144 STUDIES IN LIFE AND SENSE. 



These provinces or regions, depicted in fig. 13, are as follows : 



(includes Europe, Africa N. of the Desert, 



I. Palsearctic Region . . \ and Asia (except India and the Eastern 



( Peninsula). 



Uf^ , , , T j. x r> . (includes India and the Eastern Peninsula 

 . Oriental (or Indian) Region { and Archipel to Wallace ' s Line." 



(Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, and 

 Eastern Archipelago S. of "Wallace's 

 Line." 



IV. Ethiopian Region . . Africa S. of the Desert, and Madagascar. 

 V. Nearctic Region . . North America, down to Central America. 



, 7T -vr . . , r> - f South America, West Indian Islands, and 



VI. Neotropical Region . . { Southem 



Beginning with the Pal cearctic Region (fig. 13), or the first of the 

 six great provinces into which the biologist maps out the earth's sur- 

 face, we may, in each case, firstly define the geographical boundaries 

 of the province ; next note the leading groups of living beings which 

 characterise the region ; and finally discuss its sub-regions wherever 

 these latter present any features of striking interest. The con- 

 stitution and limits of the Palsearctic Region introduce us at once 

 to the revolution in geographical ideas which the study of distribu- 

 tion entails. We shall find therein a typical instance of that 

 apparently arbitrary division of continents and piecing together of 

 diverse lands, beneath which lies, in reality, the true relationship of 

 the land areas of our globe. The Palsearctic Region of the biologist 

 consists (i) of Europe in its entirety ; (2) Asia, except India and the 

 Eastern Peninsula, along with as much of Africa as lies north of the 

 Desert. In the " mind's eye " we must, therefore, separate out the 

 areas just mentioned from those with which, in ordinary geography, 

 they are so intimately associated, and, piecing them together, form a 

 great zoological province. This province is characterised, as are 

 the other five divisions, by the possession of animals and plants 

 which, for the most part, remain characteristic of its limits. Here 

 and there we may detect a commingling with the forms of adjoining 

 regions, and occasionally we may meet with a group which is common 

 to two or more regions. Sometimes we see groups such as the 

 crows, swallows, owls, and pigeons among birds, or the rats and 

 mice among quadrupeds which have representatives in every region, 

 and are thus cosmopolitan, or nearly so, in their distribution. But, 

 apart from these exceptional instances, the main zoological and 

 botanical features of each region are readily distinguishable; and 

 no less so, as a rule, are the sub-regions into which each province is 

 divided from considerations connected with the prevalence of special 

 groups of animals in certain localities. 



The quadrupeds of the Palaearctic Region include many familiar 

 forms. As compared with the region most closely resembling it 



