10 THE COMING [CH. 



tained and was not calculated to awaken either sur- 

 prise or incredulity. 



But how different is the problem as it now presents 

 itself to us ! In the year 1900 Professor S. H. Vines 

 of Oxford estimated that the number of ' species ' of 

 plants that have been described could be little short 

 of 200,000, and that future studies, especially of the 

 lower microscopic forms, would probably bring that 

 number up to 300,000*. Last year, Mr A. E. Shipley 

 of Cambridge, basing his estimate on the earlier one 

 of Dr Giinther, came to the conclusion that the number 

 of described animals must also exceed 300,000. On 

 the lowest estimate then we must place the number 

 of known species of plants and animals, living on the 

 globe, as 600,000 ! And if we consider the numbers 

 of new forms of plants and animals that every year 

 are being described by naturalists about 1500 plants 

 and 1200 animals if we take into account the inac- 

 cessible or as yet unvisited portions of the earth's 

 surface, the very imperfectly known depths of the sea, 

 and, in addition to these, the almost infinite varieties 

 of minute and microscopic forms, I think every com- 

 petent judge would consider a million as being 

 probably an estimate below, rather than above, the 

 number of * species ' now existing on the earth ! 



While some of these species are very widely 

 distributed over the earth's surface, or in the waters 

 of the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers, there are others 



