876 president's address. 



Mueller will work out, with his accustomed energy, the more 

 promising classification which he suggests, based on the characters 

 of the fruit. No one else has qualifications comparable to his for 

 this difficult and important task. 



The same author has also largely increased the number of species 

 catalogued in his Census of Avistralian Plants, so that they now 

 amount to nearly 9,000, The number of species now recorded for 

 New South Wales, exclusive of the lower Cryptogams, is 3,154 ; 

 of which many are also common to Queensland, and many to 

 Victoria. 



He has also published during the last year another number of 

 his " Descriptive Notes on Papuan Plants." There are about 

 1000 now recorded. "Of these the writings of Blume, Miguel, 

 and Schiller gave about 380 ; Beccaris ' Malasia' added to them 

 about 140, largely new to science ; the 'Papuan Plants' up to 

 date made additions to the extent of about 420, mostly known 

 from India and Australia before (including 34 evasculares) ; 

 De Candolle's ' Monographia ' and some other recent works give 



about 60 more From these and other data we 



are justified to conclude already that the Botanic (though far less 

 Zoologic) features of the Papuan lowlands are mainly Malayan 

 . whilst the known presence of Araucaria and Epacridce 

 in temperate altitudes vindicate already for the upland Flora of 

 New Guinea to some extent an Australian character, whilst the 

 vegetation of the North-east portion of the Australian Continent 

 is largely Malayan also." One may hope that the collections of 

 the Geographical Society's Expedition, which are now in Baron 

 von Mueller's hands, will still further enlarge our knowledge of 

 this interesting borderland between two floras so distinct as those 

 of Australia and South-eastern Asia. 



To Mr. R. D. Fitzgerald, F.L.S., we are indebted for another 

 instalment (Vol. II., Part 2) of his great work on Australian 

 Orchids. It shows no falling away from the high standard of 

 the preceding numbers, and has a kind of accidental interest from 

 the fact that it contains the figures and descriptions of the 

 smallest and the largest of Australian Orchids. Bulbopliylhim 



