THE AMAZON DISTRICT. 
469 
Brycinidce, is also almost peculiar to it, a few species 
only, being found in tropical Asia and Africa. In both 
these peculiar families the Amazon is particularly rich, 
so that we may consider it as the head-quarters of South 
American Lepidoptera. 
Para itself, for variety of species, is perhaps the best 
locality for diurnal Lepidoptera ; six hundred distinct 
kinds may be obtained within a day’s journey of the 
city. At Santarem I had increased my collection to 
seven hundred species, at Barra to eight hundred, and I 
should have brought home with me nine hundred species 
had my collections arrived in safety. Mr. Bates, who 
has paid more exclusive attention to insects, states that 
he has now obtained twelve hundred species, — a won- 
derful collection to be made by one person, in a country 
without any variation of climate or of physical featm’es, 
and no part of it elevated five hundred feet above the 
level of the sea. 
Al Geographical Distribution oe Animals. 
There is no part of natural history more interesting 
or instructive, than the study of the geographical distri- 
bution of animals. 
It is well known that countries possessing a climate 
and soil very similar, may differ almost entirely in their 
productions. Thus Europe and North America have 
scarcely an animal in common in the temperate zone ; 
and South America contrasts equally with the opposite 
coast of Africa ; while Australia differs almost entirely in 
its productions from districts under the same parallel 
