168 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. 



coast of New England, fifty do not pass to the north of Cape 

 Cod, and eighty-three do not pass to the south of it ; only 

 sixty-four being common to both sides of the Cape. A 

 similar limitation of the range of Fishes has been noticed 

 by Dr. Storer ; and Dr. Holbrook has found the Fishes of 

 South Carolina to be different from those of Florida and the 

 West Indies. In Europe, the northern part of the temperate 

 region extends to the Pyrennees and the Alps ; and its 

 southern portion consists of the basin of the Mediterranean, 

 together with the northern part of Africa, as far as the 

 desert of Sahara. 



428. A peculiar characteristic of the faunas of the tem- 

 perate regions in the northern hemisphere, when contrasted 

 with those of the southern, is the great similarity of the 

 prevailing types on both continents. Notwithstanding the 

 immense extent of country embraced, the same stamp 

 is everywhere exhibited. Generally, the same families, 

 frequently the same genera, represented by different spe- 

 cies, are found. There are even a few species of terres- 

 trial animals regarded as identical on the continents of 

 Europe and America ; but their supposed number is con- 

 stantly diminished, as more accurate observations are made. 

 The predominant types among the mammals are the bison, 

 deer, ox, horse, hog, numerous rodents, especially squirrels, 

 and hares, nearly all the insectivora, weasels, martens, 

 wolves, foxes, wild cats, &c. On the other hand, there are 

 no Edentata and no Quadrumana, with the exception of 

 some monkeys on the two slopes of the Atlas. Among 

 Birds, there is a multitude of climbers, passerine, gallina- 

 ceous, and many rapacious birds. Of Reptiles, there 

 are lizards and tortoises of small or medium size, ser- 

 pents, and many batrachians, but no crocodiles. Of Fishes, 

 there is the trout family, the cyprinoids, the sturgeons, the 

 pikes, the cod, and especially the great family of Herrings 

 and Scomberoids, to which latter belong the mackerel and 



