20 Geographical Distribution of Animals. 



fact which, in our opinion, can never.be reconciled to the 

 idea of a unique centre of origin of the animals now liv- 

 ing. But though other families have never been and are 

 not now localized in so special a manner, we nevertheless 

 find them circumscribed within certain limits, in particular 

 districts, or, at least, in particular zones. 



As already mentioned, the monkeys are entirely tropical. 

 But here, again, we notice a very intimate adaptation of their 

 types to the particular continents, as the monkeys of tropical 

 America constitute a family altogether distinct from the 

 monkeys of the Old World, there being not one species of 

 any of the genera of Quadrumana, so numerous on this conti- 

 nent, found either in Africa or in Asia. The monkeys of the 

 Old World, again, constitute a natural family by themselves, 

 extending equally over Africa and Asia ; but the species of 

 Africa differ from those of Asia ; and there is even a close 

 representative analogy between those of different parts of 

 these two continents ; the orangs of Africa, the chimpanzee 

 and gorilla, corresponding to the red orang of Sumatra and 

 Borneo, and the smaller long armed species of continental 

 Asia. And what is not a little remarkable is the fact, that 

 the black orang occurs upon that continent which is inhabit- 

 ed by the black human race, whilst the brown orang inhabits 

 those parts of Asia over which the chocolate-coloured Malays 

 have been developed. There is again a peculiar family of 

 Quadru7nana confined to the Island of Madagascar — the makis 

 — which are entirely peculiar to that island, and the eastern 

 coast of Africa opposite to it, and to one spot on the western 

 shore of Africa. But in New Holland, and the adjacent 

 islands, there are no monkeys at all, though the climatic 

 conditions seem not to exclude their existence any more 

 than those of the large Asiatic islands, upon which such high 

 types of this order are found. And these facts more than 

 any other, would indicate that the special adaptation of ani- 

 mals to particular districts of the surface of our globe is 

 neither accidental, nor dependent upon physical conditions, 

 but is implied in the primitive plan of the creation itself. 

 Whatever classes we may take into consideration, we shall 

 find similar adaptations, and though, perhaps, the greater 



