western; and when observations are multiplied on the western shores of America, it will probably be found that both continents approximate more nearly in mean temperature than the above comparisons would seem to indicate. In fact, the whole of Europe, as Humboldt has remarked, has an insular climate compared with the eastern parts of Asia and America; "and upon the same isothermal line the summers become warmer, and the winters colder, in proportion as we advance from the meridian of Mont Blanc to the east or to the west." The eastern parts of China, and the Atlantic portions of the United States, have great differences between their summer and winter temperatures, or they are what Humboldt terms excessive climates; whilst all that we yet know of California, and of the country between it and the mouth of the Columbia, shows that the mean temperature of their winters and summers differs much less, and that they approach more nearly to the climate of Europe.
The distribution of the land in high latitudes is not unimportant as regards climate. Land is more easily heated than water by the sun's rays; and where the icy barriers are in contact with land, there is a greater probability of their being melted by the heat of summer, than where the ice extends over a large surface of uninterrupted ocean. This seems to be one cause of the greater extent of the southern than of the northern polar ices.
Had the globe been uniformly covered by water, the progression of climate would probably have been very regular. Indeed it might be shown, that the effect of the polar currents produced by equatorial rarefaction, supposing them to move with a velocity of two miles per hour, or to make three annual transfers from the pole to the equator, would be sufficient to produce the variations of temperature which are experienced at the level of the ocean.
On the whole, the peculiarities of climate are chiefly attributable to latitude, elevation, the distribution of land and water, proximity to the cold meridians, the humidity or dryness of the air; to which we may add, though less important, the prevalence of particular winds, the transparency or cloudiness of the sky, and the state of the general surface of any country.
Sect. IX.—Geographical Distribution of Plants.
Whoever considers the vast accessions made to our list of vegetable species within the last twenty years, and the immense tracts of the earth still unexplored by scientific men, will readily conceive that we are yet in no condition to pronounce even as to the probable amount of the existing plants. In Professor Lindley's Introduction to Botany, the following is an approximation to known species.
| Phanerogamous | Cryptogamous | |---------------|-------------| | Number of described species, according to Sprengel, in 1827 | 31,000 | 6,000 | | Add for errors and suppression of real species | 6,000 | 1,000 | | Add for India and the rest of Asia | 10,000 | | Add for America | 20,000 | 2,000 | | Add for Africa | 10,000 | | **Total** | **77,000** | **9,000** |
But if this afford a just estimate of the known species, it cannot give us any idea of the plants existing on the globe. Europe, with a surface 5th that of Asia and Africa, and in some respects less favourable to a varied vegetation, has a flora more numerous than either, and, till within a few years, superior to both united. This can only be attributed to the greater diligence with which the botanic riches of Europe have been explored, and may lead us to suspect that we are yet far from a knowledge of all existing species.
While botanists considered plants only as belonging to artificial systems, the progress of geographical phytology was inconsiderable. Tournefort, in ascending Mount Ararat, had observed at its foot the plants of Western Asia; but a little way up he recognised the vegetable forms of Italy; at a still higher level, those of Central France; next those of Sweden; and beyond them the flora of Lapland and the Alps.
Similar remarks were occasionally made by other botanists in other regions. They had determined with considerable accuracy the northern boundaries of some plants, especially those useful to man; but whilst the method of grouping plants was merely artificial, the physical laws which regulate their distribution were not perceived, and the circumstances which limit certain vegetable forms to particular situations were not comprehended. Humboldt's essay on the geography of plants appeared at Paris in 1807, and contained some generalizations on the succession of vegetable forms in Equinoctial America; but it is admitted on all hands, that the disquisitions of Dr Robert Brown, in the Supplement to Flinders' Voyage, published in 1814, led the way to still more extensive generalizations on the geographical distribution of plants, and first indicated the proportions that subsist in different places between the three great divisions of the vegetable kingdom. Since that period, the progress of vegetable geography has been rapid, chiefly through the labours of Von Humboldt, Brown, Wahlenberg, Decandolle, Von Buch, Parrot, Hornemann, and Schouw; and this improvement is ascribed, by the illustrious philosopher first named, to the adoption of the natural method of Jussieu. To none of these writers are we more indebted than to Von Humboldt. The ideas developed in his Essai sur la Géographie des Plantes, and in his Tableaux de la Nature, were expanded in the Prolegomena de Distributione Geographica Plantarum. His invaluable Mémoire on isothermal lines (Mém. d'Arsenal, and Edin.-Phil. Journ. iii. iv. and v.), and, last of all, his New Enquiries into the Laws which regulate the distribution of Vegetable Forms (same Journal, vi.), contain an admirable summary of almost all we know on vegetable geography.
The primary divisions of the natural arrangement are into acotyledones, which include the ferns, fungi, lichens, mosses, sea-weeds, &c.; monocotyledones, including palms, rushes, sedges, grasses, liaceous plants, &c.; dicotyledones, which comprehend all plants not contained in the other groups. The circumstances on which the geographical distribution of these different vegetable forms depend, may all be comprehended in climate and soil. The causes chiefly modifying climate are, latitude, elevation above the sea, longitude, moisture, and insolation; particularly the first two. We shall endeavour to point out very generally how vegetation is modified by these circumstances; and, first, of the effect of latitude.
In proceeding from the equator towards either pole, the temperature diminishes; but we have seen that the latitude on isothermal lines are not parallel to the equator, and the plants, vegetable forms which characterize them descend lower in the new than in the old continent. In equatorial regions the vegetation consists of dense evergreen forests, characterized by palms and arborescent ferns, mixed with Epiphytora and rigid grasses; and the lower tribes of vegetable life, such as Fungi, Coniferae, and Musci, are very rare; but Musaceae, Melastomaceae, Scitaminaceae, Myrtaceae, Piperaceae, and the larger Composite, are very frequent. On receding from the equator these tropical forms give place to Rosaceae, Coniferae, and Amentaceae; verdant meadows of soft grasses intersperse the landscape, the epiphytal Orchidias disappear, and are succeeded by plants whose fleshy roots draw their sustenance from the soil; the trunks of aged trees are clothed with mosses, parasitic Fungi invest decaying vegetables, and the waters abound with Coniferae. On entering the frigid regions trees disappear; dicotyledonous plants become more and more rare; and Gramineae, Mosses, and Lichens are the last retreats of vegetable life. The northern hemisphere, with which we are best acquainted, is by Humboldt divided into six isothermal bands.
1st band has a mean temperature above 77° Fa., and may be considered the natural region of Palms, of the Banana, and the Coffee-tree. It extends northwards in the old continent to lat. 32°; in the new to 23° 30'.
2d band, with a mean temperature ranging between 77° and 68°, is the proper region of the Citron and its varieties. In the old continent it reaches to 37° or 38°; in the new to 29°.
3d band, with a mean temperature from 68° to 59°, is the true region of the Olive and the Vine. In the old continent it extends to 43° 30'; in the new, and in Eastern Asia, to 32° or 33°.
4th band, with a mean temperature from 59° to 50°, produces the Vine, and in perfection Wheat, and the Oak. In Europe it extends to 52° 25'; in America to 42° 25'; in China to 40°.
5th band, with a mean temperature from 50° to 41°, is the region of various Cerealia, and of forests of Quercus Robur. In Europe it extends to lat. 60°; in America probably to 50°.
6th band, with a mean temperature from 41° to 32°, is the native region of the Pine, the Birch, and the Willow, in its lowest parallels; and in its higher, of alpine plants, Lichens, and Brysii. It reaches to the limits of perpetual congelation. In Europe it extends to lat. 71°, in Asia to the arctic circle, but in Eastern America only to 57° 5'.
But the effect of elevation above the sea is no less striking, and is capable of counterbalancing or of subverting the influence of a low latitude. Wherever lofty mountains occur in the torrid zone, their summits are veiled in perpetual snows; and the ascent presents the flora of a vast variety of climates. This is beautifully illustrated in Humboldt's Géographie des Plantes Equinoxiales, the chart of which forms Plate CCCCXII. in this volume. He divides Equinoctial America into eight regions.
1. The region of Palms, Scitamineae, and Liliaceae. This is the habitat of true Palms, of the Musa, Theophrasta, Mussanda, Pumeria, Casalpinia, Hymenaea, Cecropia, and Cusparia. It extends from the level of the sea, under the equator, to the elevation of 5700 feet. One species of tree found in this region extends to the height of 6800 feet.
2. The region of arborescent Ferns, and the true Cinchona. Gigantic Ferns first appear at the height of 1200 feet, and disappear at an elevation of 4900 feet. The medicinal Cinchona attain the height of 8800 feet.
3. The region of Oaks commences at 5200 feet, and reaches to
4. The region of Shrubs. Trees disappear entirely at a height of 10,800 feet, and are succeeded by shrubby plants.
5. The region of plants corresponding to the alpine plants of Europe. These are first found at 6100 feet above the sea, and continue to the great height of 12,600 feet. Amongst these the most conspicuous are the genera Gentiana, Lobelia, Ranunculus, &c.
6. The region of Grasses. Here the Gramineae are the sole vegetable produce; and the principal genera are Avena, Agrostis, Dactylis, Panicum, Stipa, Javara. In this region snow regularly falls, and the plants enumerated continue to the vast elevation of 14,200 feet.
7. The region of the Hyperoxylon, Brysii, Hepaticae, and Lichenes. These lowly and hardy forms of vegetable life continue to the very verge of uninterrupted winter, which in the
8. Region covers the Equinoctial Andes, from the height of 15,700 feet, to their towering summits.
In the temperate climate of Europe, the changes produced by elevation, though less striking, are not less important on vegetation. M. Ramond, in examining the Pyrenees, found vegetable forms distributed into very regular zones.
1. The region of Oaks lies at the foot of the chain, and is chiefly characterized by Quercus Robur, which continues to the elevation of 4800 feet above the sea.
