^ 



V, 



ve 





'^ 





iHi 



I 



filial 



r- 



«i,' .. ' 





ilbam 

 . line'-' 



eis, 



f 



VA 



is 





af>t 



mali: '^'■ 

 .f tins te- 



find I:" 

 ig county 

 t abnD^- 



r ^:¥ ^'' 



► 



bi" 



n. 



;-i 



335 



Ch. XXXVIII.] GEOGKAPHICAL PEOVIXCES OF ANIMALS. 



intimate connection between tlie geographical distribution 

 of tlie fossil and recent forms of mammalia points to the 

 theory (without absolutely demonstrating its truth) that the 

 existing species of animals and plants, like the above-men- 

 tioned modern forms of speech, are of derivative origin and 

 not primordial or independent creations. 



Geograjpldcal ^provinces o/ ammaZs.— It has been ascertained 

 that the sea as well as the land maj- be divided into what 

 have been called distinct provinces, each inhabited by certain 



a considerable 

 of species in the two ^rand 

 divisions of the organic world. The six principal 

 sketched out in 1857 by Dr. Sclater for birds (referiTng 

 rather to the genera and families in the class Aves than to 

 the species),* are applicable, with some slight exceptions 

 to quadrupeds, reptiles, insects, and landshells, and to a 

 jreat extent even to plants. The regions alluded to are as 

 iollows:— 1. the Neotropical, 



of animals and plants, there beino- 



species 



coincidence in the 



rano'e 



regions 



Mex 



West 



cal, comprising South America, 



,. , ^ , . ^^e«- 2. The Nearctic, including 



the rest of America. 3. The Pal^earctic, composed of Europe 

 ^ '-'•'''-- Asia as far as Japan, and Africa north of the 



4. The Ethiopian, which contains the rest of Africa 



ISTortliei 

 Sahara. 



Mada^ 



^'.?^^? Indian, containing Southern Asia 



6. The 

 > Malay 



Malay 



and the western half of the 



Australian, which comprises „_ ^^..^.., ,,^^^ 



islands, Australia, and most of the Pacific isTands! 



Neotrop 



hendinpf 



N"eotr 



the West Indies and South America 



The bird 



Zl f 7'"" ''' "'""^'"S *° D'-- Sd'^ter, the richest 

 fllr ^Tr '"' ^-^ Slobe, and the mammalia are, as 

 Buffon remarked, smgularly unlike those of the Old World I 

 have already spoken of the Platyn-hine .,.„. „ » oi ^omn 



.Til "ir",";' *''' ''"*''" ""-^ annadilloes of tlat country, 

 (pim r^ f^^ ^^^ ™"^1'™^ «^ t™'' blood-suckin. baS 



hffl!! ! ' -^l *■>« -P^,^-' '^^ I-.-^t of the rodents, 



f^ 



monJ 



forms. 



{Nasua)^ with a great manj 

 If there be any trnth in the theory which refers the 



^ 



Paper read to Linncean Society, June, 1857. 



ongm 



i V 



