Heat, moisture, and animal life in deserts

Abstract

I have recently endeavoured to describe (Buxton, 1923) the conditions under which animals live in deserts, and the relation of the fauna to the environment, and I have had reason to regret the lack of experiments on which to base conclusions. For this reason I now publish the results of some investigations made recently in Palestine, though they are incomplete in certain particulars. There is no likelihood that I can carry them further, but they are sufficiently advanced to provide a starting-point for some other student. The studies of the temperature of the desert soil and of the creatures on it would have been impossible without the help of a grant from the Government Grant Committee of the Royal Society. I am also particularly indebted to Mr. C. B. Williams, Chief Entomologist, Ministry of Agriculture, Cairo, with whom I have been in constant touch, Mr. G. W. Baker, of the Central Laboratory, Jerusalem, and Mr. G. I. Taylor, F. R. S., of Trinity College, Cambridge, for their assistance. Dr. B. P. Uvarov, Mr. K. G. Blair, and Mr. Guy C. Robson, of the British Museum, have identified my Orthoptera, Coleoptera, and Mollusca.