2. The zone of Beeches, characterized by the Fagus Sylvatica, commences at 1800 feet above the sea, and extends to 1400 feet beyond the oaks, rising to 5200 feet, or to a mile, in height.
3. The region of the Silver Fir, or Pinus Picea, and Yew. It commences at 4200 feet, and extends to the height of 6000 feet, or 600 beyond the region of Beeches.
4. The region of the Pinus Sylvestris and Pinus Pumilio, commencing at 6000 feet, and extending to an elevation of 6200 feet; and this is the extreme limit of trees.
5. Region of dry-leaved shrubs and creeping plants, such as Rhododendron, Daphne, Passerina, Globularia Repens, and two diminutive species of willow, Salix Herbacea and S. Reticulata. The limit of this last is uncertain, but it rises much beyond this region.
6. The region of alpine plants with perennial roots and naked stems; as Gentiana, Primula, Saxifraga, Ranunculus. The extreme limit of phenogamous plants is marked by Ranunculus Glacialis, Saxifraga Cespitosa, S. Oppositifolia, S. Androscea, and S. Groenlandica. These elegant but hardy individuals, intermixed with Brysii and Lichenes, reach to
7. The region of perennial snow.
As a further illustration, we may give the progress of vegetation within the arctic circle from the masterly sketch of Wahlenberg. In ascending the Lapland Alps, from the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, he found eight well-marked zones.
1. The region of the Spruce Fir had almost ceased before reaching the mountains. It had become a slender pole, with short, drooping branches. The Rubus Arcticus had ceased to ripen its fruit, and the pools were no longer ornamented with Arundo Phragmitis, Galium Boreale, and Carex Globularia. The upper limit of the Spruce Fir is 3800 feet below the line of perpetual snow. This is the true region of Tussilago Nivea; it has a mean temperature of 37°-5 of Fahrenheit.
2. Pinus Sylvestris, or Scotch Fir, is still found; but its stem is low, and its branches widely spread. In this region is the last appearance of Ledum Palustre, Salix Pentandra, and Veronica Serpylliflora. Near the upper limit of the Scotch Fir the Phaca Alpina is found, and the berries of Vaccinium Myrtillus do not ripen well. The upper limit of this zone is 2800 feet below the line of snow; its mean temperature 36°-5 Fahrenheit. A little below this boundary barley ceases to ripen; but grazing farms, with turnips and potatoes, are cultivated, even 400 feet higher.
3. The zone of the Birch with short, thick stems and knotty branches; its lively green leaves are refreshing to the eye, but the tree is diminished, so as to be commanded from every eminence. The upper boundary of the Birch is 200 feet below the line of snow. The Alnus Incana, Prunus Padus, and Populus Tremula, had long before this disappeared; and Sorbus Aucuparia, Rubus Arcticus, and Erica Vulgaris, disappear near the upper limit of this region; but the drier spots produce Lichen Rangiferinus, Tussilago Frigida, and Pedicularis Sceptrum Carolinum, to the upper boundary of the Birch.
4. The lower skirts of this region are covered with the dark foliage of Betula Nana; Salix Glauca fringes the streams; every hill is covered with Arbutus Alpina, and variegated with Andromeda Cærulea and Trientalis Euro- peana; while the bogs are ornamented with Andromeda Poli- lioïda and Pedicularis Lappónica. This zone reaches to within 1400 feet of perpetual snow.
5. Brush-wood has disappeared; Salix Lanata is two feet high; Betula Nana creeps along the ground; the hills abound with Azalea Procumbens and A. Lappónica. No berries ripen here, except those of Empetrum Nigrum. This zone rises to within 800 feet of the line of snow; its mean temperature is 34° Fahrenheit.
6. Region where patches of snow remain all the year. Bare places still produce a few shrubby plants, as Empetrum Nigrum, Andromeda Tetragon, and A. Hypnoides, Gentiana Nivalis, G. Tenella, Draba Alpina, and Dryas Octo- petala. This zone reaches to within 200 feet of perennial snow, which forms
7. Zone in which, wherever a patch of soil is visible, various Saxifragos and Ranunculi appear. The upper limit of this region is 4200 feet above the sea; but on the higher mountains we have an
8. Region of pure snow. Yet even here, if a southern aspect chance to thaw for a few days any cleft in a rock, a few hardy specimens of Ranunculus Glacialis venture to bloom. The plant has been gathered even 500 feet above the last zone; and Umbilicated Lichens have been seen 2000 feet above the line of perennial snow. The mean temperature of the eighth region is 30° Fahrenheit.
In these instances, then, the effect of elevation is equivalent to latitude; but it must be recollected, that plants will not thrive equally in places with the same mean temperature. Some require a strong ephemeral heat. Hence, in judging of the aptitude of any place for rearing particular plants, we must compare the mean temperature of the summer, as well as of the whole year, before we decide. Thus we are enabled to explain why the Pistacio-nut ripens in Pekin, but will not ripen in France, where the isothermal line for the whole year is the same; but though the Chinese winter be more severe than that of France, the summer heat is far greater. Innumerable other instances might be adduced of the same fact. The moisture of a climate has much influence upon its vegetation. Water is the vehicle of the food of plants, and perhaps yields a great proportion of it. If moisture be deficient, plants die; but they require water in very different proportions. Those with soft, broad, smooth leaves, that grow rapidly, and have many cortical pores, require much water to maintain their vitality; on the other hand, plants with few cortical pores, with oily or resinous juices, and small roots, will generally thrive best in dry situations.
Insolation, or exposure to light, is necessary for most plants. The green colour of plants is only formed in light, as is shown by etiolation; and light appears to be the cause of certain movements which are remarked in the flowers of most plants, and in other parts of some delicately organized individuals, which open and close their leaves according to the degree of light. This last property is chiefly seen in tropical plants. Light appears to be necessary to the decomposition of carbonic acid, and the fixation of carbon in their tissues; and it is indispensable to the right performance of the function of reproduction.
The influence of soil on vegetables is seen in the preference which many plants have for a calcareous soil; some affect siliceous sands, others clay retentive of water; some plants thrive best in the clefts of slaty rocks; some delight to dwell amid granitic rocks, and others on a saliferous soil. Earthy matters enter largely into the composition of some vegetables; and, in the epidermis of the Gramineae, silica is invariably found. The presence of animal matter in soils is necessary to many plants, and is generally nutritive to all. Iron and copper are found in small quantities in some plants. The stations of particular plants have often been determined by these peculiarities of soil; and where a soil and climate are equally suitable for many social plants, we find them growing together, until the strongest obtains the mastery, and chokes the others. Thus Erica Vulgaris appears to have usurped in Europe a space once occupied by other genera, if we may judge by what generally happens on exterminating heath; for then other plants very speedily make their appearance, the seeds of which seem to have long preserved their vitality in the earth, and only to have wanted room to spring into visible existence.
A combination of these causes no doubt influences the distribution of particular species. Thus, in the old world, Ericaceae and the Proteaceae of Southern Africa are peculiar, and are replaced in Australia by Eucalyptus and new genera of Proteaceae. The Banksia, the Yucca, the Goodenia, and the leafless Acacia, are peculiar to the latter country. The Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Clove are confined to the Indian islands; the Thea and Camellia are indigenous to China. America does not contain a single species of Erica, from one extremity to the other; nor has a Paonia ever been found in it, except a solitary one observed by Douglas to the west of the Rocky Mountains. That mountain barrier divides two vegetations, almost as peculiar as those of two continents. On its eastern side the forests of North America are distinguished by the variety of their Oaks and Juglandes, the magnificent inflorescence of the Rhododendron, the Magnolia, the Azalea, and the humbler beauties of the Actea and Vaccinium; all of which are utterly unknown on the western side of that ridge. America is the real habitat of the Cinchonaceae and the Cacti, of the Fuschia, the Calathea, the Mustisia, and all the Bromeliaceae.
One grand question in vegetable geography, first considered by Brown, has yet to be noticed, viz., the numerical relations that subsist between different vegetable forms. We may ask, which natural families of plants abound most over different varieties of the world? and give in succession the comparative numbers that are known to exist. This interesting comparison has been attempted in Decandolle's grand work. But this information is less important and satisfactory than the investigation of the relation which the numbers of each family bear to soil and climate. The question thus becomes far more complex; and we are under the necessity of comparing the ascertained number in each division with the whole mass of phenogamous plants.
It is to this last mode of studying vegetable forms that the admirable inquiries of Humboldt are directed. We strongly recommend the whole of that paper to the perusal of our readers. Our limits will only permit us to give his table of the numerical results of his investigations of the distribution of certain extensive families which exert a marked character on the vegetable physiognomy of the countries where they occur.
In the following table the sign indicates that the denominator of the fraction diminishes from the equator towards the pole; that it diminishes towards the equator; that it diminishes from the north pole and the equator to the temperate zone; that it diminishes towards the equator and the north pole.
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1 The Agaves of Humboldt correspond to the Acetylenes of other botanists; his Glamoxae include the families of Monocotyledones indicated in the table. On comparing the two continents, we find in general in the new world, under the equatorial zone, fewer Cyperaceae and Rubiaceae, but more Composite; under the temperate zone, fewer Labiatae and Cruciferae, and more Composite, Ericaceae, and Amentaceae, than in the corresponding zones in the old world. The families that increase from the equator to the pole, according to the method of fractional indications, are Glumaceae, Ericaceae, and Amentaceae. The families which decrease from the pole to the equator are Leguminosae, Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Malvaceae; the families that appear to attain their maximum in the temperate zone are Composite, Labiatae, Umbelliferae, and Cruciferae.
Botanists have attempted to divide the globe into botanical regions. The first successful attempt of this kind was made by Decandolle, who divides it into twenty regions, the designations of which are drawn from particular portions of the earth, marked by the peculiarity of their vegetable productions. But the most able and luminous exposition of this sort is the Phyto-Geographie of Professor Schouw. The designations of each kingdom or region are usually derived from some of its most characteristic vegetable productions; but where we are not sufficiently acquainted with the botany of certain districts, he uses a geographical designation. Schouw divides the earth into twenty-two botanical regions, of which our limits will only allow a very imperfect sketch.
