CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. 

 SECTION I. 



GENERAL LAWS OF DISTRIBUTION. 



396. No animal, excepting man, inhabits every part of the 

 surface of the earth. Each great geographical or climatal 

 region is occupied by some species not found elsewhere ; 

 and each animal dwells within certain limits, beyond which 

 it does not range while left to its natural freedom, and within 

 which it always inclines to return, when removed by acci- 

 dent or design. Man alone is a cosmopolite. His domain is 

 the whole earth. For him, and with a view to him, it was 

 created. His right to it is based upon his organization and 

 his relation to Nature, and is maintained by his intelligence 

 and the perfectibility of his social condition. 



397. A group of animals which inhabits any particular 

 region, embracing all the species, both aquatic and terrestrial, 

 is called its FAUNA ; in the same manner as the plants of a 

 country are called its Flora. To be entitled to this name, it 

 is not necessary that none of the animals composing the 

 group should be found in any other region ; it is sufficient 

 that there should be peculiarities in the distribution of the 

 families, genera, and species, and in the preponderance of 

 certain types over others, sufficiently prominent to impress 

 upon a region well-marked features. Thus, for example, in 

 the islands of the Pacific are found terrestrial animals, alto- 



