REPORT OF THE MEETINGS, BALUCHISTAN N.H.S., QUETTA. 22'6 



I propose to say a few words more to-day in explanation of that object. 

 Some may not quite have understood why I laid such stress on our collecting 

 and storing in this museum only specimens obtained in Baluchistan. Remem- 

 ber I am at this moment only talking of Zoology ana Botany. My first reason 

 for this is that our Museum is only a small building, and if we take to storing 

 in it elephants and alligators and such like creatures of other countries, we 

 shall soon be crowded out. My chief and important reason, however, is the 

 desire to collect and display in this building a comprehensive collection of the 

 flora and fauna of our own province, Baluchistan, so as to show what that 

 province possesses, what can be found in it, and where ; and above all to show 

 by such a colleciion how our flora and fauna differs from that of other prov- 

 inces or differs, in Baluchistan itself, between one district and another. 



Since I spoke on this subject at our last meeting, I happened to read a 

 passage in the great Dr Wallace's valuable book, "The Geographical I istri- 

 bution of Animals " which itself explains the importance of the object I have 

 advocated. He writes (p. 552 of Vol. II) : ' At present all public museums and 

 private collections are arranged zoologically. All treatises and catalogues also 

 follow, more or less completely, the zoological arrangement, and the greatest 

 difficulty the siudent of geographical distribution has to conti nd against is the 

 total absence of geographical collections and the almost total want of complete 



8 ° local catalogues. Till every well-marked district * ° * has all its ki own 

 species of the more important groups of animals catalogued on a uniform plan 

 * * * a thoroughly satisfactory account of the geographical distribution of 

 animals will not be possible.' 



What Dr. Wallace has said of Zoology applies equally to Botany. 



I will not bother you with a scientific dii-course, but I could speak for 

 hours on the importance of the study of the geographical distribution of plants 

 and animals. It teaches us a great deal about the past history of this earth. 

 It is full of the most interesting problems, which have never yet been solved. 



We can help science very greatly by carrying out the object of this Society, 

 i.e., studying and recording the geographical distribution of the fauna and 

 flora of Baluchistan. 



Now Baluchistan is a large country ; it comprises many tracts or regions 

 widely differii g in various ways from each other. We have the hot lowlying 

 plains of Kachi the high cold plateau of Kalat, Kakar-Khorasan and Toba, 

 the sand deserts of Ltegistan and Ghagai, and mount dn ranges covered more or 

 less with forest growth. Each of these regions differ in soil, temperature and 

 climate, and each has many animals and plants which are not to be found in 

 the other regions. 



I hope soon to prepare for the use of this Society a map of Baluchistan, 

 showing its various geographical districts or regiois. 



When we come to put together our collections, grouping them separately 

 according to the regions from which they come, we shall find that the animals 

 and plauts of each tract have many chaructjriBtics of colour and form com- 



