Zoology and Botany, 34S 



greatest dissimilarity to those of South America. The boundary 

 line separating the Faunas of North and South America, was not 

 at the Isthmus of Darien, but at the tropic of Cancer. No Qua* 

 drumana occur to the north of the Isthmus of Darien ; though in 

 Europe there is a species which ranges as far north as the rock of 

 Gibraltar, in latitude 36° — In the order Carnivora, and family 

 Cheiroptera, all the North American species belong to that tribe 

 which possesses only one bony phalanx in the index, and two in 

 each of the other fingers, to which tribe also all the European bats 

 belong, except an Italian species of Dinops. None of the sixteen 

 species recorded as natives of North America have been found else- 

 where ; two only have been traced over any great extent of coun- 

 try, and one of these (resembling the European Pipistrellus) ranges 

 through 24° of latitude, and is the most northerly species in America. 

 There must be still many bats to be discovered in that country, as 

 those of Mexico, California, and the whole track of the Rocky 

 Mountains are entirely unknown. Of the family Insectivora, ten 

 species were enumerated ; and it was stated that North America 

 differs more from Europe in this family, than in any other of the 

 order Carnivora. Three of the European genera do not exist in 

 North America, and the three genera found in North America do 

 not exist in South America. The North American species of So- 

 rex, however, closely resemble those of Europe. — Of the family 

 Marsupiata, inhabiting the New World, only three species reach 

 into North America, the rest being confined to the south of the 

 Isthmus of Darien. Two of these occur no higher than Mexico ; 

 but the third (the Virginian opossum) ranges to the great Cana- 

 dian lakes on the north, and to Paraguay on the south. — About 

 forty species of the family Carnivora have been noticed ; and this 

 family includes a greater number than any other which are com- 

 mon te both North America and Europe ; though possibly a closer 

 acquaintance with some which are at present considered identical, 

 may enable us to establish some distinction between them. The ge- 

 neric forms of North America are the same as those of Europe, ex- 

 cepting in a very few cases, which belong to the South American 

 group. A few of the more northern forms also cross the Isthmus of 

 Darien to the south. — In the family Plantigrada, two of the four bears 

 of North America are undoubtedly peculiar to the New World ; and 

 one of these is the most northerly quadruped it contains. The 

 American Glutton, or Wolverine according to Cnvier, is identical 

 with that of the Old World. Among the Digit igrada, the range 



