148 The Irish Natwalist, August. 



vice-counties, {b) The sub-provinces should be such that they 

 can be grouped into the four provinces of Ireland. (^) The 

 sub-provinces should, if possible, contain a stretch of coast 

 line so that the same divisions could be available for both 

 land and marine species of both plants and animals, and so 

 that a comparison between the fauna or flora of any two sub- 

 provinces could be instituted on a basis of equalit3\ While 

 it ma}' be possible to indicate the distribution of the higher 

 plants and animals in each of the 40 counties and vice- 

 counties, a long time must elapse before this can be done in 

 regard to the lower groups. Consequentl}^ an intermediate 

 series of sub-provinces would seem a desideratum. 



I have, therefore, divided each province into three sub- 

 provinces. As each sub-province should perhaps have a 

 name rather than a number, and as this name should be 

 such that it cannot be confused with an}' that have been 

 emplo3'ed hitherto, I have thought it advisable to revive 

 some of the ancient titles used to denote sub-divisions of the 

 countr}', but without intending to convey the idea that these 

 sub-provinces are identical in outline with those denoted by 

 the ancient name. All that is meant is that the present sub- 

 province contains within it part or the whole of the old 

 territorial division whose name it bears. I have also added a 

 more modern name in brackets for those who prefer it, but as 

 some of these were already used b}" McNab in a different 

 sense their use in this connection is perhaps to be deprecated. 

 I have also denoted each sub-province by a vS5'mbol which is, 

 perhaps, preferable to a number, and occupies no more space. 

 The first letter of each province will be used as a contraction 

 for the name of the province, and the numbers i to 3 will be 

 attached to denote the sub-divisions, it being understood that 

 I means in all cases the sub-province which extends furthest 

 south, and 3 the sub-province wdiich extends furthest north. 

 Thus if a species occurs in all the sub-provinces its distribu- 

 tion can be briefly indicated as follows ;~Mt 23, 1^123, C123, 

 U123. Its distribution in the provinces can, therefore, be 

 seen at a glance much more easily than would be the case if 

 the sub-provinces were numbered continuously from i to 12. 

 The division into sub-provinces and their boundaries are in- 

 dicated below :-— 



