Having excepted out of these sixty-eight species the domestic animals, and those concerning which the evidence is of a negative character, there remain about fifty-eight, which we may consider to be the number belonging to the "Mammal-fauna" of Amoorland, as far as we are at present acquainted with it. Let us see, therefore, what deductions we can make as to the general character of the Fauna of this country from these elements. As Dr. Von Schrenck himself observes, our first remark will be one of surprise at the ill-assorted neighbours which, in some instances, seem to be brought together in Amoorland. A Bengal tiger, even with so limited a knowledge of the geographical distribution of animals as we might suppose such a carnivore to possess, must be rather surprised at finding himself, as he swims across the Amoor, brought face to face with the northern seals, Phoca nummularis, and P. barbata, and the Whitefish of the arctic seas (Delphinapterus leucas.) Neither can his wonder be diminished, when, on crossing the narrow strait which separates the island of Sachalin from the main, he is compelled to subsist nearly entirely upon the flesh of the rein-deer (Cervus tarandus), a beast only found wild in Europe in the extreme north, and which will not live in our Zoological Gardens, but which on this side of the great Continent descends to the latitude of Paris. The little Polar Pika, or tailless hare, is also met with in Amoorland, down to the latitude of 48°, while the wild boar ranges northward beyond latitude 52°. But putting these apparent anomalies aside for a moment, it is very instructive to observe how similar in general characters the Fauna of Amoorland is to that of Europe. The difference, taken at it greatest amount, is hardly more than that of species. Out of the whole number of fifty-eight mammals of Amoorland, as above recorded, no less than thirty-four seem to be identical with European species; and most of the others belong to genera which have European representatives. The nineteen species not found in Europe appear to be the following:—
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Mustela sibirica,
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Lagomys hyperboreus,
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Of these, Enhydris, Moschus, and Otaria, belong to genera common to the polar regions of Asia and America, and so perhaps show some relationship of the Fauna of Amoorland to that of the more northern parts of the New World. Of this, it must be recollected, Japan furnishes us with further and more remarkable instances,—a second species of the singular talpine genus Urotrichus[1] having lately been discovered in
- ↑ Urotrichus gibbsii, Baird. Examples of this highly interesting Insectivore have
