18431882] FLORA ANTARCTICA 405 



I felt particularly the want of not knowing which of the Letter 315 

 genera are found in the lowland tropics, in understanding the 

 relation of the Antarctic with the Arctic floras. 



If the Fuegian flora was treated in the analogous way 

 (and this would incidentally show how far the Cordillera are 

 a high-road of genera), I should then be prepared far more 

 easily and satisfactorily to understand the relations of Fuegia 

 with the Auckland Islands, and consequently with the 

 mountains of Van Diemen's Land. Moreover, the marvellous 

 facts of their intimate botanical relation (between Fuegia and 

 the Auckland Islands, etc.) would stand out more prominently, 

 after the Auckland Islands had been first treated of under the 

 purely geographical relation of position. A triple division 

 such as yours would lead me to suppose that the three places 

 were somewhat equally distant, and not so greatly different 

 in size : the relation of Van Diemen's Land seems so com- 

 paratively small, and that relation being in its alpine plants, 

 makes me feel that it ought only to be treated of as a sub- 

 division of the large group, including Auckland, Campbell, 

 New Zealand. . . . 



I think a list of the genera, common to Fuegia on the one 

 hand and on the other to Campbell, etc., and to the mountains 

 of Van Diemen's Land or New Zealand (but not found in the 

 lowland temperate, and southern tropical parts of South 

 America and Australia, or New Zealand), would prominently 

 bring out, at the same time, the relation between these 

 Antarctic points one with another, and with the northern or 

 Arctic regions. 



In Article III. is it meant to be expressed, or might it not 

 be understood by this article, that the similarity of the distant 

 points in the Antarctic regions was as close as between distant 

 points in the Arctic regions ? I gather this is not so. You 

 speak of the southern points of America and Australia, etc., 

 being " materially approximated," and this closer proximity 

 being correlative with a greater similarity of their plants : 

 I find on the globe, that Van Diemen's Land and Fuegia are 

 only about one-fifth nearer than the whole distance between 

 Port Jackson and Concepcion in Chile ; and again, that 

 Campbell Island and Fuegia are only one-fifth nearer than 

 the east point of North New Zealand and Concepcion. Now 

 do you think in such immense distances, both over open 



