CHAPTER VII. 



THE LUSITANIAN FAUNA. 



UNDER the Roman Emperor Augustus, the Spanish 

 peninsula was divided into three provinces, one of 

 which namely Lusitania occupied a large portion of 

 the present area of Portugal. The term " Lusitanian " 

 is therefore almost synonymous with Portuguese, but 

 it has frequently been applied by zoologists and 

 botanists in a much wider sense, so as to vaguely 

 include the extreme south-west of Europe without 

 any definite limits. Neither do I propose to restrict 

 the term to everything found within the borders of 

 Portugal For the sake of convenience, we may 

 designate as Lusitanian forms those animals and 

 plants which have migrated to Central, Southern, or 

 Northern Europe from South-western Europe. They 

 may really be North-west African species, or they 

 may have originated on land which lay to the west of 

 Portugal, and which is now mostly buried beneath a 

 deep sea. Nevertheless, we have received them from 

 the extreme south-western portion of our continent 

 they have come to greater Europe from that 

 direction. 



In discussing the component elements of the British 

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