60 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 Labradoria), 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 Americina R.), and the sheep (Ovis montana 
* North. Zool. vol. i 
J 
