THE FIVE CHIEF ZOOLOGICAI, PROVINCES. 17 



tremity is uncertain. 4. The next includes the whole 

 of Africa south of the Great Desert : a part, at least, of 

 the countries bordering on the Mediterranean exhibit 

 a decided affinity to the European range ; while the 

 absence of large animals in Madagascar, and the presence 

 of genera peculiar to New Holland and the extreme point 

 of Southern Africa, lead us to the hfth or the Austra- 

 lian range. 5. To this region nature has given peculiar 

 characters, both in regard to its geographic situation 

 and to its animal productions. New Guinea and the 

 neighbouring islands mark its limits in that direction ; 

 Australia Proper is its chief seat, and it spreads over 

 the whole of the numerous islands of the Pacific Ocean : 

 whether this province blends with that of America or of 

 Europe, remains for future discovery ; but its connection 

 with Africa and Asia has been already intimated. 



(22.) In this distribution, the Arctic regions, it will be 

 perceived, are contemplated as a common bond of union, 

 wherein the three great Faunas of Europe, Asia, and 

 America meet, and are united together. They are con- 

 sequently excluded from the rank of a distinct zoological 

 province, because they do not contain either genera, or 

 but very few species, of animals not found in the tem- 

 perate latitudes of the other continents. The Polar 

 bear, the Arctic fox, and about a dozen other animals, 

 are surely insufficient to constitute one of the primary 

 zoological divisions of the earth. If we look more 

 particularly to the ornithology of these regions, we 

 shall be still more inclined to form such a conclusion. 

 The number of birds, terrestrial and aquatic, which 

 occur within the Arctic circle, amounts only to twenty- 

 two ; most of which, during the greater part of 

 the year, are found in the northern seas of Britain 

 and America, and very many extend their range to tlie 

 lakes and swamps of Mexico. Can we, therefore, say 

 of the Arctic regions, as of all the preceding provinces, 

 that they are characterised by many exclusive genera, and 

 by numerous forms of species ? Certainly not. Not one 

 genus of vertebrated animals is peculiar, unless such may 



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