PREFACE 



ON THE 



GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF 

 THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF PALESTINE. 



The present volume contains a catalogue of all the known Vertebrata, 

 Terrestrial and Fluviatile IMollusca, and the Flora of Palestine. The 

 Insect Fauna of the region has been so little studied, and the local 

 collections hitherto formed are so meagre, that it has been thought better 

 to pass over this branch of the subject, than to give lists which must 

 necessarily be very imperfect, and therefore misleading. 



The Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, which has already 

 contributed so much to the general stock of information as to the 

 geography, topography, history, and archaeology of that country, felt that 

 their work would be incomplete until supplemented by an account of its 

 natural productions. Such an account it has been the endeavour of the 

 compiler of this volume to supply, based chiefly upon his own observations 

 and collections formed during four visits to the country ; but he has not 

 hesitated to avail himself also of the results of the researches of others, 

 and must acknowledge with gratitude the aid he has received from 

 Dr. Lortet, M. Locard, and M. Edmond Boissier. 



In the geographical position and the geology of Palestine, we find 

 special reasons why the consideration of its Fauna and Flora is ex- 

 ceptionally important ; and a detailed examination discloses results even 

 more interesting than could have been expected from the peculiar position 

 of that region, as an outlying portion of the great Paleearctic region. 



In 1858 Mr. Sclater laid before the Linnaean Society his views on the 

 geographical distribution of the members of the class Aves, in which the 

 learned author arranged the class, geographically, into six great regions, 

 each area marked by its characteristic fauna, and by a general homogeneity 



b 



