154 



STUDIES IN LIFE AND SENSE. 



Nine families two peculiar to the region and fifteen special genera 

 represent the newts and salamanders, which include in their ranks 

 the sirens, amphiumas, and two forms related to the European pro- 

 teus of the caves of Carniola and the giant salamander of Japan 

 respectively. There are also five families of fresh-water fishes 

 including two families of the rare ganoids to be enumerated amongst 

 the specific animal belongings of this large area. 



There can be no question of the clear distinctness of the Nearctic 

 region from all other regions, including the Palaearctic, to which, 

 however, in the general characters of its animal life, it is so closely 

 allied. The species that are really common are northern or Arctic 

 forms, a fact which to some extent would seem to point to former 

 land connections in the north as a cause of the similarity. Not- 

 withstanding the likeness in question, the Palaearctic and Nearctic 

 regions are essentially distinct ; and there are no reasonable grounds 



for any scheme of uniting 

 their varied interests in 

 one common biological 

 territory. 



The Neotropical re- 

 gion extends from the 

 southern limits of the 

 Nearctic region, and in- 

 cludes the remainder of 

 the New World that 

 is, Central and South 

 America with the West 

 Indian Islands as a sub- 

 region of the territory. 

 No region of the world, 

 if we except the Austra- 

 lian province, presents 

 such a variety of inte- 

 resting biological fea- 

 tures as the Neotropical 

 province. Whether re- 

 garded in the light of its 

 existing life and of the 

 diversity of animal and 

 plant species it presents to view, or studied in the relations of its pre- 

 sent animals to the geological past, the Neotropical area equals, if, 

 indeed, it does not in some features excel in interest, the great 

 island-continent itself. The monkeys of the Neotropical region, for 

 example, are totally different from those of any other region of the 

 globe. They are broad -nosed, and usually possess prehensile tails, 



FIG. 19. SPIDER MONKEY. 



