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ZOO-GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS FOR SIAM. 



By C. Bodex Kloss, f.r.g.s , f.z.s, 



AVhile residents in Siara know the position of, or have no 

 difficult}^ in locating, the towns, villages and varioiis geographical 

 features of that countrj'', such is not the case with nou-residents, who 

 are furnished as a rule with only the small-scale map of an ordinar}'' 

 atlas. For man}^ naturalist's it Avould, therefore, lead to a clearer 

 understanding of the zoolog}- of tlie countrj'-, if a number of zoo-geo- 

 graphical divisions were agreed upon and general!}" employed. 



For these I suggest the following : — 



1. Northern Siam. The Laos countrv, mostly mountainous or 

 submontane, north of a line (approximatel}" Lat. 17° 50', but for all 

 practical purposes 18' North) between the raoutli of the Me Mue or 

 Thoungyin River, an affluent of tiie Salwin, and the great eastern 

 bend of the MeKawng in Long. 101° 30' E. 



2. Central Siam. The great plain watered by the Men am Chao 

 Praya and its tributaries, south of upper Siam, including the lowlands 

 of the basin of the Bangpakong River in the south-east and the lower 

 reaches of the MeKlawng and Petchaburi Rivers in the south-west. 



3. Western Siam. The hill country between the Tenasserim 

 frontier and the Menam lowdand plain from the Me Mue River mouth, 

 south to Koh Lak in about Lat. 1.1° 45' N. near Petchaburi. 



I. Peninsular Siam. The Malay Peninsula from Koh Lak 

 south to the Malayan boundar}^ 



5. Eastern Siam. The " Korat Plateau " bounded on the north 

 and east by the MeKawng, on the south by the Cambodian frontier 

 and ( continuing bej'-ond this westwards ) by the southern slopes of the 

 Deng Rek Rauge to its termination near Saraburi ; thence north to 

 the MeKawng bend along the watershed between the Menam and Me- 

 Kawng river systems. 



6. South-eastern Siam. The varied country along the Gulf 

 bounded in part by the southern edge of the B mgpakong basin (ap- 

 proximately in Lat. 13° 20' N) and partly by the Battambang-Cambo- 

 dian frontier. 



In a small area like Siam, we should not expect to find much 

 variation in the zoology if it were all the same kind of country, 

 but when this differs — forests and open country, mountains and 