1. Region of Saxifragae and Musci, or of the alpine arctic flora.—This includes all countries within the arctic circle.
2. Region of Umbelliferae and Cruciferae.—This includes the whole of Europe north of the Pyrenees not included in the last region, most of Siberia, and the Caucasus.
3. Region of Labiatae and Caryophyllaceae, or Mediterranean flora.—It includes the south of Europe, north of Africa, the Canaries and Azores, as well as Western Asia.
4. Japanese Region includes Eastern Asia and Northern China.
5. Region of Asteriae and Solidagines.—The north-eastern part of the United States. It is marked by the varieties of its Oaks and Pines.
6. Region of Magnoliae.—This comprehends the southern portion of the United States.
7. Region of Cacti, Melastomaceae, and Piperaceae.—This includes Lower Mexico, the West Indies, and the northern coast of South America.
8. Region of Cinchonaceae.—This includes Bolivia and Columbia to a certain elevation, or Peru and New Granada.
9. Region of Escalloniae, Calceolariae, Winteriae, and Vacciniae.—It includes the highest parts of South America.
10. Chilian Region.—It is formed into a district region, because not above one half of its plants occur in the lower regions of South America.
11. Region of Arborescent Compositae.—This includes Buenos Ayres, and the eastern division of temperate South America.
12. Antarctic Region.—This includes the southern part of the American Continent, the Magellanic region of Decandolle.
13. New Zealand Region.—It has many plants in common with New Holland, as Epacris, Melaleuca, and Myoporum; some common to South America, as Wintera, Ancestrum, and Weinmannia; some common to South Africa, as Gnaphalium, Xeranthema, and Mesembryanthemum; some which seem peculiar, as Phormium, Areca Sapida, Dracaena Indivisa.
14. Region of Epacridae and Eucalypti.—This embraces the southern parts of Australia and Van Diemen's Land. The families of Tremandreae, Stackhouseae, Proteae, Eucalypti, Cassumarineae, Diosmeeae, Stylideae, &c., characterize it.
15. Region of Mesembryanthemum and Stapeliae.—This comprehends the south of Africa. Besides these plants, it is distinguished for the number and beauty of its Ericeae. It possesses several plants mentioned under 13, which are only found in it and Australia. It abounds in compositae.
16. Region of Western Africa.—Its characteristic is Adansonia, the largest of known trees. Many of its Cypripedaceae are peculiar. It wants, or has very sparingly, the American Cacti, Palms, Peppers, and Passion-flowers.
17. Region of Eastern Africa.—Two thirds of its known plants belong also to India. This region includes Madagascar.
18. Region of Scitamineae.—This includes the flora of the Indian peninsula. It contains Carumia, Zedoariae, Cardamona, &c.; and its Scitamineae are more numerous than the same family in America.
19. Himalayan Region.—Tropical forms here disappear. It bears a strong resemblance in its vegetation to some parts of Europe. Orchideae and Filices are numerous. It presents the Cerealia and Fruits of Europe.
20. Southern Chinese and Cochin-Chinese Region.—The flora of this region is little known, but appears peculiar.
21. Region of the Cassia and Mimosa.—This includes Persia and Arabia. The peculiar plants are Senna, Balansadendron, Cadia, Caucanthus, Strania, Coffea Arabica. Ferula Assafetida belongs to it.
22. Polynesian Region.—Most of the genera are common to this region and India, or to America.
Sect. X.—Geographical Distribution of Animals.
The slightest acquaintance with zoology is sufficient to show that animals do not indiscriminately spread themselves over every part of the habitable earth. One species is found to be peculiar to a certain region, and sometimes is represented in another region by an analogous yet different animal. Difference of climate, and the greater or less facility of procuring subsistence, are often the probable causes of such limitations, when animals have the power of emigration; but in numerous instances we can trace the operation to no secondary cause. Why, for instance, should animals, incapable of crossing arms of the sea, be found in certain insular situations, and denied to other lands, seemingly as well fitted for their propagation and their maintenance?—why should the forms of organization which we find to prevail in one portion of the globe be represented in another by other forms, and by a very different though not less admirable structure? In this species of inquiry, one thing is demonstrable, that if, in every class of animals, we compare their organization with the intended residence and mode of life of each creature, with its necessities and the nature of its aliment, the most admirable adaptation of means to the end is everywhere perceptible; whether we consider the instinct which impels the ant and the hamster to lay up stores of food for the season of scarcity, or the bee at once to solve a delicate problem in practical geometry; whether we regard the structure of the proboscis of the goat or of the elephant as suited to their wants; or whether we contemplate the form and position of the levers that move the limbs of animals, or the exquisite mechanism of the visual organ; all proclaim the handiwork of a wise and beneficent Creator.
To us it appears evident that nature has only distinguished animated beings into species, the limits of which are fixed by the capability of procreating fertile progeny; and that all our divisions into genera, orders, and classes are more or less artificial, though of high value in assisting the memory to recollect individuals, or to arrange newly-discovered species, and often as leading to interesting inferences respecting their habits and geographical distribution. When several species resemble each other in structure and habits, we agree to consider them as of one genus; when their resemblances are somewhat less numerous, we consider them as belonging to the same order; and when their similarity is confined to a few points, they are grouped in the same class. All these divisions are but artificial helps to our memory, whether we follow the system of the illustrious Swede; or, with Cuvier, found distinctions more on the anatomical structure of the animals; or, with our sagacious countryman Macleay, attempt to reduce all recognized animals to quinary circular groups; or, with Swainson, resolve these circles into ternary associations; or, with Kirby, expand these groups into the magic number seven. Some arrangement is absolutely necessary in pursuing the subject of animal geography, when we consider the multitude of species; and perhaps no system is so convenient as that of Cuvier, from its very general reception, and its sufficiently according with the geographical distribution of species.
It is not easy to give any accurate idea of the real number even of known species of animals, from the difficulties thrown in the way of animal statistics, by the multiplication of species; and from confounding the effects of sex and age on some animals, and overlooking specific differences in others. Naturalists have differed widely on this subject. The estimate of Keferstein, as exhibiting the number of extinct as well as of living species, is interesting:
| Living | Extinct | |--------|---------| | Mammifera | 883 | 270 | | Aves | 4,099 | 20 | | Reptilia | 1,270 | 104 | | Pisces | 3,586 | 386 | | Insecta | 247 | 211 | | Arachnida | 3,816 | 6,056 | | Mollusca | 102 | 214 | | Radiata | 187 | 411 | | Polypi | 816 | 907 |
14,759 | 8,826
But this table contains no account whatever of living insects and arachnids. Mr. Swainson gives the following as the numbers known at a later period:
| Mammifera | 1,000 | | Aves | 6,000 | | Pisces | 6,000 | | Insecta | 120,000 | | Mollusca | 5,100 | | Radiata | 1,000 | | Polypi | 1,500 |
In the same work Swainson has given a conjectural estimate of the number of probably existing species:
| Vertebrata | 17,500 | | Annulosa | 552,500 | | Mollusca | 7,600 |
Besides these, there exist innumerable hosts of Infusoria, in which the researches of Ehrenberg have detected remarkable peculiarities of structure; proving that, though minute, they possess a very complex organization, not less wonderful than the anatomy of the higher animals.
To these statements we may add, that M. Temminck has lately given the number of well-ascertained mammifera as =530, besides 140 species which he considers as doubtful; that the birds of our recent catalogues exceed 6000; and that Cuvier had enumerated 6000 species of fishes. With regard to insects, some naturalists have stated, that at least
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1 Die Naturgeschichte des Erdkörpers, Francof. 1834. 2 Zoology, vol. ii. of the Cabinet Cyclopaedia. two species of insects feed on every species of plant; and therefore, that as the ascertained vegetable species amount to 86,000, there must be 172,000 species of insects.
The evident tendency of animals to be congregated in groups peculiar to certain divisions of the earth's surface, had long been familiar to zoologists; but it does not appear that any attempt was made to define the limits of those zoological divisions until the appearance of the essay of Mr Swainson, in the Cabinet Cyclopedia. The ingenious author has there shown the claims of Europe to be considered as one of the grand zoological divisions of the globe, from the number of the types of natural families which it possesses. Swainson contends that the birds of any district afford a fairer criterion of the limits of a geographical distribution than any other class of animals. Quadrupeds he believes to be too much under the dominion of man, and liable to have their geographic limits disturbed by human interference; and the other classes of animals are either too numerous or too few to afford the means of determining the limits of such divisions; whilst birds, though seemingly fitted by nature to become wanderers, are surprisingly steady in their localities, and even in the limits of their annual migrations. These migrations are evidently caused by scarcity of food. Thus our swallows leave us when their insect food begins to fail, and they naturally pursue that route which is shortest, and affords subsistence by the way. The distance from the shores of the Baltic to Northern Africa is not half so great as that between England and America; and during the migration over land, the winged travellers find food and resting-places as they proceed to more genial climates.
The distribution of mammifera may probably be less characteristic than that of birds in Europe, where the long progress of civilization, and the spirit of commercial enterprise, have blended the races of the larger animals; so that it would be difficult, in most cases, to trace the native country of their original stock: but in most other parts of the world peculiar quadrupeds might be found sufficiently characteristic of each division.
The natural associations of animals have suggested another division of the earth into zoological kingdoms; and, did our limits permit, it would not be difficult to subdivide these into zoological provinces, each distinguished by some less considerable peculiarities of its animal productions. It is at once apparent, that these divisions will not correspond to the zones of the geographer, which do not coincide with marked differences in climate, nor with the supply of food, nor with the configuration of the dry land; circumstances most materially influencing the distribution of animals. The earth may be divided into fourteen zoological kingdoms; the first eight belong to the old, the six last to the new world.
