MARINE PROVINCES. 169 



tiimal occurrence of additional common forms as our knowledge 

 of the two faunas has increased, has tinally entirely broken down 

 the dogmatic theory- so long held in common by DarM'in, Cuming, 

 Hinds, d'Orbigny, Adams, Gould, etc. ; finally, the researches of 

 Gabb, in San Domingo and Central America have brought to 

 light in the tertiaries of the Caribbean area a number of species 

 only found living in the Panamic Province. Not only does the 

 Panamic Province hold man}^ species in common with the 

 Carribbean, but some of these are distributed over extensive 

 areas on the West Coast, extending into the Californian and 

 Chilian Provinces. 



Woodward's assertion of the distinctness of the Polynesian 

 and West American faunas is also much modified by recent 

 investigations, which show many of the species of Panama to 

 occur at the Galapagos, and quite a number of them to inhabit 

 the Poljniesian coasts, even as far as the Philippine Islands and 

 Australia. 



XII. Californian Province. 



This extends from the Straits of Fuca on the north to Cape San 

 Lucas, the southern extremity of the peninsula of Lower Cali- 

 fornia, on the south: it does not include the Gulf of California, 

 which possesses a more tropical fauna, belonging to the 

 Panamic Province. A few circumpolar species extend to 

 Vancouver Island and the coast of Oregon, and of course the 

 Aleutian fauna is well represented in the northern part of the 

 Province ; on the other hand the shores of Lower California 

 contain a considerable intermixture of Panamic shells. Still, 

 the Californian mollusca as a whole form a tolerably distinct 

 assemblage of species, widely differing from those of the corre- 

 sponding East Coast of America, and, although containing many 

 tropical and semitropical forms, sufficient!}^ distinct from the 

 Panamic fauna. 



Over five hundred species have been recorded. The most 

 remarkable feature of the Province is the enormous development 

 of the Chitonidse, Patellidae, Haliotidae, Trochidae, etc. 



XIII. Panamic Province. 



The Western coast of America, from the Gulf of California to 

 Payta in Peru, forms one of the largest and most distinct 

 provinces. The total number of marine shells known belonging 

 to this province was, a few years since, 1341. Amongst these 

 are included 27 Chitonidse, 13 Acmseidse, 18 Fissurellidse, 64 

 Trochidae, 28 Calyptrseidas, 69 Pyramidellidse, 59 Buccinidse, 

 and 90 Muricidae. The Gulf of California, together with the 

 adjacent coast as far as Mazatlan and St. Bias, has yielded 768 

 shells (502 univalves and 266 bivalves), of which 439 also occur 



