Ipswich Museum. 151 



of the old world were represented, but by distinct species. The 

 black bear of North America differed from the brown bear of 

 Europe ; the bison from the aurochs, or any other bovine animal of 

 Europe, Asia, or Africa. The beaver of Canada was distinct from 

 the beaver of Europe ; but there were some genera of the smaller 

 quadrupeds quite peculiar to North America. 



When we come to compare the mammalia of South America, 

 almost every aboriginal species belongs to a genus unknown in any 

 other part of the world. The monkeys which abound in the tropical 

 part of this continent differ from those of the old world by having an 

 additional number of certain teeth, and, for the most part, a pre- 

 hensile tail ; they have also a different physiognomy — the nostrils are 

 wider apart, giving greater breadth and flatness to the nose : this is 

 the case without exception among the South American monkeys, 

 whence they are called Platyrhincs in Systematic Natural History. 

 All the monkeys of the Old World, equally, without exception, have 

 the nostrils approximated, and they are called Catarrhines : none of 

 them have the prehensile tail. This fifth member in the Platyrhine 

 group gives them additional power of grasping and climbing — makes 

 them even more peculiarly arboreal ; and a similar relation to a forest 

 country may be traced through most of the peculiar forms of South 

 American mammalia. The sloths are so expressly adapted for living 

 in trees, that every other kind of life and mode of locomotion has 

 been sacrificed, so to speak, to the perfection of their organization as 

 climbers. Much compassion has been wasted upon their helpless 

 condition when contemplated in their awkward attempt to move on 

 level ground — the common theatre of the activities of mammalian 

 quadrupeds. At the foot of these trees lived the races of armadillo 

 and ant-eater, also peculiar to South America. Both were destined 

 to feed on the countless swarms of termites that subsist on the de- 

 caying timbers, and the armadillos were particularly protected by 

 their bony armour from the effects of falling boughs and trees. 



In Australia the native quadrupeds were not merely distinct in 

 species and genus from those in other parts of the world, but belonged 

 to a peculiar division of the class Mammalia, characterized by a port- 

 able nest for the young, called the "marsupium." Some of these 

 " marsupial " animals were carnivorous, others herbivorous, — some 

 terrestrial, others arboreal, — some were burrowers, others swimmers : 

 among the latter was the curious Ornithorhynchus, w r ith the tail of 

 a beaver, the skin of a mole, the beak of a duck, and the spurs of a 

 cock. These creatures performed in Australia all the parts which 

 the other kinds of quadrupeds performed on the larger continents, 

 but were of a different and lower grade of organization. New Zea- 

 land was remarkable for the total absence of any aboriginal species 

 of terrestrial quadruped. Those that now abound in the island had 

 been imported by the colonists from Europe, and there was no 

 natural obstacle to their well-being and increase in New Zealand. 



Finally, the Professor entered upon the question — How long has 

 this geographical distribution of animals prevailed upon the earth ? 

 and showed that the results of the acquisition and determination of 



