and green, at one and the same time, either intermingled or in separate masses.

629. In the Southern States trees and shrubs are remarkable for broad, shining leaves and splendid blossoms — the magnolias, catăl'pa, and hibis'cus. The magnolia grandiflora and the tulip tree are the most splendid specimens of this race of plants. The arid soil on the Atlantic coast is covered by the long-leaved pitch pine; the swamps are clothed with cypress, swamp hickory, and the aquatic oak. The western forest is less extensive and less varied than the eastern, but the trees are larger.

630. The native fruits of North America are mostly of the nut kind, of which there are many. To these may be added the Florida orange, the Chickasaw plum, the papâw', the banä'na, the red mulberry, and the persim'mon, with various wild grapes.

631. Tobacco, cotton, Indian corn, and rice, though extensively cultivated in the United States, are not natives of this country. The pineapple is entirely American, growing in the woods and savannas of Mexico and Central America.

632. Plants capable of extended naturalization, and serviceable as articles of food or luxury, have been widely disseminated by man in his migrations. The cereā'lia afford a striking example. Wheat, barley, oats, and rye were the gifts of the Old World to the New. It is probable that they were originally from the neighborhood of the great rivers of Western Asia, the primitive location of the human race. Maize, or Indian corn, has been carried to the Old World from the New; as also the potato, the use of which now extends from the extremity of Africa to Lapland.

633. The ocean as well as the land has different botanical regions; and changes of vegetation are observed with the depth similar to the variation of land plants with the height.

trees and shrubs of the Southern States noted? Most splendid specimens. The arid soil of the Atlantic coast. Western forest. 630. Native fruits of North America.-631. Tobacco, cotton, Indian corn, and rice. Pineapple. 632. Widely disseminated plants. Probable origin of the cereals. Maize and the potato.633. Of marine vegetation.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS.

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth, after his kind: and it was so.' Gen. i. 24.

§ 1. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

634. MAN is able to adapt himself to all climates, and to subsist on all kinds of food. The domestic animals may live in almost all latitudes where man himself can make his home. But all those animals whose subsistence is independent of man's social habits dwell within certain limits, beyond which they are not inclined to stray. Like plants, they are adapted to the situations in which Creative Wisdom has placed them; and thus we find animals belonging to cold climates provided with warm, furry coats, which would be unsuited to hot regions. Sometimes, when animals of the same species inhabit countries possessing different climates, the garb of the one will differ from that of the other, in accordance with the difference of climate. If by accident, or the agency of man, animals are removed to places uncongenial to their natures, they either perish altogether, or some change takes place to fit them for their new abode.

635. A group of animals embracing all the species, both of land and water, which inhabit any particular region of country, constitutes the fauna of that country. There is an evident relation between the fauna of any locality and its climate; but with respect to land animals, there is also a dependence of the fauna upon the flora, for herbivorous animals can only exist where there is an adequate supply of vegetable food.

636. As a branch of natural history, the animal kingdom

634. Remark on man and the domestic animals. Definition of fauna. Relation between a fauna, its Divisions of the animal kingdom. First. Second.

consists of four great divisions, or departments: I. The VERTEBRATES, including all animals that have an internal skeleton, with a back bone for its axis. It is subdivided into four classes: 1. Mammals, (animals which nurse their young;) 2. Birds; 3. Reptiles; and 4. Fishes. II. The ARTICULATES, animals whose body is composed of rings or joints. It is divided into three classes: 1. Insects; 2. Crustaceans; 3. Worms. III. The MOLLUSKS, animals whose bodies are without a bony skeleton: some have shells, forming a covering and defence; others are destitute of such covering. IV. The RADIATES, animals which, in the greater number, have their organs of motion and sense radiating from a common centre. These last occupy the lowest rank in the scale.

637. The FAUNAS of the globe may be divided into four principal divisions: the Arctic, the Cold Temperate, the Warm Temperate, and the Tropical. Animals dwelling at high elevations upon mountains, where the temperature is much reduced, resemble the animals of colder latitudes rather than those of the surrounding plains.

638. The influence of climate in the polar regions merely induces a greater uniformity in the species of animals. Thus the same animals are found in the arctic regions of the three northern continents. In the temperate regions the species differ on each of the continents, though they still preserve the same general features. In the tropical regions the animals are not only different from those of the temperate zone, but they also present the greatest variety among themselves.

639. The natural features of the earth's surface limit the fâu'nas more or less distinctly. A mountain chain, a desert, or the sea effects a separation between two fâu'nas. Where there is no natural limit the transition from one fâu'na to another is hardly preceptible. The range of species does not depend upon their powers of locomotion, for those which are active have a narrower range than those which move slowly and with difficulty.

