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2. The Temperate Zone; zone of Tiliqua rufescens.—4000-10,000 
feet above the level of the sea. 
A great change in the flora takes place at an elevation of 4000 feet, 
and is complete at 4800. Scattered oaks appear in the midst of a 
tropical vegetation; these, with chestnuts, magnolias, laurels, and tree- 
rhododendrons become gradually more numerous; at from 6000 to 
7000 feet, plants of the temperate regions blend with those of the 
tropical ; the vegetation yet continues to be gorgeous, and is, in some 
respects, not to be surpassed by anything in the tropics. At 8000 feet, 
forests of firs and manysubalpine plants appear; the traveller, who was 
glad to have escaped the leeches, which received him at the entrance 
of this zone, finds himself now attacked by another species, not less 
blood-thirsty : the mean temperature at this elevation coincides most 
nearly with that of London, viz. 50°. A little higher up, the ther- 
mometer falls in nights of the month of November to 30°, whilst at 
9700 feet it reaches 67° in the noon of August. No marked change 
in the flora takes place from 8000 feet towards the upper limit of 
the zone; but at 10,000 feet extensive snow-beds have been found 
yet unmelted in June. We must refer to this zone what we know 
of the Reptiles of the Khasia Mountains; and the fact stated by 
Dr. Hooker, that the temperate flora descends fully 4000 feet lower 
in the latitude of Khasia than in that of Sikkim, though the former 
is two degrees nearer the equator, appears to be fully confirmed by 
a similar modification of the elevational limits of the reptiles. Several 
species collected in Khasia, apparently not much above 3000 feet, 
where the tree-vegetation has already disappeared, are found in the 
Himalaya not below the middle of this zone, and spread even beyond 
it; for instance, Hinulia. Other species show at least a distinctly 
higher range in the Himalaya. It is clear, from what we have said 
above, that all the physical conditions for a rich Amphibian life ex- 
tend through nearly the whole zone, but the influence of elevation 
makes itself very perceptible by the decrease of the number of species 
in the higher parts. 
a. Species between 4000 and 8000 feet. 
Hinulia indica. Brachyorrhos tenuiceps. 
Barycephalus sykesii. Simotes purpurascens, var. 
*Tiliqua rufescens. Xenodon macrophthalmus. 
Calotes tricarinatus. Coryphodon carinatus. 
* Clothonia johnit. - blumenbachit. 
*Tropidonotus subminiatus. Spilotes reticulatus. 
platyceps. Ablabes rappit. 
Trachischium fuscum. * Gongylophis conica. 
obscuro-striatum. *Naja tripudians. 
* Dipsas trigonata. *Rana vittigera. 
‘Herpetoreas sieboldii. Bufo vulgaris. 
Psammodynastes pulverulen- * Bufo melanostictus. 
tus, var. Rhacophorus maximus. 
