On the Classification of Mammalia. 183 



and Africa rank above Australia ; and although Marsupialia 

 are placed by us above Edentata generally, the consequence 

 of their occurring in Australia does not contradict the as- 

 sumption that Australia is physically lower than Africa and 

 South America. The fact that the lowest among Edentata 

 are Australian, and the highest among Marsupialia (the Didel- 

 phidae) are South American, is very conclusive. 



The occurrence of the opossum in the southern part of the 

 United States clearly indicates that this continent is physi- 

 cally inferior to Europe and Asia. 



When comparing the relative superiority of the continents 

 with each other, the comparison, in order to remain true, 

 must be made independently of the influences of man. They 

 must be taken at the dawn of their history, when in formation, 

 during the epochs which have preceded the cradle of mankind. 

 If America occupies a relatively low physical rank, that nation 

 by which it has been taken possession of, by which it has 

 been subdued and conquered, has changed its destinies by ap- 

 plying to its elevation the power of its intellectual aptitudes. 



Although some few fossil remains of Marsupialia and 

 Edentata occur out of the actual geographical provinces of 

 these groups, the greatest number are found within the limits 

 of the said provinces ; shewing that the order which now 

 prevails at the surface of our globe, takes its roots in former 

 ages ; that the same general laws which now prevail, have 

 presided over the past. 



Amongst the normal groups of the class we have Cetaceans, 

 the lowest, all aquatic ; as are likewise Sirenidia, Trichechidse, 

 and Pinnipedia. The Pachyderms are tropical : their actual 

 distribution on earth is to be referred to a past order of 

 things, in order to be understood. The Ruminants, Rodents, 

 Insectivora, and Carnivora, are distributed all over the globe 

 in given proportions. 



A general glance at the mammalian fauna of North America 

 strikes us by the preponderance in the number of species of the 

 order Rodentia. The true grass-feeders, the Ruminantia and 

 Pachydermata are in minority ; although the New World has 

 been opposed to the Old, and called the continent of vegeta- 

 tion, by contrast with that of anima ligation. The greatest 



