This Fact Will, Perhaps, Be Rendered Even
More Striking, By Giving A Few Illustrations:
- Thus, Scalesia,
a remarkable arborescent genus of the Compositae, is confined
to the archipelago:
It has six species: one from Chatham,
one from Albemarle, one from Charles Island, two from
James Island, and the sixth from one of the three latter
islands, but it is not known from which: not one of these six
species grows on any two islands. Again, Euphorbia, a mundane
or widely distributed genus, has here eight species, of
which seven are confined to the archipelago, and not one
found on any two islands: Acalypha and Borreria, both mundane
genera, have respectively six and seven species, none
of which have the same species on two islands, with the
exception of one Borreria, which does occur on two islands.
The species of the Compositae are particularly local; and Dr.
Hooker has furnished me with several other most striking
illustrations of the difference of the species on the different
islands. He remarks that this law of distribution holds good
both with those genera confined to the archipelago, and those
distributed in other quarters of the world: in like manner
we have seen that the different islands have their proper
species of the mundane genus of tortoise, and of the widely
distributed American genus of the mocking-thrush, as well
as of two of the Galapageian sub-groups of finches, and
almost certainly of the Galapageian genus Amblyrhynchus.
The distribution of the tenants of this archipelago would
not be nearly so wonderful, if, for instance, one island had
a mocking-thrush, and a second island some other quite distinct
genus, - if one island had its genus of lizard, and a
second island another distinct genus, or none whatever; - or
if the different islands were inhabited, not by representative
species of the same genera of plants, but by totally different
genera, as does to a certain extent hold good:
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