I 



Element in the Fauna of India. 283 



I TJin}'a<l(l tliat I now doubt wlictlier there is an}Mlifrercnce 

 between the taiina of tlie Gan^'etie ami iJecean .suhmuvinces 

 sutticient to justit'y the retention of the distinetion. IMk; only 

 importance attiiehed to these subprovinces \a that Malay forma 

 are more numerous in the Bengal and ^Madras subprovinceu 

 than elsewhere. The Malabar forms arc closely affined to 

 ]\Ialay types as a rule, although some arc peculiar. 1 will 

 mention one instance of tlie distinctions which have K'<1 me to 

 suggest the formation of these subprovinces. The families 

 Cyclophorido' and DiplomniatinidtVy amongst the terrestrial 

 ]\Iollusca, are remarkably well represented throughout the 

 Oriental region. Both abound in the Himalayas and in Mala- 

 bar, the Cyclophoridin being even more richly represented in 

 the latter jirovince. In the Madras subjjrovince DijtJom- 

 mdtinidtr are found on the hills with a Malabar fauna but not 

 elsewliere ; and they have not, so far as I am aware, been found 

 in the Bengal subprovince, nor elsewhere in the Indian 

 province. Forms of Cyclophoridce are found throughout the 

 Bengal and Madras subprovinces ; but none are known in tlie 

 Gangetic and Deccan subprovinces. A Cylostomoid genus 

 Cyclotop.sis is found in the Deccan and Gangetic subprovinces ; 

 but the family of Ci/cJostoinidn' has a totally different geo- 

 graphical distribution from that of the Cyclophorida', and the 

 only other known species of Cycloiopsis occurs in the fc>eychelle 

 Islands *. 



With these few preliminary remarks I pass to tlie review 

 of Mr. Wallace's lists. The first is the list of genera of 

 ^lammalla which inhabit the subregion of Hindustan f. 

 These are 38 in number; and Mr. Wallace remarks that "8 

 have so wide a distribution as to give no special geographical 

 indications. Of the remaining 30, whose geographical position 

 we have noted, 14 are Oriental only, 5 have as much right to 

 be considered Oriental as Ktliiopian, extending as they do over 

 the greater part of the Oriental region ; 2 (the hyiena and 

 gazelle) show Pala'arctic rather than Etliioj)ian affinity ; 7 

 are Palicarctic and Oriental, but not Ethiopian ; and only 2 

 ( Cynalurus and Mellivora) can be considered as exclusively 

 Ethiopian." 



The genera not mentioned by Mr. Wallace are chiefly bats, 



« It it» as well to point out that the classificAtion usually adopted for 

 terrestrial Mollusca is largely tu-lificial, and fnunded mi characters of 

 eecDiiilarv iiuiiortance. The value of tritliiif,' peculiaritic.-* in the operculum 

 in especial hfis been much overrated; and the order Pulmouifera of most 

 writers comprises forms Ix-lougin^' to two distinct orders. 



t L. e. p. 'i2-2. 



