president's address. 3 



III. Oriental region, with four sub-regions : 



1. Hindostan, or Central India. 



2. Ceylon. 



3. Indo-China, or Himalayas. 



4. Indo-Malaya. 



IV. Australian region, with four sub-regions: 



1. Austro-Malaya. 



2. Australia. 



3. Polynesia. 



4. New Zealand. 



V. Neotropical region, with four sub-regions : 



1. Chili, or South Temp. America. 



2. Brazil. 



3. Mexico, or Tropical North America. 



4. Antilles. 



VI. Nearctic region, with four sub-regions: 



1. California. 



2. Rocky Mountains. 



3. Alleghanies, or East United States. 



4. Canada. 



A corresponding member of this Society, and one of the most 

 learned and thorough of American naturalists, Mr. J. A. Allen, 

 in an elaborate memoir on " The Geographical Distribution of the 

 Mammalia, considered in relation to the principal ontological re- 

 gions of the. earth, and the laws that govern the distribution of 

 animal life,"* published in 1878, has proposed a very different sub- 

 division. He recognized three categories of general areas — viz : (i) 

 "primary divisions or 'realms,'" (2) "secondary divisions or 

 'regions,' " and (3) "divisions of third rank or 'provinces.' " 

 The several categories have been denominated as -follows: 



I. An Arctic, or North Circumpolar realm. 



* Bulletin U. S. Geological Survey, vol. iv, p. 376. 



