228 
OF THE OEOaEAPHICAL 
wrong, tlien, to suppose, that a being which inhabits a 
country of volcanic origin, can never be found but in soils 
of a similar kind ; or that soils of a primitive formation 
ought to nourish only particular species. Supposing, 
even, that this should be the case, as in Java compared to 
Sumatra and to Borneo, it would be unsafe to attribute 
these differences to the different age of the former isle, and 
to the defect of a soil or of a food proper to the existence 
of the animals. It is, therefore, difficult, if not impossible, 
to class these countries, according to their productions, into 
cantons, or to seek to establish regions, as has been done 
for the distribution of plants, on the surface of certain 
countries. As to the Great Indian Archipelago, we find 
that the islands of the Straits of Sunda offer, in their pro- 
ductions, many analogies with the neighbouring parts of 
the Asiatic continent, and even with those of Bengal, and 
the Indian Peninsula. The isles of Sumatra and of Bor- 
neo support a vast number of animals, and some of great 
size, which are not found in Java ; but there is also, in the 
animals of small size, a very great analogy between the 
southern part of Borneo and the island of Java. This last 
isle produces several animals that are also found in the 
southern parts of China, and probably also in the chain of 
islands that extends eastward to Timor. It is in the vast 
island of Celebes, that several forms of animals, unknown 
in the islands of the Straits, begin to shew themselves ; 
these novel forms become more numerous in the Moluccas, 
and assimilate to those peculiar to New Guinea, which in 
several instances recall, in their turn, the heterogeneous 
productions of New Holland. The Philippine Isles offer 
an analogy with those of the Straits of Sunda ; and, what 
is curious, we there observe several animals of Ceylon 
and of India. In confining ourselves to the observa- 
tions suggested by the classes of Mammifera and of Rep- 
tiles, we see that the principal characters that distinguish 
the Fauna of these islands are the following : — The 
in Sumatra and Borneo, in places entirely analogous, and never frequent 
situations of another nature ; they do not diffuse themselves over the 
whole island, although they are not hindered to do so by any physical 
obstacle : it is thus also with most other animals. 
