1542 THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE 



No strongly marked feature intervenes between the 

 plains of eastern Europe and those of northern Asia, 

 and within the continuous range of land that extends, 

 under the same parallels, from the Baltic Sea east- 

 ward to the waters of the Pacific Ocean, the animal 

 life exhibits for the most part identity of species andi 

 genera. The differences between them, in a vast 

 number of instances, are merely varieties. Many of 

 the fur-bearing animals are common to all the lands 

 that lie within the Arctic circle, as many as twenty- 

 seven species being native to Europe, Asia, and North 

 America alike. 



The vast population of Europe has necessitated the 

 rearing of the domestic quadrupeds in vast numbers, 

 and has been accompanied, in numerous instances, by 

 the extermination of the wild denizens of the forest. 

 It would seem from a passage in Herodotus (book 

 vii, 125) that the lion once frequented the woods of 

 Macedonia. The wild boar, bear, and the wolf were 

 formerly natives of the British Islands, and the last 

 named animal has only been exterminated from with- 

 in their limits during the last hundred and fifty years. 

 The beaver, long since banished, was once common 

 on the banks of the Welsh streams. The fox is only 

 preserved by artificial means, and for the purposes 

 of the chase. The wildcat, now rarely seen, and that 

 only in the remoter portions of the Scotch Highlands, 

 was formerly common within the English forests. 

 The bustard, a bird now rarely seen, was once met 

 with in huge flights on the plains of Norfolk and Suf- 

 folk, while huge fen-eagles frequented the marshy 

 flats of the adjacent country. 



