6'0 



ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF ANIMALS. 



portion to those which are equally natives of Europe, 

 as will be seen from the following list. Three distinct 

 bears, the black, the barren ground, and the grisly*; 

 the raccoon (Procyon lotor}, the American badger 

 (Meles Labradorid), the vison or minx (Putorius vison), 

 the Pekan (P. Canadensis}, the Canada otter (Lutra 

 Canadensis), numerous varieties of species of wolves 

 and foxes, the American beaver (Castor Americanus}, 

 the musquash (Fiber Zibethicus}, with no less than 

 thirty species of lemmings, marmots, and squirrels. The 

 existence of so many quadrupeds, whose geographic 

 limits are confined to the more northern latitudes of 

 the New World, occurring also in that part of the 

 continent where its zoological features are blended with 

 those of Europe, at once forbids us to consider the 

 Arctic regions as constituting, of itself, a zoological pro- 

 vince; while it stamps a character on that of America 

 in which no other part of the world participates. 



(84.) On turning to the ruminating or herbivorous 

 quadrupeds, we find the facts afforded by their distri- 

 bution equally tending to the same results. The Polar hare 

 (Lepus glacialis) occurs on both continents ; but three 

 others, the American (Lep. Americanus) , the prairie (Lep. 

 Virginianus}, and the little chief hare (Lagomys prin- 

 ceps Rich.), are exclusive natives of Northern America. 

 The large animals, belonging to the genera Cervus, An- 

 telope, and Bos, present us with nearly a dozen similar 

 instances. The elk, called in America the moose (Cervus 

 alces), and the reindeer, here known by the name of 

 caribou (Cervus tarandus), are the only species found 

 in other continents ; both, in fact, are Arctic animals ; 

 while the wapiti (C. strongyloceros), two races of the 

 black-tailed deer (C. macrotis R.), the long-tailed deer 

 (C. leucurus), and the prong-horned antelope (A. fur- 

 cifer), are known only in America. We may include 

 also, among these northern quadrupeds, the wild goat 

 (Capra Americana R.), and the sheep (Ovis montana 



North. Zool. vol. L 



