'22 



POLAR REGIONS. 



Polar This division into zones, distinguished by their ve- 

 rt egions. getable inhabitants, may be traced even along the sur- 

 "">""' f ac e of the lowest land, as we proceed northward; 

 though there are so many circumstances which affect 

 the temperature of any place, that the zones cannot be 

 marked by fixed degrees of latitude ; and the isother- 

 mal lines do not correspond with such parallels. The 

 Varieties of vegetable life decrease as we advance into 

 the Arctic regions; and we find a proportionate di- 

 minution in the numbers of the larger animals. 



SECT. VII. Zoology. 



Zoology. }N viewing the zoology of the Arctic regions, we find 

 the number of species in the animal kingdom gradual- 

 ly diminish. These desolate regions, however, teem 

 with life as far as human enterprize has hitherto pene- 

 trated. We have already noticed the innumerable 

 myriads of animalcules which swarm in the deep, suffi- 

 cient to discolour the waters of the Greenland sea to a 

 vast extent, and which probably afford fooc-1 to the 

 small squil/ce, and other Crustacea, on which the huge 

 myslicetus is supported. This exuberance of animal 

 life is the cause of the vast numbers of some species of 

 aquatic fowl, visiting the Arctic circle to the very 

 limits of perpetual congelation. Even the scanty ve- 

 getation of high latitudes is capable of supporting 

 many animals. The rein-deer, the musk-ox, the 

 ptarmigan, grow fat amid the stinted vegetation of 

 Melville Island, during its short summer; after which 

 an admirable instinct warns them to retreat to more 

 genial climes. 



The Fauna Groenlandica of Fabricius, a Danish 

 missionary, some time resident in that colony, affords 

 the best connected view of the zoology of an Arctic 

 country yet given to the world. 



Of the lower animals he enumerates and describes, 



Vermes, including Testacea, 



Insecta, including Articulata, 



Pisces, including Cartilaginei, 



True Amphibia, (rana temporaria, 



Aves, 



Mammalia, . 



228 



110 



44 



1 



5,'i 

 32 



468 



no inconsiderable list for so dreary a country. 



The more recent investigations of Captains Phipps, 

 Scoresby, and, Sabine, have made us acquainted with 

 several additional inhabitants of the Greenland sea, or 

 the adjacent shores, as may be seen by the following 

 list: 



Vermes. 



Flustrapilosa. 



Cellipora pumicosa. 



Sabella frustulosa. 



Succinum carinatum. 



Myt'dus rugosns 



dstcrlaspectinata. 



Medusa jnlcus, and six other small species, described 



and figured by Scoresby. Arctic .Regions. 

 Six species of minute animalcula, described and figured 



by Scoresby. 

 Clio borealis* 

 fielicina. 



Articulata. 



Cancer migax. 

 ampulla, 

 toreas. 

 pttlcx. 

 arcticus. 



Pisces. 



Gadus car'bonarius. 

 Mulbus barbatus. 

 Sqnalus borcalis. 



Aves. 



Hirunilo riparia. In Melville Island. 

 Tf.inga hypoleucos. 



cinerea, 



Charadrius pluvialis. 

 Uria brunnichii. 

 Lams argentatus. 

 sabini. 



Mammalia. 



Mus Grocnlandlcus. A new species, discovered on the 

 east coast of Greenland by Scoresby. 



It is, however, obvious, that these sources alone 

 can only afford a tolerable view of the principal zoolo- 

 gical productions of the Arctic regions. 



Pennant's Arctic Zoology contains a description of 

 many animals, which, strictly speaking, do not belong 

 to countries even within the 60 of latitude. The work 

 was originally intended to embrace the zoology of the 

 whole of North America, and, therefore, it contains 

 numerous animals that are only found in warm lati- 

 tudes. The zoology of the northern parts of Europe 

 and Asia have been ably illustrated in the works of 

 Linnaeus and Pallas ; and many additions were made 

 by the voyages of Steller and Cooke, and the re- 

 searches of Sir Charles Giesecke. It is gratifying to 

 our nationality to perceive how much the natural his- 

 tory of the Arctic regions is indebted to British enter- 

 prize. The voyages of Phipps, Scoresby, Ross, Parry, 

 Franklin ; Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and Hearne, in 

 America; of Sir G. Mackenzie, Dr. Hooker, and Dr. 

 Henderson, in Iceland, are monuments of our enterprize 

 and our zeal. From an examination of the facts col- 

 lected in their writings, from various detached memoirs 

 on the subject of natural history, and the perusal of some 

 of the most eminent systematic writers, we have drawn 

 up a catalogue of the animals in the classes Mammalia, 

 Aves, and Pisces, which have been observed within the 

 6'Oth degree of north latitude. We have fixed on this 

 latitude, because it includes those regions of Asia and 

 America where the intensity of the cold is fully as se- 

 vere as within the polar circle in Europe ; and it com- 

 prehends the whole of Greenland ; a country which 

 affords the best example of an Arctic Fauna. 



MAMMALIA. 



1. Ursus maritimus, 



2. Amcricanus, 



3. cinereus, 

 . 4. gulo, 



5. luscus, 



6. Meles Labradoria, 



7. Viverra martes, 



8. ermines, 



9. zibellina, 



10. Peunantii, 



11. mephitis, 



12. Lutra marina, 



13. Canadensis, 



14. Phoca barbata, 



15. 

 16. 

 IT. 

 18. 

 19. 

 20. 

 21. 



fcetida, 



hispidu, 



Groenlandica, 



leporina, 



ursina, 



Leonina, 



vitulina, 



22. Canis familiaris, 



Polar bear. 



1 Black bear and yellow bear, 

 j Richardson. 



Grizzly bear. Ditto. 



Glutton . 



Wolverene. 



American badger. 



Pine martin. 



Stoat. - 



Sable. 



Fisher weesel. 



Skunk. 



Sea otter. 



Canadian otter. 



Great seal. 



Foetid seal. t 



Hough seal. 



Harp seal. 



Leporine seal. 



Ui sine seal. 



.Leonine seal. 



Common seal. 



Domestic dog. 



Polar 



Regions. 



