2 PLANT-LIFE ON LAND [CH. 



living problems of the day. In no point does this 

 emerge more clearly than in the undue importance 

 attributed to the finding and recording of new 

 species and varieties. This is a survival of the time 

 when the science, still in its infancy, was mainly 

 engaged in the recognition and tabulation of living 

 forms. Personal credit was then apt to be measured 

 by the number of the new determinations. Far be 

 it from me to suggest that the process of recording 

 new species is yet complete, or even approaching 

 completion. But whereas in earlier periods most 

 botanists were engaged in this duty, the work is 

 now so far advanced that it remains in the hands of 

 comparatively few. It is indeed a fact that some of 

 the most prominent investigators and writers have 

 never recognised or described a single new species. 

 An illustration of the misconception on this point 

 in the minds of well-educated people may be quoted 

 in my own case. When preparing for a recent visit 

 to collect Ferns in Jamaica, a kindly Dignitary of the 

 Church expressed the hope that I should return with 

 several new species. I, however, congratulate myself 

 on looking over my collections that all my specimens 

 fall under well-known and recorded determinations. 

 The reason for this callousness to novelties may be 

 demanded : it is this. In the island of Jamaica the 

 Fern-Flora has been so well worked, that all the 

 most prominent and typical plants have been already 