OLD WORLD.
1. Palaeonarctic Kingdom.—This division includes all Europe and Asia within the 60th degree of N. lat. Many of its mammifera and birds are common to it and the northern regions of America; and its peculiar animals of this class are but few. The Polar Bear it has in common with North America, but the Rein-Deer of Northern Europe now appears to be at least a variety differing from the Rein-Deer of North America; and certainly the Elk of the former should not be considered as the same species with the Moose-Deer of the latter. The Glutton, Gulo Borealis, seems to be confined to this region; as are the common Lemming and the Hamster. The Great Sea-Otter, Lutra Marina of Steller, is found on both sides of the Northern Pacific, as low as 50° or perhaps 45° N. lat. The Cetacea, as might be expected, are common to the arctic seas of both worlds, and some of these occasionally wander southwards; but the true Greenland Whale, and the Narwal, are confined to the arctic seas. The birds that constantly reside in the arctic regions are very few; but this region is penetrated by numerous birds well known in other parts of Europe and Asia, which resort to it as their breeding-places during its transient summer. These birds chiefly belong to the order of Natatores. A single Woodpecker, Tridactylia Hirsuta, is peculiar to the paleoarctic kingdom; as are the Great Wood-Grouse, and several other species of the genus Tetrao. The Snowy Owl and Jer-Falcon belong to this region, though occasionally they are found in the north of Scotland, and occur also in North America. Yet these regions, seemingly so inhospitable, are not without numerous tenants. No part of creation is an absolute waste, destitute of animation. It is well known that the enormous number of ducks and other water-birds which frequent the streams and lakes of arctic countries, are attracted by the infinite swarms of insect food which abound in them during their short summer. Scoresby found numerous butterflies and other insects on the bleak shores of East Greenland; and he states that the Greenland seas teem with myriads of minute animalculæ, which are the food of the Balæna Mysticetus, and which, in sea-water examined by him, existed to the number of 110,592 in each cubic foot, or 23,887,872 in every cubic fathom of that water.
2. Occidento-Caucasian Kingdom.—This division is equivalent to the European province of Swainson; but that designation appears to be not very appropriate to a region embracing also a part of Western Asia and of Northern Africa. The zoology of this division has been more completely explored than that of any other portion of the globe, and it presents to the naturalist types or characteristic species of a great number of genera in all classes of zoology. It contains many imported species, some of which are domesticated, or rendered subservient to the wants of man; so that it is difficult to trace its larger mammifera to their parent stock. Its most characteristic quadruped is the Aurochs, or Bos Ursus. It is the animal next in size to the Rhinoceros, but is not the original stock, as has been alleged, of our domestic cattle. It formerly was abundant in Europe, but has fled from human persecution into the pathless forests of Lithuania, and the wilds of the Carpathians and the Caucasus. The Brown Bear, Ursus Arctos, appears strictly to be a denizen of this region, though it is also found in the paleoarctic kingdom. The Ibex, the Stag, and the Roe, are also among its characteristic animals; and though the Fallow Deer is said also to be found in Eastern Asia, it appears to be chiefly an inhabitant of the Occidento-Caucasian kingdom. The Horse and Ox, though both imported, nowhere attain to greater perfection in their most valuable qualities, though the former requires the occasional transfusion of Arabian blood to preserve its energies unimpaired. Its more considerable characteristic birds are, the noble Gypaete or Bearded Vulture of the Alps; the Imperial and Royal Eagles of Temminck; F. imperialis and chrysopterus; and several species of Falcons. The Red Grouse is found in no part of the world except the British islands. The Great and the Little Bustards are peculiar also to this division, which is particularly rich in many other genera of birds. It contains about 470 species of aves, of which 310 are inhabitants of Britain; in this list are seventeen Raptores, 117 Insessores, seventeen Rasores, sixty-six Grallatores, ninety-three Natatores, besides thirteen occasional visitors to our shores.
3. Orienteo-Caucasian Kingdom.—In this division there is included all Asia between the Altaian and Himalayan chains. It should most probably be subdivided into two provinces.
a. The Mongolian province, of which the characteristic Mammalia are the Yak, Bos Grunniens; the Argali, Ovis Ammon, the Onager or Wild Ass; the Wild Horse, or Equus Hemionus of Pallas. The Felis Oncea also belongs to this region; as does the Ursus Thibetianus, the Thibetian Musk, which is pretty widely diffused in this division; and the lively Jerboa. Its birds are little known to the naturalist, except the few which have been brought from Dauria.
b. Septentrio-Sinican Province.—The little we know of the zoology of China enables us only to state, that this division abounds with beautiful Phasianidae, particularly with the Golden and Silver Pheasants, which were originally brought from China. The Argus Polyplectron is said to be found in the colder regions of Thibet and China; and the Impeyan Lophophorus, which we have received from the Himalayan Mountains, may probably also inhabit the mountainous districts of China.
4. The Austro-Asiatic Kingdom may be considered as bounded by the 30th degree of N. lat. and the equator. It includes Southern China, Cambogia, Siam, the Birman empire, Hindustan, and Ceylon. It may be characterized as the native region of the Tiger, the Panther, of the Asiatic Elephant, and of the Long-armed Apes; of the Peacock, the Giant Argus, and the Hornbills; of the Gangetic Crocodile, the Python, and Cobra de Capello. Its other remarkable animals include the One-horned Rhinoceros, the Hunting Leopard, the Malayan Bear, the Ursine Sloth; that curious animal described by Sir William Jones, the Slow Lemur, or Stenops of Illiger; the Short-tailed Pangolin or Scaly Manis, the Brahmins' Bull, the Urneh or Wild Buffaloe, and the less-known wild ox of India, named the Gour, as well as the Antelope Picta or Nilgau, A. Tragocamelus, and several other antelopes; the beautiful Spotted Axis, and several other deer; the Pigmy and Indian Musks. Among its characteristic birds, besides those already mentioned, we should not omit the Jungle Fowl, and the Baniva Cock, which many naturalists suppose to be the stock of our domestic poultry. The genus Buceros is the representative of the Toucans of America, and has the nerves of its nose distributed in its upper mandible and bony casque; the Ciconia Argala, or gigantic Adjutant-bird, is the most remarkable of its waders.
5. Polynesian Kingdom.—In this division we include the Philippines, Borneo, the Moluccas, Celebes, Java, and Sumatra. It may be considered as the native country of the great Orang-Outan, and numerous Monkeys, among which the Proboscis Monkey and Cochin-China Monkey are the most remarkable; of enormous Bats, of the Galeopithecus or Flying Lemur, of the Indian Tapir, and of a species of Musk. It is also characterized by its very magnificent birds: among these we may notice the genera Tora, Calyptronema, Eurylaimus, Irena, Gracula, Lamprotorinis, and its very splendid Lories. It is distinguished by the beauty and splendour of the genus Cinnamis, formerly included among the Creepers; and the elegance of its Columbidae. It also contains the Argus Pheasant or Polyplectron, the Gigantic Argus, and the Lophyrus Cuvierii. Its seas abound in most beautiful and valuable shells, though it is comparatively poor in fluvialite Testacea.
6. Chaldaean-Arabian Kingdom.—The natural boundaries of this province are well marked by seas, the river Tigris, and by the cultivated part of Syria. It may be distinguished as the region in which the most valuable qualities of the Horse are developed, and where the Camel, and its variety the Dromedary, with the Gazelle or Antelope Dorcas, are the most conspicuous mammifers. Its ornithology is but little investigated; but the deserts are traversed by the Ostrich; its mountainous regions breed Pheasants and Doves; and one bird that frequents Arabia, and is greatly respected by the people, is a thrush, Turdus Seleucus of Forskal, which follows and destroys the innumerable swarms of locusts. The rarest and most beautiful shells are found in the adjacent seas; and the pearl-fisheries of the Persian Gulf have been long celebrated.
7. Australian Kingdom.—If we are permitted to include in this division New Holland, Papua, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand, it has one of the richest and most peculiar fauna of any on the globe. It may be characterized as the native region of the Kangaroo, the Ornithorhynchus, and Echidna, of the entire superb family of Birds of Paradise, of the Honey-suckers, of innumerable Parrots, of the Emu, and Menura Superba. The absence of all the larger and pachydermatous quadrupeds was common to Australia, with the islands in the great Southern Ocean, at the time of their discovery, and is one reason for grouping those islands in this zoological kingdom. We have, besides the quadrupeds above mentioned, whole genera peculiar to this kingdom, particularly the Perameles, Phalanger, Petaurista, Phascolomyss, and Hypsiprymnus. The following genera of birds are peculiar to that region: Sericulus, Podargus, Malurus, Ptilonorhynchus, Glaucopsis, Pardalotus, Melissurga, Menura, Dacelo, Megapodus, Scytrops, Dromiceius, Ceropsis, &c.
8. The African Kingdom includes that continent south of Atlas, with the islands of Madagascar and the Seychelles. It is the region of the Camelopard, the Hippopotamus, and the Two-horned Rhinoceros, of the African Lion, the Leopard, and African Elephant, of the Zebra and Quagga, of the Pongo or Black Orang, and of the larger Baboons. It abounds in a great variety of Antelopes. These animals, with few exceptions, are found over a large extent of Africa; but the Hyrax of the Cape, and the Tenrec of Madagascar, are more limited in their range. Of the variety and beauty of its birds, some idea may be formed by consulting the splendid works of Le Vaillant. The Occipital Vulture of Burchill, and numerous Eagles, are found in its southern regions. The genera Pogonias, Musophaga, Numida, Struthio, Anastomus, Touaco, Indicator, Pomercops, Centropus, contain its most remarkable birds; but the brilliancy of the Cinnamis and Lampornisidae is well known. Most of the African birds brought to Europe have rich plumage. The extinct species of bird, the Dodo, belonged to this division of the earth, as our early voyagers found it in the Mauritius and Isle of France. The Crocodile and Cayman appear to be diffused throughout this continent. The number of poisonous Serpents is considerable, and highly dangerous in its hotter regions; yet in Africa, as in other parts of the earth, by far the greater number of snakes are harmless. Africa is peculiarly rich in land Testacea, among which is the Achatina Zebra, the largest of land shells. Amongst its insects, we may notice the number of its locusts, and the prevalence of the Termes Bellicosus, an insect allied to the ant, which constructs a mansion of clay, equalling in size, and surpassing in solidity, the simple habitations of most of the natives of Africa to the south of the desert of Sahara.
