antient forests; while the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus roll their huge bulks along the banks of its largest rivers. Others, that are less gigantic in form and more ferocious in disposition, the lion, the tiger, the panther, the ounce, and the hyæna, extend but little beyond the equinoctial regions. This zone also produces animals as remarkable for their beauty and gentleness, as the others are for their majesty and terror. Such are the antelope, the zebra, the cameleopard, and others. A still more striking mark of the beneficence of Providence is visible in the peculiar formation of the camel and dromedary in the Old World, with the lama and the vicuna in the New, and without which vast regions would be altogether impassable. The giraffe and the quagga, we believe, are restricted to the southern regions of Africa.

As we depart from the torrid zone, the wild animals diminish in size, and improve in disposition. The wolf and the boar are the chief beasts of prey in temperate climes; but even these will not bear a comparison with the mighty tyrants of the Asiatic and African deserts. It is, however, in the temperate zones that domestic animals attain their greatest perfection. The horse was first introduced into the New World by the Europeans, and is now to be found almost from one extremity to the other. In Europe, this noble animal generally approaches the polar circle, but in Asia it is seldom to be met with beyond the 64th parallel. The ass cannot endure cold so well as the horse, and is not common beyond the 54th degree of latitude; its most favourable climate is from the 20th to the 40th parallel, where it is large and beautiful, swift and docile. As we approach the 60th degree of latitude, the ox, the sheep, and the most valuable domestic animals, become stunted in their growth, and soon afterwards give place altogether to a new creation. It is in these cold regions that the reindeer unites the pro

perties of all the other domestic animals of more temperate countries. They abound, too, with the elk, the sable, the ermine, the marten, the arctic fox, and various other species, which Nature has guarded against the intensity of the cold by a thick covering of fur, and which constitutes a valuable article of luxury in the most effeminate courts; thus the very means that have been bountifully provided for their protection from the elements, is converted into the cause of their ceaseless persecution by unsparing man. Still nearer the pole, the arctic bear reigns the mighty tyrant of the frozen solitude. The arctic fox is so entirely fitted to those cold regions, that he cannot exist south of the 60th parallel.

The dog, as the faithful ally of man, is more widely spread over the globe than any other animal; and is to be found in all regions, where man has reared his palace or his hut, and, perhaps, in a wild state, where human foot has never yet left its impress. The effects of climate upon the dog are, however, very obvious. Towards the equator, as well as in approaching the poles, he loses his voice, and his bark is changed into a kind of growl, often of the most harsh and disagreeable kind. The cat has also been widely diffused through the medium of navigation; and the fox, which is nearly allied to the dog, is also to be found in the most distant and dissimilar regions. They abound in Nova Zembla, and all the shores and islands of the Arctic Ocean, in Egypt, in Bengal, in Guinea, and from the northern limits of the New World to the Straits of Magellan.

A general view of the animal kingdom shows that there is scarcely any extensive tract on the globe that has not a Zoology, as well as a Flora, of its own. The Zoology of the marshy plains and wide-spread savannas of the torrid zone is altogether different from that of the stupendous mountains which pierce the clouds in the same regions. Other species bound from rock to rock, and delight in the highest

summits of the temperate climes; while those that inhabit the frozen plains, range over the pine-clad mountains, or stalk amidst the perpetual snows of the arctic regions, are totally distinct from them all. Those that are indigenous to the New World are wholly different from those of the Old Continent. M. Humboldt observes, in a paper read to the French Institute, in February 1816, that it has long been known that no quadruped, no terrestrial bird, and, as appears from the researches of M. Latreille, alalmost no insect, is common to the two Worlds. M. Cuvier is convinced, by accurate inquiries, that this rule applies even to reptiles. He has ascertained that the true boa constrictor is peculiar to America, and that the boas of the Old Continent are pytons. With respect to the regions beyond the tropics, Buffon has greatly multiplied the animals which he conceived to be common to America, to Europe, and the north of Asia. The bison, the stag, and the goat of America, with the rabbit, musk rat, bear, &c. are species entirely distinct from those of Europe. There remain only the glutton, the wolf, the white bear, the red fox, and perhaps the elau, which are not sufficiently distinct to be considered as specific'.'

2

While the range of most of the inferior animals is confined to a single region, MAN can exist, with comparative ease, in all countries. His abode is found from the frozen mountains of Greenland to the burning deserts of Sahara; and even the vicissitudes of heat and cold, which prove fatal to many other orders of animated beings, are endured by man without any very injurious effects. He can equally fortify himself against the rigours of intense cold, and the almost scorching rays of a vertical Sun. Those who inhabit the Oasis, or cross the sandy deserts, of Africa and Arabia, sometimes experience

'Myers's Geography, vol. i, p. clvi.

a degree of heat which causes spirits of wine to boil, and therefore afford illustrative examples of the one extreme; while Captain Parry and the arctic naviga tors supply a recent and striking instance of the other. When they wintered in Melville Island, the mercury in the thermometer sunk, in the early part of 1820, to 55° below zero; yet even this intensity was not attended with any serious consequences; and exercise was taken in the open air whenever the wind and snow permitted. What, however, is still more remarkable, and proves the extreme pliability of the human frame in reference to the power of sustaining great and rapid changes of temperature, is that, on passing from the cabin to the open air, these men experienced a difference of from 80° to 100°, and sometimes 120°, in less than a minute. Though exposed to this for some months, not a single inflammatory complaint, beyond a common cold, occurred during the whole period.

It must not, however, be inferred, from his capability of bearing the temperature of all climates, that man is every where the same, either in his external appearance, or the developement of his mental faculties. The difference in both these respects, indeed, is so great, that some philosophers have been induced to think that all mankind have not sprung from the same common parents. Striking and permanent, however, as the dissimilitude undoubtedly is between the Negro of Guinea, the native of Britain, the Esquimaux of Labrador, and the Patagonian of Cape Horn, it is sufficiently accounted for by the long continued operation of physical and moral causes: but the former alone fall within the scope of the present Essay.

Man is so widely diffused, that Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla in the north, with the Falkland Islands, New South Shetland, Kergueland's Land, and a few other tracts in the Southern Ocean, are the only extensive countries which are known to be absolutely

destitute of inhabitants. From the variety of climates and situations in which man is placed, it is therefore evident that situation and local circumstances must affect not only his physical conformation, but his habits and manners, as well as his mental powers and moral perceptions. The records of antient history, and the testimony of modern observation, equally show the influence of these causes on both the characters and pursuits of nations during the early stages of society; and though, in more advanced periods, their influence may be counteracted, it is not destroyed, by the operation of moral

causes.

When the reasoning powers of man began to expand, and to seek objects for their employment beyond the mere gratification of his daily wants, few subjects were better adapted to attract his attention than the varieties which presented themselves in the human race. In later stages of society, philosophers have endeavoured to analyze and class these diversities, so as to ascertain the primary types to which the other varieties may be referred. One of the best qualified for the task was M. Blumenbach', who applied his profound knowledge of physiology to the research. He has resolved the whole human species into the following five primary classes:

1. The Caucasian race. The distinguishing cha racters of these are, the skin white, the cheeks red, the hair brown, sometimes verging towards yellow or black, but always soft, long, and undulating; the head is symmetrical, and rather globular; the forehead moderately expanded, the cheek bones narrow, the face oval, the nose narrow and slightly aquiline, the lips turned gently out, the chin round, and the facial angle large. In this class are included all the Europeans except the Finns, Samoieds, and Lap

See J. F. Blumenbach, de Generis Humani Varietate Nativa Dissertatio.