No
doubt small areas can be pointed out in the Old World hotter than any in
the New World; but these are not inhabited by a fauna different from that
of the surrounding districts; for it is rare to find a group of organisms
confined to a small area, of which the conditions are peculiar in only a
slight degree. Notwithstanding this general parallelism in the conditions
of Old and New Worlds, how widely different are their living productions!
In the southern hemisphere, if we compare large tracts of land in
Australia, South Africa, and western South America, between latitudes 25
and 35 degrees, we shall find parts extremely similar in all their
conditions, yet it would not be possible to point out three faunas and
floras more utterly dissimilar. Or, again, we may compare the productions
of South America south of latitude 35 degrees with those north of 25
degrees, which consequently are separated by a space of ten degrees of
latitude, and are exposed to considerably different conditions; yet they
are incomparably more closely related to each other than they are to the
productions of Australia or Africa under nearly the same climate.
Analogous facts could be given with respect to the inhabitants of the sea.
A second great fact which strikes us in our general review is, that
barriers of any kind, or obstacles to free migration, are related in a
close and important manner to the differences between the productions of
various regions.
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