640. A very important influence is exerted upon the grouping of animals, and upon the extent of their distribution, by the nature of their food. Carniv'orous animals have a wider range than herbivorous ones, because their food is to be found almost every where. The peculiar figure of a country Divisions of the faunas of the earth. Resemblance between animals of high elevations and those of the colder latitudes.-638. Influence of climate in the polar regions. Temperate regions. Tropical regions. -639. Natural limits of the fauna. Absence of a natural limit. Range of species. -640. Influence

sometimes determines a peculiar grouping of animals into local faunas.

641. The range of marine animals is confined to the vicinity of the shores, and their distribution must therefore depend upon laws similar to those which regulate the land faunas. Migrating animals are considered as belonging to the place where they make their habitual abode.

§ 2. ARCTIC FAUNA.

642. The prominent feature of the arctic fauna is uniformity, which appears in the regularity of form and the dusky tints of coloring. There is not a single bird of brilliant plumage, nor a fish with varied hues belonging to this fauna. The species are few in number, but they comprise multitudes of individuals. Clouds of birds hover upon the islands and shores of the north, and shoals of fishes throng the coasts.

643. The most conspicuous animals are the white bear, moose, reindeer, musk ox, white fox, polar hare, lemming, and various seals; the whales are the most important. Among the birds there are some eagles and a few waders, with immense numbers of gulls, cör'morants, divers, pět'rels, ducks, geese, &c. There are no reptiles, and insects are rare.

644. The southern boundary of the arctic fauna corresponds nearly to the line where forest vegetation succeeds the vast barren plains. In North America it is farther north on the western side than on the eastern; and still farther north in Europe, where it touches the continent at North Cape, and then descends to the latitude of 65°, following that till it crosses the southern part of Kamtchǎt'ka.

§ 3. TEMPERATE FAUNAS.

645. The north temperate zone may be subdivided into two regions - a northern or cold region, where the trees, except the pines, drop their leaves in winter; and a southern or warm region, where the trees are evergreen. The dividing line would coincide with a line running about four degrees nearer the equator than the limit of the vine. In the United

of food on the grouping of animals. Local faunas. 641. Range of marine animals. Migrating animals. 642. Prominent feature of the arctic fauna. Species and individuals. 643. Most conspicuous kinds of animals. Birds. Reptiles. Insects. -644, Southern boundary of the arctic fauna. -645. Sub

States it would run between the Carolinas, and in Europe it would extend along the Pyrenees and the Alps.

646. The temperate faunas are more varied than those of the arctic regions. There are many animals of graceful form, animated appearance, and varied colors. The forests swarm with insects, worms, &c., which become the food of still other animals. The principal among the mammalia are the bison, deer, ox, horse, hog; numerous roděn'tia, especially squirrels and hares; nearly all the insectiv'ora, with the weasel, marten, wolf, fox, and wildcat. Among the birds there is a multitude of climbers, păs'serine, gallina'ceous, and many rapacious birds. Of reptiles there are lizards, tör'toises, and serpents. Of fishes, the trout, sturgeon, pike, cod, herring, and mackerel are numerous.

647. The faunas of the SOUTH TEMPERATE REGIONS differ widely from those of the north. Here, also, there are two divisions, the colder of which embraces Patagonia, where we find peculiar species of seals, and, among the aquatic birds, the penguin.

648. Each of the three southern continents presents in its fauna a separate world. The animals of South America, beyond the tropic of Capricorn, are in all respects different. from those of Southern Africa. The hye'na, wild boar, and rhinoç'eros of the Cape of Good Hope have nothing like them in South America, and the difference is equally great between the birds, reptiles, fishes, and insects.

649. Australia has a fauna wholly unlike that of the rest of the world. Its animals are entirely unusual in type, few in species, and still fewer individually. Among the most remarkable may be mentioned the kangarôô', kangarôô' rat, the flying opŏs'sum, and the duck-billed mole.

§ 4. TROPICAL FAUNAS.

650. In the intertropical regions we find that quadrupeds are most remarkable for their magnitude, strength, and ferocity; that reptiles are larger and more venomous; that birds are decked with the most splendid plumage, and the insect tribes distinguished for their size and the brilliancy of their tints.

division of the temperate faunas. The dividing line. 646. Animals of these faunas. Mammalia. Rodentia. Insectivora. Birds. Reptiles. Fishes. 647. Faunas of the south temperate regions. Divisions. 648. Faunas of the three southern continents. Comparison between South America and South Africa.-649. Of Australia. -- 650. Tropical faunas. By what distinguished?