NEW WORLD.
The zoology of North America has been so admirably treated by Dr Richardson in his memoirs in the Sixth Report of the British Association, that it ought to be studied by all interested in such researches, who will not fail to consult the splendid Fauna of North America, lately published by him and Mr Swainson. In most parts of America we meet with many new genera in every class of animals, and find few species that are not peculiar to the new world, with the exception of marine animals. The Quadrumania, which range in America between 29° on each side of the equator, have the peculiarity of either wanting the thumb on the fore extremity, or having it so placed, or imperfectly developed, as not to be a real opponent to the fingers; while the prehensile tails of many, and the hairy buttocks of all, showing that none of them sit erect, distinguish them from the individuals most resembling them in the old world. The Carnivora of America are almost all peculiar to it; indeed, with the exception of some of the marine carnivora, and a very few terrestrial species, all are specifically distinct from those found in other parts of the Physical earth. The whole order of Marsupialia are either American or Australian; and the species of one zoological kingdom are unknown in the other. America exceeds every other country in the number of its Rodentia, and there is reason to doubt whether almost any of this order are common to the two worlds. The Edentata occur chiefly in South America, but all are peculiar to the new world. Though America appears at one period to have been rich in the number of its Pachydermata, as their fossil remains testify, yet at its discovery by Europeans there were not above four or five species of this order found in that continent, all peculiar to America, and only one, Dicotes Torquatus, or Peccari, common to its northern and southern divisions.
Among Ruminantia we consider the American Rein-Deer and the Elk as peculiar species; and the identity of the Ovis Montana of the Rocky Mountains and the Argali of Siberia as very doubtful. The order of Cetacea is probably common to both worlds, with the exception of the Manatus Americanus of Cuvier, which occurs on the coast of Florida, and seems also to occur in that of South America. Dr Richardson reckons, that out of 207 species of Mammalia found in North America, 159 are peculiar to that country; and if we take Temminck's estimate of this class to be correct, North America contains 4th of all known Mammalia. The same author gives the number of North American birds at 696 species, of which 54 are Raptores, 400 Insectivores, 33 Testores, 87 Grallatores, and 122 Natatores. Except in the last two orders, the species common to the new and old worlds are few, and a great many genera are wholly American.
The Alligator, the Boa Constrictor, and the Rattlesnake, are all peculiar to America. The former and the latter are widely diffused over the American continent; and the Rattlesnake is found even as far north as Canada.
In the new world we begin with the
9. Neomarian Kingdom.—This includes all America between lat. 50° N. and the pole, with Greenland and the intervening islands. The characteristic Mammalia are the Musk Ox, the Black American Bear, the Occidental Wolf, the Wolverine, and, as we have already stated, the Rein-Deer and the Moose-Deer, with several species of Marmot, Squirrel, Lemming, and other animals allied to the genus Mus. The animal discovered by Scoresby in Greenland, the Mus Groenlandicus, has since been discovered in Novaya Zembla. The Arctic Fox, Arctic Hare, and the Beaver, are common to both continents. The Mustela Erminea and Ursus Maritimus seem identical in both.
The Raptores birds peculiar to this region are, several kinds of hawks and owls; of the genus Tetrao, T. Canadensis, T. Franklinii, T. Obscurus, and T. Lencurus. Most of the Natatores are also found in the first zoological kingdom. The Cygnus Buccinator is peculiar to this region; and among the duck tribe we may notice an American species Anas Valisineria, A. Canadensis, and A. Hutchesoni.
10. Septentriono-American Kingdom.—In this region, on account of the considerable similarity of species, we would include all the British possessions south of lat. 50° New Albion, and the other country west of the Rocky Mountains, between Queen Charlotte's Sound and New Mexico, and all the territories of the United States, as far as lat. 30° N. It may zoologically be characterized as the region of the Grizzly Bear, the Bison, the Wapiti, the giant of the deer tribe, and of the Antelope Furetter. It possesses one marsupial animal, Didelphis Virginica, a species which ranges from the lakes of Canada to the intertropical regions of America. But its most distinguishing characteristic is the number of its Rodentia, amounting to not less than fifty-three well-ascertained species, and only one of which, the Placid Beaver, is found in the old continent.
Its birds are numerous, and among these the Wild Turkey is the most conspicuous and characteristic. Of the Raptores it has many falcons and hawks, and, among the rest, Washington's Eagle, a magnificent bird, which is found in Kentucky. Of its numerous Insectivores, the greatest number are peculiar to North America. The Trochilidae first appear in this region. A considerable number of species are found in it, but only three range to the north of latitude 35°. They resemble in structure the Honey-eaters of the Australian kingdom; but we doubt the propriety of denominating the Humming-Birds suctorial; for, having dissected a considerable number of them, we invariably found their stomachs crammed with minute insects. To capture these is probably the object of their fluttering about flowers, the nectar of which they were supposed to sip. Their structure, too, assimilates them to insectivorous birds. The Insectivores of this kingdom are all, except a single species of Tetrao, peculiar to America. Of this genus the most remarkable are Tetrao Cupido, T. Umbellus, T. Franklinii, T. Urophasianus, Oryx Douglassi, O. Pieta. Of the numerous Grallatores found in this region a considerable number occur also in Europe, and still more of the Natatores; but of the former order, the Ardea Herodias, Platalea Alcia, Ciconia Maguari, are peculiar to America; as are of the latter order, Pelicanus Americanus, and Rynchops Nigra. The Alligator Lucius abounds in the valley of the Mississippi. Two very peculiar reptiles are there found, the Syren Lacertina of Carolina, and Meopoma Gigantea. There have no animal at all resembling them in the old world, except the Proteus Anguinus of the subterranean lakes of Carniola. Among the numerous tortoises there may here be noticed T. Serpentina, T. Ferox, and T. Clausa. The serpents are numerous; the most remarkable are the Rattlesnakes, four, if not five, distinct species of which are to be found in this kingdom.
11. Equinoctial American Kingdom.—Using this term in an extended sense, we would include under it the regions between the parallels of 30° N. and S. of the equator, but exclusive of the elevated valleys and table-lands of Mexico and Bolivia, which, from the peculiarities of their climates, are entitled to be considered as separate zoological kingdoms.
The division under consideration is distinguished by the number of its Quadrumania, all of which are furnished with tails, and many of them have that organ prehensile, or so formed as to constitute a sort of fifth hand. It is the region of the Jaguar, a beast of prey of vast strength and courage, so very unlike the account of its habits in the pages of Buffon, that it is now generally supposed that the French naturalist confounded it with another South American Felis, the Ocelot. In this region, too, the Puma abounds, an animal that has far less claim to the name of lion of America than the Jaguar has to be termed the tiger of that continent. The Puma has a considerably larger range than its congeners now mentioned, being found in the woods of America from Brazil to Canada. We once possessed the large skin of a black Jaguar, killed in Brazil, which is now deposited in the museum of the Royal Institution in Liverpool. It is of a beautiful deep blackish-brown ground, on which, in certain lights, the still deeper ocellated marks of the Jaguar are visible. It also abounds with the Tapir, the Capybara, and the Agouti. The Orinoco and other rivers of Equinoctial America swarm with the Manati, Trichechus Amazonicus, which wanders far from the sea, as does a species of Porpoise not yet ascertained. It is also distinguished by the splendour of the plumage of its birds, of which numerous genera are
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1 See Humboldt's Personal Narrative. either wholly peculiar to Tropical America, or are almost unrepresented in other regions. Its Raptorial birds are often distinguished by their size. To this region belong the magnificent King Vulture, and a very numerous species of the same family as large as a turkey, the *Vultur Uruba*; the Destructor and Harpy Eagles, the giants of their tribe, are the tyrants of the lower provinces. The Insectivores of Tropical America are very numerous. Among them the American genera *Trogon*, *Galbulia*, *Ampelis*, *Rupicola*, *Procnias*, *Nectarinia*, and *Trochilus*, are remarkable for the magnificence of their plumage. The bell-bird, *Cusma-rhynchos Carunculatus*, is celebrated for the deep intonation of its simple note, which simulates the distant bell of a convent; the Troplaiases are distinguished by the abrupt yet pleasing contrast of their colours. The enormous Goatsuckers, especially that of the cave of Caripe, and the *Motmot* or *Pronites*, are peculiar to this region. The Toucans and Aracaris are conspicuous for the size and structure of their bills, in which the organs of smell are conspicuously developed. Tropical America also abounds with beautiful Pittaæidae, among which the Ultramarine Parrot, the Scarlet and Blue, and the Blue and Yellow Macaws, are the most conspicuous.
The beautiful family of *Crax* or *Pauwi*, of *Penelope*, the singular *Rhea*, and Serpent-eater, are among its *Gallinaceæ*; the Boat-Bill, *Canorus*, and the remarkable species *Mycteria Americana*, and *Palamedes Cornuta*, the Scarlet Ibis, the Trumpeter or *Psophia Crepitans*, the Jacana, are among its waders.
