DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAUNAS. 3/1 



commences. Still the number of species is not yet very 

 considerable ; as lie advances southward, along the coasts of 

 Nova Scotia and New England, he finds new species gradually 

 introduced, while those of the colder regions diminish, and at 

 length entirely disappear, some few accidental or periodical 

 visiters excepted, who wander during winter as far south as 

 the Carolinas. 



599. But it is after having passed the boundaries of the 

 United States, among the Antilles, and more especially on the 

 southern continent, along the shores of the Orinoco and the 

 Amazon, that our traveller will be forcibly struck with the 

 astonishing variety of the animals inhabiting the forests, 

 the prairies, the rivers, and the sea-shores, most of which he 

 will also find to be different from those of the northern conti- 

 nent. By this extraordinary richness of new forms, he will 

 become sensible that he is now in the domain of the tropical 

 fauna. 



6 (JO. Let him still travel on beyond the equator towards 

 the tropic of Capricorn, and he will again find the scene 

 change as he enters the regions where the sun casts his rays 

 more obliquely, and where the contrast of the Seasons is more 

 marked. The vegetation will be less luxuriant ; the palms 

 will have disappeared to make place for other trees ; the ani- 

 mals will be less varied, and the whole picture will recall to 

 him, in some measure, the scene which he witnessed in the 

 United States. He will again find himself in the temperate 

 region, and this he will trace on, till he arrives at the extremity 

 of the continent, the fauna and the flora becoming more 

 and more impoverished as he approaches Cape Horn. 



601. Finally, we know that there is a continent around 

 the South Pole. Although we have as yet but very imperfect 

 notions respecting the animals of this inhospitable clime, still 

 the few which have already been observed there, present a 

 close analogy to those of the arctic region. It is another 

 glacial fauna, namely, the antarctic. Having thus sketched 

 the general distribution of the faunas, it remains to point out 

 the principal features of each. 



602. I. AECTIC FAUNA. The predominant feature of 

 the Arctic Fauna is its uniformity. The species are few ; 

 but, on the other hand, the number of individuals is im- 

 mense. We need only refer to the clouds of birds which 



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