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353 
Report on the Fauna of Ireland: Div. Vertebrata. Drawn 
up, at the request of the British Association, by Witu1aM 
Tuompson, Esq., ( Vice-Pres. Nat. Hist. Society of Bel- 
fast, ) one of the Committee appointed for that purpose. 
PART I. 
Ir has been remarked to me, and by a distinguished naturalist, 
that the zoology of Ireland can hardly be worth attention, from 
the similarity it must bear to that of Great Britain, already so 
wellknown. But, properly considered, the zoology of an island 
which, in the eastern hemisphere, constitutes the most western 
land within the fifty-first and fifty-fifth degrees of north lati- 
tude, cannot but be highly interesting, especially in connexion 
with that most attractive subject, the geographical distribu- 
tion of animals. In Ireland, we find within the degrees of lati- 
tude just mentioned the extreme western limits to which all our 
species range that are peculiar to the eastern hemisphere. In 
Zoology, however,—that is, in Vertebratal zoology, for of it only 
the present communication treats,—we do not (as some writers, 
without reflecting on the very different circumstances which in- 
fluence the distribution of animal and vegetable life, have an- 
ticipated,) find the same interesting results as in Botany. The 
West and South of the island do not present us with any of the 
Vertebrata of Portugal, the western Pyrenees, or the South of 
Europe, which are not found elsewhere in the British Islands. 
The Erica mediterranea, Menziesia polifolia, Arbutus Unedo, 
&c., have no animal representatives*. 
Throughout this Report it has been considered desirable to 
contrast the zoology of Ireland with that of Great Britain,—to 
present, in fact, a comparative list of the Vertebrata of the two 
islands. It must, however, be borne in mind, that all species 
found from the Channel Islands in the south, to the Shetland 
Islands in the north, are included in the British Fauna, and 
that within the degrees of latitude over which it extends, Ire- 
land occupies but one third. © Ireland is comprised within 
four degrees, whilst the Shetland Islands range nearly six de- 
grees further to the north, and more than two degrees to the 
south the Channel Islands are situated. The Fauna of Great 
Britain also extends over ten degrees of longitude, whilst that 
of Ireland is limited to half the number. 
The physical geography of Ireland must, like that of every 
* What may be the distribution of Lepus hibernicus and Mus hibernicus 
is yet indeed a problem. 
1840. 2A 
