. The continent we live on. Physical geography; Natural history. in my opinion, been somewhat underestimated. This is the Uro- pygi or whip-tailed scoiTJion. The whip-tails are armed with a pair of grapples rather than pincers, and have piercing mouth parts. They hook onto their prey and squeeze it to their mouths so that these protruding devices may puncture its hide. Most Uropygi are small, but there are some in this province that are three inches long. They inject a fluid that, if it gets under the skin, produces excruciating burning sensations and inflamma- tion. They are rare creatures, b
. The continent we live on. Physical geography; Natural history. in my opinion, been somewhat underestimated. This is the Uro- pygi or whip-tailed scoiTJion. The whip-tails are armed with a pair of grapples rather than pincers, and have piercing mouth parts. They hook onto their prey and squeeze it to their mouths so that these protruding devices may puncture its hide. Most Uropygi are small, but there are some in this province that are three inches long. They inject a fluid that, if it gets under the skin, produces excruciating burning sensations and inflamma- tion. They are rare creatures, but no case is, as far as I know, on record of death from them. INTO THE BOLSONES If we cross the Rio Grande gorge and travel into upper Mexico we find ourselves in a vast desierto that extends across the state of Chihuahua and is traversed by only one north-to-south road. Here we are in the center of the Desert Belt although at an altitude of some three to four thousand feet. The country is very arid, and as true a desert as any on this continent, yet most of it is clothed in quite profuse plant life. The cactus flora is some- what different from that of Sonora, but the creosote bush again holds sway along with saltbush, some scrub huisache, and a great many yuccas. As a whole, the cactuses, yuccas, and the creosote bushes here grow below the 3500-foot level and grease- wood and sages above these and up to about 5000 feet. Above this comes grass—the montane zone of the subtropical savan- nahs—and very soon appear small isolated cedars and junipers, which coalesce upward and in turn give way to pines and firs above 7000 feet. The true northern or boreal coniferous zone is represented on the very tops of the mountains at over 8500 feet. The plateau is a vast level plain with ridge after ridge of mountains running from northwest to southeast. These rise on an average about 3500 feet above the level floor. In between are shallow bowls called by the Spanish bolsones, which are s
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