DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAUNAS. 201 



America ; but their supposed number is constantly dimin- 

 ished, as more accurate observations are made. The pre- 

 dominant 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, 

 wildcats, &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 and in Japan. Among Birds, 

 there is a multitude of climbers, passerine, gallinaceous, and 

 many rapacious birds. Of Reptiles, there are lizards and 

 tortoises of small or medium size, serpents, and many ba- 

 trachians, 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 the tunny. All classes 

 of the Mollusks are represented ; though the cephalopods are 

 less numerous than in the torrid zone. There is an infinite 

 number of Articulata of every type, as well as numerous 

 Polyps, though the corals proper do not yet appear abun- 

 dantly. 



429. On each of the two continents of Europe and Amer- 

 ica there is a certain number of species, which extend from 

 one extreme of the temperate zone to the other. Such, for 

 example, are the deer, the bison, the cougar, the flying-squir- 

 rel, numerous birds of prey, several tortoises, and the rattle- 

 snake, in America. In Europe, the brown bear, wolf, 

 swallow, and many birds of prey. Some species have a 

 still wider range, like the ermine, which is found from Behr- 

 ing's Straits to the Himalaya Mountains, that is to say, from 

 the coldest regions of the arctic zone to the southern confines 

 of the temperate zone. It is the same with the muskrat, 

 which is found from the mouth of Mackenzie's River to 

 Florida. The field-mouse has an equal range in Europe. 

 Other species, on the contrary, are limited to one region. 



