524 On the Dispersio7i and 



secondly, the land was separated from the water ; then, when 

 it had acquired sufficient consistency, vegetables were scattered 

 over it, which afforded food for animals, the creation of which 

 followed ; and lastly came man, to take possession of the whole. 

 Now, what argument do we derive from this ? That the earth 

 went through progressive stages, the duration of which we 

 have no means of determining; and was adapted to the 

 existence of man before he himself appeared. Hitherto we 

 have considered the subject in a scriptural and rational point 

 of view : let us now apply botanical reasoning. Supposing it 

 possible that vegetables could have been dispersed originally 

 from one station, and thence become naturalised over the 

 whole world, how would this theory agree with the present 

 state of our knowledge ? Were we at this time to find that 

 plants flourished equally well in all countries, unaffected by the 

 changes of heat and cold, climate, and geological structure of 

 the earth ; or that the same plants were universally distri- 

 buted, peculiar to no part of the world, but equally common 

 in all ; then we might reasonably and naturally infer that they 

 are citizens of no country, but of the world in general. But 

 how stands the fact ? If we cast our eyes over a botanical 

 chart, we shall find that, far from this being the case, many 

 families of plants are peculiar to certain parts of the world, 

 and never extend naturally beyond these boundaries ; that 

 some are exclusively confined to one small tract, while others 

 are scattered equally over the face of the earth. Thus, for 

 instance, the Anondcece, 'DiWemdcet^, and the palms are almost 

 entirely confined to tropical countries. The JSricas are scarcely 

 to be met with out of the Cape of Good Hope : not a single 

 species is found in America or in Asia ; and few, compara- 

 tively speaking, are natives of Europe. Lastly, New Holland 

 presents a rich and inexhaustible field of discovery. The 

 botany of Australia is so dissimilar to that of every other 

 known country, that it deserves particular attention. Of the 

 plants already known in that country, 400 species are crypto- 

 gamic, 860 monocotyledonous, and 2900 dicotyledonous. Of 

 the 400 cryptogamic, more than 120 are also indigenous to 

 Europe ; of the 860 monocotyledonous, only 30 have been 

 found in Europe, and more than half of these are grasses 

 and Cyperdcecc ; but of the 2900 dicotyledonous species, only 

 15 are the same in Australia as in Europe. {Library of Useful 

 Knowledge^ Physical Geography, part ii.) They exhibit but 

 a very meagre acquaintance with the laws which influence the 

 situation and locality of plants, who conceive it possible (though 

 it is a well known fact that plants are very far from indifferent to 

 the changes of heat and cold, and the composition and nature of 



