File:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17973917899).jpg

Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo14amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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sandy level plain, stretching from about six miles south of the town into the distance as far as the eye could reach except toward the north. The insects also are far more P^loridian than in the other places we had visited, even more so than near the coast within sight, figuratively speaking, of Key West from which the mountains now separated us however. Just how Floridian they are remains to be seen. We beat the insects and spiders off the trees into umbrellas; swept the vegetation with nets; chased the creatures flying in the blazing sun; chopped into logs and dug into the white, hot sand. At the same time Messrs. Sleight and Davis were doing the same thing in Florida. When the specimens have been labeled and classified we shall compare notes, but it can be said even now that were Cuba all like this a large percentage of the species would be com- mon to both places. It is not to be understood that the fauna is identical with that of Florida. There were many Floridian species absent as well as non- Floridian species present — that is, al- though this locality is the most Floridian we found it is not an absolute copy and a better comparison may be dis- covered in the future. The problem for Mr. Leng and myself had now shifted slightly. Here was a sort of Cuban Florida and we had returned to the spot until new finds became relatively rare. If environment plays a large role in distribution, the fauna of the mountains, even though they be but a few miles distant, ought to differ more from the fauna of this spot than that of Florida does; whereas, if isolation or other factors are the important ones, the t. opposite would be found to be true. F'ortunately there is an automobile stage running from Pinar across the mountains to the north coast. Our first stop was at Bafios San Vicente near Viiiales. The mountains are largely limestone and full of caves, many of the caves containing streams. Cliffs rather than slopes are the characteristic thing and frequently the valleys are enormous sinks apparently caused by the falling in of the roofs of caves. The vegetation in this region is rich and distinctly more tropical than in those previously visited. Epiphytes of various species are common on the trees; orchids, delicate ferns and beautiful vines crowd every crevice in the rocks; but I do not recall seeing a single pine in this region — where we spent a pleasant profitable week and after each day's work refreshed ourselves in the warm sulphur baths from which the place gets its name. Going still farther north, on the other side of the mountains, we found the remains of a large pine forest which had been destroyed by a hurricane three years ago. Because of the copper which is found here, this region is likely to become better known, but now it is practically uninhabited. Finally we reached the north shore and the man- 101

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