This region abounds with snakes. Some, like the *Boa Constrictor* and *Boa Cenchris*, are remarkable for their enormous size; others, like the Canine Boa, Garden Boa, the Peruvian and Mourning Snakes, for the beauty or elegant pattern of their colours; others, like the Rattlesnake, *Crotalus Durissus*, or the redoubtful Bushmaster, *Fer de Lance* or *Vipera Megara*, dreaded for the virulence of their poison. The fluvial fishes of this region are remarkable; but we can only here notice the Electric Gymnote, the Soldier Loricaria, and the *Salmo Rhombus*; the latter the pest of the South American rivers. The *Papilionidae* and *Phalena* among its insects, are noted for the splendour of their colours and their size; and the singular Lantern-fly for the brilliancy of its phosphorescence. The wounds inflicted by the large *Aranea Avicularia*, or Bird-catching Spider, the *Scopodendra Morisiana*, which there grow to an enormous size, and by a small species of scorpion, are much dreaded. In these Arachnidæ, dissection shows a tubular offensive weapon, and a poison apparatus resembling that connected with the poison-fangs of serpents.
12. Mexican Kingdom.—Its animal productions, though imperfectly explored, would seem to justify the inference drawn from its peculiarities of climate, that this portion of America should be considered as a distinct zoological kingdom. It has been recognised as the point in which the fauna of North and South America meet. There the Wolf of a northern climate ranges the same forest as the Monkey of a tropical region; the Bunting and the Titmouse nestle near the Parrot and the Trogon; the Phalarope of the north searches for its food on the same beach with the Jacana and the Boat-bill of Brazil.1 Lichtenstein has indicated several species of Weasels and Martens as peculiar to Mexico. The *Bassaris Astuta* of Lichtenstein is an intermediate genus between *Vieirra* and *Nasua*. The Mexican Wolf is perhaps a peculiar species. Mr Swainson states, that out of 114 species of Mexican birds examined by him, sixty-seven, or more than one half, are peculiar to that country; yet, among so many species, there was but a single new genus, *Philogonys*, which unites the Tyrant Shrikes with the Cat-
terpillar-eaters; thirty-six species are common to Mexico and the United States, and eleven to Mexico and South America. The lakes of the valley of Mexico contain that singular animal the *Axocotl* of the Mexicans, the *Siren Piziformis* of Shaw, which seems to be intermediate in appearance between the other Sirens and the Protei.
13. Bolivio-Chilian Kingdom.—The vast elevation of the greatest part of this region has strongly impressed its fauna with peculiarities which future research will extend. In the meantime, it is sufficiently characterized as the region of the *Guamaco*, the *Alpaca*, and *Vicuna*, three distinct species, which have sometimes been confounded under the name of Llama. They are the Camels of South America, and were almost the only mammalia subdued and domesticated by the ancient Peruvians. This is the peculiar region of the *Condor*, a bird which, though not so enormous in size as the earlier travellers reported, is still as large as the Lammergeyer of the Alps, the largest of the Raptores of the old world. It loves to dwell amid the snowy solitudes of the Andes, perched on pinnacles from 9700 to 1500 feet above the sea, whence it pounces on its prey in the subjacent valleys. The fauna of these countries is still imperfectly explored.
14. Austro-American Kingdom.—This district extends from lat. 30° S. to Cape Horn, and embraces the Pampas of Buenos Ayres and the south of Chili. Its fauna has been little explored. Amongst its quadrupeds are the numerous heads of wild horses and sheep, originally introduced by the Spaniards, but now spread over a great part of South America. The *Antarctic* and *Chili Fox* seem to be peculiar; and perhaps the *Felis Colorata* and *F. Guigna* of Molina should be considered as belonging to it. On its coasts many species of seals are found, especially the *Phoca Longicollis* or Fur-seal, *Ph. Falklandica*, *Ph. Flavescens*, *Ph. Leonina* or Bottle-nosed Seal, *Ph. Lupina*, and *Ph. Jubata*, which is also found, it is said, in the seas of Kamtschatka. The extensive Pampas of this region are the chosen haunts of the *Rhea*, or *American Ostrich*; and on its southern coasts are found the huge, wingless, Patagonian Penguin, with the whole genus *Pachyptila*, judiciously separated by Illiger from the Petrels.
Such is an imperfect sketch of the distribution of animals over the globe. But the natural limitation of species has been in some measure affected by human agency. The domesticated animals have been by man imported from different parts of Asia into Europe, and finally into America. At the discovery of that continent it was without the horse, the cow, the sheep, the hog, the dog, and our common poultry, all which are spread over it in innumerable herds, and in some places have relapsed into the wild state in countries well suited for their subsistence. The same useful animals have been by Europeans, within the last half century, carried to the larger islands of the Pacific, where they were previously unknown. How many insects may have been propagated by the cargoes of our ships in distant lands, it is easier to conjecture than to estimate; how many have been imported with the cerealia, and other graminæ of Europe, into newly-discovered regions, it is impossible to say. Human agency has sometimes been the means of propagating in Europe disgusting or destructive species from foreign regions. Thus the commerce of the Dutch waited the *Teredo Navalis* to the dyke-defended coasts of Holland, to the imminent hazard of that country; the Brown Rat and the *Blatta*, which now infest this country, are believed to be importations from the East Indies; and the white bug that now lays waste our orchards is stated to have reached us with American fruit-trees.
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1 Richardson, Report of the British Association, vol. vi.; and Address, vol. vi. Still the effect of human agency is confined, and the limitations imposed by nature upon animal migrations are generally preserved.
Sect. XI.—Varieties of the Human Species.
The identity of species in the whole human family is indicated in the sacred Scriptures, and is confirmed by the deductions of the physiologist and the anatomist. The true principle which serves to mark identity of species in the animal kingdom, is the propagation, not of hybrids, but of fertile progeny between a male and female of a different race. The offspring between individuals of all known races of mankind are equally fertile with the progeny of a pair of the same nation; and therefore, it can be no longer doubted that man is everywhere of the same species. There are, however, several well-marked varieties of the human species, that appear distributed in a peculiar manner over the earth; and hence the Geographical Distribution of Man becomes an object of our attention.
Man appears to possess a remarkable pliancy of constitution, and to be the only animal fitted by nature to inhabit every possible variety of climate. His animal existence is not less secured in the frozen regions of the arctic circle, or under the burning climate of the equator, than in the intermediate countries; and he may be said to be the only true denizen of the whole world.
The classification of Cuvier, in his Tableau Elementaire, divided the human race into five varieties, viz.: 1. the White Race; 2. the Lapland, Samoied, and Esquimaux Race; 3. the Mongolian Race; 4. the Negro Race; 5. the American Race. In his Regne Animal he seems inclined to confine them to three, of which the characteristics are very strongly marked, the White, the Yellow, and the Black Races; but he admits that the Malays and the Americans are not easily distinguishable from any of the three great varieties of mankind in the ancient continent. Blumenbach considers the varieties as five, viz., the Caucasian, the Mongolian, the Ethiopian, the Malayan, and the American; and this distribution, though not altogether free from objection, seems one of the best hitherto proposed.
1. Caucasian Variety, so named, because the traditions respecting the diffusion of the human race seem to point out the region between the Caspian and Black Sea as the cradle of this race, from which there have been numerous radiations; and the most perfect specimens, in point of beauty of form, are found among the Georgians and Circassians, still inhabiting the native seats of their race. The characteristics of the Caucasian Variety are, the fair skin, the oval contour of the head; soft hair, varying from black to light brown or flaxen, waving or slightly curled; eyes varying from blue to dark brown; cranium expanded; facial angle large; nose thin, and rather aquiline or straight; small mouth; perpendicular cutting teeth; lips gently recurved; chin full and rounded. In this race the intellectual qualities have been more strikingly displayed than in any other. Its principal branches may be still traced by certain, though often not very obvious, affinities in the structure of language. The most ancient offsets appear to have been that to the south and the east. The Southern Armenian or Syrian branch seems to have been the parent stock of the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Arabs, the Jews, the Phoenicians, and Abyssinians. The examination of the most ancient mummies would lead to the conclusion that the ancient Egyptians belonged to the same stock, though the Ethiopian countenances of some of their sculptures have sometimes led to a different conclusion. We believe, however, that these may be transcripts of venerated originals imported with the religion of Egypt from the Nubian Meru.
The second branch appears to have given rise to the ancient Medes, the Persians, the Afghans, and the higher castes of India whose language was the Sanscrit; whilst another portion of it, taking a westerly direction, spread itself over Asia Minor, and, under the name of Pelasgians, penetrated into Europe. It seems to have been preceded by an offset from the same branch, the Celts, who early penetrated to the western shores of Europe, where they were found, after the lapse of centuries, by the Teutones, a younger shoot from the same stock. The whole nations already mentioned, and the whole present inhabitants of Europe, with the exception of the Samoieds and Laps, are derived from the Caucasian Variety, the most scattered and most energetic of the human family; and the affinity in descent will account for the strong resemblances which have been traced between the languages of India, of ancient Media, and the principal European tongues. The Scythian branch of the Caucasian race may be considered as the ancestors of the Parthians, the Tatarins of the Taursia, the Turcomans, the Finlanders, the Hungarians, and the tribes about the mouths of the Danube and to the north-east of the Euxine.
2. The Mongolian Variety seems to have had its original seat in the vicinity of the Altai chain of mountains. It is characterized by an olive complexion, and black eyes, the outer angles of which are pointed rather upward; their hair coarse, lank, and thin, their beard scanty; the head of a square form, with a low and narrow forehead, a broad and flattened face, high cheek-bones, flat nose, a wide mouth, and thick lips. Two branches of this race are represented by the Nomade Kalmyks and Kalmaks, whose ancestors spread devastation over a large portion of the earth, under their leaders Attila, Zenghiz Khan, and Timur. A third branch, the Mandchous, in later times had conquered China, of which they are still the rulers. The ancient Chinese, however, seem to have belonged to the same race; and the Japanese, the Coreans, and people of Thibet, probably are also offsets from the great Mongolian variety. The Esquimaux of America appear from their form to belong also to the Mongolian Variety; and may have passed into America on the arctic seas, just as rein-deer now do annually; or as the Tschutschoi have been frequently known to do in order to attack the American Indians. The Laps, the Samoieds, the Tschutschoi, and the Kamtchatkades bear strong marks of their Mongolian origin, though some are disposed to regard them as derived from the Scythian branch of the Caucasian race.
