little is really known of the zoology of China. Some of the more ferocious of the carniverous animals still linger in the jungles of Yuu-nan, and are occa sionally found along the whole of the Nanling range of mountains as far as Ning-po, where there is a mart for their skins. Wild-cats are common in the forests of the south, and bears are still found in the hills of Shan-se. Of the ruminantia, there are the musk deer (meschus moschiferus), the moose-deer, and a few other species. The gold and silver pheasant, the argus pheasant, and other gallinaceous birds, hold a prominent place in the ornithology of China. Fly-catchers, thrushes, grackles, and goat-suckers have their representatives in China, and there are several species of crows, jays, and magpies. Water-fowl inhabit the lakes, rivers, and marshes. The larger reptiles are unknown; but tortoises and turtles abound on the coast, and lizards are plentiful in the south. The ichthyology of China is considered to be one of the richest in the world. Sharks, rays, sturgeons, and other cartilaginous fishes, are common on the coast; and the carp formerly was very plentiful in the hikes and rivers. The goldfish has been introduced into Europe from China. Of insects, the arachnidte are large and numerous; indeed, a tree-spider captures and kills small birds. Locusts often commit extensive ravages. Silk-worms are highly valued, and reared in large numbers.
In a country of such vast extent—extending from 18° to 40' n. lat.---the climate must vary greatly. Indeed, as regards both climate and productions, China may be divided into three zones—the northern, the central, and the southern. The northern zone extends to the 35th parallel, and includes the fine provinces of Shang-tung, Chih-le, Shan-se, Shen-se, and Kan-su. It produces the grains, fruits, and animals of northern Europe. Here the children are red-cheeked, and the extremes of heat and cold are great. In Chili-le, the winters are very severe; and at that season ice a foot thick renders the rivers unnavigable. The natural productions of this and the con tiguous northern provinces are wheat, barley, oats, apples, the hazelnut, and the potato; they are also rich in wood and minerals. The central zone, the richest portion of China, contains eight provinces—Sze-chuen, Kwei-chow, Hunan, Hu-pih, 1..eung-se, Gan-liwuy, Ho-nan, and Keang-su—and is bounded by the with or 28th parallel; tea and silk are its characteristic products; the middle portion is the granary of China, and the eastern part is celebrated for its manufactures of silk and cotton. The southern zone embraces five provinces—you-nan, Kwaug-tung, Kwang-se, keen, and Che-keang. The exchange of its tropical productions for those of the northern i is an important branch of the internal commerce of the country. Kwang-tung lies partly within the tropics; and the whole province is tropical, both in climate and productions. The (no later census has been made) exhibits the situation, ' area, and population of the eighteen provinces into which China is divided for admin istrative purposes: But, according to the Almanaeh de Gotha for 1877, the population of China, properly so called, was estimated at 405,000,000; and of the rest of the empire, including Mant churia, Mongolia, Tibet, and Corea, 28,000,000—in all, 433,000,000. After Pekin, the
capital, the largest cities in China are Canton, Tien-Tsin, Foochow, Hankow, Hang chow-Foo, Ning-po, Amoy, Shanghai, etc.
Inhabitants.—Ethnologically, the Chinese belong to that variety of the human species distinguished by a Mongolian conformation of the head and face, and a monosyllabic language. See CHINESE LANGUAGE, WRITING, AND LITERATURE. A tawny or parch ment-colored skin, black hair, lank and coarse, a thin beard, oblique eyes, and high cheek-bones, are the principal characteristics of the race. The average height of the Chinaman is about equal to that of the European, though his muscular power is not so great; the women are disproportionately small, and have a broad upper face, low nose, and linear eyes. Of the general character of the Chinese, it is not easy to form a fair and impartial judgment; and those who have resided long in the country, and know them well, have arrived at very different conclusions. 31. Hue asserts that they are "destitute of religious feelings and beliefs," "skeptical and indifferent to everything that concerns the moral side of man," " their whole lives but materialism put in action;" but "all this," says 3Ir. Meadows, "is baseless calumny of the higher life of a great portion of the human race." He admits, indeed, that these charges are true of the mass of the Chinese, just as they are true of the English, French, and Americans; but as amongst these there is a large amount of generosity and right feeling, and also " a minority higher in nature, actuated by higher motives, aiming at higher aims," so also, he maintains, is there amongst the Chinese a similar right feeling, and a like minority who live a higher life than the people generally. See HIOUEN-THSANG. As regards valor, their annals record "deeds akin to the courage of antiquity;" they have no fear of death, commit suicide as the solution of a difficulty, and endure the most cruel tortures with a passive fortitude; but neither their arms nor discipline enable them to stand before European forces. The Chinese are, as a race, unwarlike, fond of peace and domestic order, capable of a high degree of organization and local self-government, sober, indus trious, practical, unimaginative, literary, and deeply imbued with the mercantile spirit. It is to be observed that the inhabitants of China Proper are essentially one people; the differences, except in dialect, being hardly more marked than between the Northumbrian peasant and the Cornish miner. The south-eastern Chinese—the people of K.wang-tung, Full-keen, and the south of Clie-keang—are the most restless and enterprising in all the eimliteen provinces, and may be regarded as the Anglo-Saxons of Asia. In the moun tainous districts of the four south-eastern provinces of China, but principally in Kwang se, are certain tribes who maintain a rude independence, wear a peculiar dress, and are descended from the aboriginal inhabitants of China. Of these, the Metion-tze are the best known.