t without going beyond either into Europe or Asia Minor or Arabia, while
those which are purely African are generally confined to the portion south
of the tropic of Cancer. Australia and America are terms which better serve
the purpose of the zoologist. The former defines the limit of many
important groups of animals; and the same may be said of the latter, but
the division into North and South America introduces difficulties, for
almost all the groups especially characteristic of South America are found
also beyond the isthmus of Panama, in what is geographically part of the
northern continent.

It being thus clear that the old and popular divisions of the globe are
very inconvenient when used to describe the range of animals, we are
naturally led to ask whether any other division can be made which will be
more useful, and will serve to group together a considerable number of the
facts we have to deal with. Such a division was made by Mr. P. L. Sclater
more than twenty years ago, and it has, with some slight modifications,
come into pretty general use in this country, and to some extent also {33}
abroad; we shall therefore proceed to explain its nature and the principles
on which it is established, as it will have to be often referred to in
future chapters of this work, and will take the place of the old
geographical divisions whose inconvenience has already been pointed out.
The primary zoological divisions of the globe are called "regions," and we
will begin by ascertaining the limits of the region of which our own
country forms a part.

_The Range of British Mammals as indicating a Zoological Region._--We will
first take our commonest wild mammalia and see how far they extend, and
especially whether they are confined to Europe or range over parts of other
continents:

1. Wild Cat | Europe | N. Africa | Siberia, Afghanistan.
2. Fox | Europe | N. Africa | Central Asia to Amoor.
3. Weasel | Europe | N. Africa | Central Asia to Amoor.
4. Otter | Europe | N. Africa | Siberia.
5. Badger | Europe | N. Africa | Central Asia to Amoor.
6. Stag | Europe | N. Africa | Central Asia to Amoor.
7. Hedgehog | Europe | -- | Central Asia to Amoor.
8. Mole | Europe | -- | Central Asia.
9. Squirrel | Europe | -- | Central Asia to Amoor.
10. Dormouse | Europe | -- | --
11. Water-rat | Europe | -- | Central Asia to Amoor.
12. Hare