presents a difficult problem to the student of geographical distribution. But so far as the mammals are concerned, the only Australian element in Celebes consists of two species of Phalanger and a few Bats; the remaining forms, although many of them are very peculiar, have been, doubtless, originally derived from the Oriental rather than from the Australian Region. It seems more logical, therefore, on the whole, to make the island of Celebes a separate Sub-region of the Oriental rather than of the Australian Region. This position, however, will be considered in greater detail in the account of the Sub-regions.

SECTION IV.-THE INDIAN SUB-REGION

The Indian Sub-region has a close resemblance to the Palearctic Region. This is more especially the case in the north-western districts, where the country is practically rainless, and the fauna, owing to similarity of condition, is in many respects closely allied to that of the neighbouring desert regions of Central Asia. The desert district of the Indian Sub-region includes the narrow strip of coast land to the north of the Persian Gulf, the Punjab, Rajputana, and the northern part of the Bombay Presidency. The greater part of the peninsula of India south of the great plains is occupied by the high, and rather dry, plateau of the Deccan and of Central India, which is covered with a thin and scanty jungle. The southern slopes of the western Ghats and the greater part of Ceylon enjoy an abundant rainfall, and are clothed with a tropical forest, in consequence of which their faunas present many points of resemblance both to each other and also to that of the Malayan Subregion, which has similar physical conditions.

Our knowledge of the mammals of this and the next Sub-region is very fairly complete, owing to the excellent handbook recently published by Mr. W. T. Blanford (2).

The Pangolin (Manis), which, with slight specific modifications, is also found in all the other Sub-regions as well as in the Ethiopian Region, is here the sole representative of the Edentates. The Sub-region is well provided with members of the various families of Ungulates. Three peculiar genera of Antelopes, which are not found beyond the limits of the Sub-region, have been already mentioned; other genera, such as the Gazelles (Gazella), the Goats (Capra), and the Sheep (Ovis), are found in other parts of the world as well as in this Sub-region, but are absent from the remaining Sub-regions.

All the families of Ungulates are common to this and the Ethiopian Region, except the Deer-family (Cervidæ), the entire absence of which from Africa south of the. Atlas has already been commented upon.

The Rodents do not present any marked features of interest in this Sub-region. One genus, Platacanthomys, a small dormouse-like member of the family Muridæ, is found only in the hills of Southern India, otherwise the genera are mostly wide-spread forms.

Among the Carnivores the Cats are numerous and large. This Sub-region is the proper home of the Tiger, which, however, has extended itself throughout the whole Region, and even across its boundaries westwards into Persia and Trans-Caspia, and eastwards far into China and Manchuria. The Lion, too, which is essentially an animal haunting dry and comparatively barren countries, is a member of this division of the Indian fauna. was formerly much more abundant in the peninsula, but

It

is now, apparently, restricted to a small area in Western

India.

As is the case with the Ungulates, so here, with the exception of the Bears (Ursidae), all the families of Indian Carnivores also range into Ethiopia.

The Insectivores of this Sub-region need not detain us long. A Tree-shrew (Tupaia), an outlying member of a genus very abundantly represented in the Malay countries, is found in Southern India; the other genera, the Hedgehogs (Erinaceus) and the Shrews (Crocidura), are widely spread throughout the Old World.

Among the Bats of this Sub-region we find that not only there are no peculiar genera, but that even the species in nearly all cases have an extended range beyond its limits. Out of about forty species, six alone are confined to the Sub-region.

The Slender Loris is found only in Southern India and Ceylon, and is the single representative of the Lemurs in this Sub-region. It is a strange-looking creature, with long spidery arms and no tail. Like most of its race, it is arboreal and nocturnal in its habits.

Indian monkeys all belong to the two large genera, Macacus and Semnopithecus, both of which are characteristic of the Oriental Region, although two or three species of them have strayed over the borders into the Palearctic Region.

The following table shows, in a succinct manner, the origin and distribution of the mammals of this Sub-region. The species in the first line, reckoned as "Endemic," are confined to the Sub-region; those called "Oriental" do not occur beyond the boundaries of that Region; those catalogued as "Palearctic" are common to that Region

and to the Indian Sub-region; the "Ethiopian," in the same way, are found alike in the Ethiopian Region and the Indian Sub-region. The "Palæogean" genera are those which are found in the Indian Sub-region and in more than one of the other three Regions of the Old World. Finally, the "Cosmopolitan" genera are those found in the New World as well as in the Old.

From this table it will be seen that the relations of the Indian Sub-region are about equally divided between the Palearctic and Ethiopian Regions; the largest number of genera are registered as "Palæogean," and most of these are common to the three Regions of the Old World. The relations of this Sub-region to the Australian Region are very slight; with the exception of Canis, it is only among the Bats that we find any common genera.

SECTION V.-THE BURMO-CHINESE SUB-REGION

Owing to our imperfect knowledge of the fauna of the central part of China and of Tibet, it is impossible at present to draw up a complete list of the mammalian

genera inhabiting this Sub-region, and it is consequently out of the question to lay down anything but a very uncertain boundary between this Sub-region and the neighbouring Palearctic Region. It is probable, however, that even when Western China and Tibet have been thoroughly explored, it will still be difficult to trace an absolute frontier between the Palearctic and Oriental Regions. As we already know, Northern China and Japan contain a considerable number of purely Oriental species. Even the Tiger, usually associated with tropical jungles, ranges through China into the valley of the Amoor and the island of Saghalien, where a most severe Arctic winter is met with. In the same way, two species of a typically Oriental genus of Monkeys are found in North-East Asia-one (Macacus speciosus) in Nipon, the largest of the Japanese group of islands; the other (Macacus tcheliensis) in the mountains north of Pekin.

On the other hand, a good many purely Palearctic forms extend into Southern China. This is more especially the case among the birds, which have hitherto received a preponderating share of the attention of the naturalists and collectors in the Chinese Empire.

Passing over the Edentates, represented, as in the Indian Sub-region, by two species of Pangolin (Manis), we come to the Ungulates of the Burmo-Chinese Sub-region. Here we remark the disappearance of the Antelopes, and the great development of the Deer-family (Cervida), of which no less than fifteen species are found in this Subregion. One of these (Elaphodus) is a curious little Deer with very small simple antlers and large canine teeth; it was first described by Milne-Edwards from Western Tibet, and subsequently a second species of the same genus was