. . .unconnected with any of the other living beings which swarm around them. What, for instance, is there apparently in common between the fishes of our lakes and rivers, and the quadrupeds which inhabit their shores, or the birds perching on the branches which overshadow their waters? Or what connection is there between the [Pg 29]few hermit-like terrestrial animals that live upon the low islands of the Pacific and the fishes which play among the corals, or in the sand and mud of their shores? And nevertheless there is but one plan in the creation; fresh-water animals under similar latitudes are as uniform as the corresponding vegetation, and however isolated and apparently unconnected the tropical islands may seem, their inhabitants agree in their most important traits.

The best evidence that in the plan of creation animals are intended to be located within circumscribed boundaries, is further derived from their regular migrations. Although the arct. . . Read More