OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS, 



15 



interrupted manner, two or three hundred miles beyond the Missis- 

 sippi. Remarkable for the extreme rarity of Coniferous and other 

 evergreen trees ; the/ foliage of the forest being almost exclusively 

 deciduous. The natural openings or " prairies" commence near the 

 Southern extreme of Lake Erie; and continue to increase in size and 

 frequency, until westward of the Mississippi the unwooded country 

 predominates. 



71. The Forest Region of the Middle States along the Atlantic. 

 Extending Westward beyond the meridian of Niagara, so as to in- 

 clude the entire Northern portion of the Alleghany Mountain ridges. 

 Originally covered by an unbroken forest, except onl}' in certain limited 

 tracts of marshy ground. Wherever the pine tribe is absent, the 

 forest remarkable for the varied and brilliant tints of the falling 

 autumnal foliage. 



72. The Forest Region of the more Southern States. From 

 the thirty-fifth parallel of N. latitude to the Mexican Gulf, and in the 

 peninsula of Florida, according to N. A. Ward, to the twenty-seventh 

 parallel of N. latitude. Mr. Ward also informed me, that a series of 

 natural openings or "prairies" commences South of the Alleghanies 

 on the Chattahoochee River, and extends in a line Westward to the 

 open country beyond the Mississippi. 



73. The Bermuda Islets. Amid a vegetable growth made up 

 mainly of Carolina and West Indian plants, one or more species are 

 said to be peculiar ; if so, these islets present a trace of a distinct 

 botanical region. 



74. The Middle Mexican portion of the Great Interior Table- 

 land. From the twenty-seventh parallel of N. latitude extending 

 South as far as the twentieth parallel. Described as excessively arid, 

 and almost rainless. 



75. The Southern Extreme of the Great Interior Table-land. 

 South of the preceding region and of the twentieth parallel of N. lati- 

 tude. Hardly a true forest region ; though regarded as " the most 

 fertile portion of Mexico." Probably prolonged in some traces on 

 mountain-summits in Guatimala or Central America. 



76. The Mountain Region on the flanks of the Bogotan or 

 Northern Andes. The flanks of the detached mountain of the 

 Sierra de Santa Martha being included, and perhaps also the moun- 

 tain-summit back of Caraccas. 