3. The Ethiopian Variety owns Africa as its native region. This variety is distinguished by a black or very dark skin; black eyes; woolly; crisp, coarse hair, collected into little knots; a skull laterally compressed; a forehead low and narrow, a small facial angle, produced by the inordinate projection of the maxillary bones, with an oblique position of the front teeth, and a small chin; the nose flat and simious; the lips, especially the upper, thick; the arms long; the legs often slightly bowed. Lawrence has satisfactorily shown that there is not one peculiarity of the negro race, which is not occasionally met with in some of the other races; and that there is no reason to believe that the negro is not of the same origin as the rest of mankind. Mr Browne, and other recent travellers, have stated, that the Furins and Nubiens, though black, have often handsome elevated features; and we have seen a jetty negress, from the eastern shores of Africa, with features that might well have been a model for a Grecian statue of Jumo in bronze. Those variations are probably from the intermixture of the Caucasian with the Negro race.
In the Malayan peninsula, in Luconia, and in Borneo, among the mountainous districts, are found a few scattered tribes of black men, who form the chief population of Papua or New Guinea. They have dark skins and woolly hair, and, if we may judge from the native of Papua brought to England by Sir Stamford Raffles, the Papous do not ma terially differ from the natives of the eastern coast of Africa, whence probably their ancestors have emigrated.
4. The Malayan Variety has its native seats in the Malayan peninsula and the adjacent islands. The inhabitants of Polynesia, New Holland, and New Zealand, are believed to belong to this race. It is far less characterized than the three races before noticed, and perhaps might be considered as produced by their intermixture. The conspicuous characteristics are a brown colour; sometimes almost approaching to white, as in the inhabitants of Tahiti and the Marquesas, at other times very swarthy, as in the New Zealander and Australian. The hair is black, thick, and generally slightly curled; the head is laterally compressed, the forehead rather narrow, but high; the bones of the face large; the nose full, broad at the apex, and passing gradually into the cheeks; the mouth large; the lips rather thick; the eyes sometimes have the Mongolian cut; the hands are small. But many of the islands are occupied by a very handsome race of inhabitants. The Malay language is widely scattered over the islands of the Pacific, which shows a common origin. The recent South Sea voyages show the vast distances to which design or accident has carried the people of one group of islands to another in their frail canoes, and point out how these islands may have been originally peopled.
5. The American Variety was spread over all that continent at its discovery in the end of the fifteenth century. This race, like the last, is not very distinctly characterized, but bears a very strong resemblance to some of the Mongolian tribes in the scantiness of the beard, which is general in both parts of that continent. The principal peculiarities of this race, besides the scanty beard, which they generally try entirely to eradicate, are a dark skin, with a tint of red, or what has, not very happily, been termed a copper-colour. The hair is black, lank, long, and coarse. The skull is very similar to the Mongolian, but the features are more prominent, especially the nose; the forehead is generally low and retreating; the eyes deeply set; and the face, across the cheek-bones, broad, the mouth large, the lips rather thick. Some of the native tribes singularly flatten the head by compression while in the infant state. This is particularly the case with a tribe on the Columbia. One of their skulls, in the College Museum of Edinburgh, is depressed in a most extraordinary degree, so that the frontal sinus seems almost as high as the vertex; and the head is posteriorly and laterally extended. This was the skull of a person of rank. It was procured by the late Dr Gardner, along with the skull of a slave of the same tribe, in which this flattening, no doubt esteemed a great beauty, had not been practised, but which exhibited, to our eyes, a much more handsome form than that of his master.
The peopling of America was long a problem of much difficulty; but it has of late years been elucidated in various respects. Strong affinities have been discovered between the languages of America and Eastern Asia, which confirm the inferences drawn from physiognomy. Sidi Melli-melli, Tunisian envoy to the United States in 1804, on seeing the deputies of the Cherokees, the Miamis, and Osages, assembled at Washington, instantly recognised their Tatar physiognomies; and Genet, when minister plenipotentiary of France, was also struck with the resemblance of the Indians of America to the Asiatic Tatars, with whose appearance he was familiar. The late researches of Dr Heckewelder, and other American archaeologists, have reduced the supposed infinite variety of North American tongues to three or four radical languages. According to this authority, all the North American native tongues may be traced to the Floridan, the Lené-Lenapé, the Iroquois, and the Chepewayan; and the researches of Klaproth, and other German philologists, have strengthened the belief in the affinities between the native American languages and those of Eastern Asia.
The traditions of the Mexicans, and their hieroglyphical writings, trace their migrations from the north to the table-land of New Spain. Their mythology and their calendars strongly indicate an Asiatic origin; whilst their architecture and their pyramidal temples have something of an Indian or Egyptian character. The scanty annals of this singular people show, that migrations from the north-west had at different epochs reached the elevated table-land of Mexico. The first occupiers, or aborigines, are named the Olmecs. How long they had been there does not appear; but they were driven out in the year 649 of our era by the Toltecs, a people who left their country, which they named Teppallan, supposed to be in Eastern Asia, in the year 544. A pestilence seems to have weakened this nation in 1051; and in 1170 the Chichimacks migrated into Mexico, where, eight years afterwards, the Anahuacollos also arrived. This last nation consisted of seven tribes, the principal of which were the Aztecs. This tribe called their native country Aztlán, which they left in 1064, according to Gama; and, uniting themselves with the Chichimacks and the remnant of the Toltecs, they founded the city of Tenochtitlan in 1325. It was this united people whom the Spaniards denominated Mexicans, and whose empire was extinguished at the capture of the capital, Tenochtitlan, by Cortez in 1521.
The Toltecs appear to have pushed colonies into South America, either by the Cordillera of the Andes, or by the eastern plains at their feet. When Gonzales Ximenez de Quesada arrived on the table-land of Bogota, he was surprised to find a population on that plateau in a state of considerable civilization. It consisted of four tribes, all clothed in cotton garments, and settled in agricultural communities. The principal tribe was the Muyscas, who possessed a calendar, the intercalations of which had as striking a similarity to that employed by nations on the banks of the Indus, as that of the Mexicans approached the calendar of the Manteheus; and it is believed that the Muyscas deduced their calendar from the motions of Jupiter in the ecliptic.
Several travellers have been struck with the resemblance of the Peruvian to the Malayan race; and it is possible that, by the isles of the Pacific, their ancestors reached the southern Cordillera. Their architecture has a sort of Egyptian character in the form of its apertures, and the squaring of its blocks of stone; but their theocracy had much resemblance to that of some nations of Central Asia.
Our limits preclude our pursuing this interesting subject further, or entering on the consideration of the alleged causes of the varieties of the human species. We must refer our readers to the Researches of Humboldt, to the Physiology of Lawrence, to L'Histoire Naturelle du Genre Humain of Virey, to the Dissertations of Blumenbach, Cuvier, and Klaproth, to the work of Dr Smith of New Jersey, to Prichard's History of Man, and to the article Man in the present work. Suffice it to state, that whilst some attribute the varieties of the human family to the long-continued action of climate, food, and the external condition or habits of life, others have regarded them as the consequences of accidental peculiarities transmitted to the posterity of the individuals affected by them; and a third class have considered the three great varieties of the human race, as directly derived from the individual qualities of the sons of Noah. But whatever view we take, it will not be found the less difficult to account for the marked national pecu-
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1 Humboldt, Recherches. 2 Ibid. In conclusion, we may remark, that the study of physical geography, both as it regards inorganic and animated nature, tends to exercise the intellect in tracing the connection between natural causes and their consequences, and to expand and elevate the mind to the noblest of human contemplations,—the wisdom and beneficence of the Deity.
EXPLANATIONS OF REFERENCES TO TABLES OF MOUNTAINS.
