ZOOLOGICAL REGIONS—PALAZARCTIC 97 
region, embracing the whole of Europe, Persia, Northern Arabia, 
and all of Asia northward of the line of the Himalaya proper, 
Japan, that part of Africa lying northward of the Sahara Desert, 
and the oceanic islands of the North Atlantic. Secondly, the 
Ethiopian region, which comprises all Africa lying to the south 
of the Sahara, the southern part of Arabia, Madagascar, and the 
Mascarene Islands. Thirdly, the Oriental or Indian region, which 
is taken to include India south of the Himalaya, and to the 
north-west as far as Beluchistan, the Malay peninsula, southern 
China, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the Philippines. Fourthly, 
the Australasian region, which -is usually defined as being bounded 
to the north-west by the deep sea channel lying between Borneo and 
Celebes known as Wallace’s line, and is taken to include Celebes, 
Lumbok, New Guinea, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the 
host of oceanic islands in the South Pacific. Several writers, how- 
ever, prefer to regard Celebes and some of the adjacent islands as 
representing a transitional Austro-Malayan region. Fifthly, the 
Nearctic region, comprising Greenland and North America as far 
south as the north of Mexico. And, sixthly, the Neotropical 
region, which embraces the remaining portion of the American 
continent and the West Indies. 
Various minor modifications of this scheme have been proposed. 
Thus some writers are disposed to raise India to the rank of a 
distinct primary region, while others propose the same for New 
Zealand. The Palearctic and Nearctic regions have a large number 
of common types, more especially among the mammals, and Dr. A. 
Heilprin! has expressed his opinion that they should be regarded 
as a single primary region under the name of the Holarctic. The 
same writer would also separate the South Pacific Islands as con- 
stituting a Polynesian region. 
Minor divisions or sub-regions have also been marked out, but it 
will be unnecessary to indicate their limits in the present work. 
We may, however, mention the Mediterranean sub-region of the 
Palearctic, which includes the peninsular portion of southern 
Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor, Persia, Afghanistan, Beluchistan, 
and Northern Arabia, as a good instance of the transition from one 
region to another, since its fauna has a mingling of Palearctic, 
Ethiopian, and Oriental types, the former being, however, the 
predominant ones. 
Of the chief mammalian types characteristic of these various 
regions only a ‘brief sketch can be given in this work. 
Palearctic Region.—The Palearctic region is of enormous extent, 
and includes countries varying greatly in their flora, climate, and 
elevation. Thus it embraces the Arctic plains of Siberia, the warm 
regions of Italy, Southern France, and Northern Africa, the forest- 
1 Distribution of Animals, 
7 
