PREFACE 



Within the last few years, as is well known, botanical 

 geography has made great strides. The intimate rela- 

 tion between the vegetative covering and the physical 

 conditions has been in many cases thoroughly worked 

 out, and all the more modern geographical text-books 

 give at least some indication of the results obtained. 

 On the other hand, the more difficult subject of the 

 relation between the animals of the various natural 

 regions and their surroundings has been much less 

 fully treated by geographers. The facts have still 

 mostly to be sought in zoological text-books, where 

 they are treated from another point of view, and many 

 even of the most recent geographical text-books show 

 uncertainty of treatment when dealing with the 

 animals of tropical forest and arctic tundra. The 

 present book is an attempt to put the main facts 

 connected with the distribution of animals in a form 

 acceptable to the geographical student, and has been 

 written by one whose approach to geography was first 

 made from the biological side. 



The sources of the illustrations are indicated beneath 

 each, and I am greatly indebted to the various 

 gentlemen named for permission to reproduce their 

 photographs. Special acknowledgement should be 

 made to Sir Thomas Carlaw Martin, Director of 