PLATE CCCCXII
| AMERICA | Feet | |---------|------| | 1 Nevado de Sorata | 25,259 | | 2 Nevado d'Illimani, first peak | 24,450 | | 3 Ditto, second peak | 24,200 | | 4 Chimborazo | 21,440 | | 5 Antisana | 19,150 | | 6 Cotopaxi | 18,890 | | 7 Arequipa, volcano | 18,373 | | 8 Descabezada | 18,000 | | 9 Popocatepetl | 17,716 | | 10 Illiniza | 17,376 | | 11 Citlalpetl, or Peak of Orizaba | 17,371 | | 12 Tunguragua | 16,579 | | 13 Nevado de Merida | 16,420 | | 14 Cerro de Potosi | 16,000 | | 15 Pichinchas | 15,490 | | 16 Nevado de Mexico | 15,700 | | 17 Cofre de Perote | 15,814 | | 18 Bighorn, or Long's Peak | 13,430 | | 19 Mount St. Elias | 12,670 | | 20 James's Peak | 11,500 | | 21 Sierra de Cohoe | 9,000 | | 22 Serrania Grande | 9,000 | | 23 Mount Fairweather | 8,970 | | 24 Duida, volcano | 8,487 | | 25 Blue Mountains | 7,496 | | 26 Mount Washington | 6,659 | | 27 Guadarrama | 6,400 | | 28 White Mountains | 6,234 | | 29 Blaserk | 6,000 | | 30 Werner Mountains | 6,000 | | 31 Morne Garou | 5,110 | | 32 Soufriere | 3,041 | | 33 Moose Hillock | 4,635 | | 34 Jorullo, volcano | 4,267 | | 35 Pelee | 4,260 | | 36 Camel's Rump | 4,108 | | 37 Saddle Mountain | 4,000 | | 38 Katakill | 3,454 | | 39 Killington Peak | 3,350 | | 40 Grand Moundneck | 3,254 | | 41 Appalachian Peak | 2,700 | | 42 Cape Horn | 1,370 |
| ASIA AND OCEANICA | Feet | |--------------------|------| | 1 Dhawalagiri | 26,862 | | 2 Jawahir | 23,749 | | 3 Jamautri | 25,500 | | 4 Dhalban | 24,740 | | 5 Hindoo Kho | 20,890 | | 6 Mowna Kaah | 18,400 | | 7 Elburz | 17,796 | | 8 Agri-dagh, or Ararat | 17,266 | | 9 Kloutserskoi, volc | 16,512 | | 10 Mowna-Roa | 16,020 |
| PLATE CCCCXII | Feet | |---------------|------| | 1 Kazbec | 15,345 | | 2 Demavend | 15,000 | | 3 Ophir | 13,842 | | 4 Arjish-dagh, Argaeus | 13,100 | | 5 Gunong Dempu, volc | 11,463 | | 6 Egmont | 11,433 | | 7 Keratskaia, volcano | 11,215 | | 8 Biedukha | 11,000 | | 9 Peak | 10,895 | | 10 Italtakel | 10,735 | | 11 Kronotskaia, volcano | 10,625 | | 12 Shiveluch, volcano | 10,591 | | 13 Parmesan | 10,050 | | 14 Lebanon | 9,520 | | 15 Awatska, volcano | 8,750 | | 16 Dodhettia | 8,750 | | 17 Daneshken Kamen | 8,500 | | 18 Pedro-galla | 8,290 | | 19 Melin | 8,200 | | 20 Kirrigal Pota | 7,810 | | 21 Tottapella | 7,720 | | 22 Peak of Jesse | 7,630 | | 23 Sinai | 7,500 | | 24 Adam's Peak | 7,420 | | 25 Olympus | 6,500 | | 26 Bettigo | 6,300 | | 27 Sea-view Hill | 6,500 | | 28 Quelpart | 6,400 | | 29 Subramani | 5,560 | | 30 Jebal Akral, or Cassius | 5,318 | | 31 Aboo | 5,100 | | 32 Ida | 4,960 | | 33 Lorentz Mountains | 4,480 | | 34 Baskiran Oursals | 4,400 | | 35 Baloumoud | 4,200 | | 36 Plain of Isphahan | 4,140 | | 37 Mount Wellington | 3,795 | | 38 Forest Hill | 3,776 | | 39 Mount York | 3,292 | | 40 Mount Exmouth | 3,000 | | 41 King's Table-land | 2,827 | | 42 Sugar Loaf | 2,627 | | 43 Chaisgour | 2,400 | | 44 Mount St Paul's | 2,400 | | 45 Carmel | 2,160 | | 46 Tabor | 1,950 |
| AFRICA | Feet | |--------|------| | 1 Mountains of Geesh | 15,000 | | 2 Mountains of Amid | 13,000 | | 3 Cameroons | 13,000 | | 4 Peak | 12,236 | | 5 Lamalmont | 11,400 | | 6 Millsain | 11,200 | | 7 Clarence Peak | 10,655 | | 8 Nieuweldt | 10,000 | | 9 Comassberg | 10,000 | | 10 Volcano | 7,684 |
"Where universal Love not smiles around, Sustaining all you orbs, and all their sons; From seeding still will still edging good, And better thance again a better still, In infinite progression." ### PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
#### EUROPE
| Mountain Name | Height (Feet) | |-------------------------------|---------------| | Mont Blanc | 15,781 | | Mont Rosa | 15,585 | | Ortler Spitze | 14,430 | | L'Alpe Blanche | 14,775 | | Loueira | 14,451 | | Loupillon | 14,144 | | Finster-aarhorn | 14,116 | | Furca | 14,040 | | Olan | 13,838 | | Jungfrau-horn | 13,720 | | Glockner | 13,713 | | Schreckhorn | 13,997 | | Orteles | 12,659 | | Breithorn | 12,600 | | Nagerhorn | 12,217 | | Münchberg-warteck | 12,000 | | Muleta | 11,073 | | Mont Cenis | 11,469 | | Pico de Veleta | 11,208 | | Mont Perdu | 11,283 | | Great St Bernard | 11,006 | | Simplon | 11,000 | | Monte Gibella (Etna) | 10,963 | | Maladet | 10,857 | | Alguile Noire | 10,505 | | Pic Blanco | 10,205 | | Buet | 10,112 | | Gros Kogl | 9,700 | | Little St Bernard | 9,594 | | Camigu | 9,290 | | Lomnitz | 8,540 | | Orbelus | 8,500 | | Guadarrama | 8,500 | | Velino | 8,397 | | Pic d'Arièze | 8,344 | | Parnassus | 8,000 | | Taygetus | 7,200 | | Pindus | 7,000 | | Mont d'Or | 6,707 | | Agion Oros (Athos) | 6,700 | | Olympus | 6,500 | | Brenner | 6,465 | | Puy de Cantal | 6,353 | | Puy de Saint | 6,300 | | Oraida Yokoh | 6,240 | | Arskutan | 6,190 | | Rigi | 6,050 | | Malkas | 6,000 | | Salitelm | 5,910 | | Dole | 5,412 | | St Angelo | 5,260 | | Rossberg | 5,154 | | Gross Rader | 4,972 | | Schneekopf | 4,950 | | Dovrefjeld | 4,875 | | Puy de Dome | 4,750 | | Ochsenkopf | 3,930 | | Vesuvius | 3,978 | | Erzgebirge | 3,781 | | Brocken | 3,690 | | Montserrat | 3,300 | | St-Oresté | 2,271 |
#### BRITISH ISLES
| Location | Height (Feet) | |-------------------------------|---------------| | Greenwich Observatory | 214 | | Holyhead | 709 | | Carraton | 1,208 | | Pennine Mountains | 1,640 | | Axehead | 1,751 | | Pendlehill | 1,903 | | Brown Clee | 1,895 | | Holmwood | 1,859 | | High Pike | 2,101 | | Cannell | 2,245 | | Whernside | 2,394 | | Hedgehope | 2,347 | | Inglesborough | 2,361 | | Phillimore | 2,463 | | Cradle Mountain | 2,545 | | Coniston Fell | 2,577 | | Caernarthen Van | 2,690 | | Cheviot | 2,755 | | Grassmere Fell | 2,755 | | Arran | 2,800 | | Bowfell | 2,941 | | Cadair Idris | 2,914 | | Arran-Fawddwy | 2,960 | | Helvellyn | 3,055 | | Skiddaw | 3,022 | | Carnedd, Dafydd | 3,427 | | Carnedd, Llewynedd | 3,467 | | Snowdon | 3,571 | | Cairngorm | 3,650 | | Ben Macdu | 4,418 | | Ben Nevis | 3,944 | | Ben Lawers | 3,944 | | Ben More | 3,818 | | Ben Gloe | 3,724 | | Ben Wyvis | 3,720 | | Ben Ledl | 3,631 | | Schallien | 3,613 | | Ben Deirg | 3,550 | | Ben Perkins | 3,482 | | Mount Battox | 3,450 | | Macgillycuddy's Reeks | 3,410 | | Scairscoch | 3,400 | | Ben Cruachar | 3,394 | | Ben Gurdy | 3,391 | | Ben A'anach | 3,270 | | Ben Longdub | 3,191 | | Sliebh Dorin | 3,150 | | Ben Venue | 3,000 | | Black Larg | 2,890 | | The Cobbler | 2,863 | | Dollarburn | 2,840 | | Broad Law | 2,800 | | Croagh Patrick | 2,666 | | Hartfell | 2,635 | | Lowther Hill | 2,522 | | Morne Hills | 2,500 | | Paps of Jura | 2,470 | | Tintock | 2,306 | | Crogham | 1,850 | | Pentland Hills | 1,700 | | Campsie Hills | 1,500 | | Eldon Hills | 1,300 | | Arthur Seat | 822 | | Salisbury Craigs | 560 | | Edinburgh Castle | 434 | | Goatfell | 2,945 | | Snagell | 2,004 | | Dunmore | 810 | | Ailsa Craig | 1,139 | | Bass Rock | 400 |
#### OTHER LOCATIONS
| Location | Height (Feet) | |-------------------------------|---------------| | Gibraltar | 1,439 | | Valdai Hills | 1,260 | | Montmartre | 499 | | Table Mountain | 3,582 | | Devil's Peak | 3,315 | | Green Mountain | 2,968 | | Diana's Peak | 2,692 | | Lion's Head | 2,166 | | Cape of Good Hope | 1,000 | | Pyramid of Cheops | 720 | | Tigre, Abyssinia | | | Isle of Bourbon | | | Canaries | | | Pico, Azores | | | Trindel da Cunha | | | Cape of Good Hope | | | Madeira | | | Beaufort, Cape G. Hope | | | Cape of Good Hope | | | Ascension Island | | | St Helena | | | Cape of Good Hope | | | Egypt | | | Kent | | | Anglesea | | | Cornwall | | | Uskernarvon | | | Derby | | | Lancashire | | | Shropshire | | | Derby | | | Cumberland | | | Yorkshire | | | Northumberland | | | Cardiganshire | | | Brecknockshire | | | Westmoreland | | | Caernarthenhire | | | Northumberland | | | Cumberland | | | Merionethshire | | | Cumberland | | | Merionethshire | | | Cumbeland | | | Caernarvon | | | Inverness-shire | | | Aberdeenshire | | | Inverness-shire | | | Perthshire | | | Sutherlandshire | | | Perthshire | | | Ayrshire | | | Peebleshire | | | Peebleshire | | | Mayo, Ireland | | | Dumfrieshire | | | Lanarkshire | | | Downshire | | | Lanarkshire | | | Kinshelly | | | Mid-Lothian | | | Stirlingshire | | | Roxburghshire | | | Firth of Clyde | | | Firth of Forth | |