feathered tribe ventured into the solitudes we had so lately traversed.
"I can not catch a sight of either rivulet or stream," said Lucien.
"Courage!" replied Sumichrast, who had seated himself by us. "The birds which are flying round us can not live without drinking, and their large number shows that there is plenty of water near."
"Hiou! hiou! Chanito." ”

“ A most interesting and remarkable circumstance we learn from the Magazine of Natural History, attends the great American Bittern; it is that it has the power of emitting a light from its breast equal to the light of a common torch, which illuminates the water so as to enable it to discover its prey. ”

“ It at once clings to its mother's fur by means of its claws, and by its teeth to her nipple. Nursing mothers appear to form colonies apart from the others. The growth of the young Bat is rapid and it is soon fully covered with fur. Before it is a fortnight old it is able to leave its mother temporarily, but it does not lead an independent life until it is about two months old. Nothing certain is known about the age to which a Bat attains, but it appears to be about four years.
Until the present century there was an astonishing lack of knowledge of the life-histories of our native species ”

“ Diverted by this [459] amusing conversation, none of us perceived an enormous branch, which just grazed our heads but upset our entertainer. When he emerged from the water, instead of swimming towards us, l'Encuerado made his way to the bank, and began, with cutlass in hand, to hew and hack at the tree which had been the cause of his accident.
"If you're going to cut down that colossus," cried my friend, "we had better encamp here, for it's eight days work at least."
"Only wait ten minutes more, at most, Tatita Sumichrast. ”

“ I again examined the landscape round us. There was nothing whatever which betrayed the vicinity of man. Everywhere the cacti spread out their variously-shaped flowers, which were nearly all yellowish or pink. Above us was a fiery sky, in which nothing seemed to move but a few vultures; on the ground there were hundreds of lizards in constant motion.
The Indian led the way, followed by Lucien.
"A footpath!" the boy suddenly cried out.
"A mimosa!" exclaimed Sumichrast, whose great height towered over us all.
"A hut!" murmured l'Encuerado, stopping and holding his finger to his lips. ”

“ The little animal, doubtless dazzled by the light, allowed itself to be caught, and then suddenly bending down its head, bit the boy's finger, who at once dropped it. L'Encuerado soon caught the runaway.
"Didn't you know that lizards were harmless?" asked Sumichrast of Lucien.
"That is why they bite, I suppose," replied the boy, shaking his head.
"Yes," said the naturalist, "but you needn't be afraid; its bite is not venomous.
"'This brute is surely not disposed to strife,
But you attack it, it'll defend its life.'"
Night came on. ”

“ It has doubtless happened in some cases that species, having many foes, have entirely thrown off some of them through the disguises they have been brought to assume, but others they still cannot elude.
Since Mr. Bates first brought forward the theory of mimetic resemblances its importance has been more and more demonstrated, as it has been found how very largely animal life has been influenced in form and colour by the natural selection of the varieties that were preserved from their enemies, or enabled to approach their prey, through the resemblance they bore to something else. ”

“ The ants climbed nearer and nearer to the top, and the summit was visibly losing its foliage.
"How long will they take to carry away all the leaves off that great tree?" asked Lucien.
"They will have finished their work by this evening," I answered.
Gringalet, who with generous confidence was lying down a few steps behind us, and had not seen his enemies creeping slyly over him, got up and began howling.
"Will you never be prudent?" cried l'Encuerado. [417]
"It stood up on its hind legs."
[419] "Any one must be as simple as a new-born infant to squat on an anthill. ”

“ I was pointing out this peculiarity to Lucien, when a formidable buzzing noise met our ears; a whole flock of Hercules beetles had flown out of a bush and struck heavily against the branches of a tree. Lucien caught one and wanted to hold it down on the ground, but the insect got away from him and continued its flight.
"Oh!" cried the boy, "this beetle is stronger than I am!"
"It is not for nothing that it bears the name of Hercules," replied Sumichrast, smiling; "as you have just found out, it is as remarkable for its strength as for its size. ”

“ Lucien rushed to the assistance of his faithful friend, and at last induced the Mistec to let him go. Not the least convinced of l'Encuerado's kind intentions towards him, Gringalet seemed to bear malice towards the Indian, and for three days was very shy of coming near him.
After this scene the preparations for dinner occupied our attention. If our guns had been more successful, we should have had fat to fry our fish in. While we were deploring our ill-luck, I noticed a flock of birds like ducks flying high up in the air; they made a wide circle and settled down on the top of a tree. ”

“ I thought you were too ill for irony. Never mind, I can bear witness that you have behaved like a man. What do your legs say?"
"That they would be very willing to rest."
"You would like to find yourself at Orizava?"
"I should rather see a stream, an alligator, and a puma."
"You are most unreasonable. I should be contented with the stream."
"Don't you find that the mosquitoes in the Terre-Chaude bite much sharper than those in the Terre-Tempérée?" asked the boy, addressing l'Encuerado.
"No, Chanito; they are all alike, for they belong to the same family, as your papa says." ”

“ How strange it is that these two species, mentally as widely separated as the Humming-bird and Crow, should be members of the same family!
The Bienteveo has a wide range in South America, and inhabits the whole of the Argentine country down to Buenos Ayres, where it is very common. It is resident and lives in pairs, the sexes being always faithful. The body is stout, somewhat large for a Tyrant-bird; the length being nine and a half inches, including the beak, which is a little over an inch in length. The wings are blunt and comparatively short, measuring, when spread, fourteen inches. ”

“ With an anxiety which may be easily understood, I watched all the movements of the lad, who was every now and then concealed by the leaves.
"Gently," cried l'Encuerado; "put your foot there. Well done! Now lay hold of this branch and slide down. Don't be afraid; I'll not let you go. How pleased and proud your papa will be when he knows how high you have climbed!"
The Indian was wrong; I was neither pleased nor proud. The trunk of the tree was five or six feet in circumference ”

“ There was general searching in ragged pockets for grimy papers with official seals thereon, and whilst Bibot ordered one of his men to take the six passports across the road to citizen Marat for his inspection, he himself, by the last rays of the setting winter sun, made close examination of the six men who desired to pass through the Porte Montmartre.
As the spokesman had averred, he—Bibot—knew every one of these men. They were the carriers to citizen Legrand, the Barency market gardener. Bibot knew every face. They passed with a load of fruit and vegetables in and out of Paris every day. ”