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Show CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. Remarkable Contrasts in distribution of Animals-Britain and JapanAustralia and New Zealand-Bali and Lombok-Florida and Bahama Islands-Brazil and Africa-Borneo, Madagascar, and CelebesProblems in distribution to be found in every country-Can be solved only by the combination of many distinct lines of inquiry, biological and. physical-Islands offer the best subjects for the study of distribution- Outline of the subjects to be discussed in the present volume. WHEN an Englishman travels by the nearest sea-route from Great Britain to Northern Japan be passes by countries very unlike bjs own, both in aspect and natural productions. The sunny isles of the Mediterranean, the sands and date-palms of Egypt, the arid rocks of Aden, the cocoa groves of Ceylon, tbe tiger-haunted jungles of Malacca and Singapore, the fertile plains and volcanic peaks of Luzon, the forest-clad mountains of Formosa, and tb~ bare hills of China, pass successively in review ; till· after a circuitous voyage of thirteen thousand miles he finds himself at Hakodadi in Japan. He is now separated from his starting-point by the whole width of Europe and N ortbern Asja, by an almost endless succession of plains and mountains, arid desfrts or icy plateaux, yet when he visits the interior of the country be sees so many familiar natural objects tbat..he can hardly help fancying be is clo.se to his home. He finds the woods and fields tenant~d by tits, hedge-sparrows, wrens, wagtails, larks, redbreasts, thrushes, buntings, and housesparrows, some absolutely identical with our own feathered friends, others so cloEely resembling them that it requires a B 2 |